Entrepreneurial Career

2 Management Dynamics Volume 20 No 2, 2011

Perceptions of an entrepreneurial career:

Do small business owners and university

students concur?

Shelley Farrington*Beverley GrayGary SharpNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

ABSTRACT

An individual’s decision to follow a particular career pathis influenced by their attitude towards that career, which inturn is influenced by their beliefs or perceptions of whetherthe experience would be desirable or not if they shouldchoose that particular career. One’s perceptions of anentrepreneurial career influence one’s intentions to embarkon such a career path.Against this background, the primaryobjective of this study was to identify and evaluate severalwork values as applicable to an entrepreneurial career.

Respondents were identified by means of convenience andjudgemental sampling, and in total, 739 usablequestionnaires were returned, 454 from students and 285from small business owners.

The results of this study show significant differences withregard to how an entrepreneurial career is perceived bystudents and small business owners. Students were moreidealistic in terms of the time that they would haveavailable to them to live a balanced lifestyle, the financialbenefits they would receive, the challenges and prestigethat they would experience, as well as the possibilities forpersonal growth and development. Educators ofentrepreneurship at primary, secondary and tertiary level,as well as career guidance counsellors, play a vital role inproviding a realistic perspective of what it is like to embarkon an entrepreneurial career. Unrealistic or unmet careerexpectations could lead to disappointment and failure.

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As is the case in other countries (Timmons and Spinelli,2009; Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007), small and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa make asubstantial and increasing contribution to economic

activity and job creation (Venter, Urban and Rwigema,2008: 21; Nieman, 2006: 10; Malagas, 2003: 33).Althoughthe data on small business enterprises is diverse, and inmost cases speculative, estimates suggest that there areapproximately two million small business enterprises inSouth Africa, which contribute to about half of totalemployment and 30% of total Gross Domestic Product(Economic transformation, 2010; Herrington, Kew andKew, 2010; Boosting small business, 2009; Time is nowright for entrepreneurs to start and run their ownbusinesses, 2006). Most economists in the country, as wellas the government agree that SMEs are probably the mosteffective way to lower unemployment and promoteeconomic growth (Qhena, 2007: 32; Erwin, 2002).As such, these small enterprises are seen as a potentialsolution to some of South Africa’s economic and socialdifficulties, and are a vital and growing part of business inthis country today.

Despi te commendable effor t s to encourageentrepreneurship and small business start-ups in SouthAfrica, research (Herrington ., 2010) shows that giventhe country’s income, South Africa has a lower-than-expected entrepreneurial activity rate. According tothe Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey of2009 (Herrington ., 2010: 59), the total early stageentrepreneurial activity (TEA) scored by South Africa(5.9%) is considerably lower than the average for allefficiency-driven economies (11.2%), as well as theaverage for all middle-to-low-income countries (14.8%).According to the GEM data, a country at South Africa’sstage of economic development would be expected to havea TEA rate in the order of 13%, more than double SouthAfrica’s actual rate (Herrington, Kew and Kew, 2009: 4).The 2009 GEM survey also reports that although 64%of South Africans perceive entrepreneurship as a goodcareer choice, this is lower than that reported (71%) inefficiency-driven economies. Furthermore, only 11% ofrespondents in that survey report having entrepreneurialintentions, in comparison to an average of 19% in other

INTRODUCTION

et alper capita

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participating countries (Herrington ., 2010: 61).The Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’Survey (GUESS) (Scheepers, Solomon and de Vries,2010) has shown that 42% of South African students areinclined to start their own business, compared to 13.4% ofinternational students. However, the majority of bothSouth African (64.7%) and international (74.8%) studentsprefer dependent employment for the first five years aftercompleting their studies.

In light of South Africa’s low TEA rates (Herrington .,2010), as well as the results of the GEM and GUESSsurveys, it appears that starting a small business orbecoming an entrepreneur is not a career of choice amongSouth Africans. Parr (2007) argues that South Africanswho have the potential to become entrepreneurs are eitherfinding it difficult to identify opportunities that could leadto viable business ventures, or else are just not choosing tofollow an entrepreneurial career path.

An individual’s intention to perform a given behaviour,such as choosing a particular career path, is central to thetheory of planned behaviour. According to Ajzen (1991:181), the general rule is that the stronger the intention toengage in a behaviour, the more likely will be theperformance of that behaviour. The theory of plannedbehaviour postulates that three independent variablesdetermine intentions, namely the

, the social pressure to perform or not performthe behaviour ( ), and the

. The more favourable the attitude andsubjective norm regarding a particular behaviour, and thegreater the perceived behavioural control, the morelikely should be an individual’s intention to performthe behaviour under consideration (Ajzen, 1991: 188;2006: 1). Ajzen (1991: 188) suggests that the relativeimportance of ,

and in the predictionof intention is expected to vary across behaviours andsituations. Local studies (Gray, Farrington and Sharp,2010; Gird and Bagraim, 2008) applying the theory ofplanned behaviour to entrepreneurial intentions havereported as having thestrongest influence on entrepreneurial intentions.

‘Attitude toward the behaviour’ refers to the degree towhich a person has a favourable or unfavourableevaluation of the behaviour in question (Ajzen, 1991: 188;Ajzen, 1985: 31-35) and reflects a person’s judgementabout the impact of the desired behaviour (Ajzen andFishbein, 1980). Furthermore ‘Attitude toward thebehaviour’is a function of beliefs relevant to the behaviour- beliefs about the likely outcomes of the behaviour and theevaluations of these outcomes - which are assumed toinfluence attitudes toward the behaviour (Ajzen, 2006: 1;Ajzen, 1991: 189). Zellweger, Sieger and Halter (2010: 3)propose that one’s attitude toward performing thebehaviour taps perceptions of the personal desirability ofperforming the behaviour. The theory of planned

behaviour posits that one’s attitude toward anentrepreneurial career or self-employment, determinesone’s intentions to embark on such a career path. One’sattitude, however, is determined by one’s beliefs orperceptions about such a career path. For example, Autio,Keeley, Klofsten and Ulfstedt (1997) report that careerpreferences and entrepreneurial conviction are influencedby the image of entrepreneurship as a career alternative.Similarly, Liñán (2008: 260) argues that an individual’sdecision to create a new enterprise is based on personalpreference or attraction toward entrepreneurship.

