International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management United Kingdom Vol. IV, Issue 4, April 2016 Licensed under Creative Common Page 206 http://ijecm.co.uk/ ISSN 2348 0386 IMPACT OF STRATEGIC ORIENTATIONS ON PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: THE ROLES OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION IN PROMOTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Tope Samson Abiodun Kwararafa University, Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria samsontope@yahoo.com Mohammed Isa Kida Kwararafa University, Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria Abstract This study re-examined the previous research conclusion regarding the appropriateness of adopting strategic entrepreneurial orientation and its potential impact on performance of small and medium enterprises. Having employed PLS-SEM on data collected from 201 SMEs in Nigeria, the result of the study shows that entrepreneurial orientation statistically significant and positively related to performance of SMEs. The result of this study clearly shows SMEs are likely to benefit from strategic orientation, particularly from pursuing entrepreneurial orientation which demonstrates the relevance of entrepreneurial orientation in research. This re-established the fact that entrepreneurial orientation is a rare, hard to duplicate, hard to imitate and valuable asset of firm that can always be employed as source of competitive advantage. Keywords: Strategic Orientations, Entrepreneurial Orientation, SMEs, Organizational Performance