The objective of the study was to examine the effect of entrepreneurs’ risk-taking propensity on firm performance and the moderating role of managerial network ties on this relationship in a sub-Saharan economy. This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 298 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The study’s empirical findings are that high levels of entrepreneurs’ risk-taking propensity enhance firm performance. This relationship is amplified when entrepreneurs cultivate stronger business, political and community network ties.
Four types of affective well-being were investigated in a sample of 135 Dutch entrepreneurs: work engagement, job satisfaction, exhaustion and workaholism. Compared to employees, entrepreneurs score extremely high on work engagement. Scores on job satisfaction, exhaustion and working compulsively (CW) are also higher. Scores on working excessively (EW) are lower. When investigating the overlap between the four types of well-being, results were found to vary with the approach chosen. When analysing correlations, overlap appears especially high between workaholism and exhaustion. When analysing cases identified as high scorers, overlap is especially evident between entrepreneurs high on both work engagement and job satisfaction. A final issue studied concerned the relation between well-being and performance. Entrepreneurs scoring high on EW reported the highest turnover, profits and number of employees. Satisfied entrepreneurs also reported relatively high profits and number of employees. Implications of these findings for trainers and researchers interested in well-being and performance in entrepreneurs are discussed.
This study reports the first use of a newly developed approach to measuring entrepreneurial intent (EI) among regional populations in India. An improved EI scale is needed to avoid the problems that undermine previous attempts to accurately measure EI—especially the confounding of intentions with similar but theoretically distinct constructs such as beliefs, attitudes and expectations. This new 12-item scale is employed to measure EI levels of 335 participants in three regions of India: Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Moderately high levels of EI are observed in each location, but the level in Kolkata is found to be significantly higher than the other two regions, contrary to popular expectations. The use of this improved scale is recommended to researchers and policymakers interested in entrepreneurship in India.
This study analyses the entrepreneurial intentions and the willingness of temporary workers to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. Specifically, we analyse the self-perception of entrepreneurial competencies of a group of temporary workers. A total of 184 temporary workers participated in the study. We performed a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to identify profiles of entrepreneurial competencies according to temporary workers’ entrepreneurial intention and willingness to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. We conclude that temporary workers do not always perceive themselves as having the necessary competencies to choose for entrepreneurship in their occupational paths. The self-perception of different levels of entrepreneurial competencies is also associated with different intentions and willingness to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. Finally, we provide insights for practice, which can be considered as a starting point for activities aiming to develop entrepreneurial competencies at the individual or organisational levels.
Literature reveals that many family businesses are not able to manage successful succession to the next generation due to poor successor nurturing. Therefore, it seems essential to apply effective methods of successor nurturing to prepare a competent successor. Mentoring, as one of the main methods of nurturing, helps the successor nurturing process through a range of functions. However, the effect of different functions of mentoring on preparing the successor has not been well explained in literature. In this research, we have addressed this issue by identifying the competencies which are developed by applying mentoring functions. To this end, the paper has studied five successful Iranian family businesses. The results suggest that these family businesses have applied all mentoring functions and each function has helped to develop specific competencies in the successor. This article discusses each of the functions and explains the way they affect successor nurturing.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems are receiving growing attention. However, past research has primarily focused on the physical characteristics and artefacts of such systems. The social construction of entrepreneurial ecosystems, and particularly the discourse involved in their creation, evolution and promotion, has not been examined. To address this omission in past research, this conceptual article builds on the work from several disciplines on a specific type of discourse: narratives. Theory is developed regarding the types of narratives constructed in entrepreneurial ecosystems and their functions. The theorising draws from and synthesises multiple streams of research, including work on sense-making, identity construction, legitimacy and attention.