For SouthAfrica to fully benefit from the contributions thatsmall businesses can make to the economy,entrepreneurship and self-employment should bepositioned as a highly desirable career option, and SouthAfricans should be encouraged to pursue this option(Parr, 2007). However, to position entrepreneurship as adesirable career, positive beliefs and perceptions aboutstarting and managing an own business as a career shouldbe cultivated. An individual’s decision to follow aparticular career path is influenced by their attitudetowards that career, which in turn is influenced by theirbeliefs or perceptions of whether that experience would bedesirable or not, if they should choose that particularcareer.

‘Work values’refer to the outcomes that people desire fromtheir work in general, and that they feel they shouldaccomplish through their work. A person’s work valuesdescribe which components of a job are important tohis/her work satisfaction (Twenge, Campbell, Hoffmanand Lance, 2010: 5; Duffy and Sedlacek, 2007: 359).Work values shape employees’ perceptions of preferencein the workplace, and as such have a direct influenceon employee attitudes, behaviours, job decisionsand perceptions (Twenge ., 2010: 5). Values, andspecifically work values, play an important role in careercounselling and in the career decision-making process(Duffy and Sedlacek, 2007: 359). According to McKay(n.d.), taking one’s values into account when choosing acareer could be the most important factor that determineswhether one is satisfied or not with that aspect of life.It is these work values that are considered in an effort tounderstand the beliefs and subsequent attitudes toward anentrepreneurial career in this study. Investigating how anentrepreneurial career is perceived in terms of work valueswill enable such a career path to be positionedappropriately and realistically relative to other careerchoices.

According to Zaidatol Akmaliah (2009: 340), an attitudetoward self-employment is an individual’s perceptionof working as the owner of a business, and one’s attitudetoward self-employment is associated with self-employment intentions (Kolvereid and Isaksen, 2006;Kolvereid, 1996). The question thus arises as to howowning and managing an own business is perceived andactually experienced as a career, specifically in terms of

et al

et al

Attitude toward thebehaviour

Subjective norm Perceivedbehavioural control

Attitude toward the behaviour Subjectivenorm Perceived behavioural control

Attitude toward the behaviour

et al

Management Dynamics Volume 20 No 2, 2011 3

certain work values. In addition, does this actualexperience of an entrepreneurial career differ from thatwhich is expected?

In pursuit of answering these questions, the primaryobjective of this study is to identify and evaluate severalwork values as applicable to an entrepreneurial career. Inorder to address the primary objective, the followingsecondary objectives have been formulated:

In this study, an ‘entrepreneurial career’ refers to owningand managing one’s own small business. Furthermore, thedefinition of a ‘small business’ to be applied in this study isa business that is independently owned and managed andemploys more than 5 but fewer than 50 persons.

Perceptions of the real world of business differ betweenindividuals who are already working and those who willenter the business world at some point in the future, such asschool leavers or university students. The results of thisstudy provide insight into what students think it would belike to follow an entrepreneurial career, and how theseperceptions differ from reality, namely the perceptionsof individuals who currently own and run their ownbusinesses. The findings indicate that in comparison tobusiness owners, students believe that owning their ownbusiness will provide them with greater financial benefits,prestige, flexibility and challenges than are experienced inreality by the small business owners participating in thestudy. These insights will be of value to education ingeneral, and educators of entrepreneurship and careeradvisors in particular, who are required to provide studentswith an accurate description of what owning and managingan own business entails. In addition, from these insights,prospective entrepreneurs are provided with a morerealistic idea of what it might be like to own one’s ownbusiness as a career choice.

This study presents a brief overview of supportingliterature on the work values under investigation, andrelevant hypotheses are formulated. Thereafter, theresearch methodology is described and the empiricalfindings presented. Conclusions are made and implications

are discussed. Lastly, the limitations of the study arepresented, and avenues for future research highlighted.

According to Coetzee (2006), a ‘career’ involves thesequence of jobs, roles and positions that an individualholds during the period of his/her working life. Coetzee andHerman (2007), describe a career as the experiences of anindividual during his/her professional life, through thejobs, roles and assignments he/she undertakes. Throughoutthe period of an individual’s professional life, anindividual’s career choice is likely to lead to one or moreoccupations (Stead and Watson, 1993).

Several factors exist (Nelson, 1995; Stead and Watson,1993) that could influence an individual’s career choice.These include, amongst others:

In their model of career choice, Rousseau andVenter (2009: 4) identify and

variables as influencing goal setting, goalprogress and ultimately career choice. ‘Individualvariables’ refer to aspects such as work-related interests,talents and personality, whereas ‘environmental variables’include variables such as occupational opportunities,job skills and knowledge demands, work values andeconomic growth potential. ‘Situational variables’ relate toeducation, family and social-cultural influences.Schreuder and Theron (2001), on the other hand, describethe factors that influence the choice of pursuing aparticular career as or .‘Subjective criteria’ relate to aspects such as individualpreferences, aspirations and intentions, whereas ‘objectivecriteria’ include economic conditions and a person’s levelof education.

In the context of choosing a particular career opportunity,an individual must decide whether the desirability of thatoption is greater than for alternative career options(Douglas and Shepherd, 2000). According to Steel andKonig (2006), ‘desirability’ is a form of value andvalues are important determinants of behaviour,particularly values that influence work attitudes(Twenge ., 2010: 19).

CAREERS AND CAREER CHOICES

individual, environmentalsituational

subjective objective criteria

et al

•

•

•

•

To undertake a literature study in order to identify

the various work values;

To develop an instrument to measure the identified

work values in the context of an entrepreneurial

career;

To assess the work values as applicable to an

entrepreneurial career by means of interpreting

descriptive statistics; and

To compare entrepreneurial career perceptions

between students of Business Management and

existing small business owners in terms of the work

values identified in this study.

Parents’wishes and the occupations of parents;

The views of friends, relatives and role models;

A glamorous picture of certain occupations painted

by the media;

Career guidance and information available on

career choices; as well as

Financial limitations, values and intellectual ability.

