Men and women who have a perception of self-efficacy and are yet to feel interested in or motivated by the idea of being on their own, comprise a potential, future source of entrepreneurship. What motivates a person is a question easier asked than answered. Entrepreneurial situation is characterized by personal accomplishment in competitive situations, involving higher standards of excellence. Often, ‘need for achievement’ comes across as the primary driver of entrepreneurial behaviour.
Need for Achievement – implies a desire to accomplish something difficult.
- To master, manipulate, or organise physical objects, human beings or ideas.
- To do this as rapidly and as independently as possible.
- To overcome obstacles and attain a high standard.
- To excel one’s self.
- To rival and surpass others.
- To increase self–regard by successful exercise of talent.
Yes, entrepreneurship provides you with the best opportunity for making the best use of your talents. In employment the 9-to-5 routine, pressure to adhere to rules and regulations, preference for compliance of boss’s instructions over the use of personal creativity and innovativeness stifle your progress and self-development.
As an entrepreneur, you can create a work environment that suits your abilities and interests.
Need for Power – is the concern for influencing people or the behaviour of others, for moving in the chosen direction and attaining the envisioned objectives. In common perception, politicians, social religious leaders Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Government Bureaucrats/Civil Servants typify the need for power.
Such a perception seems more based on the belief that the source of power lies in the “position” a person occupies in organisational/societal context.
In the same vein, business ownership too may imply a need for power. Moreover, you would appreciate that in the process of founding a business, one has to win the commitment of capital providers, suppliers of equipment and materials, the employees and that of the customers. Power may not be used to further one’s self- interests alone, it may be also be used to touch the lives of others, to make a difference. Entrepreneurs driven by this socialised face of the need for power, found organisations that are a source of sustenance and self- respect for many.
Need for Affiliation – Often you must have heard your parents saying that whatever they do, they do it for their children. If a man thinks about interpersonal relationships, he has a concern for affiliation. It implies, among other things a tendency of the people to conform to the wishes and norms of those whom they value. Apparently, social activists, environmentalists, teachers, and doctors and nurses may seem as predominantly driven by these needs.
Entrepreneurs are believed to be low on affiliation, as they are and expected to be, innovative, trendsetters and tradition breakers. However, it is not necessary that affiliation should only interfere with achievement. In certain cultures, family comprises the bedrock on which the successful careers are built. One works, as if, not for personal gratification but for family.
Desire to carry on the tradition of business in the family and the community to which one belongs, may be interpreted as reflecting need for affiliation as well.
In the countries with the colonial past, such as ours, the first generation of entrepreneurs in Independent India was driven by patriotic fervor and the desire to rebuild the economy left stagnated by the alien rulers. One can certainly trace some elements of affiliation motivation in such instances.
Need for Autonomy - is a desire for independence and being responsible and accountable to oneself rather than some external authority for performance. It is the desire for an opportunity for the fullest expression of one’s abilities. In the context of entrepreneurship, it is usually interpreted as the determination not to work for someone else. In most job situations, employees are given little freedom to exercise their discretion in taking decisions and choosing a course of action, so much so that absence of it drives them into starting their own ventures.
As such need for power becomes more a desire for preserving one’s ethos rather than the freedom from the boss.
Closing Thoughts
For promoting entrepreneurship it is important to kindle and arouse the right motivation. In the absence of motivation, even able men and women may not take to entrepreneurship. Hence, in every Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme (EAP) or Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP), there are special sessions on entrepreneurial motivation, besides sessions on entrepreneurial competencies.
Motivation and ability can positively reinforce each other. Persons having abilities search for the avenues for their expression and hence are drawn to entrepreneurship. Persons eager to be on their own may strive hard to acquire the necessary competencies to realise their dreams.
How truly one has said that, entrepreneurs are the dreamers who do!
