Societal, Culture and Entrepreneurial Opportunities Exploitation of New Venture Activities: Mediating Role of Proactiveness

Abstract

An unanswered question is concerned with the influence of culture of individualism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance in entrepreneurs’ opportunity exploitation of new venture activities in developing economies in the context of societal level. Based on the sample of 130 individual entrepreneurs in Tanzania, this paper analyses how culture of individualism, uncertainty avoidance and power distance influence entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation of new venture activities on societal level. The results indicated that the culture of individualism contributes highly on entrepreneurs’ opportunity exploitation of new venture activities. The results of uncertainty avoidance imply that the greater the uncertainty avoidance, the less the entrepreneurs’ chance to exploit opportunities of new venture activities. The proactive behaviour that was used as a mediator variable also contributes to the relationship between individualism, uncertainty avoidance and entrepreneurs’ opportunity exploitation of new venture activities. The study has made a contribution to the developing countries literature by focusing on individual entrepreneurs on societal level.

Influence of Individualism on Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploitation among Small and Medium Enterprises Owners in Tanzania

“…Also, [13] found a positive and significant relation between individualism and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation decisions. Findings are aligned with [14], who found a positive and significant influence between individualism and entrepreneurship.…”

“…A strong association exists between living in individualistic values and entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation [5]. Individualism strongly contributes to opportunity exploitation decisions [13,14]. Individualism has positive effects on entrepreneurship activity [12].…”

“…Among the six Hofstede cultural dimensions, individualism has the major role in influencing entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation [5]. Individualism positively and significantly affects entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation [12][13][14]. Individualism encourages a strong preference for personal freedom, achievement, responsiveness, and competitiveness; thus increasing the propensity to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities [5].…”

“…Individualism encourages a strong preference for personal freedom, achievement, responsiveness, and competitiveness; thus increasing the propensity to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities [5]. Despite the recognized influence of individualism on entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation, most studies have examined its influence in developed countries rather than developing countries [13,14]. Moreover, there are inconsistent findings among various studies [12].…”