人力資本、社會資本與外國人士在台創業：一個混合研究

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(1)Graduate Institute of Global Business and Strategy College of Management National Taiwan Normal University Master Thesis. Human Capital, Social Capital, and Foreign Entrepreneurship: A Mixed-Method Approach. Graduate Student: Carvell Wilkins. Advisor: Ryan Shuwei Hsu. January, 2017.

(2) ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to better understand and examine how human capital and social capital influence individuals to become entrepreneurs in the foreign contexts. Initially, I designed a quantitative study to explore whether any and if so to what extent human capital and social capital positively predict the foreigners’ entrepreneurial intention. However, the empirical results contradict with my early prediction as I found a statistically significant negative relationship between human capital and entrepreneurial intention and statistically non-significant relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial intention. This inspires me to design a follow-up qualitative study. I interviewed three real foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan in an attempt to understand their personal accounts for being foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan. Their personal accounts enable me to rethink the meaning of human capital and social capital in the context of their lives and entrepreneurial experience and to identify a new construct, environmental opportunities, to explain the foreign entrepreneurship.. Keywords: Human capital; social capital; foreign entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship. I.

(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards my advisor, Professor Ryan Shuwei Hsu for the continuous support of my Master’s thesis. I would like to thank him for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me throughout this entire research and the writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Master thesis. Without his precious support, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to see a clear path towards finishing my thesis. My sincere thanks also goes to Dr. Hsiao, Chung-Chiang, who helped encourage me to not give up on my thesis. He helped me when he didn’t have to which I am extremely grateful for. Were it not for him, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to graduate. Without they precious support it would not be possible to conduct this research.. II.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.............................................................................................................................II TABLE OF CONTENT ...............................................................................................................................III TABLES AND FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ V INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................1 INITIAL QUANTITATIVE STUDY ...........................................................................................................4 Hypotheses and development ................................................................................................ 4 Human capital.................................................................................................................... 4 Human capital and entrepreneurship. ................................................................................ 6 Social capital ..................................................................................................................... 9 Social capital and entrepreneurship ................................................................................. 10 Methods ............................................................................................................................... 13 Sampling and data collection........................................................................................... 13 Measures .......................................................................................................................... 14 Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 16 Results ................................................................................................................................. 16 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 19 FOLLOW-UP QUALITATIVE STUDY ................................................................................................... 20 Samples and data collection ................................................................................................ 20 Interview protocol ........................................................................................................... 23 Results ................................................................................................................................. 28 Human capital.................................................................................................................. 28. III.

(5) Social capital ................................................................................................................... 34 Environmental opportunities ............................................................................................... 39 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 42 DISCUSSION & LIMITATION ................................................................................................................ 43 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 43 Limitations........................................................................................................................... 46 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 47. IV.

(6) TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Among Variables……….. 17 Table 2 Results of Logistic Regression Analysis for Entrepreneurial intentions…. 18 Table 3 Respondent’s Profiles…………………………………………………….. 21. Figure 1 Human Capital and Social Capital in Time and Space…………………... 25. Table 4 Reasoning for Time and Space Categories……………………………….. 26. Table 5 Questions for Time and Space Category…………………………………. 27 Figure 2 Time and Space Subcategories for Human Capital…………………….... 29. Figure 3 Time and Space Subcategories for Social Capital……………………….. 34. Figure 4 Time and Space Subcategories for Environmental Opportunities……….. 40. V.

(7) INTRODUCTION With the loosening of work related restrictions against foreigners residing in Taiwan, the number of foreign individuals in Taiwan are continuously increasing (Lin, Wang, & Kuo, 2016; Taiwan National Immigration Agency, 2016).These foreign individuals usually seek careers in specific markets in order to maintain their standard of living. Entrepreneurship is among these careers. By entrepreneurship, Gardner notes that “what differentiates entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurs create organizations, while non-entrepreneurs do not. In behavioral approaches to the study of entrepreneurship an entrepreneur is seen as a set of activities involved in organization creation” (Gardner,1989:1). This definition suggests the central meaning to entrepreneurship is the creation of new organizations. In this study, I am interested in the entrepreneurs who create organization in a foreign context and I tentatively refer this group of people as foreign entrepreneurship. I define foreign entrepreneurs as foreign individuals who are involved in a set of activities regarding organization creation within a country not their own. In the present study, I also follow psychological theories that assume (entrepreneurial) behaviors are strongly associated with (entrepreneurial) behavioral intention (Shapero, 1975;1982). In other words, individuals may become entrepreneurs after they develop their entrepreneurial intentions. Krueger shares this perspective as he puts that, “Entrepreneurial intentions derive from feasibility and desirability perceptions plus a propensity to act on opportunities” (Krueger,1993:5). Human capital and social capital offers an understanding of how to facilitate entrepreneur intentions (Isable, Marta, Maite, &Nuria, 2013). Throughout this study, I 1.

(8) have sought to better understand how human capital and social capital affect entrepreneurship. Understanding human capital and social capital concepts will give researchers more insights on how successful ventures are created (Hsiao, Hung, Chen, &Dong, 2013). Understanding how to facilitate entrepreneurship though foreign individual’s perceived human capital and social capital may give us insight and knowledge for future studies. This research focuses on how human capital and social capital influences foreigners to become entrepreneurs. I seek to better understand this topic, thus my first research question is: Whether any and if so to what extent do perceived human capital and social capital positively influence foreign individuals to become entrepreneurs? I designed a quantitative study to examine this research question. Using a quantitative study could help me uncover the collective thoughts of foreign individuals and how they perceive foreign entrepreneurship. My goal was to determine what influences them to have entrepreneurial intentions. The best way to predict the outcome was to use the independent variables which are both human capital and social capital. However, I discovered that the findings from the quantitative study contradict with my predictions. My quantitative study reveals that human capital has a negative relationship with entrepreneurial intentions which was the opposite of my expectations. The findings also suggest that social capital has no statistically significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention which I was not expecting. These finding also contradict with the extant literature within this study creating an intellectual puzzle to me. These findings inspired me to develop a follow up study with a second research question: How have human capital and social capital, if any, influenced 2.

