Delineating Government Policies and Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation

Abstract

The South African government, like other countries, has put in place a variety of support measures to aid potential entrepreneurs and existing entrepreneurs to expand their operations. It is unclear, to what extent understanding of these support measures impacts individual entrepreneurial orientation propensities (IEO). The study objective was to investigate the impact of government policy on IEO propensities of risk-taking, innovativeness and proactiveness to engage in entrepreneurial activity, from a systems analysis perspective. The research was carried out using mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative data). The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) from Smart PLS 3.0 software was employed to analyse the data. The study was limited to 235 entrepreneurs from various towns, cities, and settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa who were present at Minara Chamber of Commerce Women’s Conference. The findings showed that government policy impact IEO propensities to engage in entrepreneurial activities.