The Structure of Entrepreneurial Team Members’ Competencies: Between Effectuation and Causation

Abstract

A conscious shaping of entrepreneurial competence is a relevant element of entrepreneurial education. In order to recognize which of the competencies regarded as entrepreneurial are characteristic of members of entrepreneurial teams, which is crucial for the work of those teams, it is necessary to identify the structure of those competencies. This quantitative study was conducted with the use of a survey method and involved 111 entrepreneurs working within 48 entrepreneurial teams. The main objective of the research was to verify the compliance of entrepreneurial competence with the effectual vs. causal approach, which would allow us to answer the question regarding which of these approaches characterizes entrepreneurs to a greater extent. This study aimed to examine which entrepreneurial competencies characterize entrepreneurs working in entrepreneurial teams, to verify them with the effectual vs. causal approach, and to define their internal structure. The results of this research revealed that the competencies related to the effectual approach are indicated to more frequently and strongly characterize the surveyed entrepreneurs. Additionally, an exploratory factor analysis enabled the identification of three main, internally consistent groups of elements forming the competence structure of the surveyed entrepreneurs. Our results may be used in the development and modernization of curricula and courses in entrepreneurship education.

The congruence of mental models in entrepreneurial teams – implications for performance and satisfaction in teams operating in an emerging economy

“…The role of entrepreneurial activities in the development of emerging economies, including Poland, where this study was conducted, has become significant and is likely to increase (Villegas Mateos and Amor os, 2019). As entrepreneurial teams become more prevalent, studying factors associated with their outcomes is important (Stankiewicz et al, 2020). In…”

“…The role of entrepreneurial activities in the development of emerging economies, including Poland, where this study was conducted, has become significant and is likely to increase (Villegas Mateos and Amorós, 2019). As entrepreneurial teams become more prevalent, studying factors associated with their outcomes is important (Stankiewicz et al , 2020). In our research, we focused on both nascent and established entrepreneurial teams and verified the relationship between their team mental model congruence and performance and satisfaction.…”

“…Recently, there has been a shift from the traditional perception of entrepreneurs as lonesome decision-makers to an increased approach to entrepreneurship as a team-level phenomenon (Klotz et al, 2014). As entrepreneurial teams are becoming more prevalent, studying their composition and intrateam interactions becomes an important task (Krawczyk-Bryłka et al, 2020;Stankiewicz et al, 2020). It seems that it is particularly important in emerging economies where entrepreneurial activity is one of the possible ways of accelerating the development of a country (Villegas Mateos and Amor os, 2019).…”

Development and validation of an individual entrepreneurial potential new measurement scale

“…Krueger and Brazeal (1994) seminal conceptual paper on "entrepreneurial potential of potential entrepreneurs" triggered more research and debate on the concept. Significant progress has since been made towards developing quantitative theory driven measurement scales of EP that are empirically validated on either a population of entrepreneurs or employees (Baharudin et al, 2020;Bird, 2019;Gillin and Hazelton, 2020;Santos et al, 2013;Stankiewicz et al, 2020;Tehseen and Ramayah, 2015) and on individuals who are yet to make their career choice (Jung and Lee, 2020;Moraima et al, 2017). However, a close examination of these studies captures the heterogeneous nature of the scholars' choices New measurement scale of the content of their respective measures of EP.…”

Soft skills among academics: Five theoretically informed lessons for current times

“…While the importance of developing students' soft skills is strongly emphasized, both in the academic environment (Gawrycka et al, 2020;Tomczak et al, 2023) and by employees (Stankiewicz et al, 2020), not enough attention is given to the soft skills of the very academics who are responsible for imparting them. Therefore, it is important for universities to also invest in the development and evaluation of soft skills among their academics as this could have a significant impact on their performance and overall success.…”