Robert Sweo

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• Stewart, W., Carland, J., Garland, J., Watson, W., & Sweo, R. (2003). Entrepreneurial Dispositions and Goal Orientations: A Comparative Exploration of United States and Russian Entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business Management, 41(1).
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  We refine and extend the study of entrepreneurial dispositions by linking three classic hallmarks of the entrepreneur - achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity, and preference for innovation - to the goal orientations of United States and Russian entrepreneurs. The results suggest that entrepreneurial dispositions vary according to culture and the entrepreneur's primary goal for the venture. The results have important implications for theoretical development linking dispositions and entrepreneurial behavior in different settings and for entrepreneurial education and government policy.
• Gordon, S., Stewart, W., Sweo, R., & Luker, W. (2000). Convergence versus strategic reorientation: The antecedents of fast-paced organizational change. Journal of Management, 26(5). doi:10.1177/014920630002600508
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  We reexamine and extend the antecedents of strategic reorientation, a change in strategy combined with change in at least two of organization structure, power distribution and control systems, presented by Lant, Milliken, and Batra (1992) by using archival data (1987-1993) for firms in the stable furniture and turbulent computer software industries. While enabling direct comparability of results from the two studies, we specify an extended, integrated model of change forces, and test the hypotheses with a more robust data analytic technique, hierarchical regression analysis. The results support industry turbulence and CEO turnover as precursors to strategic reorientation, and suggest that industry turbulence conditions managers' external attributions for negative financial performance in influencing strategic reorientation. Alternatively, the results indicate that top management team turnover is negatively related to strategic reorientation. The results do not support the Lant et al. (1992) conclusions that low past financial performance, top management team heterogeneity, awareness of environmental changes, and external attributions for negative financial performance outcomes are significantly associated with strategic reorientation. Structural equation analysis indicated the predictive superiority of the respecified model, and we offer suggestions for theoretical refinement and development of strategic reorientation. © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.
• May, R., Stewart, W., & Sweo, R. (2000). Environmental scanning behavior in a transitional economy: Evidence from Russia. Academy of Management Journal, 43(3). doi:10.2307/1556402
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  We examined the effects of perceived strategic uncertainty in seven environmental sectors on the scanning behavior of Russian executives. Strategic uncertainty was highest in sectors influenced by transition and was moderated by perceptions of accessibility in determining scanning frequency, a relationship that held in predicting sources of information scanned. The perceived importance of environmental conditions was central to the relationships, suggesting that decomposition of the strategic uncertainty construct facilitates more insightful analysis of scanning behavior.