This study aims to examine the effects of educational level on selfefficacy, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention among Polish students in the context of industry 4.0. By collecting data from 553 Polish students at universities and colleges in Poland, author would employ the quantitative approach such as certain descriptive statistics, explorative factor analysis, correlation coefficient analysis, ANOVA test and multiple... Đề tài Hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tại Công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên được nghiên cứu nhằm giúp công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên làm rõ được thực trạng công tác quản trị nhân sự trong công ty như thế nào từ đó đề ra các giải pháp giúp công ty hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tốt hơn trong thời gian tới.
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SELF-EFFICACY, PERCEIVED BEHAVIORAL CONTROL AND
ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION AMONG POLISH STUDENTS
IN THE CONTEXT OF INDUSTRY 4.0: ASSESSING THE EFFECT
OF EDUCATION LEVEL
Duong Cong Doanh, MBA MSc
Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Ngoc Huyen National Economics University
Abstract
This study aims to examine the effects of educational level on self-efficacy, perceived
behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention among Polish students in the context
of industry 4.0 By collecting data from 553 Polish students at universities and colleges
in Poland, author would employ the quantitative approach such as certain descriptive
statistics, explorative factor analysis, correlation coefficient analysis, ANOVA test and
multiple linear regressions to analyze the relationship between educational level,
self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention In addition,
Chi-square and Cramer’s V tests are implemented to indicate the difference of educational
level in entrepreneurial intention The research results show that there is a positive
relationship between educational level and entrepreneurial intention, while self-efficacy
and perceived behavioral control also have positive effects on entrepreneurial intention
Moreover, Chi-Square and Cramer’s V test report that there is a strong evidence of
educational level in entrepreneurial intention but no differences in self-efficacy and
entrepreneurial intention
Keywords: self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control, educational level, entrepreneurial
intention, Polish students
1 Introduction
The reasons why students do or do not intent to run their own business have interested
many researchers in entrepreneurship literature (Iakowleva et al., 2014; Moriano et al.,
2012; Krueguer et al., 1994; Kolvereid, 1996) Entrepreneurs play a crucial role in
developing the national economy, well-being of a society (Iakowleva et al., 2014),
innovation and employment (Kelley et al., 2011) Guerrero et al (2008) state that
entrepreneurship is seen as an innovative and creative process, which play the potential
role in creating added and new value to products/services, increasing productivity,
creating new job opportunities, revitalizing and diversifying markets, improving social
welfare, and developing the national economy Historically, the establishment of new
market, the relationship with profit orientation and capital investment (Schumpeter,
1975) led to the beliefs of economics regarding the responsibility of entrepreneurship
for economic growth (Code, 1965; Weber, 1930)
Market economy in Poland was established only after 1989 As a consequence of the
imposition of the Communism ideology after World War II, with the control of
economy and social life modeled upon the Soviet Union, the entrepreneurship issue was
not a concern Poland and many other Central European countries functioned as a
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system of centrally planned economies where the importance of profit-oriented sector
was minimized as much as possible As a consequence of political and economic
principles, private and profit-seeking entities were almost entirely rejected
Entrepreneurship was not as common in the centrally planned system as it was the case
in other market economies in Europe As mentioned in UNCTAD 2017 World
Investment Report, despite FDI, Poland is among the most attractive nations in Europe
FDI inflows into Poland showed a reduction of USD 2.1 billion from USD 13.5 billion
in 2015 to only USD 11.4 billion in 2016 This trend reflects the global economic crisis
and the economic slowdown effectuated by the Eurozone crisis of 2012-2013
According to World Bank (2017), GDP growth reached nearly 4.0% in 2017, compared
to only 2.7% in 2016 However, as a result of the impact of lower economic activity in
Europe and labor shortages on the domestic market, the economy in Poland is predicted
to be slowing down in 2018 In addition, Industry 4.0 is seen as a chance for Polish
traditional industries Indeed, the results of survey made by Boston consulting Group
reported that there was high level of consciousness among Polish managers of big
companies in terms of chances provided by Industry 4.0 solutions (Figure 1) However,
the government should encourage them in investing in such solutions focusing on
cost-benefits analyses Unsolved problem in Poland is the approach and readiness to
implement Industry 4.0 solutions in smaller companies Objectives of Polish managers
are similar to government’s targets in connecting with implementation of Industry 4.0
solutions Coordination impact will foster transformation process and facilitate
cooperation between private and public sector
Figuge 1 The results of survey made by Boston consulting Group, Poland
Source: Survey by Boston consulting Group
According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in Poland (2017), there is an
increase in the percentage of individuals finding opportunities to start up their own
business in 2016 Noticeably, it is the first time in GEM research, and Poland reached a
result better than the average level in EU However, the fear of failure in business was
still seen as the largest obstacle in developing entrepreneurship in Poland since 48% of
the Polish citizens recognize the business opportunities in the environment and not
decide to start up their own business, in comparison with only 41% among the EU
residents
Even though the concept of entrepreneurship has become more universal in the world,
almost all entrepreneurial intention studies conducted in the developed countries, in
which the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the market economy has been developed
82%
18%
Are you going to invest in
Industry 4.0 solutions?
