This paper analyses the role that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) plays in the success of international entrepreneurship moves. We focus on the mediation effect of international entrepreneurship in the relationship between IEO and firm performance. We argue that entrepreneurial experience constitutes an important source of IEO and propose an objective measure of IEO. The hypotheses are empirically analysed using a 22-year panel of family SMEs. Our results confirm the hypotheses and provide a better understanding of the role of IEO in the success of corporate strategies such as internationalisation. Specifically, IEO is found to improve firm performance indirectly by increasing the speed of internationalisation, and this effect is non-linear. Our study contributes to the literature by extending international entrepreneurship literature by offering a more complete view of the causes and consequences of IEO. Finally, our results also contribute to the literature on family firm heterogeneity.

本文分析了个人创业导向（IEO）在国际创业运动成功中所起的作用。我们关注国际创业在 IEO 与公司绩效之间的关系中的中介作用。我们认为创业经验是 IEO 的重要来源，并提出了 IEO 的客观衡量标准。使用一个 22 年的家庭中小企业小组对这些假设进行了实证分析。我们的结果证实了这些假设，并更好地理解了 IEO 在国际化等企业战略成功中的作用。具体来说，IEO 被发现通过提高国际化速度间接提高了公司绩效，这种影响是非线性的。我们的研究通过更全面地了解 IEO 的原因和后果，扩展了国际创业文献，从而为文献做出了贡献。最后，我们的结果也有助于有关家族企业异质性的文献。