The entrepreneur and his firm : the relationship between type of man and type of company

Abstract

Studies the nature of the entrepreneur in relation to the entrepreneur's firm and its subsequent growth. Rejecting the tendency to define an entrepreneur in terms of a firm characterized by innovation, the book instead uses Cole's (1959) definition of an entrepreneur as an individual who is primarily responsible for gathering together the necessary resources to initiate a business. From a sample of 110 mature enterprises (firms in business for at least five years, but begun after 1945) in six Michigan cities, two- to seven-hour interviews of 150 entrepreneurs were conducted, in which interviewees were asked to give their personal history and the history of the firm. Observations were also made about the entrepreneur's appearance and actions, as well as the appearance and layout of the firm. Following the Becker-McKinney model (1957), two Ideal Types were constructed through empirical analysis of the interviews: the Craftsman-Entrepreneur and the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur. The Craftsman-Entrepreneur tends to be focused on the present and past, has specialized technical education, and has low levels of confidence and flexibility. Conversely, the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur tends to have advanced education and social awareness, a high degree of flexibility, and an orientation to the future. The study implies that especially because the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur is flexible to change and oriented to the future, she will be most effective in making decisions that encourage innovation. The results of the study therefore support the hypothesis that an adaptable firm led by an Opportunistic-Entrepreneur will see the highest growth rate in terms of sales. (CJC)

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