Abstract
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) can act as a predictor and indicator of firm-level entrepreneurship
in organisations of different sizes. Intrapreneurial Orientation (IO), as an offspring of EO, describes an
individual employee’s inclination to act entrepreneurially. Yet while the importance of an organisation’s EO
cannot be overstated, a lack of clarity exists as to which common constructs underpin these concepts, as no
study has attempted to analyse the shared conceptual basis underpinning EO, IO and other connected
concepts. The purpose of this study is to analyse the underlying constructs of past EO and IO studies. The
study is qualitative in nature by utilising a narrative review methodology. The review was conducted in
prominent international databases. Discovered articles were analysed by means of content and thematic
analysis. Results reveal that EO studies mostly utilise three constructs, namely risk-taking, innovativeness
and proactiveness, while competitive aggressiveness and autonomy are less frequently utilised. Instruments
developed by Miller (1983), as well as Covin and Slevin (1989) were the most frequently utilised instruments
to assess EO. Studies investigating IO lack commonality in constructs, with only innovativeness
representing a common construct. Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation was found to act as an extension to
IO, utilising similar constructs and one underlying instrument only. Findings of this study provide
researchers and academics with an up-to-date identification and analysis of the main constructs underlying
popular EO and IO instruments, thereby assisting in the development of instruments in future EO and IO
studies.