“I’m Loving It!” What Makes the Successful Entrepreneur Affectively Committed to Entrepreneurial Performance?

Our paper aims to explore and reveal what, exactly, binds the successful entrepreneur to his/her desires to persevere and succeed; in other words, "what makes the successful entrepreneur affectively committed to superior entrepreneurial achievements?" In-depth interviews of six successful...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of applied management and entrepreneurship 2014-04, Vol.19 (2), p.27-52
Main Authors: Tasnim, Rahayu, Yahya, Salleh, Zainuddin, Muhammad Nizam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Commitments
Curricula
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Motivation
Qualitative research
Startups
Studies
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Summary:Our paper aims to explore and reveal what, exactly, binds the successful entrepreneur to his/her desires to persevere and succeed; in other words, "what makes the successful entrepreneur affectively committed to superior entrepreneurial achievements?" In-depth interviews of six successful entrepreneurs were conducted. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was applied to reveal the patterns and themes interpreted as affective entrepreneurial commitment. We find that affective commitment is the main component of commitment influencing entrepreneurial performance, and that passion in pursuing goals, coupled with positive inherited and learned values, and the possession of exceptional personality are found to positively influence the successful entrepreneurs' aspirations to endure the challenges and unpredictable failures, showing how important it is to truly understand the mindset of the successful entrepreneur, specifically on the factors contributing to high levels of commitment. The finding paves ways for those directly involved in entrepreneurship development to boost entrepreneurial commitment by channeling the right curricula to prospective entrepreneurs, especially during their first years in business. Instilling passion, values and the right personality may perhaps contribute to the curricula ingredients. Those emotionally struggling with failure would find the curricula as a valuable foundation for guidance and psychological strength. Our work contributes to the underdeveloped, yet much anticipated knowledge on entrepreneurial commitment and may benefit future empirical studies aimed at understanding commitment, particularly in the successful entrepreneur.
ISSN:1077-1158
2326-3709
DOI:10.9774/GLEAF.3709.2014.ap.00004