People differ from one another in many ways, and these individual differences matter for management theory and practice. The Big Five personality traits (also called the five-factor model of personality) describe five of the most crucial differences between people. An enormous body of research has conclusively established the importance of these five personality dimensions to major topics in management, such as job performance, motivation, leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, and strategy. This entry discusses the meaning of the Big Five traits, briefly reviews their history, and highlights their importance for a variety of management topics