Yes No
64%
25%
11%
When do you plan these investments?
In next two years In next five years not defined yet
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There is lack of studies of entrepreneurship performed in the developing middle
European countries, such as Poland, especially in the investigation of the effects of
entrepreneurial intention studies among the students Thus, the loophole in this research
needs to be fulfilled The principal objective of this study is to examine the impact of
the education level on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control and
entrepreneurial intention This study also provides a useful insight of young
entrepreneurs of policy makers, education managements and governments with the goal
of fostering students’ entrepreneurship, developing entrepreneurial ecosystem and
enhancing the business environment In addition, the author also hopes that this study
will bring an interesting insight to researchers and academic staffs
This study is organized in the following manner: Firstly, the theoretical background
related to entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, self-efficacy and perceived
behavioral control and hypotheses will be introduced Secondly, the research method,
research model and ways to collect data will be described Thirdly, the author will
discuss the research results Finally, conclusions and recommendations for further
researchers will be performed
2 Literature review
2.1 Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur
There are many definitions for entrepreneurship developed over the few recent decades
Schumpeter (1975)considered that entrepreneurs are people who create new products or
services in new or existing market and entrepreneurship becomes one of the most
important factors in countries’ economic growth (Schumpeter, 1975; De Bruin et al.,
2006, p 686) “The environment itself creates entrepreneurship”(Bernat et al., 2016, p
271), the reason is that operating organizations have the knack for reacting quickly to
unanticipated changes, but also “to adapt to unpredicted outcomes of the predicted
changes” (Timmons, 1990) Kirzner (1985) defined that an entrepreneur is a person
who might optimize information in such a way that we are able to discover the new and
improved business opportunities Talpas (2014, p.198) consider entrepreneurship as a
process that can be recognized throughout business activities by showing effective
leadership within uncertain market, risks and competitive conditions, while Zimmer and
Scarborough (1996, p.19) claimed that entrepreneurs can also be known as owners who,
with skillful manner, are able to associate various factors of production, transforming a
smaller economic resources into a bigger platform effectively and rising profits Also,
Entrepreneurship is the process of creating and building new venture and new business
organization (Shane, Venkataraman, 2000), that not only provides goods and services,
creates job opportunities but also contribute to the development of economy and the
national income Linda et al (2017) argued that “it is the process of designing,
launching and running a new business”, and it also tend to some topics such as policy,
government programs, entrepreneurial training, funds, and many others that does not
only promote the development of starting a new business but it also supports
entrepreneurs in their business activities In addition, OECD (2006) stresses that
entrepreneurship is defined as a process, which entrepreneurs establish and develop
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enterprises to supply new products and services, or create additional value to products
and services
2.2.Entrepreneurial intention
Krueger & Brazeal (1994) has defined entrepreneurial intention as the intent to set up a
new business, or the intent to be self-employed (Douglas & Shepherd, 1997) or the
intent to own a business (Crant, 1996) There are many reasons such as personal
circumstances, social and political issues and business environment, which might
become either big obstacles or motivated factors to transform this intent becoming a
reality Thus, entrepreneurial intention is perceived as an essential and fundamental
condition to be a nascent entrepreneur Whereas entrepreneurship is determined as the
emergent process of an organization (Gartner et al., 1992), an individual’s intention to
pursue an entrepreneurial career is crucial to this process (Lee et al., 2011, p.126)
Moreover, entrepreneurial intention is considered the first step in a series of action to
found an organization (Bird, 1988), yet Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) argued that
intentions toward a behavior can be seen as important indicators of that behavior In
other words, intentions are still seen as the best predictor of individual behavior
(Krueger, 2008) According to Ajzen (1991), who introduced Theory of Planned
Behavior, intentions are determined by social/subjective norms and perceived
behavioral control Social norms are considered individual’s perception of his or her
behavior that is consistent with significant thoughts of others, while perceived behavior
control is the range of the target behavior within the ability of a decision maker
(Esfandiar et al., 2017) Do and Dadvari (2016) also defined entrepreneurial intention as
an attentive state of mind that reflects personal experience, awareness and interest
toward planned entrepreneurial activity In the context of Poland, the effects of
educational level on entrepreneurial intention should be investigated
