Managing Global Transitions (Mar 2016)
The Impact of Entrepreneurial Characteristics and Organisational Culture on Innovativeness in Tourism Firms
Abstract
Entrepreneurial characteristics and organisational culture have an impact on the innovative capability of a company. Therefore, our research tries to examine the influence of different individual entrepreneurial characteristics and organisational culture dimensions on corporate innovativeness and any direct subsequent company growth. This paper proposes the classification and measurement of five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation; risk taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, autonomy and customer orientation and 3 dimensions of organisational culture; power distance, uncertainty/avoidance and individualism/collectivism with the objective of explaining service innovation performance. Specifically, we try to show the differences between the importance of different entrepreneurial characteristic and each organisational culture dimension on a product/service innovation. To this end, a survey was performed on a sample of tourism companies in Slovenia. The data was analysed by employing univariate and multivariate data analyses techniques. Data gathered fromthe survey suggests that entrepreneurial orientation and organisational culture dimensions positively influence innovativeness in tourism companies. Empirical evidence supports the view that a company with more developed entrepreneurial characteristics and organisational culture will be more innovative. This paper is one of the first to find empirical support for the role of entrepreneurial characteristics and organisational culture in tourism companies in Slovenia. Despite a number of limitations, it offers a picture of how these dimensions should be developed in order to enhance innovation. It also presents managerial implications, as managers are responsible for the forming of these dimensions.
