Developing and validating the entrepreneurial career success scale and testing its antecedents and consequences in the context of Southeast Asian values

Abstract

This research is consisted of three interrelated studies aiming at developing the construct and scales of entrepreneurial career success and testing its antecedents and consequences in Hong Kong, a region embedded in Southeast Asian values. In Study 1, qualitative interviews were conducted to 12 small business owners that were drawn from a variety of business sectors. Following basic qualitative research procedures, including interviewing, transcribing, coding, and inter-coder reliability checking, I developed a 7-facet construct of entrepreneurial career success, categorized as materialistic, psychological, and sociological career success. Using a sample of 68 students and academic staffs, Study 2 was a pilot study aiming at developing initial scales for entrepreneurial career success, its antecedents and consequences, and examining their psychometric properties. Results of Study 2 demonstrate that the entrepreneurial career success scales were generally good in psychometric properties. In Study 3, a survey was conducted to a sample of 236 companies. I invited both business owners and employees as participants. Study 3 aimed at validating the scales, which were developed in Study 2, and testing the nomological network of entrepreneurial career success. By multi-source ratings (an exploratory factor analysis conducted to the employees and a confirmatory factor analysis conducted to the entrepreneurs), the results suggest that the validity and reliability of these scales were generally good. The results also show that human capital attributes, entrepreneurial capacity, and personality traits were positively related to entrepreneurial career success in general. Lastly, major findings from these studies, limitations of the research, and implications for researchers, organizations, and entrepreneurs are discussed.