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Strategic Management: Does Personality Make a Difference?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Mcdonald, Michael P. Spears, Martha C. Parker, Darrell F. |
| Copyright Year | 2004 |
| Abstract | ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to clarify this question: Is there a strong enough body of evidence to establish whether there is any relationship between personality characteristics of senior executives and strategic decision-making? A related question is: Do senior executives 'personalities differ significantly from other people? To help answer the second question, a comparative study was conducted using undergraduate business students and senior level executives. SALIENT PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS: LOCUS OF CONTROL The study of strategic management and organizations has historically followed two very separate approaches. The first approach has been called sociological in that organizational phenomena (like strategic decision making) are viewed as a product of structural factors. The second approach, the psychological perspective, views those same phenomena as the result of the personalities of specific individuals (Perrow, 1970). An extensive literature review of the psychological perspective of strategic management suggests that the single most studied personality construct is locus of control (Rotter, 1966). Over one thousand studies have been conducted using the locus of control. Locus of control is closely linked to other personality dimensions related to strategic decision making such as need for achievement (McClelland, 1961), work ethic orientation (Furnham, 1 990), and need for mastery and competitiveness (Spence & Helmreich, 1983). Essentially, locus of control suggests that individuals may have a generalized set of expectancies about whether environmental outcomes are controlled internally or externally. The individual who believes that he can control the outcomes and events in his life is characterized as internally controlled. In contrast, the individual who does not believe that he can control outcomes or events is characterized as externally controlled. The external is more likely to believe that outcomes are the result of luck, fate, or destiny (Phares, 1973). Two major literature reviews (Henricks, 1985; Spector, 1982) suggest that in American culture, an internal locus of control is associated with the most successful managers (Whetten & Cameron, 1995). For example, in studies of leadership and group performance, internals were found to more likely be leaders. In those same studies (Anderson & Schneider, 1978; Blau, 1993) groups led by internals were more effective than those led by externals. Numerous studies demonstrate a link between locus of control and strategic decision-making. For example, internals have been found to out perform externals in stressful situations (Anderson, Hellriegel & Slocum, 1977); internals engage in more entrepreneurial activity than externals (Durand & Shea, 1974; Cromie, Callahan & Jansen, 1992; Bonnett & Furnham, 1991); and to demonstrate and are more satisfied with a participative management style than externals are (Runyon, 1973). Studies of chief executives found that firms led by internals were more likely to engage in more innovative, riskier projects, more market place leadership, longer planning horizons, more environmental scanning, and more highly developed technology than external led firms (Miller, Kets de Vries & Toulouse, 1986). In summary, our original question does seem to have an answer: There does appear to be enough scientific evidence in the research literature to suggest that internal locus of control is associated with successful strategic decision makers (Whetten & Cameron, 1995). DO SENIOR EXECUTIVES' PERSONALITIES DIFFER FROM OTHERS? The second part of our paper attempts to answer this question: Do senior executives' personalities differ significantly from other peoples? Since most business schools accredited by A. A.C. S. B. require some kind of integrating "Capstone" experience in which students are expected to act like senior strategy managers, we think it is important to answer the question. … |
| Starting Page | 37 |
| Ending Page | 37 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 3 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://kozijnen.store/strategic/management/strategic_management_does_personality_make_a_difference.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
