This article explores the role of stewardship practices related to entrepreneurial leadership in turning entrepreneurial orientation (EO) into family firm performance while considering its environmental context. Family business research has not fully investigated how the EO–financial performance relationship depends on configurations of internal and external factors which establish strategic fit. We argue that family firms can overcome the often-highlighted paternalism-entrepreneurship paradox by employing stewardship practices related to entrepreneurial leadership (internal factor), which in turn can help them leverage strategic fit between EO and dynamic environments (external factor). The results of a survey of 162 Austrian small and medium-sized family enterprises (family SMEs) show that family SMEs can only profit from EO under certain configurations of internal and external factors. Employing stewardship practices related to entrepreneurial leadership turns out to be an efficient and necessary condition for transforming EO into performance. Environmental dynamism is, furthermore, a double-edged sword facilitating and impeding the transformation of EO into performance. These findings contribute to existing research by shedding light on the role of stewardship practices in establishing strategic fit in entrepreneurial 10 years family firms.

本文探讨了与创业领导相关的管理实践在将创业导向 (EO) 转变为家族企业绩效方面的作用，同时考虑其环境背景。家族企业研究尚未充分研究 EO-财务绩效关系如何依赖于建立战略契合度的内部和外部因素的配置。我们认为，家族企业可以通过采用与企业家领导力（内部因素）相关的管理实践来克服经常被强调的家长式企业家精神悖论，这反过来又可以帮助他们利用 EO 和动态环境之间的战略契合（外部因素）。对奥地利 162 家中小型家族企业（family SMEs）的调查结果表明，家族中小企业只有在一定的内外部因素配置下才能从 EO 中获利。采用与企业家领导力相关的管理实践被证明是将 EO 转化为绩效的有效且必要的条件。此外，环境活力是一把双刃剑，促进和阻碍 EO 转化为绩效。这些发现通过阐明管理实践在建立具有创业 10 年历史的家族企业的战略契合度中的作用，有助于现有研究。采用与企业家领导力相关的管理实践被证明是将 EO 转化为绩效的有效且必要的条件。此外，环境活力是一把双刃剑，促进和阻碍 EO 转化为绩效。这些发现通过阐明管理实践在建立具有创业 10 年历史的家族企业的战略契合度中的作用，有助于现有研究。采用与企业家领导力相关的管理实践被证明是将 EO 转化为绩效的有效且必要的条件。此外，环境活力是一把双刃剑，促进和阻碍 EO 转化为绩效。这些发现通过阐明管理实践在建立具有创业 10 年历史的家族企业的战略契合度中的作用，有助于现有研究。