No abstract

Building on the theory of planned behavior, an ex ante and ex post survey was used to assess the impacts of elective and compulsory entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) on students' entrepreneurial intention and identification of opportunities. Data were collected by questionnaire from a sample of 205 participants in EEPs at six Iranian universities. Both types of EEPs had significant positive impacts on students' subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Results also indicated that the elective EEPs significantly increased students' entrepreneurial intention, although this increase was not significant for the compulsory EEPs. The findings contribute to the theory of planned behavior and have implications for the design and delivery of EEPs.

Knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage sustainable development have become significant components of different career paths. Previous research has explored which competencies are needed for future change agents in the field of sustainable development. Sustainable entrepreneurship can be seen as a promising work context in which these competencies are truly at the forefront and enacted. Several researchers have compiled frameworks of key competencies. However, their work is exploratory in nature and a more in-depth analysis of these frameworks is called for. In this study, an existing competence framework for sustainable entrepreneurship was tested in terms of construct validity, among 402 would-be entrepreneurs. The results suggest the inclusion of six competencies, which constitute a competence framework with a good model fit. Furthermore, a new combination of two existing competencies is proposed. This study has important implications for the debate on which competencies for sustainable entrepreneurship are essential on theoretical and empirical grounds.

Because corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be beneficial to both companies and its stakeholders, interest in factors that support CSR performance has grown in recent years. A thorough integration of CSR in core business processes is particularly important for achieving effective long-term CSR practices. Here, we explored the individual CSR-related competencies that support CSR implementation in a corporate context. First, a systematic literature review was performed in which relevant scientific articles were identified and analyzed. Next, 28 CSR directors and managers were interviewed. The literature review complemented with interview data resulted in the following eight distinct CSR-related competencies: (1) Anticipating CSR challenges; (2) Understanding CSR-relevant systems and subsystems; (3) Understanding CSRrelevant standards; (4) CSR management competencies, including (4a) Leading CSR programs, (4b) Managing CSR programs, and (4c) Identifying and realizing CSR-related business opportunities; (5) Realizing CSR-supportive interpersonal processes; (6) Employing CSR-supportive personal characteristics and attitudes; (7) Personal valuedriven competencies, including (7a) Ethical normative competencies, (7b) Balancing personal ethical values and business objectives, and (7c) Realizing self-regulated CSRrelated behaviors and active involvement; and (8) Reflecting on personal CSR views and experiences. Based on these results, implications for further research on this topic, as well as implications for practitioners, are discussed.

Drawing upon the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we developed and tested a conceptual model which integrates both internal personality factors and external contextual factors to determine their associations with motivational factors and entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). We then investigated if the model of EI applies in a developing country, namely Iran. We also set out to identify the most relevant factors for EI within this developing country context. Do distal predictors of EI including personality factors (i.e. need for achievement, risk taking and locus of control) and contextual factors (i.e. perceived barriers and support) significantly relate to EI via proximal predictors including motivational factors (i.e. attitudes towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural control [PBC])? Data were collected on 331 students from 7 public universities. The findings support the TPB for EI in Iran. All three motivational factors related to EI, but PBC showed the strongest association, which is different than in developed country contexts. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed. All three personality characteristics indirectly related to EI via the proximal attitudes towards entrepreneurship and PBC. Perceived contextual support and barriers indirectly related to EI via proximal PBC while perceived barriers also directly related to EI.