Title: Entrepreneurial drive beyond the need for achievement: a point of difference in South Asian entrepreneurial drive, inspiration and motivation

Authors: Helan Ramya Gamage

Addresses: Faculty of Business, James Cook University, 600 Upper Thomson Road, Singapore

Abstract: Entrepreneurial drive or aspiration is known as entrepreneurial motivation (EM) which is fundamental to entrepreneurial activities and a central theme of the literature since the inception and evolution of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship models that are in existence in South Asia are often based on the western ideological assumptions of the need for achievement (N-Ach) and personality trait theory. Research on how socio-cultural factors influence EM in the South Asian context, where entrepreneurs are fashioned with unique social means of existence, is indispensable. The exploratory nature of this socio-culture-based study embraces the fundamental philosophy of subjectivism. A qualitative research methodology and inductive holistic case study approach including grounded theory analysis, allowed context sensitive realities of EM in Sri Lanka to emerge. Findings of this study suggest that EM in Sri Lanka is rooted not only in a need for individual achievement, but also in the conscious or unconscious need to satisfy a sense of social intimacy. Finally, this study recommends that if people matter in entrepreneurship, then the cultural context of people must have an impact on EM in the South Asian societies.

Keywords: entrepreneurial motivation; South Asian entrepreneurialism; entrepreneurship; socio-cultural values; entrepreneurial drive; entrepreneurial inspiration; entrepreneurial aspiration; need for achievement; personality traits; subjectivism; Sri Lanka; individual achievement; social intimacy; culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2014.063232

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2014 Vol.4 No.3, pp.234 - 246

Published online: 24 Jul 2014 *

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