In this chapter, an overview of the background of the study is initiated, along with the problem statement, the purpose, the questions, the contribution and the limitations of this research. In the last part of this chapter, each definition of the key terms is presented as well.
Background of the Study
In 1970s and 1990s, Taiwan experienced an economy improvement, the individuals had more intention to start up a firm, become an entrepreneur or self-employed. The regulation and policies had provided the individual with a friendly context for pursuing a career of entrepreneurship and there were more various new products to be manufactured, such as electronic components, textile, textile related instrument, plastic, and food industry. According to National Statistic R.O.C. (2017) surveyed, in the 80s and 90s, there were around 64% of Taiwanese working for others, in the public sector or private sector, and it has been increasing year by year. While for the self-employed individual, there are above 22% to 25% during those periods, which had more than 1.6 million individuals established a firm or became one-person company. According to the numbers shown in the statistic, although the trend of career seems to be working for other, there is a higher percentage of people working for themselves at that period. Nowadays, working for others is still the trend, and the percentage had risen to 79%, which is approximately 5 million workers difference since 1980 till 2017. The percentage of entrepreneurships have decreased to around 16%. This phenomenon shows that the individual, nowadays, chooses to work for others and is especially willing to work in well-branded enterprises, as comparing to the period of 80s and 90s, an individual has more willingness,
options and opportunities to become an entrepreneur, rather than to get an offer from small, medium to large companies, regardless of private organization or public sector.
A survey shows that 93.6% of individuals, whose age is above 20, possesses the dream to be self-employed or an entrepreneur in their future career (Yang, 2017). Attributed to the rapid development of technology, which provides a channel that is easy to access to the market, individual has more opportunity to become self-employed. Although the individual who intends to become start-up in the future, they may not carry out the plan without having certain criteria. Yang (2017) concluded that the top three factors that affect the individuals to become an entrepreneur are an attitude toward risk-taking (31.7%), a finance ability (29.6%), and a fine plan (27.8%). Due to the result of the survey, the motivation to start up, 56.5% of the individual is hoping to do what he/she is interested in and 50.6% of individual wants to earn more money;
meanwhile, this survey exposes another phenomenon, that the individual may work on more than two jobs at the same time. According to the survey, 18.1% of full-time workers are having another part-time job at the same time and 87.3% of people are thinking of working on more than one job (Lee, 2017) Another survey reveal that till 2017, 7.11% of labor had nontraditional workers, which included contingent worker, part-time workers, freelancers, and seasonal workers. This result is 0.07% higher than in 2016 (Executive Yuan R.O.C., 2017). An article stated that Taiwanese who are nontraditional workers, they intent on starting a firm in the future, instead of working for others (Lee, 2017). Accordingly, these changes that happen throughout the career cause the individuals to be more likely in pursuing a career of becoming self-employed. Moreover, the technology has provided the individual with more platforms or channels to access easily in becoming an entrepreneur, such as through social media or online business platforms. Despite a full-time labor still being a trend in this decade, Global
Entrepreneurship Index (Ács, Szerb, & Lloyd, 2018) discovered that Taiwan ranked in the third place in Asia-Pacific area of being a potential country on developing entrepreneurship, which presented that individuals in Taiwan have the potential of becoming his/her own boss in their career and also as changing the career structure of an individual instead of working for others.
