Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior Research Articles

The Difference of Influencing Factors of Entrepreneurs' Entrepreneurial Choice

Entrepreneurship is a crucial catalyst for enhancing economic vitality and sustaining a country's healthy economic growth. Therefore, what leads entrepreneurs to relinquish their comfort zone and abandon traditional employment to pursue entrepreneurship remains a pertinent inquiry. Entrepreneurs represent the core of entrepreneurial activity. Based on empirical evidence, entrepreneurs' reasons for starting a business vary considerably. For instance, some are motivated by the desire to innovate, while others aim to maximize their earnings. This study specifically examines the singular influence of individual factors, summarizes the primary factors that impact entrepreneurial decision-making, provides explanations and analyses, and elucidates the specific role of each factor and its impact on entrepreneurs' choices. Furthermore, this study introduces the impact of economic cycles and unemployment on individual entrepreneurial behavior, which has received insufficient attention until now. People commonly believe that starting a business is more feasible during periods of economic growth rather than during recessions, but certain entrepreneurial behaviors suggest that this belief may be misguided. Through analysis and research, recommendations are provided for both individual entrepreneurial decisions and government entrepreneurial incentive policies.

Individual entrepreneurial behavior and financial literacy

AbstractThe technological revolution we have been witnessing over the last 30 years is bringing about important changes in business management, specifically in the conception, development, and management of its financial aspects. How to face these challenges is a particularly critical question for individual entrepreneurs who have to assume a much greater responsibility for decisions than in other corporate environments. In this sense, it is very important to understand the financial capabilities and skills and their limitations of this type of entrepreneurship, which is so important for the renewal and extension of the business community in any developed economy. Based on an extensive official survey of this type of entrepreneurship, this research proposes a logistic regression modeling, in order to find out the level of financial knowledge of this business group. One of the findings of this research is that individual entrepreneurs have a higher level of financial knowledge than salaried workers, with a higher qualification in this respect in the case of individual entrepreneurs with employees. This study analyses the link between individual entrepreneurs or self-employed workers – with or without employees – and financial literacy. In addition, we investigated the relationship between this group with their socio-demographic characteristics, financial product holdings, financial planning, and financial fragility. Different binary logistic regression models with maximum likelihood were estimated using a sample of individual entrepreneurs and self-employed workers from the Survey of Financial Competences database conducted in Spain to achieve this. The results of the study show that individuals who choose to be individual entrepreneurs or self-employed, and in particular those with hired workers, had a higher level of financial literacy than salaried workers. Moreover, it was confirmed that financial literacy complements the explanatory power of the other variables analyzed with respect to sole proprietors without employees, although not to a significant degree. The limitations of this work are due to the use of data from the Financial Skills Survey, so some dichotomous variables offer very generic information. In addition, the database is cross-sectional and we cannot analyze variations between different periods. No research before had applied the relationships between the behavior of individual entrepreneurs, with and without employees, and financial competencies using logistic functions and on the basis of a rigorous and comprehensive formal questionnaire. The conclusions provide a valuable perspective for developing training programs for this type of human capital aimed at raising the financial skills of individual entrepreneurs to improve personal and business management.

PENGEMBANGAN KARIR INDIVIDU DALAM KEWIRAUSAHAAN

Individual career development can be predicted by observing individual entrepreneurial behavior and characteristics. This article aims to present the problem of self-management in the context of developing entrepreneurial characteristics and behavior. In the theory section, the author briefly discusses the nature and concept of entrepreneurship. Then, describe an enterprising individual with a primary focus on his characteristics and behavior. The practical part of this article presents concrete examples, showing how environmental factors, under what circumstances and how, they can influence the development of entrepreneurial attitudes. The author shows examples of how entrepreneurial personality starts at various stages of development, until it develops, starting from childhood, school, to higher education.

The Influence of Physical Exercise Frequency and Intensity on Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior: Evidence from China.

