1797: How Entrepreneurs’ Conflict Management Styles Impact Investors’ Reinvestment Decisions (19738)

Making informed investment decisions is crucial in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship and investment. Grounded in sensemaking theory, this study delves into the dynamics of conflict management styles and their influence on investors' reinvestment decisions when employed by entrepreneurs. Three distinct conflict management styles—cooperative, competitive, and avoidant—were scrutinized alongside two contextual factors: entrepreneur performance and ethical reputation. Drawing on a conjoint experiment with 1408 decisions nested within 88 participants, the findings reveal that a cooperative conflict management style positively impacts investors' intentions to reinvest and is even more expected from entrepreneurs whose performance is low or possesses a robust ethical reputation. Interestingly, a competitive conflict management style, often associated with confrontation, does not significantly deter investors' reinvestment decisions; however, its effect becomes detrimental when investors perceive ethical lapses and subpar entrepreneurial performance. Finally, an avoidant conflict management style negatively affects investors' reinvestment decisions, with its impact lessening in the presence of high entrepreneurial performance but remaining detrimental even in the presence of a high ethical reputation.

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