Statement of the Problem
Through these phenomena, the trend of working for others is changing, more and more workers are planning to become an entrepreneur. Due to the development of technology, globalization, diverse work, and changes of organizational structure, career development is influenced to be more flexible on work and self-directed to future career (Biemann, Zacher, &
Feldman, 2012; Briscoe & Hall, 2006; Hirschi, Herrmann, & Keller, 2015; Sullivan, 1999;
Sullivan & Arthur, 2006). Thus, the development of career is not happening only in one organization or a certain field (Sullivan, Carden, & Martin, 1998), the individuals are changing the career structure from promoting steadily in an organization to shifting the career as self-employed. The dynamic changes in the economy and organizational structure increases the diversity of the task and work that individual encountered, which forced the individual to develop the related competences, skills, behaviors and characteristics in order to adapt the evolving environment. Thus, an individual develops a new competence, perceives experience and adapts toward changes in every stage, which influences the ability to adapt in the career to be important, nowadays. As career adaptability is defined to have the resources to cope with the problem and tasks in the career, which is considered to influence in developing an individual’s career; as career is mechanized by the adapting ability of ones working field (Quinn, 1992). An individual who possesses such ability will purse for a protean career or
boundaryless career rather than steadily promoted up through the organizational ladder, since there is more competitiveness in the market (Arthur, 1994; Ellig, 1998; Hall, 1996; London, 1983, 1993; Sullivan et al., 1998; Waterman Jr., Waterman, & Collard, 1994).
Since entrepreneurship requires a planning behavior before devoted to entrepreneurial activity, the researcher is wondering whether the individual with career adaptability, able to utilize the resource in planning the future and adapting the changes, will facilitate in the intention of entrepreneurial path. However, before evoking the notion to become an entrepreneur, most of the individuals have the experience of working on more than two jobs or coping with other living issues while working as a full-time worker or temporary worker to gain crucial competences and experiences. While seeking the career, individuals have to think carefully on the possible opportunities and resources that facilitate in developing a new career status (Baruch & Bozionelos, 2011). Furthermore, becoming an entrepreneur, opportunity plays an influencing role in progressing this career (Alvarez & Busenitz, 2001). When the opportunity for entrepreneurship appears, the individual probably evokes the intention to pursue the career of becoming self-employed. Therefore, when the individuals are provided with environment and sufficient resources as an opportunity, these may cause the individuals to gain courage in higher possibility to have entrepreneurial intention.
A huge body of literature talks about entrepreneurial topics. Studies of the antecedents of the entrepreneurial intention included personality, cognitive and behavior (Gielnik, Kramer, Kappel, & Frese, 2014), opportunity (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000), or gender (Sullivan &
Meek, 2012). While the abilities have developed from work and life, the individuals are able to cope with challenges and sudden changes. The livings, working style, and the education are improved by the advanced technologies, the individuals are forced to accommodate the rapid
changes and keep up in the tide, in order to be competitive in the organization or labor market.
Thus, the ability to adapt will also recompose the perspective on future career, career construct theory (CCT) argues that plenty of things happen in the career would affect the future career development (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012), whether it is the pressure of work, peer stress, organizational change, depression, or family changes, such as becoming a parent or losing of family member. Hence, the individual, who has career adaptability, is able to handle the situation caused from work and life to pursue own objectives. Scholars have advocated for the individual who has ability to adapt in the career does have self-regulatory ability to accommodate multiple situations and problems with the resources they gained (Savickas, 1997;
Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). People who have career adaptability, are considered to have high self-efficacy, aim at personal target in the future, have beliefs to reach the goals, and attain a success even facing severe problem (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). Thus, if the workers have the ability to cope with all problems and circumstances appear in the job, in the family, and in the status in family or work, they ought to have the potential to be self-employed. The researcher deemed that individuals with career adaptability will have the ability to deal with the difficulties they face and adapt those into a competence or experience; after that, through the adaption, the individuals are able and will probably adjust the future career plan according to the resource that one’s possess to cope with the dynamic working environment and transform into a situation that meet the career goal. Thus, the researcher proposed that the workers in Taiwan have career adaptability will also have a higher intention to become an entrepreneur.
However, the individuals with less avoidance toward uncertainty possibly tend to have the notion of startup or self-employed (Zhao, Seibert, & Lumpkin, 2010). Studies mentioned that risk perception is being influenced by the difference of individual’s situation and culture
(Bontempo, Bottom, & Weber, 1997). The uncertainty avoidance of Taiwanese is higher than Westerners and seldom take risk to change the circumstances or to break the rule and harmony in the society (Bontempo et al., 1997). In the background, the survey by Yang (2017) shows that one of the top criteria are the attitude toward risk-taking. On the fact that becoming an entrepreneur has more elements to be considered, the researcher expects to discover that the attitude toward risk will cause the individual to be hesitating or disliking on starting a new career.