(9) foreign entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey? This second study is related to the real experiences of foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan. I sought to better understand how human capital and social capital affect their entrepreneurial journey. I designed a qualitative study to investigate, how has their experience of being a foreigner in Taiwan influenced them to become entrepreneurs in Taiwan? My second study sheds light on why the respondents choose to be entrepreneurs in Taiwan and the pros and cons of being a foreign entrepreneur. The remainder of my thesis is structured as follows. I start by introducing the background of human capital and social capital followed by my hypotheses in the literature review section. Thereafter, I test my hypotheses and reveal the results in the quantitative results section. The results from my quantitative study lead me to do a follow up qualitative study. In my method section, I give a detail description of the respondents in my study along with categories for human capital and social capital, and questions related to those categories. The method section is followed by the results. The results give detail descriptions of human capital and social capital in the entrepreneurial context. I go on to create a new category and sub-categories in the result section to help better understand foreign entrepreneurship. Finally, I discuss this study’s findings and limitation along with suggestions for future studies.. 3.

(10) INITIAL QUANTITATIVE STUDY This section will highlight the quantitative study in this paper. Human capital and social capital will be presented within the literature review. I will give an in-depth understanding of human capital and social capital within the entrepreneurial context. Within the method section, I will display in details about how the quantitative study was conducted. Thereafter, I will present the research results along with the conclusion.. Hypotheses and development For the hypothesis and development section I am going to talk about where current research of human capital, social capital, and entrepreneurship are today. My hypothesis will attempt to use human capital and social capital, and apply it into the entrepreneurial context. The motivation behind both my hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2 were to get a collective consensus of how strong human capital and social capital attributes inspire individuals to become entrepreneurs in a foreign country such as Taiwan.. Human capital. Back in 1961 Theodore Schultz (1961: 8) formulated and coined the term “human capital.” He defined human capital as “skill, knowledge, and similar attributes that affect particular human capabilities to do productive work". Nearly 6 4.

(11) decades later, his terminology and definition has been applied to the organizational settings and has even been given new terminologies such as human capital resource (Afiouni, 2009; Ployhart, Nyberg, Reilly, & Maltarich, 2013). For instance, Ployhart, Nyberg, Reilly, and Maltarich (2013:1) refer human capital resource to “individual or unit-level capacities based on individual knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that are accessible for unit-relevant purposes.” However, the core concept and its attributes largely remain the same. From the individual’s perspective, human capital has its cost and potential benefit to the future of an individual’s life. Investing in human capital is possible, and some do it either through schooling or experience. According to Zhao (2008), the price of human capital can be defined as one’s schooling and education investment either by direct or indirect cost to the individual. Formal schooling and other types of education are key factors in the development stage of individuals and their transition into becoming competent workers in their desired fields. These investments can turn into profits for an individual in ways such as career opportunities, salary increase, or as lifestyle enhancements (Zhao, 2008). Increase in investment in human capital is thus expected to enhance an individual’s career mobility between organizations (Zhao, 2008) or even to become an entrepreneur (Volery, 2013). From the organization’s perspective, a large part of an organization’s key element consist of human capital (Dadrlat & Dumitrascu, 2015). Extant literature seems to focus on human resource and its key component human capital and how it affects organizations (Hollenbeck & Jamieson, 2015). The essences of a successful business model are balanced by the prevalence of human capital within an organization. For this reason, in an organization’s early stage, entrepreneurs’ will 5.

(12) either use their own skills or seek out competent labors for their organization (Afiouni, 2009). Human capital theory reveals to us that organizations will never be able to own human capital (Afiouni, 2009), which, as Shultz (1961;1991) explained, is inherently difficult to observe, analyze, or make tangible. Organizations, however, may develop and use human capital for their own competitive advantage. For this reason, human capital is extremely vital for competition (Jin, Hopkins, & Wittmer, 2010). Human capital also allows an organization within a competitive environment to evolve. Extant literature acknowledges the importance of human capital to an individual’s career mobility and how human capital may contribute to the organization’s competitive advantage. However, these works typically focus on the organization in a concentration stage. In my thesis, I am interested in how human capital may facilitate organizations at a very early stage: when an individual develops one’s intention to start up a new organization. Thus, in the section that follows, I turn to the intersection between human capital and entrepreneurship.. Human capital and entrepreneurship.. One of the most critical and crucial steps for all entrepreneurs in the nascent stage is having the correct skill sets and knowledge that could help them execute their entrepreneurial goals (Volery, 2013). Many schools domestically and internationally have started courses specifically designed to foster and develop entrepreneurial skills (Volery, 2013). Governments have also learned the importance of encouraging the masses to understand and become more aware of entrepreneurship and what it is (Dogan, 2015). 6.

(13) These knowledge and skills which is human capital are vital for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs depend on certain knowledge, teachers, and mentors for their own growth and confidence. To put it simple, human capital influences an individual’s motivation to become an entrepreneur and is a key factor in entrepreneurship (Volery, 2013). Martain, McNally, and Kay (2009) found that there was a significant relationship between educational training for entrepreneurs, a type of human capital and entrepreneurship outcome. Simply, entrepreneurs found success either though startups or overall performance after entrepreneur educational training (Martain, McNally, & Kay, 2009). Perceived human capital may give individuals the required confidence needed to take up entrepreneurship. Diochon, Menzies, andGasse (2013) mentioned that entrepreneurship-specific skills may require skills that are associated with known success. For instance, research done in regards to understanding why businesses fail among nascent entrepreneurs found that a root causes was financial management (Diochon, Menzies, & Gasse, 2013). Financial management is a skill-set that many nascent entrepreneurs lack. If a person recognizes that he lacks the skills of managing and operating capital, he may be unconfident in starting a business. An entrepreneur’s human capital may also be linked to their ability to find key resources and financial support that may aid their businesses to stay afloat. If individuals lack the necessary knowledge of where to find funding, engineers, products, and basic necessities, they may be hindered from becoming an entrepreneur after they come to Taiwan. A recent review article shows that for the last two decades there has been an accelerated increase of journals and articles in regards to how human capital affects entrepreneurship (Marvel, Davis, & Sproul, 2016). Of the 109 articles that were 7.

