Emotional competencies and cognitive antecedents in shaping student’s entrepreneurial intention: the moderating role of entrepreneurship education

This paper focuses on the analytic thinking of emotional competencies and their influence, in particular, in shaping university students’ entrepreneurial intentions, backed by an extended model of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, and analyses the moderating role of entrepreneurial education among the variables under study. The results, derived from an ex-ante and ex-post questionnaire addressed to Spanish university students engaged in a compulsory entrepreneurship course, were subjected to structural equation modelling analysis. Our findings show that entrepreneurship by university students is favoured by the development of their emotional competencies, due to the direct influence of the latter in shaping entrepreneurial intention and its positive impact on their cognitive antecedents (entrepreneurial attitudes and perceived self-efficacy), and suggest that students with a higher degree of emotional competencies who receive entrepreneurship education will have a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship and will perceive themselves more capable of becoming entrepreneurs. The primary contribution of this paper is to spotlight the use of emotional competencies in encouraging entrepreneurship, and to heighten awareness of the positive effect of education on emotionally-competent students, a factor that should be taken into account to improve entrepreneurship education programmes.

     

Emotional intelligence and career-related outcomes: A meta-analysis

The concept of emotional intelligence has spanned researchers' interest to a considerable extent over the last decades and is now considered as a critical resource that helps individuals to deal with career challenges. However, no empirical effort to integrate these studies has been carried out yet. The current research addresses this gap by proposing an integrated theoretical model and conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of emotional intelligence and its associations with career-related outcomes. Out of a total of 150 independent samples from published and unpublished studies representing N = 50,894 participants, our random-effects meta-analysis showed that emotional intelligence was significantly related to career adaptability, career decision-making self-efficacy, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, salary, career commitment, career decision-making difficulties, career satisfaction, entrepreneurial intentions, and turnover intentions. However, no significant correlations were found with job search self-efficacy and self-perceived employability. Overall, our work conveys important theoretical contributions but also provides recommendations and an agenda for future research.     

A round of dancing and then one more: embedding intuition in the ballet of entrepreneurial decision making

The dance metaphor allows us to figuratively depict entrepreneurial decision making processes. Being conventionally conceived of as a sequence of purposeful behaviors rooted in a rational cognition process, entrepreneurial decision making can be featured as a ‘ballet’. This interpretation puts in the background the improvisational nature of decision making, which revokes ‘lindy hop’ as a dance style. The article intends to illuminate the role of intuition, highlighting its overlap with rationality in the entrepreneurial decision making dance. For this purpose, a bibliometric analysis followed by an interpretive literature review advances a comprehensive report of 66 peer-reviewed journal articles published from 1995 to 2019, constructing evidence on the nature of entrepreneurial decision making and on the interplay between intuition and rationality. Literature is categorized in five clusters, which are reciprocally intertwined. Firstly, intuition is unconsciously used as a strategy to deal with the uncertainty that inherently affects entrepreneurial ventures. Secondly, intuition is rooted in the entrepreneurs’ impulsivity, that echoes the role of emotions in decision making. Thirdly, the merge of rationality and intuition improves the entrepreneurs’ ability to keep up with the erratic rhythm of the decision making dance. Fourthly, the mix of intuition and rationality serves as a catalyst of entrepreneurs’ ability to thrive in complex and unpredictable environments. Fifthly, intuition generates drawbacks on entrepreneurs’ meta-cognitive knowledge, which should be carefully recognized. Embracing the dance metaphor, intuition turns out to be crucial to make entrepreneurs able to fill in the gap between rationality and uncertainty.

     

Entrepreneurs’ achieved success: developing a multi-faceted measure

Firm performance is typically measured via objective financial indicators. However, researchers increasingly acknowledge that entrepreneurs do not measure their success solely in financial terms but that a range of often subjective indicators matter to them. This article contributes to the debate on entrepreneurial performance by studying how entrepreneurs assess their achieved success. ‘Entrepreneurs’ achieved success’ was conceptualized as a multi-faceted construct that includes entrepreneurs’ self-reported achievement of firm performance, workplace relationships, personal fulfilment, community impact, and personal financial rewards. It was measured via the Subjective Entrepreneurial Success–Achievement Scale (SES-AS). Over the course of three studies (N?=?390) the factorial structure of ‘entrepreneurs’ achieved success’ was established and largely replicated in two cultures. Based on a nomological network, we documented relationships among ‘entrepreneurs’ achieved success’, quasi-objective indicators of firm performance, and entrepreneurs’ financial satisfaction, creativity, and health. Based on our research, we propose a new conceptual framework to study performance in the context of entrepreneurship. This framework acknowledges both the success criteria that entrepreneurs wish to achieve and those that they actually achieve, and extends our understanding of firm performance.

