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Sustaining EO and the Role of the CEO

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Entrepreneurial Orientation and Strategic Leadership

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Abstract

This chapter builds from the perspective in the EO literature that the CEO or senior-most strategic decision-maker in the firm is central to that firm’s EO. Central in the sense that this individual decides the firm’s strategic posture and makes resource allocation decisions that either constrain or enable EO; the firm’s EO reflects the CEO’s decisions. This chapter builds on the possibility of individual-level behavioral variables that may influence EO, for example learning engagement, cognitive flexibility, and social capital. At this point, I briefly touch on the concept of an individual-level EO, and level of analysis issues when investigating leadership-EO questions. I then address expected EO differences among CEOs who founded the firm from those who are non-founders, and in the founder discussion, I focus on imprinting effects and the extent to which legacy may factor into EO persistence. The chapter concludes by exploring an alternative condition, in which the CEO has less direct impact over EO, with the firm’s posture emerging organically, independent of the CEO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henry W. Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri–Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Brian S. Anderson

  2. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Brian S. Anderson

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  1. Brian S. Anderson
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Correspondence to Brian S. Anderson .

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Anderson, B.S. (2021). Sustaining EO and the Role of the CEO. In: Entrepreneurial Orientation and Strategic Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87300-4_3

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