Abstract:

The research aims to discover the current situation, perspectives, and context-based unique approaches of companies operating in the service sector in Turkey and having SME status regarding entrepreneurial orientations. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was preferred, which is exploratory and enables the holistic discovery of events and phenomena as they exist in their natural environments. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using the criterion sampling method. The content analysis method was used to analyze the collected data. The findings reveal companies' perspectives on entrepreneurial orientations that are compatible with the literature, as well as avoidance of risk and velvet competition approaches that differ from the literature, as unique results. The findings, those contrary to the spirit of entrepreneurial orientations, are discussed concerning dominant cultural characteristics specific to the Turkish context, the financial cycles of SMEs, and various challenges, including the economic conditions created by the pandemic at the time of the research.

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