A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

Laura Galloway, Isla Kapasi and Geoff Whittam
contributing to entrepreneurial behaviour (Kautonen et al., 2011). Therefore, measurement of the
antecedents of intention should correspond to actual intention, and in turn, where they do correspond,
intention should predict entrepreneurship as an outcome. This is the underpinning thesis in studies
such as Krueger (2005), Kolvereid and Isaksen (2006) and Galloway and Kelly (2009).
Notwithstanding this, TPB has been criticised, particularly in terms of Block and Koellinger's (2009)
argument that end outcomes such as entrepreneurial behaviour ‘predicted’ on the basis of intentions
may not reflect the decision-making processes undergone in order to achieve that end outcome.
Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Current Study
Like other studies, the original study tested the background characteristics of respondents with a view
to reconciling these with the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and in particular the antecedents to
intention. Intention itself is included in the measurement along with three other criteria that correspond
to its antecedents. Table 1 presents the items measured, the measurement applied and the link with
TPB.
Table 1: Background measurements taken in original study using TBP
Item Question Possible Answers Score TPB
Intention Do you plan to become self- Immediately/in 5 years 1
Intention
employed or own a business? 5-10 years
0
If so, when?
More than 10 years 0
Never
0
Activity Have you done anything so far
Yes
1 Perceived
to start a firm or make money
independently?
No
0 Behavioural Control
Role Do you have family or friends Parent, spouse, sibling 1 Social Norms
Models
in business?
Other (eg. friend) 0
Desire Do you want to be your own
Yes
1
Attitude;
boss?
No
0 Perceived
Behavioural Control
As Table 1 implies, students in the original study could be assigned a score in terms of their likelihood
to become an entrepreneur. Those least likely to start a firm or become self employed would score 0,
while those most likely would score 4.
Each of the items included in the measurement are discussed below.
Intention
Intention is the primary predictive variable in the Theory of Planned Behaviour and in
entrepreneurship research has been described as the “crucial antecedent" (Lee et al., 2011, p.124;
also Carsrud and Brännback, 2011; Elfving et al., 2009). Intention in the entrepreneurial context has
been defined as “a self-acknowledged conviction by a person that they intend to set up a new
business venture and consciously plan to do so at some point in the future” (Kautonen et al., 2011,
p.699).
Activity
As a measurement of perceived behavioural control (PBC), activity is defined as actions undertaken
to start a firm or become self-employed. Baron (2007) claims that entrepreneurship is a process that
requires entrepreneurial behaviour prior to start-up. In fact, he identifies that business success is
unlikely to be early in this process as learning and experience are key elements of the successful
entrepreneurial business. There is growing consensus that entrepreneurship starts long before
business success outcomes in many cases (van Gelderen, et al., 2005), and that activity, trial and
error, false starts and practice are characteristic of the nascent entrepreneur (Steiner, 1998).
Role Models
Entrepreneurial activity does not occur in isolation, therefore social norms (SN), developed through
exposure to role models, have been found to increase motivation towards entrepreneurship (Krueger
et al., 2000; Taylor, 1996; Krueger, 2005). Further, Hout and Rosen (2000) and Dunn and Holtz-Eakin
(2000) find that parents who are in business often act as role models and influence their offspring's
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