(14) reviewed, they focused on the impact that human capital has on entrepreneurial intention. In all of these studies human capital was part of the core theoretical foundation in entrepreneurship. These journals and articles have highlighted psychological concepts and an entrepreneur’s intention. Psychological worries may restrict some individuals to become entrepreneurs. However, studies have examined individuals with entrepreneurial experiences such as past start-ups, business ownership, or prior experiences. These human capital skills may increase an individual’s motivation to start a business (Marvel, Davis, & Sproul, 2016). As a result, these entrepreneurs have a higher success rate by learning from past mistakes which are part of the entrepreneurial experiences (Bryant, 2007). The perception of human capital is a vital factor of an individual’s motivation to take up entrepreneurship. Diochon, Menzies, and Gasse (2008) mentioned that skills and education towards how entrepreneurs can manage their finances were also found to be associated with successful nascent entrepreneurs. Other skills in certain backgrounds are also indicators of opportunity for some entrepreneurs (Diochon, Menzies, & Gasse, 2008). However the perception of one’s own skills is perhaps the most important factor for individuals to start their entrepreneurial conquest (Muller, Naepfin, and Rey, 2013). The perception of feasibility is directly associated with an individual’s perceived abilities. Muller, Naepfin, and Rey (2013) measured the perceived feasibility associated with each subject in their study. They discovered that the perceived feasibility had a positive influence on entrepreneurs and their intentions on starting a business. This is extremely vital as it reveals that perceived human capital leads to entrepreneurial intentions and activities.. 8.

(15) Specifically relevant to this study and how human capital influences individuals to take up entrepreneurship, many foreigners abroad also take up entrepreneurship. Foreign entrepreneurs are extremely important to the world’s economy and may possess certain knowledge that is immensely valuable (Elena, 2016). Because of this reason, foreign individuals may have increased confidence and strong intentions to start a business in their host country because of their perceived human capital. Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between an individuals’ perceived human capital and their foreign entrepreneurial intention.. Social capital. Putnam (1993; 1995) has helped popularized the term “social capital” within the last two to three decades. His contribution to the term social capital has magnified the understanding of the importance of social networks. Putnam (1993; 1995) has defined social capital as “social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.” Others have also expanded on his work such as Nahaipiet and Ghoshal (1997), and they have defined social capital as the relationships and networks that constitutes as an extremely valuable resources that can be used to obtain or achieve business goals. Social capital is abstract and lacks physical attributes (Bradburn & Coakes, 2011). The intangible attributes of social capital which are social networks, norms, and social trust create true value for organizations (Bradburn & Coakes, 2011). Portes (1998) states, through social capital, organizations in the early stages can obtain access to critical labor and economic resources such as loans, investments, and unique 9.

(16) labor. This in return will help organizations save money and use resources properly. The attributes of social capital may present a type of competitive advantage for individuals and organizations and the way they connect to others (Arena & Uhl-Bien, 2016). Social capital presents more opportunities for individuals. Through social networks and key contacts, social capital may help transform skills and knowledge into profitable gains (Kolstand & Wiig, 2013). Knowledge and skills alone may not be enough for the individual, but it is through human interactions, networks, and a necessary exchange which is social capital that, individuals may bring to light their competencies (Kolstand & Wiig, 2013). Social capital may also not be realized to its fullest extent to some individuals. When members of a contact’s network not only influence their own work, but also influences and impacts the work of the original contact, then the dynamics of social capital are utilized adequately (Galunic&Ertug, 2012). Social capital may also be an important factor in determining an individual’s motivation to become an entrepreneur. Aspects of social capital such as business networks are not only important to a nascent entrepreneur’s business start-up, but it may become a determining factor on whether or not their business may stay afloat in the future (Davidsson & Honig, 2003).. Social capital and entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is a multiplex field that involves many types of economic and social activities. Therefore, entrepreneurship doesn’t only depend on one’s personality or skills, but it also depends on one’s interaction with its social environment (Chuluunbaatar, Ottavia, Luh, & Kung, 2011). These interactions within the social 10.

(17) environment under no circumstances will elude the existences of an entrepreneur’s social network, however expending one’s social network and social activities has an extraordinary amount of purpose and rewards for entrepreneurs. Because of this, many entrepreneurs may seek to find key social networks that may aid their needs. Chuluunbaatar, Ottavia, Luh, and Kung (2011) found that an entrepreneur’s intention to start a business is entrenched by their own rational judgment and the feasibility of executing their businesses objectives. The negative “feasibilities” are offset by the nature and size of an entrepreneur’s social networks. The growth of entrepreneurship can be understood by the increase value of social capital. Social capital encourages the growth of entrepreneurship and also increases an entrepreneur’s success rate expediently (Kolstand & Wiig, 2013). As Putnam (1993; 1995) mentions, social capital consists of strong relationships made by individuals in order to reinforce assurance and trust among members within a society. These rules also apply to entrepreneurs and organizations (Kolstand & Wiig, 2013). There assurances and trust reduces uncertainties in an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs must play a key role. Social capital is able to reduce transaction cost by substituting real institutions such as banks and investment agencies and allowing trust and social networks shape an entrepreneurial landscape (Percoco, 2011). The growth of an entrepreneur may also depend on the entrepreneur’s ability to thrive in a stable environment. Considering the idea that entrepreneurs are dependent on their suppliers, financial providers and customers, if any of these key members in an entrepreneur’s ecosystem becomes unstable, it could mean absolute failure for an entrepreneur’s venture (Percoco, 2011).. 11.