Physical exercise can benefit individuals’ physical and mental health and also influence individuals’ long-term behavioral choices. Doing exercise is particularly important given that physical exercise can impact individuals’ cognitive abilities and positive emotional states, which may further impact entrepreneurial behavior. Therefore, understanding the relationship between exercise and entrepreneurial behavior is essential, because it can provide policy suggestions for popularizing athletic activities and boosting entrepreneurship. Consequently, the present study examined whether physical exercise could predict entrepreneurial behavior and the possible psychological mechanisms within this relationship. Based on the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS2017), this study tested the hypotheses using the Probit and Tobit models. The results showed that individuals’ physical exercise intensity and frequency positively affected their entrepreneurial behavior. In addition, five variables moderated the relationships between physical exercise and individual entrepreneurial behavior: urban–rural differences, education level, marital status, the existence of minor children, and age. Moreover, positive emotions and physical/mental health mediated the influence of physical exercise (exercise frequency and exercise intensity) on individual entrepreneurial behavior. Endogeneity explanations were ruled out by including instrumental variable, copula terms and adopting coarsened exact matching.

Entrepreneurial activity, intrapreneurship, and conducive institutions: Is there a connection?

Considering the context-embedded nature of entrepreneurship, existing literature emphasizes a strong link between country-level conducive institutional dimension (a facet of the entrepreneurial environment facilitating high-impact innovative business activity) and individual entrepreneurial behavior. We theorize that a vital mechanism linking conducive institutional arrangements to independent entrepreneurship is intrapreneurship within a corporate environment, which provides an individual with a combination of entrepreneurial and industry-specific skills and knowledge. Empirical results, based on a sample of 173,630 individuals in GEM data, reveal that intrapreneurial experience acts as a significant mediator in conducive institutions-entrepreneurial intentions and activity relationships. At the same time, after accounting for the intrapreneurship path, the conducive dimension has a negative residual impact on individual entrepreneurship, suggesting that in itself, it creates high opportunity costs of starting new firms versus working for already established companies.

Financial managers and organizational ambidexterity in the German Mittelstand: the moderating role of strategy involvement

Relying on the upper-echelons perspective, this paper investigates the effect of financial managers’ characteristics on the level of organizational ambidexterity reached in German Mittelstand firms. These firms are often depicted as highly innovative and able to compete on worldwide markets despite significant resource constraints. We theorize that skilled financial managers are very important in making the optimal use of Mittelstand firms’ scarce resources and, in particular, for balancing exploitation and exploration, thus reaching high levels of ambidexterity. Our findings from a survey of German Mittelstand firms broadly confirm our expectations and show that financial managers’ individual entrepreneurial behavior correlates positively with the firms’ level of organizational ambidexterity. In addition, we find that firms with financial managers having enjoyed business education are more likely to reach high levels of ambidexterity if these financial managers are heavily involved in strategy development. Overall, these results indicate that well-suited financial managers are an important human resource for Mittelstand firms. In addition, our findings are among the first to show that financial managers not only influence finance and accounting choices, but also innovation-related outcomes such as organizational ambidexterity.

A Preliminary Exploration of Factors Affecting a University Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.

This study examines the factors that affect the formation and operation of the university entrepreneurship ecosystem (UEE). Employing the case-study methodology, this research attempts to provide an evidence-based analysis of the existing theoretical framework of the UEE and verify the role of elements in it through empirical experience as described in semi-structured interviews with 33 respondents on and off an American university. Findings reveal that extracurricular activities, networks, entrepreneurial culture, and leadership have an important impact on the formation and operation of the UEE. Specifically, compared with formal courses, as important carriers, extracurricular activities have a more positive impact on the entrepreneurship of students. Different levels of networks can promote the circulation and exchange of resources. Culture is an important factor in forming and promoting individual entrepreneurial behavior and their agglomeration in the UEE. Clear vision and long-term commitments to entrepreneurship, namely leadership, play a leading role in the formation and development of a UEE.

Influence of Confucian culture on entrepreneurial decision making using data from China's floating population

Confucian culture has had a deep-rooted influence on Chinese thinking and behavior for more than 2,000 years. With a manually created Confucian culture database and the 2017 China floating population survey, we used empirical analysis to test the relationship between Confucian culture and individual entrepreneurial choice using data obtained from China's floating population. After using the presence and number of Confucian schools and temples, and of chaste women as instrumental variables to counteract problems of endogeneity, we found that Confucian culture had a significant role in promoting individuals' entrepreneurial decision making among China's floating population. The results showed that, compared with those from areas of China not strongly influenced by Confucian culture, individuals from areas that are strongly influenced by Confucian culture were more likely to choose entrepreneurship as their occupation choice. Our findings reveal cultural factors that affect individual entrepreneurial behavior, and also illustrate the positive role of Confucianism as a representative of the typical cultures of the Chinese nation in the 21st century.