     

Why are some graduate entrepreneurs more innovative than others? The effect of human capital,psychological factor and entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial innovativeness

This study investigates the innovation behaviour of graduate start-ups at the individual level. It bridges the graduate enterprise literature and innovative entrepreneurship literature to put forward three arguments that ascertain why highly educated graduate entrepreneurs are not always innovative in starting new businesses. First, anchoring on the individual opportunity costs–entrepreneurial rewards nexus, it argues that graduate entrepreneurs will exploit opportunities innovatively if they expect the levels of entrepreneurial rewards that match their high human capital and high opportunity costs. Second, it is argued that entrepreneurial innovativeness is conditional on psychological factors such as students’ managerial self-efficacy and overconfidence. Third, it is also argued that the nonlinear relationship between entrepreneurial innovativeness and entrepreneurial rewards will drive graduate entrepreneurs to exploit even riskier opportunities in search for high rewards. This study operationalizes the theoretical framework with an empirical model and estimates it using a graduate entrepreneur sample from a questionnaire survey in China. Our results suggest that innovation behaviour of graduate start-ups is influenced by the quantity of human capital, psychological make-up and expectations of entrepreneurial rewards.     

The price of success: balancing the effects of entrepreneurial commitment,work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction

This research explores job satisfaction among entrepreneurs to investigate two paths from entrepreneurial commitment to job satisfaction: the direct path and the family path that includes work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion. An empirical study of 232 small and micro firm business owners are used to test the hypotheses seeking to understand which path to job satisfaction has the greatest influence. The results indicate that although being committed to one’s own business increases job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion takes a greater toll. We conclude that negative aspects of entrepreneurship exert an important influence on entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with their job. These findings offer important theoretical and practical implications.

     

Tracking precursors of entrepreneurial intention: the case of researchers involved in eco-label industry

This article is based on the adaptation of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) to build an entrepreneurial intention framework tailored to the specific context of researchers involved in eco-label industry, who can be perceived as nascent entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial intention model is tested on a convenience sample of researchers involved in eco-label industry from a wide range of countries. The configurational effect of research experience, personal attitude, funding instruments and entrepreneurial education level is tested for causal condition related to entrepreneurial intention of 25 eco-label researchers. The qualitative approach of data reveals that research experience and personal attitude relate positively to entrepreneurial career intentions and that these relationships are mediated by entrepreneurial education level. A multi-sided online platform connecting innovators and potential investors is considered a suitable solution for funding respondents’ results of research and innovation activities. Stimulating entrepreneurial motivations and intentions may help researchers to better adapt to alternative career perspectives. Results of this study suggest several ways to stimulate entrepreneurial career choices among researchers involved in eco-label industry.

     

Full circle support: unpacking the relationship between women entrepreneurs’ family-to-work support and work interference with family

With an anchoring in conservation of resources theory, this study examines the mediating role of women entrepreneurs’ work-related emotional exhaustion in the relationship between their family-to-business support and work interference with family, as well as the moderating role of the entrepreneurial character of their company’s strategy in this process. Survey data collected from women entrepreneurs in Argentina indicate that a notable reason that business support received from the family diminishes work interference with that same family is that it abates the sense of being overburdened by work. This benefit of reduced exhaustion is especially prominent to the extent that women entrepreneurs pursue an energy-consuming, entrepreneurial strategy for their business. For entrepreneurship scholars and practitioners, this research accordingly reveals a critical channel through which supportive family relationships can decrease the probability that women entrepreneurs bring work challenges home (i.e., diminished depletion of work energy), and it shows how this explanatory factor varies with the strategic profile they adopt for their business.

     

Disassembling the influences of perceived family relational conflict on business family offspring’s intrapreneurial intentions

Entrepreneurial business family offspring are key figures in helping family businesses achieve transgenerational entrepreneurship. However, a global survey reveals that entrepreneurial offspring avoid the family business when conducting entrepreneurial activities. Our study makes the first effort to explore what reduces business family offspring’s intrapreneurial intentions in the family business context. Applying a mixed-method approach, we conduct 18 explorative interviews, a pretest of 124 Chinese business family offspring, and a formal survey of 131 Chinese business family offspring approaching their career decision point. We realize that growing up in family businesses often exposes offspring to two types of perceived family relational conflicts that their parents’ entrepreneurial endeavors incur, which we define as “big-family” and “parent-offspring” relational conflicts. Our empirical results suggest that the relationship between perceived family (i.e., parent-offspring and big-family) relational conflict and family business intrapreneurial intentions were serially mediated by family relational outcome expectation and family relational self-efficacy. Contributions to family business research and social cognitive career theory are discussed.