(18) Nascent entrepreneurs rely on activities and social events to network. Activities that are available to the public or through common interest groups help connect key contacts for nascent entrepreneurs (Mckeever, Anderson, & Jack, 2014). Most of the time, successful entrepreneurs find their social connections locally. Mckeever, Anderson, and Jack (2014) mentioned that their respondents who found their key contacts were all members of the same community and going through similar entrepreneurial journeys. Because of the nature of their entrepreneurial intentions, the circumstances allowed them to establish key relationships. Individuals who are able to connect to certain groups or organizations may have an easier time setting up and run their business because of their perceived social capital (Mckeever, Anderson, & Jack, 2014). The importance of social relationships or “Guanxi” in Taiwan revealed that trust and social ties are a determining factor for a large part of their entrepreneurial culture. Social capital positively correlates with entrepreneurial behavior (Chuluunbaatar, Ottavia, Luh, & Kung, 2011). Social capital creates more opportunities and reduces uncertainties for entrepreneurs. The openness of a region to foreigners may become a valuable asset and produce more opportunities for social networks. Taking Silicon Valley for an example; Silicon Valley has been built on social capital and the use of foreigners in social networks (Cohen & Fields, 1999). The use of foreign entrepreneurs in that region has been the region’s most valuable assets (Cohen & Fields, 1999). Social ties from a foreigner’s home country may cause individuals to become entrepreneurs because they will more than likely be able to exploit opportunities (Domurath & Patzelt, 2016). Domurath and Patzelt (2016) found that the number of social ties that entrepreneurs may have in a foreign market positively affects a market’s entry 12.

(19) attractiveness. The number of ties will reduce uncertainties and increase opportunities for foreign individuals. Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between an individuals’ perceived social capital and their foreign entrepreneurial intention.. Methods. Sampling and data collection. For the quantitative study I used purposeful sampling. Purposeful sampling is from “information-rich cases in which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the research” (Patton, 1990:169). The purpose of this study is to understand how human capital and social capital influence foreign individuals to have entrepreneurial intentions. The respondents from the quantitative study were drawn from foreign individuals currently living or who have once lived in Taiwan. I used the survey questionnaire method for the data set. I collected data that were both online and offline. I used both Facebook and Google+ to collect data of people living in the greater Taipei area. Offline, I passed out questionnaires to foreigners that were either on National Taiwan Normal University’s campus, or nearby the campus. My goal was to reach over 160 respondents for the study. The data was collected in a two weeks’ time period. Respondents usually spent around 8 minutes to complete their questionnaire.. 13.

(20) I collected a total of 167 questionnaires, and 33 of them were discarded due to the respondents either being Taiwanese or filling out an incomplete questionnaire. In the end, the final usable sample size was 134. The final data set contained 74(55%) males and 60(45%) females. The average age within the study was 31. In the study I had 3 levels for the respondent’s educational background; secondary education, university, and post graduate. Of the levels, the percentages of them in the study were 10%, 51%, and 39% respectively. There were 134 individuals who were from 42 different countries such as Austria, Vietnam, India, South Korea, etc. The country that had the greatest number of people in this study was from the USA which had 44 respondents. From my respondent’s country of origin, I was able to find out their country’s GDP per capita for the year of 2015.. Measures. Human capital and social capital. There were two independent variables within the study: human capital and social capital. The independent variables that I used during this study were the averages of human capital items and social capital items. These items were adapted from Aramburu, Saenz, and Blanco, (2015) which helped identify key attributes for the sample items. The sample item for human capital was, “I take into account the cultivation and competences of professional development policies dealing with creativity” and the sample item for social capital was, “It is important that there is a climate of cooperation and mutual help within the area I reside in”.. 14.

(21) Each capital had four items. For each of the four items of both the human capital and social capital, there were 5 levels. These 5 levels were based off of the Likert scale. Using the Likert scale, I felt that it was the best way to appropriately analyze the respondent’s attitude towards these variables. Intention to start a business. I developed one dichotomous item to measure the respondents’ intention to start a business: “Have you ever thought about starting your own business?” In the checkbox, respondents were able to answer yes or no (1=yes, 0=no). Control Variables. I used five control variables for this study: gender(1=male, 0=female), education(1=secondary, 2=university, 3=Post Graduate), age(20-70), foreign work experience(1=Yes, 0=No), and GDP per capita of their home countries. After obtaining the respondents’ country of origin I was able to look up and obtain data regarding their country’s GDP per capita through the United States Central Intelligence Agency website (Central Intelligence Agency, 2016). The website lists 229 countries and areas throughout the world. The data from the site listed the GDP per capita in the year of 2015. I used the GDP per capita because it could better depict respondents’ financial and economic situation and why a person of that region may have entrepreneurial intentions. As a result, I was able to find the levels for the GDP per captita and I coded them as followed: (1= GDP per capita 10,000 or less); (2=GDP per capita 10,000-30,000); (3=GDP per capita 30,000-50,000); (4=GDP per capita 50,000 or a bove).. 15.

(22) Analysis To analyze the dependent variable with both the independent and control variables I used SPSS. Logistic regression is the appropriate analysis technique when the dependent variable is dichotomous because “the logistic transformation allows for direct linear comparison of the effect different indicators have on the outcome” (Meade, 2001: 1). Logistic regression is the most practical methods that can be used when analyzing data and is one of the most commonly used ways to find out and predict models for dichotomous outcomes (Jones & Walker, 2016). I followed the two-step approach. In the first step, I regressed the DV (intention to start a business) on the control variable. In the second step, I added two independent variables to the above equation. I tested my hypothesis 1 by checking whether the p-value of beta coefficient passed the conventional threshold (i.e., p<.05).. Results Table 1 contains the correlations between all of the variables within this study. Table 1 also reports the means and standard deviation for the five control variables, the two Independent variables, and the single dependent variable for all of the 134 participants. The correlation between Entrepreneurial intention and GDP per capita were among the highest. Other variables within this study such as Education and Gender of course had no correlation. The correlations between Age and GDP were also found to be significant. The absolute value for their correlation is .26.. 16.

