Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Institute for Work, Social and Organizational Psychology

Entrepreneurial Motivation, Personality

and Competencies

Dominika Dej

Institute of Work-, Organizational- and Social Psychology, TU

Dresden

Prague, 25. 07. 2011

Silesian University in Katowice

Dresden University of Technology

Todays agenda
We get to know
Entrepreneurial motivation
Entrepreneurial personality traits
Entrepreneurial competencies
Assess your entrepreneurial potential
Active group exercises
Pillars of the seminar

Theory + (Inter) Action

Skills cannot be mastered by listening to lectures but by

observation of positive models () coupled with repeated
practice and feedback.
Richard Hackman

Participation: Leaving the comfort zone

 What is motivation?

Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal,

combined with the energy to work towards that
goal

Motivation is the basic drive for all of our actions

and it directs our behavious

A motive is a need for specific experiences

Motives are stimulated by the situation

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 3 main motives
(McClelland, 1985)

Achievement motivation
is based on reaching success and achieving all of our aspirations in life. An
individual with achievement motivation wishes to achieve objectives and advance
up on the ladder of success. Here, accomplishment is important for its own sake
and not for the rewards that accompany it. The capacity to derive satisfaction from
the autonomous mastery of challenging tasks.
Power motivation
is the drive to influence people and change situations. Power motivated people wish
to create an impact on their organization and are willing to take risks to do so.
Includes need for control and prestige. The capacity to derive pleasure from having
mental or emotional impact on other individuals or groups of individuals.
Affiliation motivation
is a drive to relate to people on a social basis. Persons with the affiliation
motivation perform better when they are complimented for their favorable attitudes
and co-operation. A capacity to derive satisfaction from establishing, maintaining,
and restoring positive relationships with others.

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 Explicit Motives

Explicit motives are expressed through deliberate choices

I am a person who

Achievement: I am basically a
competitive person, and I compete
just for the sake of competing.

Autonomy; In my work assignments, I

try to be my own boss

Affiliation: When I have a choice, I try

to work in a group instead of by
myself.

Power: I seek an active role in the

(PRF, Jackson, 1984) 7
leadership of a group.
 Implicit motives

Implicit motives are spontaneous impulses to act

What is going on here?

Who are these people?
What do they think?
What do they want?
What will happen?

(Winter, 1991)
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 Implicit vs. explicit motives

r .0

Implicit Motives Explicit Motives

I am a person who

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(McClelland, Koestner & Weinberger, 1989; Brunstein, 2006)
Class activity: Entrepreneurial motivation

1) What personal factors motivate people to start up a

business?

2) What external situational factors motivate people to start

up a business?

3) What factors (both personal and situational) discourage

people to become entrepreneurs?
 Opportunity vs. Necessity

Opportunity driven entrepreneurs

(future orientation)

- want to exploit a perceived business opportunity

- strive for independence, self-actualisation, recognition and profit
maximization
- on average they rise higher than necessity driven entrepreneurs

Necessity driven entrepreneurs

(away from orientation)
- are pushed into entrepreneurship because all other options for work are
either absent or unsatisfactory
- dissatisfaction with working conditions, contents and time
- pursue entrepreneurship to secure their own existence
Push vs. pull motivational
factors
 1. Estimation of start up chances
in a given environment
2. Perception of own necessary skills and
Motivation Start
abilities up
3. Availability of role models
4. Fear of failure and its personal, social,
and financial consequences
Positive models: Bill Gates A story
of Success
Example of Entrepreneurial Traits

Need of achievement
Denotes individuals need to strive hard to attain success.
Setting demanding targets for oneself, being proactive, tendency to take
immediate responsibility for tasks, plan and control events. Want to receive
feedback about their level of performance.

Locus of control
One aspect of the cognitive style which represents the extension to which
individual feels in charge.
Perception of control over the environment by ones action, belief that luck
and fate do not really determine what happens.
Risk taking
Describes the individual cognitive style with respect to taking risks.
Actively seeking risky assignments and having greater propensity to take
risks.

Personal initiative
A behaviour syndrome resulting in an individuals taking an active and self-
starting approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a
given job.