H1 Entrepreneurial intention is positively affected by educational level
2.3 Self-efficacy
Cognitive issues reflect individual’s knowledge and skills related to performing and
operating a new venture (Baughn et al., 2006) A person’ perception of his or her
capabilities of carrying out a specific action is a necessary component of motivation
Desirability of creating a new business can be involved in Bandura (1986) the
construction of self-efficacy Thus, self-efficacy is an individual’s judgment of his or
her capability of executing a targeted behavior (Ajzen, 1987) and entrepreneurial
intention might also be affected by self-efficacy factors (Bandura, 1986; Chen et al.,
1998) Self-efficacy becomes a useful concept to explain human behavior and it also
plays a considerable role in identifying the choice, effort level, and perseverance of
individuals (Chen et al., 2004) Bandura (1997) also considered that a person who has
high self-efficacy for a particular task is likely to engage and then persevere in that task
than an individual who shows low self-efficacy Prior researches have seen self-efficacy
as a key predictor to identify entrepreneurial intentions (Lee et al., 2011), self-efficacy
either has direct effects on entrepreneurial intention or affect indirectly through
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perceived feasibility (Krueger, 1993; Krueger et al., 2000) In this study, the
relationship between educational level and efficacy, the degree to which
self-efficacy influences directly on entrepreneurial intention in the context of transitional
economy in Poland will be considered
H2 Entrepreneurial intention is positively affected by self-efficacy
H3 Self-efficacy is positively affected by educational level
H4 Perceived behavioral control is positively affected by self-efficacy
2.4 Perceived behavioral control
Perceived behavioral control refers to the extent to which a personal control belief in
terms of the activities being studied (Solesvik et al., 2012), while Liñán & Chen (2006,
p.4)has defined perceived behavioral control as “the perception of easiness or difficulty
in the fulfillment of the behavior of interest” This construct consists of not only being
able to have the essential skills to run a business and achieve success (Miranda et al.,
2017), but also the perception about controllability of the behavior (Liñán & Chen,
2009) Entrepreneurship research emphasizes the importance of perceived behavioral
control as a mechanism for overcoming awareness of the greater technological,
financial, legal uncertainties which are often related to new ventures (Obschonka et al.,
2010; Silveira-Perez et al., 2016) Schaegel & Koenig (2014) consider that
controllability perception has positive effect on the intention to become a founder
Ajzen (1991) has divided perceived behavioral control into two components, which
include the availability of resources required to conduct the behavior and the focal point
of individual’s self-confidence in the capacities to perform the behavior In addition,
Ajzen & Code (2008) argue that perceived behavioral control is identified by controlled
beliefs involving in the availability of factors (market opportunities, resources, role
models, social capitals) which might facilitate or impede performance Thus, the
hypothesis is proposed to examine the influence of educational level on perceived
behavioral control and the relationship between perceived behavioral control and
entrepreneurial intention as well in the context of transitional economy in Poland
H5 Perceived behavioral control is positively affected by educational level
H6 Entrepreneurial intention is positively affected by perceived behavioral control
3 Methodology
This study mainly focuses on investigating the effect of educational level on
entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention
among Polish students in the context of Industry 4.0 In terms of research techniques,
quantitative method such as certain descriptive statistics, KMO and Bartlett test,
correlational coefficient analysis and multiple regression throughout SPSS 20.0 in order
to show the relationship between educational level, self-efficacy, perceived behavioral
control and entrepreneurial intention Moreover, the Chi-Square and Cramer’s V Tests
are also used to illustrate the educational level difference in self-efficacy, perceived
behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention
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Even though more than 1000 questionnaires were distributed among the students at
universities in Poland, only 553 students (N=553) have fulfilled completely The
surveys are divided into 2 sections, which is based on the purpose of the study,
theoretical background and hypotheses In the first section, demographic questions are
designed to obtain respondents’ information such as gender, age group, educational
level and the willingness level to take risks In the second section, the questions are
designed to allow respondents providing their viewpoint regarding self-efficacy,
perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intention, which based on the previous
studies (Baughn et al., 2006; DeNoble et al., 1999; Liñán and Chen, 2009; Maresch et
al., 2015; Liñán & Chen, 2009; Adekiya & Ibrahim, 2016) The questionnaires are
based on the Liker scale with self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control (0=
Strongly disagree, 1=Disagree, 2= Slightly disagree, 3= Slightly agree, 4= Agree, 5=
Strongly agree) and entrepreneurial intention (1= Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=
Agree, 4= Strongly agree).