(23) Table 1: Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations among Variables Variables. Mean. s.d.. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1.. Gender. .45. .5. 2.. GDP per Capita. 2.57. 1.37. -.26**. 3.. AGE. 30.85. 9.15. -.17*. .25*. 4.. Education. 2.26. .63. .07. -.16. .02. 5.. Foreign working experience. .49. .5. .04. .01. .17*. .06. 6.. Human Capital. 1.94. .67. .03. .1. .01. .04. -.06. 7.. Social Capital. 1.63. .54. .12. -.11. .01. .07. -.02. .54**. 8.. Entrepreneurial intentions. .82. .38. .07. -.23**. -.021. .1. .15. -.29. N=134 *. . Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).. **. . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).. Table 2 provides the results for the logistic descriptive analysis. Model 1 presents the standard model for the control variables. The results for Model 1 indicate that GDP per capita has a negative effect on the likelihood of a foreigner starting a business. In short, Individuals who come from a country where the GDP per capita is much higher, they are less likely to have entrepreneurial intentions. The other 4 control variables were found to be insignificant with the dependent variable. The Wald statistics found that none of the control variables were significant.. 17. 7. -.04.

(24) Table 2: Results of Logistic Regression Analysis for Entrepreneurial intentions Model 1. Wald. Model 2. Statistics Variable. (B). Gender. Wald Statistics. (B). .13. .07. .22. .17. -.46**. 4.88. .4*. .3.27. AGE. .000. .000. .00. .00. Education. .22. .33. .3. .54. Foreign working. .63. 1.57. .7. 1.63.. GDP per Capita. experience Human Capital. -1.39**. Social Capital. .55. X2. 8.85. 19.326**. 108.62. 98.139. Cox & Snell R Square. .07. .140. Nagelkerke R Square. .11. .233. -2 long Likelihood. N= 134, Standard coefficients are reported +p<.10. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. Model 2 shows us how the independent variables affect our dependent variable. It also shows us our chi-square. Hypothesis 1 predicts that there is a positive relationship between an individuals’ perceived human capital and their entrepreneurial intention. Through the logistic analysis I found this statement to be false. Although there is a significant correlations with the dependent variable (β=-1.39, p<0.01), this correlation is negative. This means that individuals who perceive human. 18.

(25) capital properties to be significant in the business process were more likely to not have entrepreneurial intentions. Hypothesis 2 predicts that there is a positive relationship between an individuals’ perceived social capital and their entrepreneurial intention. Through the logistic analysis, I found this statement to be false. An individual’s perceived social capital and their entrepreneurial intentions share no relationship. Therefore I would have to reject the hypothesis 2.. Summary My hypothesis 1 and 2 were not supported which has caused an intellectual puzzle. My hypothesis 1 contradicts current literature which has awakened my curiosity. Hypothesis 2 shows no correlation and has also further my intentions to do a follow up study. In the following study I will expand upon the intellectual puzzle that was presented in this section. Though my quantitative study I assumed that I could get a glimpse of where entrepreneurial intentions are created. In order to get a better understanding of how this can be done, a qualitative study is necessary.. 19.

(26) FOLLOW-UP QUALITATIVE STUDY In my quest to understand how human capital and social capital have influenced foreign entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey in Taiwan, I carefully picked the respondents and researched their background so that I may answer the second research question: How have human capital and social capital influenced foreign entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey?. Samples and data collection In this study like most similar studies, I used purposive sampling because it allowed me to carefully select my respondents and get richer information that is valuable to this research (Suen, Huang, & Lee, 2014). The rich in depth information that I collected was meant to grab an exclusive understanding of entrepreneurial intentions though means of human capital and social capital. The data and information that I collected by means of semi-structured interviews were all done in English in the city of Taipei. I sought out and found 3 interviewees for my qualitative research. The requirements for my interviewees were as followed: 1. Must be a foreigner currently living in Taiwan 2. Must have ran a business or are currently running a business now in Taiwan 3. Must be able to thoroughly reply and answer interview questions. I sought respondents who had the willingness to share their feelings and personal 20.

(27) experiences or the ability to articulate their ideas to ensure the quality and of the data. Table 3: Respondent’s Profiles: Respondents:. Adam. Bob. Carl. Age:. 43. 31. 37. Gender:. Male. Male. Male. Country of Origin:. Canada. New Zealand. Philippines. 4. 2. 5. University. University. Post graduate. Number of years living in Taiwan: Educational Background: Company profile:. Creator and CEO. Creator and CEO. Creator and CEO. of a consulting. of an online. of an online. company in. company that. company helping. Taiwan. caters to DJ’s and. other start-up. music junkies.. companies in Taiwan.. Adam has been living in Taiwan for more than 8 years. He has been doing entrepreneurial work for as long as he can remember. He is highly qualified as a respondent because of his passion and background within the entrepreneurship field. Throughout our interview, Adam expressed his idea about entrepreneurship, and how 21.

(28) entrepreneurship should be better understood and redefined. He believes that “the way we understand entrepreneurship today is all wrong. We define entrepreneurship as just someone who does business, like a business man or woman. Business men and women know about business, and how to make a business’s work. Entrepreneurs do not. A business man can be an entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur cannot always be a business man.” His idea may be something that could be considered in future research. Have we been using human capital and social capital to define business men and women instead of defining Entrepreneurship? His ideas inspired his strong opinionated response to all of my questions. When I asked him about training courses and development activities, his opinions resonated through his response that training course and development activities are vital because entrepreneurs are not businessmen. Better understanding how we define entrepreneurship will help us in future studies. Bob has been living in Taiwan for almost 2 years. He has been an entrepreneur for 8 years. Bob was perfect for our interview because he stresses the importance of creativity. Bob recognizes the importance of human capital and social capital and how it could be used as tools to get what he wants. Bob emphasized the importance of social capital, and having a good network. In the aspects of human capital, he emphasized the importance of communication skills. As a foreigner entrepreneur, communication skills may be the greatest tool for an entrepreneur. Using those tools in your social network to create real income is what entrepreneurs seek to accomplish. This is what Bob emphasized though his rhetoric. Carl has been an entrepreneur in Taiwan for 3 years. He enjoys working with other entrepreneurs and loves to set up new businesses. I felt that he was perfect for this interview because of his knowledge of how to start-up a company, and how he 22.

