Abstract
Perceptual studies are important because of the influence of perception on individual behavior. The behavior of an individual is known to be influenced by activation of traits like stereotypes; behavior of leaders and entrepreneurs is no exception. The leadership role perspectives of entrepreneurs play an important role in the behavior of entrepreneurs as leaders of organizations. One of the important behavioral indicators of entrepreneurs is their conflict resolution styles. There is hardly any empirical research that focuses on Leadership role perspective and conflict resolution styles of an entrepreneur. The present study attempts to bridge this research gap by focusing on the relationship between two leadership role perspectives (Benevolent and Benevolent-Authoritative leadership role perspective) and conflict resolution styles (Cooperative, Competitive and Avoiding Style) of entrepreneurs who are steering small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For the study, data is collected through a self-administered online questionnaire from 238 SME entrepreneurs of Karnataka, who were selected by convenience judgmental sampling method. Descriptive statistics, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were used for analyzing the data. Leadership role perspectives and conflict resolution styles were extracted using factor analysis and thereafter, tested for reliability and validity. The results indicate that the role perception of leaders has an impact on their conflict resolution styles. The study is relevant today because entrepreneurs’/leaders’ conflict resolution style is a major concern in SMEs due to its importance in problem-solving as well as motivating and retaining employees.
Highlights
The increasingly important and prominent role played by small and medium sized enterprises towards the growth and employment of a Nation lead a new shift from managerial to an entrepreneurial economy (Drucker, 1985)
Measurement model results Leadership role perspective Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was used for the analysis. 9 questions related to leadership role perspective were reduced to two factors which were denoted as Benevolent Role and Benevolent-Authoritative Role with Cronbach’s alpha value of is 0.793 and 0.721
Benevolent role perspective of entrepreneurs indicate that they saw their role as that of nurturing, caring and accommodating leader who takes care of his employees as his own family members and tries to keep them happy and conforming
Summary
The increasingly important and prominent role played by small and medium sized enterprises towards the growth and employment of a Nation lead a new shift from managerial to an entrepreneurial economy (Drucker, 1985). Indian scenario is no different, where the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) contribute to 95% of industrial units, 45% of the industrial output and 40% of India’s exports. This sector employs 60 million people, becoming the second largest employment generator in India after agriculture sector. More than 30 million SMEs in India contribute 10% to India’s GDP and the sector is growing strongly at a growth rate of 8% per year (EISBC, 2010) SME sector being the second largest employment generator, it is highly desirable that organizations in this sector are successful. The success and failure of each organization is based on the employees’ performance and this depends on how a leader manages different situations. The leaders’ way of managing different situations reflects in their overt behavior and as previous studies show, perception has a direct and pervasive impact on overt behavior (Bargh et al 1996)
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