Figure 2 Research framework
0.055 0.103**
0.725**
0.199**
0.063 0.133**
4 Results
4.1 Demographic profile
Demographic information of respondents is presented in table 1.
Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of Sample Demographics
4 Type of current
professional
(working) activities
Studying and working for a company 74 13.4 Studying and running own business 9 1.6 Studying and looking for a job 360 65.1 Note: N=553; F: Frequency; %: Percent
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
Educational level
Self-efficacy
Perceived Behavioral Control
Entrepreneurial intention
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The results of descriptive statistics of demographic layouts indicates the major
proportion of respondents aged from 20 to 24 years old, compared to only 16.6% and
7.4% respondents who aged from 18 to 19 years old, and over 24 years old respectively
However, the percentage of female respondents reaches 69.4%, which is twofold higher
than that of male respondents (just 30.6%) In addition, the figure for university/college
students accounts for 71.4%, followed 24.8% master students and 3.8% high school
students In terms of type of current professional (working) activities, 65.1% students
consider that they are studying and looking for a job, 19.9% students are only studying,
13.4% students are studying and working for a company, and only 1.6% of them are
studying and running a business
Figure 3 Respondents’ willingness to take the risks
Note: N= 553, 1= very low, 2= low, 3= neutral, 4= high and 5= very high
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
The author also examines the willingness level to take risks among Polish students,
which is represented in figure 2 Overall, only 27.3% students believe that their
willingness level to take risks are high and very high (20.6% at high level, and 6.7 % at
very high) respectively However, the considerable percentage of respondents argues
that their willingness levels to take risks are 44.70% neutral and 28.0 % at low and very
low level
4.2 Reliability and explorative factor analysis for variables
Table 2 Reliability test and descriptive statistics for independent variables
Deviation
Cronbach's Alpha
Self-efficacy (SE)(Baughn et al., 2006; DeNoble et al.,
1999)
0.809
SE1 I can identify potential capital sources for the venture 3.1212 1.71464 0.805
SE2 I can develop relationship with people who connect
to sources of funds
SE3 I can react quickly to unexpected changes 2.7595 1.43141 0.776
SE4 I know how to legally protect a new venture 3.7844 1.31399 0.796
SE5 I can identify new areas for potential growth in the 3.0814 1.32925 0.791
6.70%
20.60%
44.70%
19.00%
9.00%
Very high
High
Neutral
Low
Very low
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future
SE8 I can communicate effectively with others 2.9837 1.52466 0.788
Perceived behavioral control (PBC)(Liñán & Chen,
2009; Maresch et al., 2015)
0.771
PBC1 To start a firm and keep it working would be easy
for me
PBC3 I can control the creation process of a new firm 3.2839 1.40420 0.730
PBC4 I know the necessary practical details to start a firm 1.9186 1.69256 0.754
PBC5 I know how to develop an entrepreneurial project 2.3699 1.61031 0.757
PBC6 If I tried to start a firm, I would have a high
probability of succeeding
PBC7 I am usually able to protect my personal interests 2.9402 1.59800 0.755
Note: N=553, 0= Strongly disagree, 1=Disagree, 2= Slightly disagree, 3= Slightly agree, 4= Agree,
5= Strongly agree
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
Table 2 reports that the values of Cronbach’s Alpha for independent variables such as
self-efficacy (SE) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) represent for 0.809 and
0.771, which are higher than 0.7 These values are high, indicating good reliability
Table 3 Reliability test and descriptive statistics for dependent variable
Deviation
Cronbach's Alpha
Entrepreneurial intention (EI) (Liñán & Chen, 2009;
Adekiya & Ibrahim, 2016 )
0.785
EI1 I am ready to do anything to be an entrepreneur 2.0942 0.83384 0.774
EI2 My professional goal is to become an entrepreneur 2.5054 0.83697 0.767
EI3 I will make every effort to start and run my own firm 2.4601 0.83820 0.763
EI4 I am determined to create a firm in the future 2.6467 0.88762 0.758
EI5 I have very seriously thought of starting a firm 2.5308 0.94252 0.760
EI6 I have the firm intention to start a firm someday 2.7554 0.88748 0.768
EI7 It is my plan to start my own business within five years
