OWNER-MANAGER ADAPTION-INNOVATION PREFERENCE AND EMPLOYMENT PERFORMANCE - A COMPARISON OF FOUNDERS AND NON-FOUNDERS IN THE IRISH SMALL FIRMSECTOR

This article focuses on the confluence of four issues: (1) the employm ent problem in Ireland; (2) the key role of the indigenous small firm in providing employment; (3) the crucial role of the owner-manager in directing the small firm; and (4) the divergence of small firm employm ent performance between ''entrepreneurial'' firms and ''continuing'' e nterprises, In order to investigate this last issue, a comparison of f ounders and non-founders of Irish small firms was conducted. The quest ions explored are: (1) do the individuals who establish a small busine ss differ from those who continue on the management of a previously es tablished business; and (2) do these differences affect the employment performance of the firm? The Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (a measure of cognitive style preferences) was used to determine whether the entrepreneur's innovative or adaptive decision-making preference p rovides one critical link between the firm's environment and its emplo yment performance.