     

Entrepreneurial Hustle: Navigating Uncertainty and Enrolling Venture Stakeholders through Urgent and Unorthodox Action

Entrepreneurs need to act under conditions of uncertainty and resource constraints to bring new, often-unrecognizable products to market and convince an unknown set of stakeholders to support their endeavours. The type of action entrepreneurs take to navigate uncertain entrepreneurial contexts is underspecified. We analysed 48 interviews with entrepreneurs to inductively identify an action-oriented construct we labelled as entrepreneurial hustle – an entrepreneur’s urgent, unorthodox actions that are intended to be useful in addressing immediate challenges and opportunities under conditions of uncertainty. In a follow-up study, we use an experimental vignette approach to assess the impact of an entrepreneur’s hustle on venture stakeholders. Findings suggest that entrepreneurial hustle positively influences stakeholder perceptions of the entrepreneur’s leadership effectiveness and a venture’s legitimacy, mediated by perceptions of the entrepreneur’s ability-based trustworthiness. We conclude that entrepreneurial hustle is a fundamental behaviour that enables entrepreneurs to enrol new venture stakeholders and lead their entrepreneurial efforts.     

Entrepreneurial metacognition: a study on nascent entrepreneurs

This paper contributes to uncovering the role of metacognition in the decision-making process of entrepreneurs. Specifically, we analyze nascent entrepreneurs in their process of start-up development while relying on metacognitive processes. The experiences of a sample of new venture initiatives are explored in two distinct phases, a start-up competition and the subsequent launch of their venture. Following the Gioia protocol, the study contextualizes the process in which social capital reinforces metacognitive processes. This process stimulates nascent entrepreneurs to consider alternatives, such as extending expertise outside the start-up. Moreover, we find that these processes support entrepreneurs and their teams in improving their decision-making processes. The findings support that nascent entrepreneurs rely heavily on the input of others in their start-up creation process, and contribute to new empirical insights about entrepreneurial metacognition. A dynamic model in which these relationships emerge is developed. The study’s results contribute to a better understanding of the antecedents and consequences of metacognitive processes in nascent entrepreneurship.

     

Examining the influence of servant and entrepreneurial leadership on the work outcomes of employees in social enterprises

Abstract

The present study examines the relative influence of two distinct leadership styles, servant leadership and entrepreneurial leadership, on the organizational commitment and innovative behavior of employees working in social enterprises. Analyzing data from 169 employees and 42 social entrepreneurs, we found that, although servant leadership was positively related to followers’ organizational commitment, the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and organizational commitment was insignificant. In contrast, whilst we found evidence that entrepreneurial leadership was positively related to followers’ innovative behavior, the relationship between servant leadership and employees’ innovative behavior was insignificant. Our research contributes to the underdeveloped literature on leadership in social enterprises by exploring the relative effectiveness of different leadership styles (namely an entrepreneurial leadership style and a servant leadership style) in promoting follower work attitudes and behaviors in social enterprises. In addition, our research demonstrates the importance of leadership over and above followers’ individual differences such as pro-social motivation and creative self-efficacy.     

Exploring creative entrepreneurs’ happiness: cognitive style,guanxi and creativity

Traditional economic theories generally assume that entrepreneurs’ satisfaction is largely affected by financial performance of their entrepreneurial business, while recent research suggests that entrepreneurs’ happiness is more important than financial success. Drawing upon the theories of entrepreneurial cognition and social networks, we develop a model to explore the factors influencing entrepreneurs’ happiness. A total of 270 creative entrepreneurs in Taiwan’s creative industries are studied. Results show that entrepreneurs’ creating cognitive style has a positive effect on both entrepreneurs’ creativity and firm creativity, but entrepreneurs’ planning cognitive style has a negative effect. Findings indicate that entrepreneurs with strong family ties and business ties have high level of individual creativity and firm creativity, which then have a positive influence on entrepreneurs’ happiness.     

Special issue on “The role of networks in entrepreneurial performance: new answers to old questions?”

The nature and extent of relationships between entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial performance are old questions. Scholars have explored the nature of entrepreneurial networks and have focused on their relationship with, and effects on, performance, which is viewed in this special issue in terms of the strategic development of established businesses and new ventures. However, while much is now known about the origins and effects of social networks there continues to a paucity of research on how social networks are used in various organizations, and when one or more networks are drawn upon for what specific purpose. Each article in this special issue addresses one or more of these questions in a range of industries and environments, namely poor village entrepreneurs who have to work in a highly challenging financial and social environment in Bangladesh, “early internationalizing small firms” in South Africa, high technology “early-stage ventures” in Hong Kong, 3-D technology ventures that operate with an “open” business model, and the “multi-rational” nature of networks in family businesses in and beyond the UK. In all, this collection of papers comprises a body of scholarship with fine-grained studies on how and when specific social networks are drawn on in various forms of organization. The subsequent discussion of these issues extends knowledge of the various ways in which entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses advance their interests by leveraging familiar business and social networks.     

