Interaction effects of entrepreneurial curiosity and creativity of the entrepreneur on company growth
Žiga Peljko
GEA College – Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Slovenia
ziga.peljko@gea-college.si
Jasna Auer Antončič
University of Primorska, Slovenia
jasna.auer@fm-kp.si
Abstract
In this research, a model including relationships between entrepreneurial curiosity, the creativity of the entrepreneur, the curiosity-creativity interaction term and company growth was conceptually proposed and empirically tested on data from entrepreneurs in three European countries. The purpose of the research was to investigate the connections between the psychological constructs of the entrepreneur and growth of the company. The authors’ intention with the research was to ascertain how entrepreneurial openness and creativity of the entrepreneur are connected either individually or together with growth of the company. The aim was to determine whether entrepreneurial curiosity interacts with creativity to positively influence business growth. The models and hypotheses were tested with structural equation modelling. The interaction effects in the structural model were examined in two ways (with both an interaction construct and a new interaction variable). This study adds to what is known about entrepreneurship by providing supporting empirical evidence concerning the relationship between the creativity of the entrepreneur and company growth, and some empirical evidence on the non-existence of relationships between entrepreneurial curiosity and growth and between the curiosity-creativity interaction term and growth. The growth of a company can in some countries be developed based on the creativity of the entrepreneur. Interaction effects may need to be given more emphasis in future research.
Keywords: entrepreneurial curiosity; creativity; interaction effects; entrepreneur; growth