Investigating the Role of Internal Market Orientation on the Development of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Sports Business Owners (Case Study: Sports Clubs in Ilam Province)

The purpose of this study was the role of domestic market orientation on the development of entrepreneurial orientation in sports business owners. The present study was a descriptive-correlational study in terms of purpose, applied research and prospective time. The statistical population of this study was 210 managers of all private sport clubs in Ilam province. Statistical sample was selected against population. KolmogorovSmirnov test was used to evaluate the distribution of data. In data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine simple two-way relationships between variables and structural equation modeling was used to determine multiple relationships. The results showed that the indices obtained from the model fit. Also, to investigate the research hypotheses and the impact of internal marketing on entrepreneurial orientation and its dimensions by structural equation modeling, the final research model was tested in two standardized coefficients of the paths related to the research hypotheses and significance coefficients. The coefficient of significance between the two variables of internal market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation was greater than 1.96 and equal to 14.17, which indicates that internal market orientation has a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial orientation. It is Suggested that sports business owners, in order to improve the status of their business, in the first stage try to have a complete and clear understanding of the wants and needs of their employees and in the next stages to think about attracting more customers.