Assessing entrepreneurial inclinations: Some approaches and empirical evidence

Interest in entrepreneurship is intense in many parts of the world and this has arisen because of the association between new venture creation and economic development. Entrepreneurship is a process that often leads to the creation of new enterprises but in this article the concept is broadened to include innovative and enterprising behaviour within existing organizations. While it is recognized that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are the products of various societal, organizational, and individual factors, this article focuses on the inherent personal traits of individuals that dispose them to engage in entrepreneurial acts. Some approaches to assessing the entrepreneurial personality are examined, but the principal focus is on pencil and paper measures of entrepreneurial attributes. Various instruments that purport to measure key entrepreneurial characteristics such as need for achievement, locus of control, and creative tendencies are considered and relevant empirical evidence is reported. A consideration of the appropriateness of the Durham University Business School's General Enterprising Tendency test as a composite instrument for assessing enterprising or entrepreneurial tendencies follows along with some statistical norms for this test, which should prove useful for practitioners and academics alike. Finally, some problems with trait theories of entrepreneurship are discussed.