We examine how small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) chief executive officers' (CEOs) social capital (as measured by strength of ties and structural holes) can help them bring business to their firms through the spread of positive referrals. Based on a sample of 408 French SME CEOs, we find a direct effect of social capital. Such effect is contingent on the CEO's personality, with social capital being most beneficial to CEOs with low levels of conscientiousness. CEOs' social ties facilitate the distortion of information, thereby leading personal contacts to give referrals to and endorse a focal CEO, even in the presence of negative signals, such as low conscientiousness.

International audienceCoopetition analyses the simultaneity of competitive and cooperative behaviours between rival firms. Scholars have focused their attention on strategic alliances, but specific coopetition issues are seldom addressed through in-depth studies. On the basis of inter-organizational relationships, coopetition provides partners with a competitive advantage by enhancing their knowledge creation and transfer, but exposes firms to the risk that rivals may capture their own knowledge. In this, it becomes necessary for firms to mix knowledge creation and transfer strategies with knowledge protection practices. This paper reports on a qualitative study of 37 firms and sheds light on the specific knowledge development process for the partners engaged in coopetition. Knowledge Management Research & Practice advance online publication, 16 April 2012; doi:10.1057/kmrp.2012.

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International audienceMarket knowledge (MK) improves firm performance, yet knowledge of how MK develops remains sparse. In small and medium-sized enterprises, MK likely depends on the personal dispositions of CEOs. This study draws on personality research to theorize that CEOs' personality traits influence the intensity of seeking (openness and conscientiousness), the opportunity to access (extraversion), or the accuracy of processing (agreeableness and emotional stability) market information. A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis of 409 CEOs reveals two equifinal configurations of traits leading to high MK, both of which include traits favoring accuracy, suggesting their particular importance. The findings provide new understanding of the antecedents of MK and have conceptual implications for the study of CEOs' personality in general

Winemakers in South France combine contingently institutional logics to achieve economic performance. Entrepreneurs who decide to cooperate with their competitors must manage four phases of “coopetition”: launch, formalization, protection, and reinforcement. They engage in the coopetition process by referring to a professional logic that becomes dominant, and they complete the process by fostering a community logic that is combined with the professional logic. Identity and legitimacy are the key elements that entrepreneurs segregate and blend, which entails new combinations in the respective influential power of state logic, professional logic and community logic.