Examining Entrepreneurship

Business management guru Tom Peters foresees that organizational success will soon require the "entrepreneurizing of every job" (1994, p.67). But what is entrepreneurship, that trait which motivates people to become their own boss and start a business?

We surveyed 410 Romanians and 123 Russians, nominated by their local Chambers of Commerce as established and successful entrepreneurs. Rasch analysis of 32 items shows both the core meaning of entrepreneurship and also distinctly local aspects. In the Figure, the main diagonal captures items about whose motivational power both Russians and Romanians agree. Control over one's own time and place, the opportunity to implement one's own ideas, and the enticement of more money and higher status motivate both groups of entrepreneurs. Escaping from unsafe job conditions, "NotUnsafe", is less motivating.

On the plot, diagonals are drawn 1 logit from the main diagonal, outside are those items whose motivational power is different for the groups. In the lower right corner, Romanians are more motivated by individual benefits: flexibility, opportunism, adventure, fun and the chance to learn. In the top left corner, Russians are more motivated by social benefits: interacting freely with people, being with people liked and admired, forming part of a community, even leading it.

Rasch analysis yields remarkable insights into the diverse nature of entrepreneurship. The Romanians are in the mold of the free-wheeling American entrepreneurship of Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Donald Trump. The Russians follow after earlier merchant princes of Venice and the Netherlands. What of "entrepreneurizing" within an organization? Peters' writings feature community, trust, leadership, adventure and learning, but are ambivalent about money, personal status and control over one's own time. This cuts diagonally across the construct of entrepreneurship defined in the plot. Perhaps this explains the difficulties organizations encounter as they seek to flatten and fracture the corporate pyramid, turning each worker into a mini-boss.

Joe S. Roberts, Coleman Foundation
David E. Drehmer, De Paul University

Peters, T. (1994) The Tom Peters Seminar. New York: Random House/Vintage Books.

Examining Entrepreneurship. Roberts J.S. & Drehmer D.E. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1997, 11:3 p. 573

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Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 2nd Edn. George Engelhard, Jr. & Jue Wang	Applying the Rasch Model (Winsteps, Facets) 4th Ed., Bond, Yan, Heene	Advances in Rasch Analyses in the Human Sciences (Winsteps, Facets) 1st Ed., Boone, Staver	Advances in Applications of Rasch Measurement in Science Education, X. Liu & W. J. Boone	Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences (Winsteps) Boone, Staver, Yale
Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets), Thomas Eckes	Statistical Analyses for Language Testers (Facets), Rita Green	Invariant Measurement with Raters and Rating Scales: Rasch Models for Rater-Mediated Assessments (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Stefanie Wind	Aplicação do Modelo de Rasch (Português), de Bond, Trevor G., Fox, Christine M	Appliquer le modèle de Rasch: Défis et pistes de solution (Winsteps) E. Dionne, S. Béland
Exploring Rating Scale Functioning for Survey Research (R, Facets), Stefanie Wind	Rasch Measurement: Applications, Khine	Winsteps Tutorials - free Facets Tutorials - free	Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets) - free, J.M. Linacre	Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Winsteps, Facets), McNamara, Knoch, Fan
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Rasch Measurement Transactions & Rasch Measurement research papers - free	An Introduction to the Rasch Model with Examples in R (eRm, etc.), Debelak, Strobl, Zeigenfuse	Rasch Measurement Theory Analysis in R, Wind, Hua	Applying the Rasch Model in Social Sciences Using R, Lamprianou	El modelo métrico de Rasch: Fundamentación, implementación e interpretación de la medida en ciencias sociales (Spanish Edition), Manuel González-Montesinos M.
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar	Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch	Rasch Models for Measurement, David Andrich	Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson	Best Test Design - free, Wright & Stone Rating Scale Analysis - free, Wright & Masters
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