企业家人力资本研究

论述企业家人力资本的特性:缺乏程式性、全面性重于专业性、边界不确定性和产权不可直接界定与不可交易性;着重研究在企业家人力资本特性下的积累及其棘轮效应,这种效应包含在企业家人力资本积累的起点、过程和退出环节,相对于其他人力资本,企业家人力资本棘轮效应使得企业家人力资本投资风险尤其明显;进而分析企业家劳动的复杂性如何使得企业家劳动定价只能通过企业价值剩余来衡量,并说明合理计算企业价值剩余需要依赖于较为完善的要素市场;最后就创业与企业家培育提出相关建议。     

Teaching proactivity in the entrepreneurial classroom

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which a proactive attitude can be considered a component of the entrepreneurial mindset and can be learned in the entrepreneurial classroom. We test the impact on students’ proactive attitude of two different teaching methods: a teacher-directed approach and a self-directed learning approach. We include group potency and emotions as variables that may moderate proactivity learning outcomes. Our sample is composed of 281 Master students in a French business school. Using a mixed methodological approach, the results demonstrate that the proactive attitude can be learned and that collaborative teamwork, a creative team spirit and positive emotions contribute to its development. We offer guidelines for the pedagogical design of EM education, an alternative tool to assess its impact, and a better understanding of emotional factors associated with group potency in student entrepreneurial teams.     

Unlocking the influence of family business exposure on entrepreneurial intentions

Although the impact of family business exposure on offspring’s entrepreneurial intentions has attracted significant attention, assessments of this impact remain inconsistent. To solve this puzzle, we switch the focus from the presence of family business exposure to the content of exposure by examining the learning experiences of business family offspring. Specifically, we test the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions and explore the underlying process in this relationship. Findings from a sample of 131 Chinese business family offspring support that perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards are positively related to entrepreneurial intentions, and this relationship is found to be partially mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy; additionally, offspring’s family business involvement weakens the positive impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions but strengthens the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The findings from this research contribute to the social cognitive career theory, family business, and entrepreneurial cognition literature. We also provide practical guidance for parent entrepreneurs by clarifying the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards and family business involvement on their children’s entrepreneurial intentions.     

Who am I? The influence of social identification on academic entrepreneurs’ role conflict

Academic entrepreneurs are the key actors in academic entrepreneurship. However, the individual level of research on academic entrepreneurship remains undeveloped. To better understand the micro foundation of academic entrepreneurship, we investigate the influence of social identification on academic entrepreneurs’ role conflict. Using data from 246 academic entrepreneurs, we explore the effects of scholarly identification, entrepreneurial identification, and social identity continuity on academic entrepreneurs’ role conflict. The results suggest that, entrepreneurial identification and social identify continuity are both negative related to identify conflict, while a scholarly identification is positively related to role conflict. In addition, the interaction of scholarly identification and entrepreneurial identification is negatively associated with role conflict. We also investigate the performance implications of such a role conflict and show that it is negatively related to academic entrepreneurship performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

     

Entrepreneurial learning from observing role models

Abstract

This study examines entrepreneurial learning through the observation of role models. Adopting an interpretive and inductive approach, and using biographical interviews and life course techniques, the article examines how sixteen entrepreneurs articulate their entrepreneurial learning from role models. The overarching research question ‘How do entrepreneurs learn from observing role models?’ enables illustrating who the role models are (parents, teachers, colleagues, other entrepreneurs), the relevant social contexts (home, education, workplace) and what is learned in relation to entrepreneurial learning tasks (learning about oneself, managing relationships, the business and small business management). The study contributes to developing the social perspectives of entrepreneurial learning by demonstrating the significance of learning from role models in different social contexts and at distinct entrepreneurial stages pre- and post-start-up.     

上行何以下效?创业型领导对员工越轨创新的影响

通过采用226位领导者-员工的调研数据,以积极情绪的扩展-构建理论及工作要求-资源模型为基础,基于感性与理性双路径,通过实证检验,得到以下研究结论:创业型领导能够正向预测员工越轨创新;工作繁荣在感性路径中起中介作用,工作重塑在理性路径中起到中介作用;社会自我效能感在创业型领导与工作繁荣的感性路径中,以及在创业型领导与工作重塑的理性路径中均起到正向调节作用;社会自我效能感同时也调节了工作繁荣与工作重塑的中介效应。基于此,提出了选拔及培育创业型领导、营造“自由决策”氛围、形成鼓励创新制度、构建容错文化、制定基于“结果”衡量创新的制度,以激励并管理越轨创新。