after graduating
2.3593 0.95045 0.777 EI8 If I had the opportunity and resources, I’d like to start a
firm
2.3993 0.98734 0.762
EI9 I am ready to make any form of sacrifice to become an
entrepreneur
2.8877 0.88856 0.765 EI10 Among various options, I would rather be an
entrepreneur
2.5172 0.89604 0.772
Note: N=553, 1= Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree; 3=
Agree, 4= Strongly agree
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
Table 3 shows the value of Cronbach’ Alpha for dependent variable (Entrepreneurial
intention-EI), which reaches 0.785 This value is also high, thus, the reliability of scale
is good
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Table 4 KMO and Bartlett’s Test
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
The results of KMO and Barlett’s Test for independent and dependent variables are
introduced in table 4 KMO and Bartlett’s test provides report on important test that the
data is suitable for Factor Analysis and KMO provides a measure of whether the
distribution of values in the variables is suitable The values for independent and
dependent variables are 0.870 and 0.837 respectively, which are rather high
Technically, as the size of sample making up 553, thus, the factor loading of EFA in this
study is 0.30 The significance value of both independent and dependent variables is
0.000 which is excellent
4.3.Correlation coefficients between variables
Table 5 Correlation coefficients between variables
Educational Level Pearson Correlation 1
Sig (2-tailed)
Note: N=553; *: p < 0.05, **: p , 0.01 (2-tailed)
Source: Authors’ elaborations based on research study
Table 5 presents the correlation coefficients between variables including educational
level, self-efficacy (SE), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and entrepreneurial
intention (EI) In terms of research framework, the model focuses on examining the
effect of educational level on self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control and
entrepreneurial intention The result indicates that there is a positive relationship
between educational level and entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.199, p-value = 0.000).
Moreover, with the lower significance level, self-efficacy (r = 0.055, p-value = 0.200)
and perceived behavioral control (r = 0.063, p-value = 0.140) are positively affected by
educational level Self-efficacy also has the positive effects on perceived behavioral
control (r = 0.725, p-value = 0.000) and entrepreneurial intention (r = 0.103, p-value =
0.016) Finally, perceived behavioral control influences on entrepreneurial intention
positively (r = 0.133, p-value = 0.002).
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4.4 Multiple Linear Regression
Multiple regression are used to predict the value of entrepreneurial intention given the
value of educational level, self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control
Table 6 Model summary b
a Predictors: (Constant), Educational Level, SE, PBC
b Dependent Variables: EI
According to table 6, the overall Pearson coefficient between educational level,
self-efficacy (SE), perceived behavioral control (PBC) and entrepreneurial intention (EI) is
provided The result shows that the multiple correlation only reach at 0.233 (R=0.233)
and so the Adjust R Square is just 0.054 (Adjusted R2=0.054) which proves that only
5.4 of variation of entrepreneurial intention can be explained by the model comprised of
three variables (educational level, self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control)
Table 7 ANOVAa
a Dependent Variable: EI
b Predictors: (Constant), Educational Level, SE, PBC
Table 6 (ANOVA) reports the significance of regression model In this study, the Sig
associated with the F-Test is 0.000 which is highly significant, which confirms that the
model can explain a significant amount of variation in the entrepreneurial intention
Moreover, the Mean Square column also confirms that very much of the variance is
explained by the Regression line than by the Residual (2.910 compared to 0.277) This
reinforces the conclusion that the model is rather good
Table 8 Coefficientsa
Coefficients
Standardized Coefficients
t Sig
Educational
Level
0.170
0.865
1.879
0.061
a Dependent Variable: EI
Table 7 (Coefficients) represents the coefficients for the regression equation, which is:
Entrepreneurial intention = 2.088 + 0.190* educational level + 0 062* perceived
behavioral control + 0.006 * self-efficacy