cter traits and antecedentsof our super-heroes-entrepreneurs.And that has a lot to do with trying to'pickwinners'.Entrepreneurs share certain character traits with owner-managers but theyalso have certain additional,almost magical,qualities that the average owner-manager does not possess.Character traitsThe issue of linking the character traits of an individual to the success of a business-picking winners-needs to be approached with caution.Even if it is possible toidentify personal characteristics of owner-managers and entrepreneurs,it is notalways possible to link them directly with a particular sort of business.So far we haveconsidered three types of managers and implicitly linked them to three types ofsmall firm:Type of manager
1 Owner-manager
2 Entrepreneur
3 Manager
Type of business
Lifestyle firm.
Often trade-or craft-based.Will not grow to any size.
Growth firm.
Pursuit of growth and personal wealth important.
Manages a business belonging to someone else.Willbuild an organisation putting in appropriate controlssimilar to a large firm.These were broad generalisations.The linkages are not that simple or direct all of the
time.For example,an entrepreneur might manage a business belonging to someoneelse,at least for a time.Similarly,an owner-manager may find himself with a growthbusiness,quite by accident.Success or failure in business,as we shall see later,comesfrom a mix of many different things.The character traits of the manager is just one
factor in the equation.What is more,it takes time for entrepreneurs to prove that thebusiness they manage is in fact a growth business,so do you measureaspirations orreality?
A further difficulty is that much of the research fails to distinguish between owner-managers and entrepreneurs,assuming anyone who starts their own business is anentrepreneur.However,research into the character traits of owner-managers ofgrowth businesses,who should mainly be entrepreneurs,does allow us to come tosome broad conclusions and to paint a picture of the different characters of owner-managers compared to entrepreneurs.
32 O Entrepreneurship and InnovationThere are also a number ofmethodological problems associated with attempting tomeasure personality characteristics(Deakins,1996):
They are not stable and change over time.
They require subjective judgements.Measures tend to ignore cultural and environmental influences.The role of education,learning,and training is often overlooked.Issues such as age,sex,race,social class and education can be ignored.Clearly the area is an academic minefield.Notwithstanding this,many researchers dobelieve that,collectively,owner-managers have certain typical character traits,although the mix and emphasis of these characteristics will inevitably be different foreach individual.Whether a clearly definable set of entrepreneurial characteristics
exists is more controversial.Furthermore,many of the character traits that have beenfound are similar to those found in other successful people such as politicians orathletes(Chell et ai,1991).Perhaps,the argument goes,it just happens that theindividual has chosen an entrepreneurial activity as a means of self-satisfaction.Certainly,even if you believe the character traits can be identified,they do notexplain why the individual chose to apply them in an entrepreneurial context.Figure 2.2 summarises the character traits associated with owner-managers andentrepreneurs accumulated from numerous
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