ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET IN SUCCESS OF ENTERPRISES OPERATED BY ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNIVERSITY GRADUATES IN KENYA

Abstract

An adaptable entrepreneurial mindset is important in an entrepreneurial context because contemporary business environments are characterized by rapid, substantial, and discontinuous change (Hitt, 2000). Entrepreneurial mindset is an intervention to nascent entrepreneurs who have a deficient of entrepreneurial knowledge (experience & knowledge) which leads to venture success (Hayward, Shepherd, & Griffin, 2006). However, in Kenya, nascent entrepreneurs such as entrepreneurship university graduates lack a mindset geared towards venture growth and development, prior knowledge plus experience in entrepreneurship and the consequence is failure or stagnation The objectives of the study was to determine effect of the metacognitive resources, and influence of metacognitive monitoring and feedback mechanisms on the entrepreneurial mindset of university entrepreneurship graduates. Descriptive survey method was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The target population was entrepreneurship university graduates in two public (JKUAT, Moi) and two private (Strathmore, USIU) universities in Kenya. Purposive sampling and snowball were used as sampling techniques. A self- administered validated semi-structured questionnaire was used in collecting data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Objective one determined the effect of metacognitive resources on entrepreneurial mindset. It had the best (r=0.615) correlation with entrepreneurial mindset with a factor loading 0.890. This implies that knowledge and experience of a business is the most important ingredient to success of an enterprise. Objective two examined the influence of metacognitive monitoring and feedback mechanisms on entrepreneurial mindset. Metacognitive feedback was the second best with a weak positive correlation (r=0.150) to entrepreneurial mindset. This implies that the ability to monitor the growth of an enterprise is of paramount importance to an entrepreneurship graduate. The conclusion was that the most important predictor of success in enterprises with metacognitive feedback as the second best predictor. The study recommended that entrepreneurial mindset should be made compulsory subject in the curriculum of tertiary institutions.