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Nan S. Langowitz, Babson College
I. Elaine Allen, Babson College

ABSTRACT. The success of a growing business is inextricably intertwined with the leadership capability of its chief executive. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether there are managerial differences between founder and non-founder chief executive officers (CEOs) of small and medium-sized enterprises. We report preliminary findings of a study of 151 chief executives and their firms, examining measures of proactive behavior, strategic posture, and organization structure. The findings indicate that founder CEOs are significantly more likely than non-founder chief executives to have a proactive disposition and point to the possibility of an indirect effect of that disposition on managerial style.

RÉSUMÉ. La réussite d’une entreprise en plein essor est reliée inextricablement à la capacité de leadership de son PDG. Cette étude empirique a pour but de déterminer s’il existe des différences entre les PDG fondateurs et non fondateurs de PME en ce qui a trait à la gestion de l’entreprise. Cet article rapporte les résultats préliminaires de l’étude menée auprès de 151 PDG et de leurs entreprises qui examine le comportement proactif, le positionnement stratégique et la structure organisationnelle. Les résultats révèlent que les PDG fondateurs sont significativement plus aptes à avoir un comportement proactif et que ce comportement pourrait avoir un effet indirect sur le style de gestion.

 Small Business Leadership: Does Being the Founder Matter?