Prospecting for Strategic Advantage: The Proactive Entrepreneurial Personality and Small Firm Innovation

Abstract

Our study proposed and tested an entrepreneurial process model that examined the interrelationships among a small firm owner's personality, strategic orientation, and innovation. In the first part of the model, it was posited that a proactive personality would directly influence a prospector strategic orientation. This type of strategic orientation would then be a key factor in determining the type of innovations introduced and implemented within the business. Using a sample of 107 small business owners, results revealed that the prospector strategy orientation mediated the relationship between proactive personality and three types of innovations: innovative targeting processes, innovative organizational systems, and innovative boundary supports. Implications for small business managers as well as future research directions are discussed.

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

“…They adopt the Miles and Snow strategic orientation typology, which divides business strategies into prospector, defender, analyzer, and reactor strategies. 2 Kickul and Gundry (2002) find that the prospector strategic orientation mediates proactive personality and three types of innovations: innovative targeting processes, innovative organizational systems, and innovative boundary supports. They likewise find that those with proactive personalities are more likely to both take on a prospector strategy orientation and innovate in their work, which is to be expected.…”

“…Both forms of innovativeness display generally consistent correlations with Big-5 traits, not indicating major differences in their origins. Kickul and Gundry (2002) analyze the relationship between 107 small-firm owner-managers' strategic orientation, personality, and innovation. They adopt the Miles and Snow strategic orientation typology, which divides business strategies into prospector, defender, analyzer, and reactor strategies.…”

“…This is perhaps partly due to proactive personalities being more likely to innovate (Kickul and Gundry, 2002). Innovativeness, in turn, can mediate one's achievement motivation in a way that mere initiative does not (Utsch and Rauch, 2000).…”

Enhancing a Sense of Competence at Work by Engaging in Proactive Behavior: The Role of Proactive Personality

“…For example, people with higher proactive personality, or people "who [are] relatively unconstrained by situational forces and who [effect] environmental change" (Bateman & Crant, 1993, p. 105), tend to speak up to improve their work environment (Crant, Kim, & Wang, 2011), to formulate new ideas to improve work effectiveness (Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006) and to actively scan the environment for important cues to help them find a novel way forward (Kickul & Gundry, 2002). Proactive behavior (i.e., self-initiated, futurefocused and change-oriented actions) (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010) can help people actively master the work environment, especially in the face of uncertainty and novelty (Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007), which can give rise to a sense of competence at work.…”

The Role of Institutional Investors in the Evolutionary Dynamics of Agro-food Enterprises

“…The concept of value in terms of quality is generated with the social legitimacy of the enterprise and its governing body, both within the business context and in front of the actors who support its development (Lindgreen & Swaen, 2010). In order to achieve these objectives, it is necessary for the enterprise system to be proactive (Valdani, 1992;Kickul & Gundry, 2002), particularly with respect to the financial system: It means to evaluate constantly whether it responds effectively to demands, and if necessary, in evolutionary sense, to modify the operational structure. The behavior and the evolutionary process of the company, therefore, are influenced by the constraints of the financial supra-system (McMahon, 2001), with which it interacts, which leverages critical resource owned and made.…”