Do entrepreneurial characteristics affect the choice of strategy?

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is first to define the entrepreneur and also to study certain strategies. Furthermore, we want to make a connection between the two. Revising various literature and articles on entrepreneurs and strategy was the first step of this dissertation. The next step was to create a matrix ourselves which was based on the literature and articles read. The idea with the matrix was to show that there might be a connection between the entrepreneur’s characteristics and the strategy that they implement. To test if our conclusions were accurate, we created three hypotheses that we tested with the help of our results obtained from the questionnaire from our study. In the course of the work we found that in some cases there are links between certain characteristics and certain strategies that we focused on in this dissertation. Trying to define the entrepreneur is not an easy task, different authors say different things. However, some adjectives were used more commonly in the sources we reviewed. This lead us too six characteristics and three strategies that we would be using when studying the entrepreneur. We also chose to limit the choice of our study to service organizations founded in the year 2000, which were still active and located in the area of Kristianstad. In practice it can be of value for small scale entrepreneurs to be aware of the fact that they themselves very well could be influencing their chosen strategies. If an entrepreneur is aware of this fact he or she might have a more open view to other suggestions and approaches. In the long run this insight could be valuable for their success and the growth of their company. The value of the paper is that it brings up an approach: the linkage of characteristics and strategy that we did not ourselves find in the existing literature.