(29) works closely with other entrepreneurs. Being involved in the entrepreneurial community helps individuals better understand the environment that they live in and how it affects entrepreneurs. Carl emphasized the importance of who to talk to, and where to get your information from. Because Carl has dealt with many entrepreneurs in Taiwan, I also felt that he may have a better idea about where most entrepreneurs start and what has influenced them to become entrepreneurs. I interviewed all of the respondents that were invited to my study. I gave all of my interviewees my interview questions ahead of time so that they could properly prepare. I interviewed each interviewee separately. Each interview that was conducted lasted between 30 to 60 minutes. The interviews were all conducted in Taipei. The purpose of these interviews was for my second study and to get a better understanding of how human capital and social capital influences entrepreneur intentions. All recordings are kept confidential by request of the participants. For each question, I gave the interviewee time to clearly think and respond to their questions appropriately. For questions that seemed unclear to the interviewees, the interviewer responded appropriately. If there were responses that were deemed to be unclear, I would then ask the interviewee to elaborate on their responses.. Interview protocol. After reviewing the results from the first study, I went back to re-examine the questionnaire that I gave to the respondents. I speculate that my first study failed due to the structure of each question and the vagueness of how human capital and social capital was presented. Furthermore, I could have been more 23.

(30) efficient with presenting a concrete definition of both human capital and social capital. I understand that my questionnaire could have been more efficient. I went back to my independent variables to better understand how I could use them in my second study. Human capital: “skill, knowledge, and similar attributes that affect particular human capabilities to do productive work" (Schultz, 1961:8) Social capital: “social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit” (Putnam, 1993,1995). I re-examined the definitions of human capital and social capital in the entrepreneurial context to see how I could keep the original meaning and idea to implement it into my second study. In the second study I thought about how I could better understand how to use human capital attributes in a way that is less vague and more understanding to the respondents. The way that social capital and human capital were measured in my previous study lacks of rich contexts that would give readers clear answers. I thought it was critical to bring the context back into my study. I wanted to integrate this idea into my second study to better understand how human capital could be understood in the entrepreneurial context.. As a result I determined that. this study was going to use human capital in the context of time and space; the evolution of an entrepreneur in their earlier life and foreign experience. I sought to connect the idea of how their human capital has influenced them to become entrepreneurs in Taiwan. Along with human capital, I decided that I was going to make similar changes in the way I thought about social capital. I wanted to dig deeper into the 24.

(31) respondent’s social connections in their earlier life, their thoughts and ideas about social trust and norms here in Taiwan, and how it has influenced their experiences as an entrepreneur here in Taiwan. In order to create a questionnaire that articulates the definitions of both human capital and social capital I created 6 categories with each category having 3 or more questions. I wanted to see the evolution of how someone decides to become an entrepreneur in Taiwan. I am focusing on the Time and space aspect in this part of the study which may be the biggest contribution to this field of work. Figure 1 illustrates the time and space of the entrepreneurial experiences through the context of human capital and social capital. Figure 1: Human Capital and Social Capitalin Time and Space. Human and social capital in foreign experiences. • Early childhood • Home country. • Foreign experience • Entrepreneural education • Development. • Recent Experience • Foreign experience development • Applicable experience Human and social capital in entrepreneurial experiences. Human and social capital in early life experience. 25.

(32) Table 4 represents each category and the reasoning behind each category with the use of time and space. The categories and questions are presented below in Table 5. Table 4: Reasoning for Time and Space Categories Time and space. Reasoning. Human capital and early life education. This category may give us detailed answers to the biggest influences in an entrepreneur’s life regarding their educational background.. Human capital and learning from your foreign experience.. This category may give us an understanding of the processes foreign individuals may go through and the knowledge they obtain through their foreign experience.. Human capital and your direct business experiences in Taiwan.. This category may give us a better illustration of the. Social capital and early life influences. This category may give us detailed answers to who or what kinds of people were the biggest influences in an entrepreneur’s life and what their social background and character was like before coming to Taiwan.. Social capital and foreign experience in Taiwan. This category may give us detailed answers to what kinds of social networks, norms, or what kinds of people may influence or discourage a foreign entrepreneur in Taiwan.. Social capital and how it issued in a foreign business setting. This category may give us detailed answers about what real experiences are like as a foreign entrepreneur, and the difficulties that it may present.. skills and tools that are crucial for foreign entrepreneurs.. 26.

(33) Table 5: Questions for Time and Space Categories Time and space Human capital and early life education. Human capital and learning from your foreign experience.. Human capital and your direct business experiences in Taiwan.. Questions 1. Tell me about who you are, where you are from, and your educational background? 2. What part of your high school, college experience, or educational background aided you the most in becoming an entrepreneur in Taiwan? 3. How did you feel about your work experiences before becoming an entrepreneur in Taiwan? 1. What did you learn while living abroad? 2. Do you feel that Taiwan offers an opportunity for you to develop your entrepreneur skills? Why? 3. How important is it to you that in Taiwan it is easy to find training courses or development activities either through public or private organizations? 1. Doing business while in Taiwan, to what degree has 2. 3.. Social capital and early life influences. 1. 2.. Social capital and foreign experience in Taiwan. your creativity been hindered or broadened? How? Are you a better problem solver after doing business in Taiwan? Please explain What skills do you think are the most important for entrepreneurs in Taiwan? Why? How has your family and friends changed you into the person you are today? Who from your background influenced you the most in becoming an entrepreneur in Taiwan? How?. 3. How did you see yourself socially before you were an entrepreneur in Taiwan? 1. Did you feel that being a foreigner was an advantage or disadvantage when finding help for your business? Why? 2. Did you feel that it was easy to meet other entrepreneurs in Taiwan? 3. Has the social environment or culture in Taiwan ever influenced you to stop being an entrepreneur? Why?. 27.

(34) Social capital and how it is used in your business setting. 1. How difficult is it for you to employee the “right people” to help you with your business? Why do you think? 2. Do you have trouble finding out who to talk to or where to find information when doing business? 3. Do you feel that people here in Taiwan are trustworthy and are easy to recruit as potential business partners?. Results Human capital was defined earlier as special skills, knowledge, and capabilities that may aid individuals in productive work (Schultz, 1961:8).We typically believe that the attributes of human capital which are skills and knowledge are what gives individuals confidence and drives them into the entrepreneurial arena. To dig deeper into what drives foreign individuals to have entrepreneurial intentions, I carefully interviewed foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan. Information in my study sheds light on how an individual’s early life education and foreign experience can result into them having entrepreneurial intentions in Taiwan.. Human capital. Based on the interview protocol I found six sub categories that will better help us analyze the effects that human capital has on entrepreneurial intentions. Figure 2 depicts the time and space categories and the sub-categories belonging to them for human capital.. 28.