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis for a finer-grained understanding of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship theory has largely been developed and tested using symmetrical correlational methods, effectively describing the sample-average respondent and subsuming individual differences. Such methods necessarily limit investigation of asymmetries that are evident in entrepreneurship, and provide only a single explanation that belies the multiple pathways to entrepreneurship observed in practice. This paper employs a case-based approach—fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)—to identify configurations of antecedent attributes of individuals in groups within samples, thereby revealing asymmetries and multiple entrepreneurial pathways that are otherwise hidden in the data. We explain the application of fsQCA to reveal these common issues in entrepreneurship; demonstrate how fsQCA complements correlational methods and offers finer-grained understanding of individual entrepreneurial behavior; and offer a comprehensive research agenda to build new entrepreneurship theory.

A Linkage between Personal Characteristics and Entrepreneurial Behavior in the Malaysian Public Sector

Entrepreneurial behavior within an organization is deemed relevant as an instrument to foster organizational growth, develop a strategic vision and create an energetic work environment because of its valuable impact on the performance of service. Beneficial display of entrepreneurial behavior by organizational members contributes to the venture significant of an organization. Although multiple kinds of research suggest the importance of individual entrepreneurial behavior in organizations, an empirical study on its predictors, particularly within the public sector is still infancy. Thus, the paper aims to provide an integrated review of the role of personal characteristics (in the form of entrepreneurial leadership, self-efficacy, and career adaptability) on entrepreneurial behavior among Malaysian public sector’s managers, which could subsequently exhibit the performance of the excellent services.

A Linkage between Personal Characteristics and Entrepreneurial Behavior in the Malaysian Public Sector

Entrepreneurial behavior within an organization is deemed relevant as an instrument to foster organizational growth, develop a strategic vision and create an energetic work environment because of its valuable impact on the performance of service. Beneficial display of entrepreneurial behavior by organizational members contributes to the venture significant of an organization. Although multiple kinds of research suggest the importance of individual entrepreneurial behavior in organizations, an empirical study on its predictors, particularly within the public sector is still infancy. Thus, the paper aims to provide an integrated review of the role of personal characteristics (in the form of entrepreneurial leadership, self-efficacy, and career adaptability) on entrepreneurial behavior among Malaysian public sector’s managers, which could subsequently exhibit the performance of the excellent services.

A Linkage between Personal Characteristics and Entrepreneurial Behavior in the Malaysian Public Sector

Entrepreneurial behavior within an organization is deemed relevant as an instrument to foster organizational growth, develop a strategic vision and create an energetic work environment because of its valuable impact on the performance of service. Beneficial display of entrepreneurial behavior by organizational members contributes to the venture significant of an organization. Although multiple kinds of research suggest the importance of individual entrepreneurial behavior in organizations, an empirical study on its predictors, particularly within the public sector is still infancy. Thus, the paper aims to provide an integrated review of the role of personal characteristics (in the form of entrepreneurial leadership, self-efficacy, and career adaptability) on entrepreneurial behavior among Malaysian public sector’s managers, which could subsequently exhibit the performance of the excellent services.

Contextual Determinants of Employee Entrepreneurial Behavior in Support of Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

The individual entrepreneurial behavior of employees represents one of the primary antecedents of Corporate Entrepreneurship. The complex nature of ‘employee entrepreneurial behavior’ suggests that a myriad of contextual influences act on the emergence of such behavior. It is imperative that theorists and practitioners alike understand both the subtle and sophisticated ways in which context influences employee entrepreneurial behavior. To address these issues and encourage future work, this study performs a systematic literature review to provide an overview of the field and examines the influence of the job/role, organizational/work and external contexts on employee entrepreneurial behavior. Findings suggest that employee entrepreneurial behavior is an emergent research field and that its behaviors can manifest themselves in different ways compared to firm-level entrepreneurial behaviors. We also show the sophisticated manner in which different types of context influence employee entrepreneurial behavior.

