Being Alert Matters! A Sequential Interplay of Entrepreneurial Training and Business Outcomes

Abstract

Recently the interest in argentic psychological factors promoting the small business sector is burgeoning. The scholarship in this field has called for not only developing the psychological traits in business owners but also to uncover the mechanisms through which these trainings influence training outcomes. To respond to this, we introduced individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) training based on Action Regulation Theory. Through a randomized controlled field experiment spanning 4 waves (T0= at the time of training, T1=6 months after training, T2=1 year after training, and T3= 2 years after training, each wave of 6 months apart); of 165 small business owners (training group=79, control group=86) in Pakistan, we found that individual entrepreneurial orientation training promotes the small business success. Moreover, we shed light on the serial mediating role of IEO behavior and opportunity exploitation in translating the training impacts into business outcomes. Lastly, we highlighted that individual action characteristics i.e., entrepreneurial alertness enables small business owners to be more efficient in opportunity exploitation after the individual entrepreneurial orientation training intervention. This study offers implications for entrepreneurial psychology, action-based training, and has practical takeaways for small business owners, trainers, and regulatory authorities.