Arawati Agus

This paper provides a critical perspective on entrepreneurial characteristics and gives an input to the discussion on the influence of entrepreneurial leadership, communication skills, determination and motivation on sales and customer satisfaction. It also presents the findings from an empirical study examining the structural effect of these four entrepreneurial characteristics on performance. Few have attempted to investigate the link between entrepreneurial characteristics and performance. It is said that entrepreneurial characteristics have positive associations with the firm’s performance. However, the link between entrepreneurial leadership, communication skills, determination and motivation on sales and customer satisfaction in the Malaysian context has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. To address this issue, this paper investigates the influence of these entrepreneurial characteristics on those performances using Pearson’s correlation, cluster analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM). The result of the study reveals that entrepreneurial leadership, communication skills, determination and motivation exhibit high and significant structural effects on sales and customer satisfaction. Findings of the study provide a striking demonstration regarding positive influences of certain entrepreneurial characteristics on performances.