Entrepreneurial orientation of grocery retailers in Finland

This article reports on the findings from a study on the variation of entrepreneurial attitudes among grocery retailers in Finland. This exploratory study provides new information on the values and attitudes guiding the activities of retail entrepreneurs in grocery business. In an effort to assess the entrepreneurial traits of grocery retailers, the psychological trait theory was adopted. Convenience sampling was used to measure the responses of 381 retailers. First, the concepts entrepreneur and entrepreneurship are discussed and defined. Second, the research task is defined by reviewing the existing literature on entrepreneurial research. Third, the theoretical framework of the study is outlined. Fourth, the findings from the empirical research are presented and discussed. The main finding of the study is that there are four basic attitudes among Finnish retailers: innovativeness, internal locus of control, diligence, and conservatism. Furthermore, four retailer clusters with different entrepreneurial orientations were found: modern developers, independent hard workers, complacent featherbedders, and cautious innovators. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.