• Childhood dreams;

•

•

•

•

•


Several authors have identified work values as a variableinfluencing career choice (Venter, 2009; Stead and Watson,1993; Nelson, 1995). Rousseau and Venter (2009) believethat work values are important career choice factors forboth career choices in general and for initial career choice.In addition, they contend that understanding anindividual’s work values can provide insight into careeraspirations. Fitzsimmons and Douglas (2010: 4) proposethat the attractiveness of a career alternative can be rated interms of various work values. Work values have also beenshown to predict career choice, and when work values arerealised in the work environment, they significantlypredict job satisfaction and job performance (Duffy andSedlacek, 2007: 360).

As previously mentioned, ‘work values’ refer to theoutcomes that people desire, and feel that they shouldachieve through their work (Twenge ., 2010: 5). Workvalues are classified as ‘extrinsic’, ‘intrinsic’, ‘altruistic’,‘status-related’, ‘freedom-related’ and ‘social’ (Cennamoand Gardner, 2008: 892). ‘Extrinsic’ work values focus onthe consequence or outcomes of the work and are unrelatedto the job itself. Extrinsic values are tangible rewardsexternal to the individual, and include aspects such asfinancial remuneration, material possessions, job security,advancement opportunities and market-related factors(Twenge ., 2010; Cennamo and Gardner, 2008: 892;Duffy and Sedlacek, 2007;Ahmed,Alam andAlam, 1997).‘Intrinsic’ values occur through the process of work, andrelate to satisfaction derived from features of the job andfrom the job itself, such as creativity, autonomy,independence, intellectual challenge and stimulation aswell as a dynamic environment (Twenge ., 2010;Cennamo and Gardner, 2008: 892; Duffy and Sedlacek,2007; Ahmed ., 1997). ‘Altruistic’ values relate toissues such as making a contribution to society and helpingothers through work, whereas ‘status-related’ values referto aspects such as prestige, influence, recognition andadvancement. ‘Freedom-related’values concern work-lifebalance and working hours, and ‘social’ values refer to theneed to belong or to be connected through working withpeople and relationships with others (Twenge ., 2010;Cennamo and Gardner, 2008: 892; Duffy and Sedlacek,2007; Myburgh, 2005).

Several studies investigating the career perceptions of avariety of different careers have done so using workvalues. These include studies relating to perceptions ofoccupations in general (Millward, Houston, Brown andBarrett, 2006; Burger, Mahadea and O’Neil, 2004; Moy,Luk and Wright, 2003) and more specifically, nursing(Foskett, 1998), accounting (Myburgh, 2005), computing(Steher, Martin and Byrne, 2001), agriculture (Cecchettini,Sommer and Leising, 1992), law enforcement (Andersen,2006), mining (What students want, 2007), medical(Cutler, Alspector, Harding, Wright and Graham, 2006;Scott and Gunderson, 2003), and retailing (Miller, 2009).Based on these studies, several aspects influencingoccupational choices have been identified. For the purpose

of this study, these aspects have been grouped into14 categories or work values. These work values and theirsupporting descriptive statements identified from theabove studies are summarised in Table 1.

Accordingly, the 14 work values served as the factors to beinvestigated in nentrepreneurial career.

Rousseau and Venter (2009: 5) assert that what one expectsfrom a particular career and what one experiences inreality, do not always correspond. Similarly, Heslop,McIntyre and Ives (2001) suggest that differences betweenstudent expectations and the realities of the workplacemark the transition between university and the workplace.

Several studies have compared student expectations of aparticular career with actual experiences of that career(Gedye, Fender and Chalkley, 2004; Scott and Gunderson,2003; Daniel, Chamberlain and Gordon, 2001; Heslop

2001; Olson, 2000; Ferguson and Hatherly, 1991;Bosco, n.d.). The findings of Bosco (n.d.) suggest thatstudents enter nursing with a somewhat limitedperspective of what the nursing profession can offeras a career path. Furthermore, Daniel . (2001) reporteddifferences between nurses’ expectations of the nursingrole and their actual experience in hospital wards. Olson(2000) investigated whether student expectations played arole in their actual internship experience. She reported thatstudents who matched or exceeded their expectationsappeared to be more proactive, with a well-developed planregarding their internship experience, and concluded that amismatch between expectations and actual experience didnot always result in negative outcomes. However, whenchanges do not occur that help alter expectations for thestudent, learning is likely to be more limited (Olson, 2000).Sutton and Griffin (2000) found that students hold inflatedexpectations about their first job and retain traditionaloccupational-therapy work values. In their studyexamining the match between physicians’ expectationsand the actual practice of their speciality, Gibson andBorges (n.d.) reported that approximately 85% ofphysicians felt that their expectation for their specialitymatched their actual experience in the field. Scott andGunderson (2003: 6) found that the career perceptions ofresidency candidates’ differed significantly from those ofpractising ophthalmologists. Residency candidatesunderestimated the amount of responsibility expected inmedical practice, anticipated a career with more diversity,expected less time to be spent in direct patient care, held amore idealistic perception of their career expectations,and also underestimated the amount of job pressure in thefield of ophthalmology, than practising physicians did.These findings led Scott and Gunderson (2003) to assumethat candidates lacking in professional experiences wouldtherefore also lack a valid framework upon which to assessmany of the specific career expectations, and this lack ofexperience may shape their perceptions.

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assessing the perceptions of a


In their study investigating the expectations andpost-graduation experiences of geography students,Gedye (2004) concluded that any careers educationoffered by geography departments should pay attention tomanaging the sometimes unrealistic career expectationsand often rather vague career plans of geography students.Lee and Hagerty (2008) reported that senior students hadmore realistic occupational expectations of interior designpositions than junior students. However, senior studentssignificantly differed from interior-design practitioners intheir expectations of working conditions, general worktype and management. Ferguson and Hatherly (1991)found that accounting students expected the basic workingconditions to be more severe than trainees perceived itactually to be. A survey among 150 founders of newbusinesses showed that 50% of respondents reported lowerthan expected revenues and profits, and experienced lessthan anticipated personal success and living standards(Brenner, Pringle and Greenhaus, 1991).

Rousseau and Venter (2009: 5) claim that experience, withthe benefit of hindsight, may change one’s perceptions andattitudes, not only concerning a particular career choice,but also with regard to the factors that initially influencedthat choice. As suggested by Schoenfeld (1972),perception of reality plays an increasingly important rolein career choice as one matures.

