Competitive Advantage and Entrepreneurial Power : The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship

Purpose --To show that the inability to adapt to a seriesof crises caused by business development is one of the principal causes offailure for all organisations and that one of the primary components in smallbusiness success must be the managerial competence of the principal actors,inevitably the owner-manager. Design/methodology/approach --This paper examines the divergence between theprescribed and assumed models of entrepreneurial behaviour provided bycontemporary management theorists and the real, observed and reported behaviourof small business practitioners and owner-managers. It reports on case studyexamples and highlights the dichotomy between expected and actual behaviour intypical management situations. Findings --The paper suggests that the almost egotistical attitude displayedby many entrepreneurs constitutes an abuse of the trust and the power placed inthe hands of small business owner-managers and that in extreme instances, theabuse of entrepreneurial power may lead directly to the failure of the smallfirm. Originality/value -- Many surveys of small business failure and sub-optimalpeformance often suggest situational and operational causes and explanations.This paper offers a different perspective for future research because the causemay be seen to lie with the apparently non-rational behaviour of theentrepreneur or owner-manager who does not adhere to the "rules" andexpectations of classical management theory.(Publication abstract)