Awakening the Dormant Dream

Abstract

This paper addresses an under-investigated thematic area of Information Technology (IT) personnel turnover literature: IT Entrepreneurial Turnover. It introduces the concept of entrepreneurial mind-shift in order to shed light on the conditions that influence turnover behavior for nascent IT entrepreneurs. The study follows a grounded theory methodological approach and utilizes two different sets of data. The first data set comes from interviews with 62 IT entrepreneurs, and the second comes from the quotes of over 200 famous authors/entrepreneurs. The analysis of data revealed the types of perceptual shifts IT professionals experience when they realize that they are ready to quit their salaried job and start a new business. The results of the study show that after certain types of 'disrupting events' or the gradual completion of a phase, nascent entrepreneurs start perceiving things through a new lens. In their eyes, the creation of a new venture seemed more feasible than ever before. The introduction of the entrepreneurial mind-shift construct has implications for both research and practice. First, it enriches the stream of literature that brings the concepts of IT personnel turnover and entrepreneurship together. Second, it is a practical tool for all stakeholders involved in the IT Entrepreneurial Turnover process.