Based on the literature review above, the followinghypotheses were formulated:

H : There is no difference between the mean scores of thework values associated with an entrepreneurial careerreported by the student and small business ownerssample groups

H : Significant differences exist between the mean scoresof the work values associated with an entrepreneurialcareer reported by the student and small businessowners sample groups

et al.

0

1

Work values Statements reflecting work values

Time Work-life balance; time to spend with friends and family; time for interests outside of work; time for a social life;working hours that allow one to have a good social life; regularity of work hours.

Flexibility Flexible working hours; job and career flexibility; opportunity to move between workplaces.

Financial benefit High salary; opportunity to earn lots of money; increased personal income; initial and future earning potential;salary and benefits; financial gain; economic reward; instrumentality of wealth; acquisition of personal wealth;financial success.

Challenging Doing challenging work/tasks; challenging career; competing demands; challenging profession.

Stimulating Doing exciting work; doing a variety of things; change and diversity in tasks, place and people; rapidlychanging; interesting and exciting; enjoyable and stimulating; fun; adventure; doing what you love; happy to goto work; not mundane and repetitive.

Imaginative Permits creativity and originality; opportunity to be creative; build on ideas and adapt or re-invent them; developnew ideas, innovation and initiatives.

Security Being sure of a job; being certain of keeping a job; being certain a job will last; a stable future; employmentsecurity; job security; confidence in income; personal security; provide for retirement.

Prestige Being looked up to by others; prestige; respected position in the community; gain public recognition; status infamily and in society; status of profession; recognition.

Autonomy Freedom, independence and choice; doing my work in my own way; make my own decisions; independence ofactions; sense of freedom and power; maintain personal freedom.

Interaction Getting to know fellow workers; developing close ties with co-workers; working closely with people; people-orientated; opportunity to work with people; working as part of a team; social interaction; having pleasantfriendly contacts; interaction with others.

Serving the community Being of service to society; making the world a better place; helping others; socially responsible; contribution tothe community; contribution to society; helping and caring for others; opportunity to help others; worthwhile tosociety.

Stress* Feeling threatened; feeling uncomfortable; gives one a sinking feeling when thinking of it; dealing with crisesand conflicts; working under pressure.

Responsibility Management responsibility; degree of responsibility expected to assume; responsibility for other people;responsibility for getting things done; responsibility for significant business activities.

Future prospects Opportunities for promotion and advancement; future career progression; career advancement progress;promotion prospects for the future.

* Note: Stress is not considered to be a value, but being ‘stress-free’is. The reverse of this factor is considered a value for the purpose of this study.

TABLE 1WORK VALUES


METHODOLOGY

Sample and sampling method

Data collection and statistical analyses

The sample

Validity and reliability

In order to address the primary objective of this study, twosamples were identified as participants, namelyundergraduate students of Business Management andexisting small business owners. Respondents wereidentified by means of convenience and judgementalsampling, and a survey instrument was administered.The Business Management students were convenientlyselected from undergraduate students at the NelsonMandela Metropolitan University, whereas specifiedcriteria were used in judging the selection of small businessowners operating in Nelson Mandela Bay, to participate inthe study. Judgemental sampling was used to identify smallbusiness owner respondents because no complete list ofsmall businesses is available in South Africa. The criteriaby which the small business owner respondents wereidentified, included the following: the respondent had to beactively involved in running (owning and managing) thebusiness, the business had to have been in operation for atleast one year, and the business had to employ more than 5,but fewer than 50 persons.

The sample consisted of 803 students and 355 smallbusiness owners. In total, 739 usable questionnaires werereturned, 454 from students and 285 from small businessowners, yielding a response rate of 64%.

Each work value under investigation was clearly definedand operationalised. Work values were measured usingseveral self-generated items which were based on previousstudies referred to in the literature overview. By means of astructured self-administered measuring instrument theseitems were then used to empirically measure the workvalues as applicable to an entrepreneurial career amongboth the student and small business owner samples.

Demographic information pertaining to the student andsmall business owner respondents, as well as the smallbusiness itself, was requested in SectionA. Section B of themeasuring instrument consisted of 69 statements (items)relating to the various work values under investigation. Inthe case of the student questionnaire, the items measuringthe constructs were phrased to measure perceptions of“what it could be like to run one’s own business”. Theseexact items were used in the small business ownerquestionnaire, but in the latter case the items were phrasedto measure perceptions of “what it is like to run one’s ownbusiness”. Using a 7-point Likert-type scale, respondentswere requested to indicate their extent of agreement withregard to each statement. The scale was interpreted as1 = and 7 =

The data collected from 739 usable questionnairessubjected to various statistical analyses. An exploratoryfactor analysis was undertaken and Cronbach-alpha

coefficients were calculated respectively to assess thevalidity and reliability of the measuring instrument.Descriptive statistics relating to the work values, such asthe mean, standard deviation and frequency distributions,were calculated to summarise the sample data. In order toestablish whether differences in mean scores reported bystudents versus small bu

al significance.

Just over half of the student respondents were male (56%)and the large majority (99%) were under the age of 25years. The majority of student respondents were non-white(67%), with Black students making up the largest singleracial group (49%). The majority of respondents werecompleting a BCom degree. Most respondents reportedthat neither of their parents were self-employed (55%), butthe majority (66%) indicated that they themselvesundertook some form of employment (occasional, casualor full-time).

The demographic characteristics of the small businessowners showed that the majority of the respondents weremale (72%) and less than 49 years of age (69%). An evennumber of white and non-white respondents (businessowners) participated in the study. A large number (66%)identified that they possessed a tertiary qualification.A little over half of the respondents (52%) reported thatneither of their parents were self-employed. The averagenumber of years that respondents had owned their ownbusiness was 9.72 years. Most respondents reported thattheir businesses operated in either the retail (30%) orservices (36%) industries, and 49% considered theirbusinesses to be family businesses. Businessesparticipating in the study employed, on average, between9 and 10 people.

