Need for achievement, business goals, and entrepreneurial persistence

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to employ the need theory to investigate whether a need for achievement has an effect on persistence behavior among entrepreneurs, and whether a need for achievement and business goals interact to influence such persistence. Design/methodology/approach – A longi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dagher, Grace K. (author)
Other Authors: Wu, Sibin (author), Matthews, Linda (author)
Format: article
Published: 2007
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/3876
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01409170710833358
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.php
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/01409170710833358
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Summary:Purpose – The purpose of the study is to employ the need theory to investigate whether a need for achievement has an effect on persistence behavior among entrepreneurs, and whether a need for achievement and business goals interact to influence such persistence. Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study of nascent entrepreneurs was conducted by a field survey in a metropolitan area of a mid‐western state in the USA. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Need for achievement is found to be positively related to entrepreneurial persistence. Business goals are found to moderate the relationship between need for achievement and persistence. Research limitations/implications – The time span between the two waves of data collection in the longitudinal study might have been too short. Practical implications – This study highlights the importance of matching need for achievement and business goals. For complex tasks, a strong need for achievement should be accompanied with moderate business goals if persistence is to occur. Venture capitalists and government agencies can improve entrepreneurial success by keeping a close eye on the match. Originality/value – Few studies have explored the issue of entrepreneurial persistence. The present study contributes to a better understanding of motivation and other variables that influence entrepreneurial persistence.