Impact of autonomy, innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness on students’ intention to start a new venture

Abstract

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions on students’ intentions to start new businesses in Saudi universities. Using a 21-item questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, the authors collected data on students’ demographics, entrepreneurial orientation, and entrepreneurial behavioral intention. The sample consisted of 341 business students from two public universities in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, business students were chosen for this study because they were potential entrepreneurs. Through structural equation modeling, AMOS software was used to analyze the study model. Results showed a strong relationship between entrepreneurial intention and greater autonomy, innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. In contrast, competitive and aggressive behavior, is not strongly related to entrepreneurial intention. These findings are important because they shed new light on the factors that shape future entrepreneurs, thereby making a significant theoretical contribution to the literature on entrepreneurial orientation, particularly in the context of university business students. As countries embrace the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in enhancing their global competitiveness, this study also makes a practical contribution to policymakers’ efforts to identify potential entrepreneurs and transform them into successful ones.