(35) Figure 2: Time and Space Sub-categories for Human Capital. Human capital subcategories • Human capital and early life education • Human capital and learning from your foreign experience • Human capital and your direct business experiences in Taiwan. Human capital. • Self learning skills • Finding your path • Culturial experience and learning • Communication skills • Creativity • Problem sloving. • Entrepreneirial Intentions. Entrepreneurial intentions. Human capital and early life education. Individuals are usually taught something from their early life that aids them as a working adult. Some of these childhood lesson may help them evolve into an entrepreneur later in life. Understanding the effects of Human capital and early life education will help for future studies. Self-learning skills is an important aspect of this category and may help future studies better identify how this can affect entrepreneurial intentions. . Self-learning skills- Taking the primary responsibility to learn new skills and knowledge on one’s own. Self-learning skills: The ability to teach your-self something is extremely vital. for entrepreneurs. Many individuals lack this skill, so they usually find schools, institutes, or companies to provide knowledge for whatever they are doing. 29.

(36) Entrepreneurs usually understand that they need to teach themselves different skillsets to help them become successful as Adam mentioned “I taught myself how to program, it was because most teachers at that time did not know how to program. We had a computer department. I would go there at 6am in the morning until class started, and then I would stay after until 6pm until they kicked me out, and I learned how to program. That taught me.” These skills will also give rise to an individual’s intrinsic motivation which is necessary for all entrepreneurs. Self-learning skills is an important aspect of human capital that was not consider in the former study, but has now been presented as something of importance. Human capital and learning from your foreign experience: Learning about the processes that individuals go through will give us a better insight on the motivations that they have, or the events that compels them to start their entrepreneur journey. Understanding the effects of “Human capital and learning from your foreign experience” will help for future studies. Putting this category into three sub-categories will help future studies better identify the details of each important aspect. . Finding your path: To seek or search for a direction in life to obtain a sense of fulfillment.. . Cultural experience and learning: Immersing your-self in a culture while learning the set customs and practices.. . Communication skills: The ability to communicate efficiently and effectively with another person or persons. Finding your path. Finding your path was overlooked in our survey, and there. were obviously no implications of the need to understand the path that the respondents set for themselves. However, Carl mentions that every individual has a 30.

(37) purpose when they go abroad, and this may be true in the entrepreneurial experience. He said, “There is a tendency for people to just let go, let loose, like be the person that they are, and at the same time, lose the real purpose of why they went abroad which is to gain more experience, or to improve their personalities. So, to me my main goal to go abroad is really to broaden my horizons and learn more, but many people would lose that.” The purpose of coming to Taiwan and doing business can serve as a milestone in the pursuit of understanding how human capital affects entrepreneurial intentions. Cultural experience and learning. Cultural experience and learning has been a big help to some of the respondents. Although I mentioned cultural background and countries visited in the previous study, I made little effort understanding the respondent’s real cultural experience and the knowledge they had obtained through their experience. Adam reiterated this idea through his entire interview. He mentioned “In regards to Taiwan: from a business standpoint in Taiwan, competition is seen different here,because they have not killed off the ma and pa shops as they did in North America. I learned that you can still sustain a business, without being eaten up by big corporations and super stores.” Learning about how a culture does business may ignite one’s creativity and produce entrepreneurial intentions because of the possible perceived business opportunities from the learned cultural experience. Communication skills. All of the respondents mention the importance of communication skills and language. Learning how to communicate with others will give individuals the ability to better find and use information more appropriately. When individuals want to be an entrepreneur and do business, having communication skills are critical. If an individual does not have any communication skills, that individual may give up on his entrepreneurial journey. Adam mentions 3 skills that 31.

(38) are important for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial intentions. He says these skills are “Business fundamentals, Marketing Fundamentals, and communication skills. Because as I mentioned earlier, being an entrepreneur is quite easy, but if you don’t have a solid business marketing base, then it would be difficult, next would just be communication, various communication skills. So communication would be interpersonal, cross cultural, collaborating, listening, brain storming, etc.” Learning how to communicate using language or your body will also come as a skill. For some individuals, it will be used as a tool to overcome barriers and obstacles. Bob mentions “Taiwan is an amazing place to develop entrepreneur skills. Especially being a foreigner because you are always overcoming obstacles and learning how to communicate, speaking a different language or trying to communicate with people without even speaking the language, which is another skill. Using body language and any skill that you can develop is always going to help out your entrepreneur skills no matter what.” These skills will help entrepreneurs develop confidence and thus facilitate their entrepreneurial intention. Human capital and your direct business experiences in Taiwan. This category could shed light on the skills and tools that all foreigners would need in order to do business. Better understanding the specific needs of entrepreneurs will reveal how entrepreneurial intentions can be accelerated. Understanding the effects of “Human capital and your direct business experiences in Taiwan” will help for future studies. Putting this category into two sub-categories will help future studies better identify the details of each important aspect.. 32.

(39) . Creativity: The ability to formulate old ideas, rules, or traditions to create new ideas, rules or tradition that can be put into practice.. . Problem solving- The ability to come up with a solution to a complicated or complex issue. Creativity. In the previous study, I emphasized the importance of creative. development while living in your host country. This creative development was solely focused on the environment in which the respondent was currently residing in. Although creative development in your current environment is important, creative development in what you love is the most important. Individuals naturally have new fresh ideas because of their background. Doing what you love may cause individuals to learn how to be more creative in their field. In return, it may ignite their entrepreneurial intentions. Bob mentions “I come from a music culture and I feel that Taiwan really doesn’t have too much of a music culture at all. I think that in that perspective, my creativity has kind of disappeared which is kind of unfortunate. Creativity comes from a few different things and one of them is doing the things that you really love. If I am not doing music I feel that my creativity is not as strong.”Future studies can emphasize and exam this characteristic. Problem solving: In this study, the entrepreneurs mentioned problem solving as a means to help people. It wasn’t always about solving their own problem, as much as it was about solving problems that others may have as well. Learning how to solve other people problems may come as a skill and may turn into a reason why individuals have entrepreneurial intentions just as Carl mentioned “My goal as an entrepreneur is to really just try to solve things, and before this I was already doing this, you know in my job. I was trying to help people, I was trying to help the company solve problems in terms of the best way to market stuff, or in terms of the best way to 33.