An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identifythe unique factors present in the data, and as such, assessthe validity of the measuring instrument. The softwareprogramme Statistica version 8.0 was used for this

strongly disagree strongly agree.

were

siness owners were statisticallysignificant, logistic regression modelling and t-teststatistics were undertaken. In addition, Cohen’s d statisticswere calculated to consider practic

purpose. Principal component analysis with a varimaxrotation was specified as the extraction and rotationmethod. In deciding on the factors (constructs) to extract,the percentage of variance explained and the individualfactor loading, were considered.

The exploratory factor analysis undertaken on the workvalues revealed that the original 14 factors loaded asexpected. However, only 3 of the 5 items originallyintended to measure and S loaded ontothese factors. Similarly, only 4 of the 5 items measuring thefactors , and loaded asexpected. The 14 work values cumulatively explain 43%of variance in the data. Factor loadings of

Time timulating

Flexibility Challenging Interaction

> 0.6


(Hair, Black, Babin,Anderson and Tatham, 2006) emergedfor all factors. This finding provides evidence of practicalsignificance and a factor structure which has been welldefined. Evidence of validity for the measuring scales isthus provided.

Based on the results of the factor analysis and theitems that loaded onto each construct, it was unnecessaryto reformulate the operational definitions. Theoperationalisation of the 14 work values identified,the minimum and maximum factor loadings, andthe Cronbach-alpha coefficients for each of theseconstructs are summarised in Table 2. Cronbach-alphacoefficients of greater than 0.70 (Nunnally and Bernstein,1994; Peterson, 1994) were returned for all constructs,suggesting that reliable measuring scales were used tomeasure the constructs under investigation.

Descriptive statistics were calculated to summarise thesample data. The summated scores relating to the variouswork values for both sample groups are reported in Table 3.

EMPIRICALRESULTS

Descriptive analyses

From Table 3 it can be seen that for the work values

and ,students reported higher mean scores than did smallbusiness owners. Students are thus more idealistic in theirexpectation of these attributes of an entrepreneurial career,than actually experienced by the small business owners.The expectations of students with regard to anentrepreneurial career being as well asproviding for and are,however, lower than those experienced by the small

Time,Flexibility, Financial benefit, Challenging, Imaginative,Prestige, Serving the community Future prospects

StimulatingSecurity, Autonomy Interaction

Operationalisation of factors Items* Factor loadingsCronbach-alpha

values

Time Allows for a balance between work and leisure time i.e.

time for friends,3

Flexibility Allows for freedom to vary activities and to regulate own working hours. 4Max: 0.758

Min: 0.6440.774

FinancialAllows for a rewarding income level and increased personal wealth. 5

Max: 0.760

Min: 0.6420.838

Challenging Requires performing activities that are difficult and highly demanding. 4Max: 0.776

Min: 0.6500.789

Stimulating Requires performing activities that are interesting, exciting and adventurous. 3Max: 0.770

Min: 0.7520.771

Imaginative Requires creativity, innovation and original thinking in performing activities. 5Max: 0.750

Min: 0.6860.833

Security Provides regular income and secure employment. 5Max: 0.864

Min: 0.7780.905

Prestige Earns respect and approval from friends, family and the community. 5Max: 0.812

Min: 0.6100.878

Autonomy Allows for working independently and the making of all operational decisions. 5Max: 0.833

Min: 0.6010.836

Interaction Requires being people-orientated and working closely with others. 4Max: 0.768

Min: 0.6420.780

Serving theProvides opportunity to help others and be of service to the community. 4

Max: 0.847

Min: 0.6830.868

Stress Is a source of worry and constant pressure. 5Max:- 0.890

Min:- 0.6710.872

Responsibility Requires taking full responsibility for activities and outcomes. 5Max: 0.810

Min: 0.6420.816

Future prospects Provides one the opportunity to grow personally and professionally. 5Max: 0.784

Min: 0.6170.855

Max: 0.808

family and outside interests. Min: 0.7690.776

benefit

community

TABLE 2MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS

* See items inAnnexureA


business owners. In addition, the student participantsreported lower mean scores for andthan the small business owners, implying more idealisticperceptions of these career attributes. Whether thesedifferences are significant or not will be elaborated on inthe paragraphs that follow.

To assess the strengths of the relationships between thework values under investigation, Pearson’s productmoment correlations were calculated. The correlationmatrix for the sample as a whole is reported inAnnexure B.Correlations were found to exist among the majority ofvariables, but all values were smaller than 0.5, indicatingthe multi-collinearity was not a concern in this study.

Differences between the mean scores reported by studentsand small business owners, with regard to the various workvalues, were considered significant if found to bestatistically and practically significant. Statisticalsignificance was assessed through logistic regressionmodelling and t-tests, whereas practical significance wasassessed using Cohen’s d statistic. Differences betweenmean scores were considered significant if supported bylogistic regression modelling, t-tests as well as Cohen’s d.A logistic regression model uses a binary responsevariable, with the work values as the quantitativeindependent variables. The dependent binary responsevariable is coded as either a student response or a businessowner response. The difference in work value mean scoreis determined using the Wald statistic with their respectivep-values. The results of the estimated models are provided

in Table 4. To lend support to the findings, the lesssophisticated but more well-known t-test inferentialmethod for comparing mean scores was also obtained.These results are provided in Table 4 with similar statisticalsignificance results.

Stress Responsibility

Inferential analyses

The following work values reported both statistically andpractically significant differences (albeit of small ormedium practical significance only) in mean scoresbetween students and small business owners:

andThe null hypothesis can thus be rejected

in favour of the alternative for these work values.

A significant difference was returned between the meanscores of the two sample groups concerning the work value

(Logit p < 0.01; t-test p < 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.2688).The students, who reported a mean score of 4.808,perceived that owning their own business would allowthem to maintain a balance between work and leisure time( ), more so than small business owners, who reporteda mean score of 4.456, perceived that it actually did.

Time,Financial benefit, Challenging, Prestige, InteractionFuture prospects.

Time

Time

The results of this study revealed a significant difference(Logit p < 0.001; t-test p < 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.5462)between the mean scores reported for .With regard to , students ( = 5.752)reported higher mean scores than small business owners( = 5.204). This difference implies that students perceivedthat owning their own business would be financiallyrewarding, more so than small business owners actuallyexperienced it to be.

