Mason, Roger Bruce2011-03-012011-03-012006http://hdl.handle.net/10321/596Originally published in: Journal of Enterprising Culture, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2006.This paper considers the adoption of an entrepreneurial orientation as a paradigm for companies operating in a complex and turbulent environment, viewing the environment as a complex and turbulent system in terms of chaos theory. Approaches suggested by chaos theory are compared with the entrepreneurial orientation to identify if such an orientation matches these suggested approaches. Literature on chaos theory and on entrepreneurship is compared, and a short case is presented, providing an illustration of how a company operating successfully in a complex and turbulent environment has used the principles of an entrepreneurial orientation. The paper identifies considerable similarity between the management approaches suggested by chaos theory and the principles of the entrepreneurial orientation, indicating that chaos theory may provide the theoretical underpinning of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and turbulent environments. The case also shows how an entrepreneurial orientation has been successfully used in a complex and turbulent environment. The conclusion is that companies operating in a complex and turbulent environment could benefit from adopting an entrepreneurial orientation.241-266 (25 p)enElectronic version of an article published as Journal of Enterprising Culture, Volume 14, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 241-266 10.1142/S0218495806000155 © 2006 World Scientific Publishing Company http://www.worldscinet.com/jec/jec.shtmlEntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurial orientationExternal environmentTurbulence, chaos theoryCoping with complexity and turbulence : an entrepreneurial solutionArticle10.1142/S0218495806000155