Comparative analysis of key personal traits of SME owners and managers. A perspective from business sectors

Research background: The owner and manager of a small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the key person responsible for the management and operation of the company. The personality traits of an entrepreneur play an important role in the future direction and sustainability of SMEs in the business environment. Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to verify and quantify the effect of the country of business and the business sector on the perception of the key personality traits of an entrepreneur. The research was conducted based on the analysis of the subjective attitudes of SME owners and managers who conduct business activities in the business environment of V4 countries. Methods: The empirical research was conducted on a sample of 1,090 SMEs in four Central European countries using a questionnaire. Data collection was carried out by an external agency, which contacted SMEs through random selection from an internal database. The questionnaire was provided to respondents in their national language for better understanding. The statistical hypotheses were evaluated and verified using IBM SPSS Statistics software. Findings & Value added: Creativity, flexibility, and proactivity of entrepreneurs are perceived as key personality traits in the SME segment within the business environment of V4 countries. According to the attitudes of SME owners and managers, the country of business and business sector are significant characteristics that determine the perception of the most important entrepreneurial personality trait. Entrepreneurial creativity is seen as the key trait in the services sector (29.8%) and the manufacturing sector (28.9%). On the other hand, flexibility is the key trait in the construction sector (38.8%) and tourism (36.8%). Creativity is considered the most important trait by the largest number of SMEs in Poland (38.5%). Flexibility is perceived as the key trait by Czech (32.9%), Hungarian (36.4%), and Slovak (36.4%) SME owners and managers. In the services sector, Polish SMEs perceive creativity as a significantly less important trait compared to SMEs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. In the retail sector, there are no significant differences in the perception of key personality traits of entrepreneurs among V4 countries.