Financial benefitFinancial benefit x

x

Time 4.456 285 1.51 4.808 454 1.17

Flexibility 4.958 285 1.39 5.290 454 1.01

Financial benefit 5.204 285 1.22 5.752 454 0.84

Challenging 5.770 285 0.99 6.001 454 0.79

Stimulating 5.126 285 1.17 4.978 454 1.08

Imaginative 6.048 285 0.90 6.086 454 0.72

Security 5.149 285 1.24 4.963 454 1.39

Prestige 5.139 285 1.27 5.459 454 0.97

Autonomy 6.022 285 0.96 5.869 454 0.91

Interaction 6.438 285 0.65 6.303 454 0.67

Serving the community 5.829 285 1.03 5.862 454 0.93

Stress 4.593 285 1.49 4.392 454 1.26

Responsibility 6.394 285 0.78 6.272 454 0.63

Future prospects 5.983 285 0.95 6.294 454 0.66

Small business owners Students

Mean n Std Dev Mean n Std Dev

TABLE 3DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF WORK VALUES


A significant difference in mean scores emerged for thework value (Logit p < 0.001; t-test p < 0.001;Cohen’s d 0.2641). Students ( = 6.001) perceived thatowning their own business would require them to performactivities that were difficult and demanding, more so thansmall business owners ( = 5.770) perceived that it did.

A significant difference was reported between the

Challengingx

x

x

x

Student respondents in this study perceived that owningtheir own business would earn them respect and approvalfrom friends, family and the community ( ),more so than small business owners perceived that it did.Mean scores of 5.459 and 5.139 were reported by bothstudents and small business owners respectively.The difference between these mean scores is bothstatistically and practically significant (Logit p < 0.05;t-test p < 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.2934).

Prestige

meanscores reported by students and small business ownerswith regard to the work value (Logit p < 0.001;t-test p < 0.01; Cohen’s d 0.2036). Small business owners( = 6.438) perceived that owning their own businessrequired them to work closely with others and be people-orientated, more so than students ( = 6.303) perceived thatit would.

Interaction

With regard to the work value , the meanscores reported by students were significantly higher thanthe mean scores reported by small business owners

(Logit p < 0.001; t-test p < 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.3975).Students and small business owners reported mean scoresof 6.294 and 5.983, respectively. This implies that studentsperceived that owning their own business would give themthe opportunity to grow personally and professionally,more so than small business owners perceived that it did.

Several work values revealed no significant differencesbetween the mean scores of students and small businessowners by one or more of the inferential methods, namelylogistic regression modelling, t-test and Cohen’s d.

and werethus not perceived differently by the two sample groups.The results imply that the perceptions of studentsconcerning these attributes of an entrepreneurial careerwere in line with those experienced by small businessowners. The null hypothesis can thus not be rejected forthese work values.

The primary objective of this study was to identify andevaluate several work values as applicable to anentrepreneurial career. In order to address this objective,the entrepreneurial career perceptions of BusinessManagement students and those of existing small businessowners in terms of several work values, were compared.

Future prospects

Flexibility, Stimulating, Imaginative, Security, Autonomy,Serving the community, Stress Responsibility

CONCLUSIONS

Logit modelling t-Tests Cohen's d

df Wald p-value t-value p-value

0.0039** 0.0004 0.2688*

0.0000 0.0000 0.5462

0.0008 0.0005 0.2641

0.0381 0.0001 0.2934

0.0000 0.0072 0.2036

0.0000 0.0000 0.3975

Intercept 1 0.435 0.5097 - - -

Time 1 8.319 -3.557 ***

Flexibility 1 1.108 0.2925 -3.745 0.0002*** 0.2830*

Financial benefit 1 33.227 *** -7.228 *** **

Challenging 1 11.249 *** -3.494 *** *

Stimulating 1 23.358 0.0000*** 1.758 0.0791 0.1329

Imaginative 1 0.475 0.4906 -0.630 0.5288 0.0476

Security 1 25.973 0.0000*** 1.852 0.0644 0.1400

Prestige 1 4.299 * -3.882 *** *

Autonomy 1 5.018 0.0251* 2.194 0.0286* 0.1658

Interaction 1 17.528 *** 2.694 *** *

Serving the community 1 0.007 0.9347 -0.457 0.6481 0.0345

Stress 1 1.097 0.2950 1.970 0.0492* 0.1489

Responsibility 1 8.521 0.0035** 2.345 0.0193** 0.1772

Future prospects 1 22.074 *** -5.260 *** *

(*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001)(* small 0.2 < d < 0.5; ** medium 0.5 < d < 0.8; *** large d > 0.8)

TABLE 4SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STUDENTS AND

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN TERMS OF WORK VALUES


Firstly, based on several studies that investigated careerperceptions of various careers, the different aspectsidentified as influencing occupational choice weregrouped into 14 work values. Secondly, each work valueinvestigated was clearly defined and operationalisedwithin the context of an entrepreneurial career.The measuring instrument was self-administered andcontained items describing the 14 work values. A 7-pointLikert-type scale was used. The measuring instrument wasshown to be valid and reliable by means of an exploratoryfactor analysis as well as calculating Cronbach-alphacoefficients. The data were analysed using logisticregression modelling, t-test statistics and Cohen’s dstatistics.

The results of this study show that statistically significantdifferences exist with regard to how an entrepreneurialcareer is perceived by students and by small businessowners. Students are more idealistic in terms of the timethat they will have available to live a balanced lifestyle, thefinancial benefits they will receive, the challenges andprestige that they will experience, and the possibilities forpersonal growth and development. Whether thesedifferences in perceptions are, however, large enough tohave an effect in practice (Ellis and Steyn, 2003:51) isquestionable, given the small to medium-size effect asdetermined by Cohen’s d statistics. Consequently, thesefindings should be interpreted in light of the levels ofpractical significance reported. The work values

and were notperceived differently by the two sample groups. Thisfinding implies that the perceptions of students concerningthese attributes of an entrepreneurial career are in line withthose experienced by small business owners.

