An empirical investigation of 97 firms was conducted to determine the relationships that three aspects of the chief executive's (CEO's) personality have with the strategies, structures, decision making methods and performance of their firms. CEO flexibility was associated with niche strategies, simple, informal structures, and intuitive, risk-embracing decision making. CEO need for achievement was related to broadly focussed, marketing-oriented strategies, formal and sophisticated structures, and proactive, analytical decision making. Executives with an internal locus of control pursued more product innovation, were more future oriented, and tailored their approaches to the circumstances facing their firms. The relationships between personality and organizational characteristics were found to be by far the strongest in small firms and also somewhat more significant in dynamic environments. Flexibility and locus of control related to corporate performance under certain conditions; need for achievement did not.executive personality, corporate strategy, innovation

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A study of 97 small firms was conducted to establish the impact of strategy, structure, decision making style, and chief executive personality on performance. Good growth and profit performance relative to the competition seemed to be associated with Innovative product-market strategies; more proactive, analytic, and future-oriented decision making style; more extensive delegation of authority and professional management; and greater CEO flexibility. Findings varied systematically in comparing groups of small versus medium sized firms, those in dynamic versus stable environments, and those that delegated much authority to lower levels versus those that did not.

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