Entrepreneur characteristics for business alliance success

The research behind PROPAT

PROPAT was created as part of an academic study which sought to examine whether and to what extent the propensity to partner is influenced by characteristics of the entrepreneur. It was originally intended to provide a means for testing the hypotheses emanating from theoretical research, namely that entrepreneurs possessing certain characteristics have a higher propensity to form business alliances. PROPAT was then developed to serve as an assessment tool for entrepreneurs contemplating alliance decisions.

The study identified seventeen key characteristics of the entrepreneur potentially affecting this propensity and proposed the hypothesis that entrepreneurs possessing these characteristics have a greater propensity to partner with other businesses. It also included an analysis of known characteristics of family businesses and examined their relation to alliance-formation behaviour, supporting the hypothesis emanating from prior research that as a result of their unique characteristics family firms tend to be less inclined to form business alliances.

PROPAT is a questionnaire-based assessment tool which uses a scoring methodology linked to the various characteristics identified in the study. It was initially administered among 240 entrepreneurs where it was found that entrepreneurs with prior alliance experience scored much higher on PROPAT than entrepreneurs who had never been involved in alliances. As more and more people take PROPAT this finding continues to be upheld. Subject to certain considerations, this indicates that the propensity to partner is indeed influenced by certain attributes, attitudes and behaviours of the entrepreneur. Marked differences in scores are noted in characteristics such as acceptance of interdependence, the readiness to invest time and money in the face of uncertainty, active networking within the business community, an orientation toward absolute rather than relative gain, and patience and flexibility. The study also revealed that entrepreneurs of family businesses may not necessarily be more wary of business alliances, as the theory suggests. Non-family-firm entrepreneurs scored only marginally higher on PROPAT than entrepreneurs of family businesses in the survey.

See definition of characteristics of the entrepreneur.