Measuring Levels of Fundamental Attribution Error Ascribed To Leadership of Entrepreneurial Organizations Across National Cultures

Abstract

This study empirically assesses respondent’s attribution to organizational
outcomes across multi-national communities. As applied to entrepreneurship, the
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE), nominally defined as the naturally occurring
cognitive bias of humans to over-attribute organizational outcomes to leadership
dispositions and in the case of celebrity entrepreneurship, a heightened attribution
to the news-worthy disposition of celebrity-entrepreneurs. Likewise, there would
be a biased and corresponding under-attribution of organizational outcomes to
circumstantial factors. Within this current research, respondents within differing
cultures report on their perceptions of importance of founder dispositions to
entrepreneurial outcomes. A survey instrument measuring differential disposition
and circumstantial attribution was developed and results showed strong FAE across
cultures. Evidence was found that perceivers external to the organization exhibit
strong attribution error globally and that business leaders attribute business success
to their own talents and reinforce FAE. A small difference in levels of FAE between
individualistic and collective cultures was found. Implications of the findings
are discussed in relation to organizational behavior, organizational development,
organizational outcomes and rates of return on invested capital.