Despite a lack of support for practical significance, thefindings of this study support the notion that youngerstudent respondents are more idealistic, ambitious andpossibly influenced by the so-called ‘innocence of youth’.They are possibly insufficiently informed and/orinexperienced concerning the realities of owning abusiness at this particular stage of their lives. Theperceptions of more mature business owners, on the otherhand, are shaped by wisdom and hindsight often broughtby age and experience, plus the realities of one’s workinglife.

Educators of entrepreneurship at primary, secondary andtertiary level, as well as career guidance counsellors, play avital role in providing a realistic perspective of what it islike to embark on an entrepreneurial career and businessownership. For South Africa to reap the benefits ofentrepreneurship, owning one’s own business should bepromoted as exciting, enjoyable, rewarding and valuable.By developing a positive attitude toward entrepreneurial

behaviour among students, it is likely that more studentswill wish to own and manage their own businesses in thefuture. However, care should be taken not to romanticisean entrepreneurial career or create unrealistic expectationsamong would-be entrepreneurs, which could lead todisappointment or failure later on. The media, for example,often highlight the achievements of entrepreneurial rolemodels such as self-made millionaires Richard Bransonand Donald Trump, as well as South Africa’s MarkShuttleworth, Tokyo Sexwale, Raymond Ackerman andPatrice Motsepe. Entrepreneurs of this calibre are,however, few and far between, and hundreds ofentrepreneurial failures occur yearly in South Africa. It isnot that students should be discouraged from striving to beSouth Africa’s next Patrice Motsepe, but in addition todisappointment and failure, unrealistically highexpectations could lead to complacency in studies andcareer preparations. It is the responsibility of educators,career counsellors and the media to encourage self-employment, but also to provide a realistic and balancedportrayal of an entrepreneurial career.

In order to better assist students in developing realisticexpectations about pursuing an entrepreneurial career,exposure to the real world during academic studies shouldbe encouraged and facilitated. Student mentoring bybusiness owners, job shadowing, structured interviewswith entrepreneurs, practical assignments, internships androle-model guest speakers are just a few examples ofactivities that can be arranged to provide students with thenecessary exposure to the real world of businessownership. Activities should be structured in such a waythat they reflect the diversity and complexity of theentrepreneur’s world. It is important that these activities bea part of existing business-related modules, and may betterassist students if they occur regularly over a student’suniversity career as opposed to once-off events. Given thenumber of pharmacists, psychologists, doctors, architectsand engineers, for example, who go into private practice orinto business, it is suggested that some form ofentrepreneurship exposure or ‘practice management’ beincorporated as core modules into all university studies.These suggestions are not new, and are alreadyimplemented by many universities and educators ofentrepreneurship in SouthAfrica. The challenge is thus notto identify practical ways of exposing students toentrepreneurial realities, but to find the time andopportunity to implement and apply these measures withinthe context of a traditional academic environment.The best recommendation is to incorporate and integrateinto entrepreneurial education as many different learningexperiences as possible, that will contribute to a realisticexpectation of the work-life of an entrepreneur. Currentand particularly retired entrepreneurs play a vital role inmaking themselves, their experiences and their businessesavailable to educators and students.As mentors or coaches,retired entrepreneurs have a wealth of knowledge as wellas the time available to make a vital contribution to

Flexibility, Stimulating, Imaginative, Security, Autonomy,Serving the community, Stress Responsibility

IMPLICATIONS


educating and preparing the entrepreneurs of the future.The establishment of a national database of volunteerretired entrepreneurs could play a vital role in this respect.

The ideal situation for students completing their universitystudies would be for them to have a clear idea andunderstanding of what having their own business wouldentail, and what would be expected of them. Helpingstudents to understand how their expectations align withthe actual working environment of an entrepreneur isimportant not only to their development as future businessowners, but also to the job satisfaction they will potentiallyexperience. By paying attention to the management ofexpectations, students can be assisted in making moreeffective career decisions.

The use of a convenience and judgemental samplingtechnique is a limitation of this study. Non-probabilitysampling introduces a source of potential bias into thestudy, and as a result, the findings cannot be generalised tothe general population. Future research should strive todevelop a more comprehensive database from whichprobability samples can be drawn. In addition, the datacollected relies on the self-report of respondents. Relyingon one-time individual self-report scales is anotherimportant limitation of this study.

Entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in the economies ofcountries; it would therefore be useful to replicate thisstudy throughout South Africa among the generalpopulation in an attempt to assess the perception of anentrepreneurial career on a broader scale. Investigatingrelationships between the various work values andentrepreneurial intentions could also provide somevaluable insights into why so few South Africans areentrepreneurial. The question of whether otherdemographic factors such as socio-economic status, age,and having entrepreneurial parents, influence theperception of an entrepreneurial career, is also worthy offurther investigation.

The ideal research design for a comparative study of thisnature would be that of a longitudinal study where a singleindividual’s perceptions of an entrepreneurial career areestablished at two different points in time, one when theindividual is a student, and then again a few years later asthe owner of a small business. In this case the perceptionsof the same individual could be compared. Although thiswould result in the ideal research design, the practicalimplementation thereof is problematic.

Despite the limitations identified, this study has added tothe field of entrepreneurship research and education, andhas provided valuable insights into how potential andexisting entrepreneurs perceive an entrepreneurial career.

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*To whom all correspondence should be addressed: Dr Shelley Farrington, Department of Business Management, Nelson Mandela MetropolitanUniversity, [email protected]



ANNEXURE AITEMS MEASURING THE WORK VALUES

TIME Running my own business …….

FLEXIBILITY Running my own business …….

FINANCIAL BENEFIT Running my own business …….

CHALLENGING Running my own business …….

STIMULATING Running my own business …….

IMAGINATIVE Running my own business …….

