The Impact of Entrepreneurial Education on Technology-Based Enterprises Development: The Mediating Role of Motivation

Abstract

Technology-based enterprises play a paramount role in blooming a country economically. Nevertheless, according to a society’s capacity to launch such enterprises in various eras, their volume is less than expected in many economies. Therefore, establishing such enterprises is necessary for developing any country, although its innovation system contributes to establishing them. This paper considers the impact of entrepreneurial education on technology-based enterprise development, including motivation as a mediator variable, in Esfahan Scientific and Industrial Town. Despite much research investigating the correlation between entrepreneurial education and technology-based enterprises’ progress, it seems that no study has already considered this correlation with remarking the motivation as a mediator variable. This applied research follows a quantitative research design. The statistical population includes 500 enterprises in the Esfahan Scientific and Industrial Town, and for sampling, Cochran’s formula was applied (n = 217). Additionally, the researcher-made questionnaire and PLS3 software were used for data gathering and analysis. The results demonstrated that entrepreneurial education elements (including entrepreneurial skill, entrepreneurial learning, and entrepreneurial intention) positively affect technology-based enterprises’ development, considering motivation as a mediator variable. However, the impact of entrepreneurial intention on technology-based enterprises was not supported. It reveals that the entrepreneurial intention of motivated individuals could have a meaningful effect on the development of technology-based enterprises. Therefore, motivation is a critical issue to be considered by managers and policymakers while considering entrepreneurial education-related policies and initiatives.

Creating Extraordinary From Ordinary: High Resource Efficiency of Underdog Entrepreneurs and Its Mechanism

“…In the context of limited resources, resource efficiency was defined as the effort performance to achieve the goal of growth by maximizing the use of resources ( Koh et al, 2016 ). Underdog entrepreneurs, such as student entrepreneurs, may choose entrepreneurial education to cultivate human capital ( Salamzadeh et al, 2013 , 2014 ; Dana et al, 2021 ), as well as use limited resources to launch Minimum Viable Products (MVP) and implement business innovation to become financially effective and resource efficient ( Salamzadeh et al, 2017 ; Lopez et al, 2019 ). In addition, underdog entrepreneurs are easily threatened by stereotypes.…”

A Brief Review of Our Agile Teaching Formats in Entrepreneurship Education

“…Timmons [35] described entrepreneurs as resourceful strategy developers who take a holistic approach to thinking, reasoning, and acting with the aim of realizing visions and ideas. According to Timmons, entrepreneurship is about recognizing the potential and the opportunity, as well as having the volition, resilience, and risk-taking skills to create value and development opportunities for society (see also [4,36]). According to Schumpeter [37], an entrepreneur is defined as a person who is empowered and motivated to implement new ideas and approaches and turn them into successful innovations.…”

“…In addition, in a specific region, a strong industrial location in Germany, the number of startups is slightly declining, inhibiting the region's innovation potential [17]. One important aspect concerning the worldwide demand of growth is that lower numbers of startups inhibit essential technological and non-technological advances and related social development [36]. Fortunately, entrepreneurship education at IHEs can positively influence the creation of startups.…”

“…Concrete support for business startups is another aspect in this context [43]. Entrepreneurial education aims to provide (future) founders or persons interested in founding a company with appropriate methods to develop their professional and social skills to strengthen their motivation (see [36]) and awareness and, thus, to increase their chances of successfully founding a company. Important prerequisites for this are knowledge about the personality traits and professional competencies of successful founders, comprehensive networks with business associations and companies, exchanges with like-minded actors, and openness and inquisitiveness of the target group to start their individual personality development.…”

“…This happens through a careful mix of learning elements, case studies, or digital business games. The study conducted by Dana et al [36] started from the notion that technology-based businesses play an essential role in the economic (and social) development of a country. Based on a literature review and a quantitative survey (standardized questionnaire with n = 213 respondents), they tested hypotheses about influencing factors (entrepreneurial skill, intention, learning, and motivation) on the foundation of technology-based enterprises.…”