Entrepreneurial orientation, political ties, and corporate reputation: The moderating roles of institutional environments

In emerging markets, corporate reputation are important assets contributing to a firm’s competitive advantage. When building corporate reputation, emerging market firms (EMFs) must usually address interests related to the market and the government, which requires EMFs to embrace an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and establish political ties (PTs). However, as EO follows a market logic while PTs follow a state logic, tensions between different institutional logics may occur and damage corporate reputation. This study examines how EO and PTs together influence corporate reputation and considers government intervention and religious intensity as boundary conditions. Empirical results of an analysis of survey data and secondary data reveal that EO and PTs together are negatively associated with corporate reputation, and this negative relationship is strengthened by government intervention but weakened by religious intensity. The research findings have significant implications for research and practice related to corporate reputation building in emerging markets.