Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to understand entrepreneurial intentions of senior executives pursuing MBA program (original) (raw)

The role of entrepreneurs in generating employment is well-known. To promote and initiate sustainable venture creation a better understanding the 'push' and 'pull' factors that affect the entrepreneurs is needed. Experienced professionals often quit their jobs to start their own ventures. However, existing research offers few theory-backed, consistent frameworks that throw light on entrepreneurial intentions of such individuals. This paper aims to test the relevance of an intentions model by applying it on a select group of. The behavior-intention link is probed using Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior.A questionnaire consisting of 31 items was administered online to senior executives pursuing distance learning courses in management from a private university. The questions were Likert-type questions with 7 scales. Items used in the questionnaire probed into the respondents' views on why people start their own business and the various factors that promote or deter this process. Analysis of the data obtained from the respondents was found to correspond to the three parameters of the Theory of Planned Behavior- namely attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavior control. The data was found to have high reliability.Though there was a great deal of variance in the entrepreneurial intent of the respondents, there was no difference on the impact of the three parameters on entrepreneurial intent. This finding suggests that intentions exist in all individuals which transform into desired behavior (venture creation).In future, the results of this study are proposed to be tested on a group of nascent/yet-to-start entrepreneurs to further establish the intention-behavior link.

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