Personal characteristics and strategic orientation: entrepreneurs in Canadian manufacturing companies

Abstract

Purpose Extant theories suggest that entrepreneurs' personal characteristics have substantial impacts on their firm's performance. From a resource‐based view, the paper considers an entrepreneur's personal characteristics to be a unique resource endowment to their firm. The paper seeks to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a national survey of owners and senior managers of small‐ to medium‐sized Canadian manufacturing companies. Mediation relationships were tested with hierarchical regression analyses. Findings Consistent with the authors' hypotheses, it is found that entrepreneurs' personal characteristics, such as need for achievement, need for cognition, and internal locus of control, have positive influences on firm performance. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that their strategic orientations mediated these influences. The data indicate that entrepreneurs with higher levels of internal locus of control are more likely to adopt an entrepreneurial orientation than a market orientation. Originality/value This paper helps to better understand why entrepreneurs make different strategic decisions under seemingly similar competitive environments. The findings suggest that entrepreneurs do not simply react mechanically to external environmental changes. Instead, how they seek and interpret information and formulate organizational strategies is partially influenced by their personal characteristics. Entrepreneurs develop their own ways of utilizing the human capital that they bring to their firms.