Item 1 will allow / allows me to maintain a balance between work and leisure time

Item 3 will allow / allows me time for interests outside of work

Item 4 will allow / allows me to have time for my family and friends

Item 6 will provide / provides me with the freedom to move between workplaces

Item 7 will give me / gives me the freedom to vary the activities that I perform on a daily basis

Item 8 will allow me / allows me to create a flexible work schedule

Item 9 will allow me / allows me to regulate my own working hours

Item 11 will provide / provides me with the chance to earn a lot of money

Item 12 will give me / allows me a greater earning potential than an alternative career

Item 13 will give me / allows me to increase my personal wealth

Item 14 will give me / allows me to provide for possible early retirement

Item 15 will provide / provides me with an income level that is very rewarding

Item 16 will require / requires that I engage in challenging activities

Item 17 will require / requires that I perform activities that are not easy

Item 18 will require / requires that I perform activities that are highly demanding

Item 19 will require / requires that I prioritise competing demands

Item 22 will require / requires that I perform activities that are exciting

Item 24 will require / requires that I perform activities that are adventurous and fun

Item 25 will require / requires that I perform a number of interesting tasks on a daily basis

Item 26 will require / requires that I am creative in the activities that I need to perform

Item 27 will require / requires that I continually develop new concepts and ideas

Item 28 will require / requires that I am innovative

Item 29 will require / requires that I continually experiment with new ideas in my business

Item 30 will require / requires of me to be an original thinker

SECURITY Running my own business …….

PRESTIGE Running my own business …….

AUTONOMY Running my own business …….

Item 31 will ensure / ensures that I have a regular income

Item 32 will provide / provides me with a stable and secure future

Item 33 will ensure / ensures that I always have employment

Item 34 will ensure / ensures that I have enough money to retire one day

Item 35 will provide / provides my family with a stable and secure future

Item 36 will give / gives me status in the community

Item 37 will allow / allows me to be a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs

Item 38 will give / gives me the approval of my friends and family

Item 39 will be / is a prestigious achievement

Item 40 will earn / earns me the respect of the community

Item 41 will allow / allows me to make business decisions on my own

Item 42 will allow / allows me to operate my business in the manner I see fit

Item 43 will allow / allows me to work independently

Item 44 will allow / allows me to determine how business activities should be performed

Item 45 will allow / allows me to be my own boss

INTERACTION Running my own business …….

SERVING THE COMMUNITY Running my own business …….

STRESS Running my own business …….

RESPONSIBILITY Running my own business …….

FUTURE PROSPECTS Running my own business …….

Item 46 will require / requires that I work closely with my employees

Item 47 will require / requires that I work closely with my customers

Item 48 will require / requires me to be people-orientated

Item 50 will require / requires that my employees and I work together as a team

Item 51 will enable / enables me to be of service to my community

Item 52 will give / gives me the opportunity to help others

Item 53 will enable / enables me to make a contribution to society in general

Item 54 will give / gives me the opportunity of making the world a better place

Item 55 will be / is stressful

Item 56 will be / is a source of constant worry

Item 57 will require / requires that I work under constant pressure

Item 58 will be / is a source of constant tension

Item 59 one day would make me feel uneasy / makes me feel uneasy

Item 60 will require / requires that I take responsibility for the performance of the business

Item 61 will require / requires that I accept full managerial responsibility

Item 62 will require / requires that I ensure that business activities run smoothly

Item 63 will place / places a big responsibility on my shoulders

Item 64 will require / requires that I ensure sufficient work comes into the business to keep it operational

Item 65 will allow / allows me to grow personally

Item 66 will provide / provides me with the opportunity to reach my full potential

Item 67 will allow / allows me to grow professionally

Item 68 will provide / provides me with opportunities for advancement in my field of expertise

Item 69 will allow / allows me to follow my dream

ANNEXURE A (cont.)ITEMS MEASURING THE WORK VALUES


ANNEXURE BCORRELATION MATRIX

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Time 1.000000 0.198983 -0.03681 -0.02042

Flexibility 1.000000 0.151529 0.267890 0.191912 0.146262

Financial benefit 0.321398 1.000000 0.227131 0.215775 0.370332

Challenging -0.03681 0.240940 1.000000 0.375355 0.042131

Stimulating 0.267890 0.227131 0.173919 1.000000 0.216747

Imaginative -0.02042 0.215775 0.375355 0.338002 1.000000

Security 0.146262 0.370332 0.042131 0.122409 1.000000

Prestige 0.224576 0.415816 0.239662 0.266452 0.275512 0.441305

Autonomy 0.027935 0.171981 0.207196 0.166358 0.272321 0.135540

Interaction 0.009195 0.164869 0.310147 0.191337 0.407181 0.156390

Serving the community 0.012450 0.196983 0.189463 0.256898 0.354418 0.260363

Stress -0.07967 -0.04270 -0.00698 0.062057

Responsibility 0.066106 0.343171 0.052598 0.084036

Future prospects 0.275188 0.410887 0.299020 0.335730 0.396745 0.275934

0.363790 0.206960 0.206402

0.363790 0.321398

0.198983 0.240940

0.151529 0.173919

0.206960 0.338002

0.191912 0.122409

0.206402 0.216747

0.105131

0.200533

0.132459

0.217389

-0.18142 0.277920 -0.14665

-0.10765 0.190725 0.330008

0.095107

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Time 0.105131 0.027935 0.009195 0.012450 -0.10765 0.095107

Flexibility 0.224576 0.200533 0.132459 0.217389 -0.07967 0.066106

Financial benefit 0.415816 0.171981 0.164869 0.196983 -0.04270 0.410887

Challenging 0.207196 0.310147 0.189463 0.277920 0.343171 0.299020

Stimulating 0.266452 0.166358 0.191337 0.256898 -0.00698 0.052598

Imaginative 0.275512 0.272321 0.407181 0.354418 0.062057 0.396745

Security 0.135540 0.156390 0.260363 -0.14665 0.084036 0.275934

Prestige 1.000000 0.241223 0.417629 -0.04601 0.473368

Autonomy 0.165437 1.000000 0.175780 0.105705 0.395044 0.235637

Interaction 0.241223 0.207978 1.000000 0.031983 0.385413

Serving the community 0.417629 0.175780 0.384561 1.000000 -0.06435 0.460232

Stress -0.04601 0.031983 -0.06435 1.000000 -0.09173

Responsibility 0.163515 0.395044 0.355786 0.248722 0.242068 1.000000

Future prospects 0.473368 0.235637 0.385413 0.460232 -0.09173 0.277723 1.000000

-0.18142

0.275188

0.190725

0.239662

0.335730

0.330008

0.441305

0.165437 0.163515

0.207978

0.384561 0.355786

0.248722

0.105705 0.242068

0.277723

17Management Dynamics Volume 20 No 2, 2011

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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