The issues of entrepreneurial ex-ante determination and managerial intent are discussed as applied to the ex-post organizational result. Possible errors in over-attribution of success to the celebrity-entrepreneur and the tendency to disregard the impact of endogenous market conditions, randomness on success due to "creative destruction" free-market mechanisms are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically test for fundamental attribution error (FAE) – the naturally occurring bias of humans to over-attribute business success to celebrity-entrepreneur disposition. Design/methodology/approach – Employing a five-step process, this paper measures and tests for FAE bias in entrepreneurial situations. The methodology includes anecdotal historical evidence; developing a FAE survey instrument; having 101 respondents classify variables; statistically testing and validating the instrument; and then statistically identifying the importance of each factor with a sample 105. Findings – Significant statistical evidence for an active FAE bias was found. People do tend to attribute business success to entrepreneurial dispositions, rather than team behavior and circumstantial outcome factors which can reduce the effectiveness of public policy. Research limitations/implications – There is minimal research on FAE in entrepreneurship effecting public policy, thus there is a need for research to better understand factors of business outcomes actually based on entrepreneurial dispositions vs team behavior and circumstantial-situational factors. Practical implications – FAE bias may lead the general public, entrepreneurs, and public policy makers to overemphasize the impact of the entrepreneur’s behavior and especially the dispositional factors of the celebrity-based entrepreneur when assessing causation of firm performance. This would under-emphasize the value of other organizational factors. Misidentification of true cause-effect factors may lead to inappropriate managerial conclusions and introduction of error in public policy decisions. Originality/value – Although FAE is primarily a psychological literature concept, this is the first study to contribute empirical evidence of the FAE of professionals employed in business as it applies to entrepreneurship and economic outcomes.

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This study empirically assesses respondent’s attribution to organizationaloutcomes across multi-national communities. As applied to entrepreneurship, theFundamental Attribution Error (FAE), nominally defined as the naturally occurringcognitive bias of humans to over-attribute organizational outcomes to leadershipdispositions and in the case of celebrity entrepreneurship, a heightened attributionto the news-worthy disposition of celebrity-entrepreneurs. Likewise, there wouldbe a biased and corresponding under-attribution of organizational outcomes tocircumstantial factors. Within this current research, respondents within differingcultures report on their perceptions of importance of founder dispositions toentrepreneurial outcomes. A survey instrument measuring differential dispositionand circumstantial attribution was developed and results showed strong FAE acrosscultures. Evidence was found that perceivers external to the organization exhibitstrong attribution error globally and that business leaders attribute business successto their own talents and reinforce FAE. A small difference in levels of FAE betweenindividualistic and collective cultures was found. Implications of the findingsare discussed in relation to organizational behavior, organizational development,organizational outcomes and rates of return on invested capital.