Cognitive, motivational and emotional self-regulatory processes in early stage

entrepreneur’s success

Deirdre O’Shea Finian BuckleyUniversity of Limerick Dublin City University

Ireland

Self-regulation: Why entrepreneurs?Entrepreneurial context• Unique work context• Characterised by autonomy and personal initiative

Entrepreneurs• Responsible for managing their own resources, including their motivation,

emotion and cognitive resources, as well as strategic activities

Self-regulation• The regulation of the self, by the self• Requires change to bring thinking and behaviour in line with some consciously

desired goal (Forgas, Baumeister & Tice, 2009).• “people with good self-control do better than others” (Forgas, Baumeister & Tice.

2009; p. 5).• Successful entrepreneurs are more adept than less successful entrepreneurs at

regulating several key processes (Baron, 2002).

What is success in early stage entrepreneurship?

• Role of individual entrepreneur– At the outset of a new

venture, the solitary entrepreneur has an enormous influence on the start-up firm (e.g. van Gelderen, Frese & Thurik, 2000)

– during the early stages of firm development, the owner characteristics, not the firm characteristics play a pivotal role in performance of international SMEs (Kundu & Katz, 2003)

• Subjective aspects of success– entrepreneurial performance

may have subjective dimensions that are not captured in financial and economic measures due to personal expectations, aspirations, skills, and decisions of the entrepreneur (Ucbasaran, Westhead & Wright, 2001).

• Launch phase – indicators of effectiveness (Baron, 2007)– Capital raised, time required,

first sale, # employees etc.

Theoretical Integration: The present studyMotivation Pre-

decisional: Distal

Volition pre-actional

Volition actional

Goal-setting•Difficulty•Specificity

Goal-directed behaviour

Distal Proximal

Problem Focused Coping

Volitional Resources

•Work Engagement

Ru

bicon

Distal Motivational Resources

•Entrepreneurial Orientation•Personal Initiative

Individual Differences in

Emotion Regulation

•Re-appraisal•Suppression

Anticipatory Goal Emotions•Positive•Negative

Motivation Pre-decisional: Proximal

Proximal Motivational

Resources• Domain specific self-efficacy

Achievement Goals•Mastery approach•Performance approach•Performance avoid

Motivation post-actional

Objective Success

Self-perceptions of

success

External Success

Distal Proximal

Methodology

Sample

• Final: 75 early stage entrepreneurs

• Sample size sufficient to determine moderate or large effect sizes (Cohen, 1988; Green, 1991)

• 22-57 years• Mean: 36.75 years

• 58.7% male• 41.3% female

Mixed-Method Design

• Interview• Goal-setting & actions (Frese et al., 2007)• 3 components of EO (Kraus et al., 2005)

• Goal directed anticipated emotions (Likert rating during interview; Barsade & Gibson, 2007)

• Questionnaire• 3 components of EO (Kraus et al., 2005)

• Personal Initiative (Frese et al., 1997)

• Self-efficacy• Entrepreneurial (deNoble et al., 1999)

• Creative (Tierney & Farmer, 2002)

• Work Engagement (UWES; Schaufeli et al., 2002)

• Emotion Regulation Strategies (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003)

• Problem-focused coping (COPE; Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989)

• Self-perceptions of success (Kraus et al., 2005)

• Objective indicators of success (

Analysis

Qualitativ

e Analysis

•Interview data

•NVivo8 auto-coded

•Cross-coded•Rating

scheme applied- translated to quantitative data

Quantitative

Analysis

•Partial Least Squares (PLS) modelling (Wold, 1973; Chin, 1998; Chin & Newsted, 1999)

•Assessment of Outer Model (measurement model)•deemed to be reliable

and valid •Composite

Reliability, Average Variance Extracted, Cross-Loadings

•Assessment of Inner Model (path model)•R-square; Q- square

(predictive relevance), blindfolding; Boot-strapping

Results: Cognitive components (*** p < .001; **p < .01; * p < .05) (blue lines indicates positive relationships; red lines indicate negative relationships; dashed lines indicate non-significant small effects; non-significant paths are not shown)

Mastery Approach

Performance Approach

Performance Avoid

Goal DifficultyR2 = 0.111

Self-Perceptions of SuccessR2 = 0.069

Objective Success

R2 = 0.108Goal SpecificityR2 = 0.119

ActionsR2 = 0.481

0.409**0.523***

0.278**

0.253*

-0.192*

External Success

R2 = 0.244

0.633***

Significant Indirect Effects•Performance Approach → Goal specificity → Actions•Goal difficulty → Actions → Objective success•Goal specificity → Actions → Objective Success

Results: Motivational components (*** p < .001; **p < .01; * p < .05) (blue lines indicates positive relationships; red lines indicate negative relationships; dashed lines indicate non-significant small effects; non-significant paths are not shown)

Entrepreneurial Orientations

Personal Initiative

Entre. SER2 = 0.424

Creative SER2 = 0.294

Work Engagement

R2 = 0.351

Self-perceptions of

SuccessR2 = 0.275

0.277*

0.247*

0.389**

0.259*

0.498***

0.375**

0.470*

Objective Success

R2 = 0.025

External Success

R2 = 0.058

Significant Indirect Effects:•Entrepreneurial orientations → entrepreneurial self-efficacy →work engagement•Personal initiative → entrepreneurial self-efficacy → work engagement•Personal initiative → entrepreneurial self-efficacy → self-perceptions of success

Reappraisal

Suppression

Antic. Positive EmotionsR2 = .102

Antic. Negative EmotionsR2 = .170

Problem-Focused Coping

R2 = .177

.252*

.419**

.302*

.443**

Results: Emotional components (*** p < .001;

**p < .01; * p < .05) (blue lines indicates positive relationships; red lines indicate negative relationships; dashed lines indicate non-significant small effects; non-significant paths are not shown)

Objective Success

R2 = 0.034

External Success

R2 = 0.021

Self-perceptions of SuccessR2 = 0.086

Significant indirect effects:•Reappraisal → problem-focused coping → self-perceptions of success

Discussion• Individual entrepreneur plays a key role in directly impacting the

success of the entrepreneurial venture influencing such aspects as – accessing financing,– reaching break-even point– time to first sale– taking on employees and being able to pay wages and salaries.

• Cognitive components– Largest impact on objective success and external success– goal sequence can be extrapolated to less proximal goals forms, such as goal

orientations– Provides support for Frese (2007) theory of action regulation

• Motivational & Emotional components– Little effect on objective success– Consistently affect self-perceptions of success

Conclusion

⇨Cognitive SR – regulation of the task⇨Motivational & Emotional SR –

regulation of the self

Research also suggests:⇨ Important to consider distal

influences on proximal SR processes

Questions? / Comments?