Values and career behaviours of entrepreneurs and employees

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the differences in the values and behaviours of employees and entrepreneurs and to develop guidelines for employers to foster entrepreneurial thinking in their organisations. Design/methodology/approach To determine individual behaviours, the authors used the career adaptability scale developed by Savickas and Porfelli (2012), complemented with the statements regarding relationships in the workplace and reward, designed by Gattiker and Larwood (1986). The individual values were evaluated by Schwartz’s individual value framework. The career success of individuals was defined by income level and job satisfaction. Data from a sample of 473 respondents were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings This paper reveals that there are differences in the behaviours and the values of employees and entrepreneurs. Employees are more concerned with relationships at the workplace, rewards and confidence, whereas entrepreneurs focus solely on relationships. Self-direction value has a direct positive impact. Universalism, conformism, achievement, stimulation and safety have indirect positive effects on career success for employees. There is no specific individual value driving career success for entrepreneurs. Originality/value This paper follows the recent trends in organisational culture development whereby organisations seek to incorporate the entrepreneurial mindset at all levels of the organisation. Until now, there has been scarce empirical evidence on the differences between entrepreneurial and employee values. This research provides evidence that the value gap between these two distinct groups is considerable enough to question the ability of the average employee to adopt the entrepreneurial behaviour required by modern organisations.

Intrapreneurial Fit and Misfit: Enterprising Behavior, Preferred Organizational and Open Innovation Culture

“…The trait approach to entrepreneurship was introduced by [36] and has been used for many studies into entrepreneurial characteristics (e.g., [21]). An assumption behind this approach is that entrepreneurs are a certain type that can be distinguished from other groups of individuals [37]. However, the trait approach is criticized, as studies employ different definitions of entrepreneur [38], potentially leading to differences in trait sets.…”

Exploring Personal and Contextual Variables of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor through the Rasch Mathematical Model

“…Firstly, regarding motivation, all the reasons that motivate an entrepreneur to create a company are classifiable as internal (e.g., desire for independence and autonomy) or external (e.g., desire to increase income or obtain social status) [64][65][66][67]. Personal values are the principles that guide human behavior and are also essential predictors for entrepreneurial intention [68,69]. Therefore, differences in values produce various entrepreneurial intentions and activities [70][71][72].…”

Examining subjective career success of knowledge workers

“…Different measures such as Schwartz’s “basic human values” ( 1992 ), Savickas and Porfeli’s “career adapt-abilities scale” ( 2012 ), Gattiker and Larwood’s “perception of career success” ( 1986 ), and Gaile et al’s “subjective career success” ( 2020 ) measures were used for collecting data from the respondents. For assessing the statements for all of the measures’ factors, a scale of 0 (not at all) to 10 (to the greatest extent) was used.…”

“…Finally, subjective career success was measured under Gaile et al ( 2020 ) with the use of two sentences: “To what extent are you satisfied with your job?” (from Colakoglu 2011 ; Converse et al 2014 , and Verbruggen et al 2015 ), and “I am satisfied with the success of my career” (from Greenhaus et. al.…”