Stress and The Entrepreneurial Role
研究了小企业主感知压力与经营绩效的关系，发现失败前压力显著高于失败后，且压力随失败临近而增加，表明压力可能是失败的原因而非结果。
Alan J. Williams, Professor of Management and foundation Head of the Department of Management at the University of Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia, has a background of 15 years active involvement in small business management development. The paper is based on a study of the relationship between perceived stress and business performance of samples of failed small firm owner/managers and of owners of operating firms which were approaching failure. The research addresses two questions: 1) is the quality of an individual's entrepreneurial performance (in a small business context) related to his capacity to cope with stress emanating from the many and varied stressors in that role? (Results indicate a statistically significant relationship); and, 2) what relationship exists between stress level and the temporal proximity of business failure? In essence, the focal issue is: is stress a potential cause of small business failure, or a consequence of that failure? (Results showed that stress levels prior to small business failure were significantly higher than after failure; stress levels tended to increase significantly with increasing proximity and probability of failure, and they decreased significantly after failure.) Stress generated by a mix of factors inherent in the small business ownership role can seriously inhibit effective management and entrepreneurship. It is widely associated with business failure; its specific causes and consequences are worthy of further research.