Tolerance of ambiguity
Describes ones ability to make decision with incomplete information.
Making decisions in situations of high uncertainty.
Creativity
Describes the tendency towards experimentation, trial and error, lateral
thinking.
Thinking in non-conventional ways, challenging existing assumptions,
flexibility and adaptability in problem solving.

Need of autonomy
Represents ones strive to be independent and having control.
Avoiding restrictions, rules, procedures and strong need for independence
and autonomy.

Self-efficacy
Describes optimistic self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands.
Belief that one's actions will produce desired results.
Example of Entrepreneurial Motivational Traits
Ambition (Healthy ambition)
Strong desire to attain high results; willingness to make something real
and to meet high standards

Egoistic passion
acting in ones own interests, passion in following own goals doesnt mean
ignoring other people. Scarifying other things in order to follow own
priorities

Energy
Hardiness, endurance, stamina

Tenacity
being persistent in following ideas in troubles, not giving up
 Big-Five personality variables
(FFM; Costa &McCrae, 1992)
Dimension Description
Neuroticism Represents individual
differences in emotional
stability
Extraversion Represents the extent to
which an individual is
assertive, dominant,
energetic, talkative
Openness to Describes tendency to seek
Experience new experiences, exploration
of novel ideas
Agreeableness Represents ones
interpersonal orientation
Conscientious Describes individuals degree
ness of organisation, persistence,
hard work and motivation in
pursuit the goal
accomplishment
High scores on the scale Low scores on the
scale
Experiencing negative emotions: Self-confidence,
anxiety, hostility, depression, self calm, relaxed
consciousness, impulsiveness
Tendency to be cheerful, like Tendency to spend
people and big groups, look for time alone, being
excitement and stimulation reserved, quiet,
independent
Being creative, innovative, Being narrow,
imaginative, reflective, conventional, non
untraditional analytical
Trusting, forgiving, caring, Low need for
altruistic, gullible, tendency to affiliation,
have good interpersonal unforgiving,
relationships able to make difficult
decisions
High need of achievement, Low need of
persistence and dependability achievement and low
(reflects the extend to which one dependability
is organised, deliberate, fulfils
duties and responsibilities)
Your entrepreneurial potential
1) Personal initiative

2) Self-efficacy

3) Achievement seeking

4) Creativity

Your task
Fill out the questionnaires
Calculate the mean score (M)
Discuss your results briefly with your neighbour
Your vs. entrepreneurs entrepreneurial potential

Personal initiative
Entrepreneurs' from Poland, Germany & The Netherlands
(N= 325), Mean = 4.00 (SD= .54)

- No gender & country differences

- No differences between industry sectors (IT vs.
Restaurants)

- Norm Population (M= 3.5)

- (Frese, Kring, Soose & Zempel, 1996)
Self-efficacy
Entrepreneurs' from Poland, Germany & The Netherlands
(N= 325), Mean = 3.13 (SD= .36)

- No gender & country differences

- No differences between industry sectors (IT vs. Restaurants)

- Norm Population (M= 2.9)

- (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1989)
Psychological tests - measuring
entrepreneurial potential

- Are they useful and when?

- Advantages/ Disadvantages
- What are their alternatives?
Personality traits vs.
competencies
Personality trait
A relative stable, consistent, and enduring internal characteristic
that inferred from a pattern of behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and
habits in the individual.

Competence
Ones developed repertoire of skills, especially as it is applied to a
task or set of task

VandenBos, G.R. (Ed.) (2007). APA Dictionary of Psychology.

Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.
Examples of Entrepreneurial Competencies

Entrepreneurial Career Vision

Includes formulation of long term goals and preparation of action-
implementation plan.

Decision Taking
Means to analyze the different alternatives available in order to
determine the best path to follow assuming full responsibility of the
outcomes.
Management
Ability to gather, integrate and manage required resources in order to
start, maintain and grow within the organization.
 Conceptual thinking
Ones disposition to identify the relation existing among different
components in complex situations, that are not directly related, and
the ability to construct models that are easy to use.

Entrepreneurial networking
Includes establishing, maintaining and taking advantages of
interpersonal and institutional relationships in order to achieve
entrepreneurial goals.

Flexibility
Ones disposition to change focus in order to follow better fitting
options that allow tasks to be well executed.
THANK YOU!!!