The Role of Entrepreneur´s Gender, Age and Firm´s Age in Autonomy. The Case Study from the Czech Republic

Abstract

IntroductionThe topic of SMEs is a very discussed issue by many authors from different points of view. According to many authors (Mura et al., 2015; Kljucnikov et al., 2016; Skarpova et al., 2015; Norek & Arenhardt, 2015; Gajowiak, 2015), small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the international economic environment. They enter the international division of labour either directly through contacts with foreign partners or indirectly through importing and exporting companies as subcontractors. With an increasing liberalization of international trade, their activity continues to grow (Dubravska et al., 2015).The topic often discussed has currently been the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs and their attitude to corporate performance as well as exploring different factors that determine the actual entrepreneurial orientation, including those that may hinder the development of EO. Among these problematic areas, a limited access to external sources of financing is often pointed out. SMEs especially perceive the lack of financial sources in the countries with the less developed financial system or the countries with the unstable currency, that substantially limits their entrepreneurial opportunities (Kljucnikov & Junger, 2014a; Kljucnikov & Junger, 2014b; Spoz, 2014; Meluzin & Zinecker, 2016). Restricted access to external financial sources may also limit such elements of the EO as independence, proactivity and innovativeness of SMEs.EO has emerged as a major concept within both strategic management and entrepreneurship literatures. The autonomy as an element of EO provides owners, managers and other employees with freedom and flexibility to develop and implement new ideas and entrepreneurial initiatives. Moreover, it can motivate them to participate more actively in future development of the company.The autonomy in EO context is clearly a vital aspect of entrepreneurial value creation and essential for the notion of strategic entrepreneurship. The autonomy may not be an issue among independently owned and managed firms because such founders are already acting autonomously (Lumpkin et al., 2009).The aim of this article is to examine the question of autonomy as an element of EO in the segment of SMEs in the Czech Republic in relation to the entrepreneur's age, gender and time of the firm in business.This article has the following structure. In the theoretical part, the important attributes of business environment in the SMEs segment and the autonomy of employees are presented as a construct of EO. In addition, the role of gender, age and time of entrepreneurship in business are introduced here. In the next section, objectives, methodology and resources of information used in our research are presented. Finally, the most important recommendations for theoretical area and economic practice are stated.1. Theoretical backgroundAs for vast majority of SMEs as being important for Czech as well as EU economy, and their evident influence on economic performance, it is understandable that they are of interest to many studies of different authors (Ivanova & Koisova, 2014). A tendency towards independent and autonomous actions is a key component of EO according to Lumpkin and Dess (1996). Miller (1983) found out that majority of entrepreneurial firms had the most autonomous leaders. As for the character of SMEs, personality of the entrepreneur plays an important role in influencing autonomy and other elements of EO. Based on existing records of differences in EO depending on the gender and age (Goktan & Gupta, 2015; Langowitz & Minniti, 2007; Mueller & Conway Data-on, 2008), it can be assumed that men and women, younger and older entrepreneurs will have a different approach to autonomy.However, the influence of entrepreneurial activity on economic development is not solely a question of size of the entrepreneurs' company or the schemes. …