| The idea that the owner/entrepreneur transition dilemma is a problem of misfit is not new in the management literature. However, which individual and environmental variables might lead to this misfit and the nature of the relationships between these variables is very underdeveloped. Employing a modified Person-Organization fit approach I introduce the construct of cognitive fit/misfit to the field of entrepreneurship.; Based on data from 159 entrepreneurs and their firms, and using hierarchical regression analysis, the results indicate that when controlling for firm performance, entrepreneurial experience, and other demographic variables, there is a significant relationship between cognitive misfit and the individual entrepreneur's reported level of burnout, satisfaction, and intentions to exit the firm. Furthermore, the plots of these interactions are disordinal (crossed), indicating that different types of entrepreneurs (analytic versus intuitive) will experience different outcomes, given the level of structure and formalization in their firms. An entrepreneur whose cognitive style is mismatched with the structure level of her/his firm will tend to experience significantly more “negative” outcomes (higher burnout, lower satisfaction, and higher intentions to exit) than an entrepreneur who is more in fit.; These findings suggest which types of entrepreneurs will experience greater difficulty in managing their businesses (from a cognitive conflict perspective) at different stages of growth and maturity. The results presented in this study make it is possible to offer some prescriptive advice to practicing and nascent entrepreneurs with respect to where they are more likely to experience cognitive misfit and the associated negative outcomes as they attempt to grow their businesses.; This study makes important contributions by providing better understanding of the entrepreneurial transition dilemma, and by providing researchers with means of placing the individual entrepreneur back into the entrepreneurship equation without the pitfalls and the limitations associated with many of the past psychological (trait) studies. |