Purpose of the Study
Through the statement of the study, the researcher desired to understand that if the workers in Taiwan have high career adaptability and also possess entrepreneurship in their mind. As Tolentino, Sedoglavich, Lu, Garcia, and Restubog (2014) mentioned that the further research can analyze the entrepreneurs or workers, to know whether if career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention is strongly significance and correlated. Meanwhile, the researcher deemed that the workers with high career adaptability will develop an intention of becoming a self-employee or entrepreneur. Under the effect of the individual who dislike or avoid taking risk, the relationship of the individual having high career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention will be weakened. Moreover, the researcher is wondering that if Taiwan has the sufficient resource and opportunity context to affect the individual with high career adaptability to have stronger intention of becoming an entrepreneur.
Research Questions
From the statement of problem and research purpose, the researcher derived the question for analyzing the relation of the career adaptability and intention to be entrepreneur in Taiwan as following:
1. Does the individual who has high career adaptability also has high inclination to become self-employed?
2. Whether the career adaptive individual having the fear toward risk will weaken the intention to be self-employed?
3. Do the opportunity and resources influence an individual with career adaptability to enhance the notion of becoming an entrepreneur?
4. Do gender and career status differ in having the intention to become an entrepreneur?
Significance of the Study
The main contribution of this study will be a start for Taiwan to investigate about the antecedents of the entrepreneurial intention and more possibility that may affect the relation of the career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention. If the Hypotheses in this study are true, the result may help the organization to understand that the individuals who are scored higher in career adaptability are more eager in developing their career. Thus, the organization can consider to invest on those potential individuals for startup or other career development.
Another possible contribution from this study, is that if all assumptions are true, more individual having high adaptability, lower risk aversion, and high intention are likely to be an entrepreneur, there is a possibility of developing new market and stimulate the economy of Taiwan.
Delimitation
This research is mainly studying on the Taiwanese workers, regardless of the industries, job position and professions. However, the researcher will collect various types of occupation, traditional job and non-traditional job, these will include the part-time and seasonal worker, full-time worker, and dual-career professional. Tolentino et al. (2014) mentioned that further research can analyze the entrepreneurs or workers, whether if the Hypothesis of career adaptability and entrepreneurial intention is strongly significance and correlated. Nothing is perfect, including this study. The limitation of this study is the time of data collection is short and may not be able to represent each career status or profession in Taiwan. As the study will be done in Taiwan, the result may not be feasible to generalize to other nations or cultures. One limitation is that the research only considered the risk, opportunity, adaptability toward career, and intention of entrepreneurship, but more antecedents may be possible, in addition to the risk attitude, occupation, and demographics.
Definition of Key Terms Career Adaptability
Career adaptability is defined as the level of readiness of an individual who has sufficient and useful resource to deal with his/her current and future working and living status, such as the tasks from the job, transformation of job position, and also the trauma happened in their life (Savickas, 1997, 2005; Savickas & Porfeli, 2012).
Risk Aversion
Risk aversion can be used to describe an individual who considers risk as a bad thing, something to avoid it at all cost, and is less likely to take risk than individual who has more
risk propensity (Allen, Weeks, & Moffitt, 2005; Bell, 1995; Wiseman, Gomez-Mejia, & Fugate, 2000).
Entrepreneurial Opportunity
Entrepreneurial Opportunity is the opportunity of how an individual exploit the knowledge to recognize the possibilities and discover new services and new methods in engaging a startup idea (Casson, 1982; McMullen, Plummer, & Ács, 2007; Plummer, Haynie,
& Godesiabois, 2007; Shane & Venkataraman, 2000).
Entrepreneurial Intention
Entrepreneurial Intention is an individual’s willingness to pursue the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur, self-employment, with the behavior to assess the external and internal context (Bird & Jelinek, 1988; Douglas & Shepherd, 2002; Krueger, Reilly, & Carsrud, 2000).