Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD
Abstract
Cultural values of Ugandan students and their influence on entrepreneurial intentions
Isaac Wasswa Katono, ikatono@ucu.sc.ug
Uganda Christian University, Uganda
Graduate start up is a world wide problem. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB) and Hofstede’s 5
cultural dimensions, this paper examines the influence of culture on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intent among
a convenience sample of undergraduates from the four regions of Uganda .Data is collected using a cultural
orientation scale and the Entrepreneurial Intentions Questionnaire (EIQ).A four way ANOVA indicates that there is
no difference in terms of entrepreneurial intent by region, while regression analysis indicates that the 5 cultural
dimensions influence the motivational antecedents of intention in the TPB, with exception of power distance which
does not influence subjective norm and perceived behavioral control.
Introduction
The importance of entrepreneurship in the economies of countries is well documented in the literature. In
the developing countries, the encouragement of entrepreneurial activities is recommended as a way to
stimulate economic growth (Harper, 1991). Hence, there is a strong global effort towards encouraging
students to pursue entrepreneurship yet there is much less research on graduate entrepreneurship (Nabi
and Holden, 2008). A major source of concern is the failure to see relatively high levels of apparent intent
to start up amongst students (Wu and Wu, 2008), and it remains a key research question (Nabi and
Holden, 2008). This low start up rate among graduates is attributed to the presence of a number of barriers
such as negative societal attitudes towards entrepreneurship (Morrison, 2000). It is thus important to
examine the influence of cultural orientation on student entrepreneurial intentions. Culture influences the
way in which people think, and this is reflected in the meaning they attach to various aspects in life. In
their Giessen-Amsterdam model of entrepreneurship, Frese and Wang (2005) argue that actions, visions,
goals and strategies as well as personality, human capital, environment and business success are all
influenced by culture. Culture is defined as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes
the members of one human group from another” (Hofstede, 1980 p.25). Thus culture motivates
individuals in a society to engage in behaviors that may not be evident in other societies (Linan and Chen,
2009 p.597). The thrust of entrepreneurial research has been on examining the relationship between
culture and entrepreneurship at the societal level of analysis (see Hayton et al., 2002 for a review), rather
than between cultural variables and entrepreneurship at the individual level of analysis (Konig, 2007).
This paper shifts the focus to an individual level of analysis. Further, most of the studies on graduate
entrepreneurial intentions have been done in the West, hence little is known about entrepreneurship in
emerging economies (Bruton et al., 2008 p.1). In addition, most studies of entrepreneurship have focused
on adult entrepreneurs, yet people are likely to start a business in the age range 25 to 44 (Liles, 1974). It is
important to examine the cultural orientations of young people in an African context, since some socio
cultural values hinder the development of entrepreneurship in Africa (Tukyiasiedu, 1993) or frustrate it
(Munene et al., 2000). Specifically this paper examines the relationship between cultural orientation and
the antecedents of entrepreneurial intent among undergraduate students in Uganda. In the next section,
study hypotheses are motivated, followed by the study methodology. A concluding discussion wraps up
the paper
Literature Review
Definitional divergence of entrepreneurship
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