Relationship between CEO’s personality and company’s entrepreneurial orientation: the case of SMEs.

Abstract

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is a key factor in the creation and development of companies. This study examines the CEO’s personal background (personality, proactivity and resistance to change) and its influence on the EO of the organization to determine which factors enhance or weaken EO. We achieve this goal through quantitative research, developing a structural equations model with partial least squares to analyse a sample of 358 Spanish SMEs from different sectors. The results suggest that specific personality dimensions exert substantial influence on the organization’s EO. We also analyse individual proactivity and resistance to change as conduits for the effect of personality dimensions on the company’s EO.