Pushing Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior Research Forward: Do Creativity and Religiosity Matter? (WITHDRAWN)

As an intriguing concept, entrepreneurial behavior has attracted much attention from disciplines such as economic, sociology, psychology as well as geography. However, they have not systematically examined the role and relative impact of creative abilities on individual entrepreneurial behavior in the workplace. The purpose of this study is to investigate (i) the role of creativity in predicting entrepreneurial behavior and (ii) the direct and moderating effects of religious work ethics on this relationship. Using a sample of 289 owner-managers in a Muslim country - Tunisia, the results from structural equation modeling support the hypotheses put forward. Overall, the research findings herein shed light on a new channel of ethical and spiritual knowledge transfer, at least in the context of emerging markets, not investigated by prior research. Several practical implications are extracted and directions for future research provided.

Entrepreneurial Behavior in Organizations: Does Job Design Matter?

We take a first step to explore how organizational factors influence individual entrepreneurial behavior at work, by investigating the role of job design variables. Drawing on multiple-source survey data of 179 workers in a Dutch research and consultancy organization, we find that entrepreneurial behavior, indicated by innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking items, is a higher order construct. Job autonomy is positively related with entrepreneurial behavior, as well as its innovation and proactivity subdimensions, while job variety is not. This suggests that interventions related to the vertical scope of jobs will promote entrepreneurial behaviors more than horizontal job expansion.

Does Cultural Diversity Help or Hinder Entrepreneurs? Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Using the 2010 Life in Transition Survey, this paper studies the association between local religious diversity and individual entrepreneurial behavior in 29 transition countries. We find that localities with higher religious diversity have more respondents who have tried to set up a business. Although religious diversity also correlates with a higher start-up probability (following trial), this effect is driven by higher access to finance. We also provide suggestive evidence that the positive association between local religious diversity and entrepreneurial trial is positively moderated by social capital (when measured as access to weak ties and the ability to bridge structural holes).

Pathways of Passion

This study examines the role of passion among entrepreneurs. In particular, the authors integrate identity theory with the literature surrounding passion to investigate the possible pathways through which entrepreneurial identities might influence passion, as well as the relationship between entrepreneurs’ passion and behavior. Structural equation modeling of responses from 221 entrepreneurs suggests that passion rises and falls in connection with entrepreneurial identity centrality and, furthermore, that passion is associated with individual entrepreneurial behavior and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This research provides a starting point for investigating the factors that may impact the development of entrepreneurs’ passion as well as the specific mechanisms through which passion energizes entrepreneurial action.

Individual Entrepreneurship Capacity and Performance of SMEs

This paper analyses the importance of human capital and organizational capital on the determination of SME’s performance, by proposing and testing a conceptual model about Individual Entrepreneurship Capacity, and its impact both on non-economic and economic performance. This constitutes an innovative approach in the sense that uses information collected at the individual level, that is, the entrepreneur. Moreover, it constitutes a first attempt for facing the caveat in the literature on the relationship among types of capital and entrepreneurial performance. A model where the individual entrepreneurship capital is defined as a function of two types of capital: Human and Organizational; is proposed and empirically tested. For the Human Capital we consider three dimensions: (a) Individual Characteristics; (b) Managerial Push; and (c) Managerial Pull. As concerns the Organizational Capital, four dimensions are considered: (i) Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior; (ii) Collective Entrepreneurial Behavior; (iii) Managerial Practices; and (iv) Organizational Culture (in terms of the Superstructure and the Socio-Structure). The use of the stepwise method provides the selection of significant variables that impact on SME’s performance. When only non-economic indicators are considered for measuring the performance, in what respects the human capital we find out that the only significant variable is: enthusiasm at work. In what concerns the organizational capital the significant variables are: efficient organizational structure; participative management; incentives for interdisciplinary discussion and dialogue; and frequent meetings of working groups. For its turn, when economic indicators are considered for measuring the performance, we find out that the significant human capital determinants are: entrepreneur’s intuition; and propensity for innovating activities. In terms of organizational capital determinants we reveal that the significant variables are: efficient organizational structure; and use of external indicators for improving entrepreneurial performance. The main policy implication of the paper is the possibility of creating, at an individual level, new incentives and motivational tools based on the identification of the most important variables of human capital and organizational capital, for fostering SME’s performance.