Navigating the Seas of Change: How Small Businesses Respond to Environmental Dynamism

Abstract

This research poses the question, "How do the personalities and the perceptions of small business owners and managers impact their decision making processes in response to changes in their market environment?"

Using Miles and Snow's typologies to establish a framework to operate within, a construct of personality and a construct of perception will be used together in a model to help explain small business reactions to external market pressures.

An expansion of Miles and Snow is proposed that will expand their typologies from the traditional three typologies to six steady-state typologies when viewed from the lens of perception and personality. The concept of a "Flapper Group" is introduced to expand previous understandings of competitive communities while focusing on Small Businesses that serve the Heavy Construction Industry.