(40) help the company market stuff or the best to help marketing, so it is the same with entrepreneurship.” The importance of knowing how to problem solve for the future will give individuals the confidence needed for their entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship may be a life of problem solving and may require some skills as Adam said “If you want to be an entrepreneur, you are opening up your life to a life of problems, and a life of problem solving.”. Social capital. Based on the interview protocol I found six sub categories that will better help us analyze the effects that human capital has on entrepreneurial intentions. Figure 3 depicts the time and space categories, and the sub-categories belonging to them for social capital. Figure 3: Time and Space Subcategories for Social Capital. Social capital subcategories • Social capital and early life influences • Social capital and foreign experience in Taiwan. • Social capital and how it is used in your business setting.. • Role model/Mentor • Trust and funding • Foreign community • Competent help. • Entrepreneirial Intentions. Entrepreneurial intentions. Social capital. 34.

(41) Social capital and early life influences. In this section I learned more about the respondents and how their friends and family have helped evolved them into the people they are. This normally wouldn’t be included in my study however, I used this section because it depicts how their personality and entrepreneurial ideas could have been shaped and formed. Understanding the effects of “Social capital and early life influences.” will help for future studies. Analyzing role models/mentor will help future studies better identify the details of this aspect for future studies. . Role model/Mentor: A person who serves as a good example for others and encourages them how to live in a certain way. Role model/mentor: My previous study didn’t take into an account of a role. model or mentor that may have been extremely important in a respondent’s entrepreneurial intention. A role model or mentor may lead individuals towards the path of entrepreneurship. Being social and mentored on how entrepreneurship is done may be one of the greatest influences an individual can get. Adam mentions that his father was the biggest influences to him on his entrepreneurship journey. He says “My father started doing business when he was 18 years old. I was around him, I was around his managers, and his employees as I was growing up. So to see him leading his team and his company, he influenced me the most. My father was a builder. He built houses.” Friends may also be an influence and may serve as a mentor. Creating a social network where friends can teach you about entrepreneurship is an extraordinary opportunity to increase an individual’s entrepreneurial intention. Bob mentions who 35.

(42) he was mentored by. He mentions, “A good friend of mine, Michael. He encouraged me to be an entrepreneur. He encouraged me to have my own business. It is kind of funny because I was a DJ, a musician, a producer and I kind of already did have my own business but I didn’t really understand anything about it. I didn’t really read any books, I was a bit misguided, and this guy kind of put me on the right track. He told me about some good books to read and really understand the fundamentals of business. Once I started reading some of these books, I was amazed and I was really interested in doing business after reading a few books. So that there was one of my biggest motivations in becoming an entrepreneur.”Carl also stresses the same feelings “You can group my friends in different grouping. Some of my friends from the church influenced me on how I judge things based on, you know on how god would allow me to do things. My friends at works helped to shape the way I think in the ways of business.” My previous study did not emphasize the importance of a role model or mentor however, future studies may include this aspect. Social capital and foreign experience in Taiwan. The respondents were able to give details about their social networks, different cultural norms comparing to Taiwan, and things that may have discouraged them. This information is very useful and vital for the study. Understanding the effects of “Social capital and foreign experience in Taiwan.” will help for future studies. Putting this category into two sub-categories will help future studies better identify the details of each important aspect. . Trust and funding: Two or more parties believing each other to be honest and sincere enough to give or exchange money for mutual benefits.. 36.

(43) . Foreign community: The existences of a broad group of people from different foreign backgrounds. Trust and funding: I found that trust and funding were one of the biggest. barriers that most foreigners were going through when they were starting their entrepreneurial journey. A social network helps define what social capital is. A social network can’t exist without trust. Being a foreigner may present itself as an advantage or disadvantage, but when being trusted with funds and money it can be a disadvantage. The former study focused on the aspect of trusting others in your environment, but it left out the importance of being trusted. Adam mentions that being a foreigner can be a “Disadvantage, because there is a Trust level. There was one point here where I wanted to buy a coffee shop, and I had some Taiwanese friends, and they liked the idea, but when it came down to resources and money, and even partnering up, it was a little difficult because they didn’t trust the aspect of me being a foreigner. I could leave any time.” Carl also echoes the words of Adam” the main problem is funding. People will think that you will just run away with their money and go back to your country. Regardless of what country you are from.” Funding is one of the most important parts of the entrepreneur’s conquest in a successful business start-up. This is something that could be examined more closely in future studies. Foreign community: Having a foreign community with many different foreigners that reside in the environment may pose new opportunities. These opportunities due to having a social foreign community may increase entrepreneurial intentions within the environment. Foreign individuals who may not know where to go or who to talk to may rely heavily on a foreign community to get their information. When asked about how does he get information on how to start a business in Taiwan, Adam mentions “foreign groups and foreign based companies. I can get information 37.

(44) from them. For an example, there is a gentleman from Europe I believe, he wrote a book about how to do business in Taiwan. So that book is the standard right now in getting information about how to start a business in Taiwan, so it didn’t come from the Taiwanese government which, I think they should come up with their own (book) in multiple languages.”. Having a social foreign community where individuals can get advice or information may be a determining factor on whether they become an entrepreneur. Having a social foreign community was not considered in my previous study, but it will serve as some purpose in future studies. Social capital and how it is used in your business setting. The respondents in this section were able to tell us how social capital is capitalized and implemented in a business setting. Understanding more on how social capital is applied in normal business settings will help us in future studies. Understanding the effects of “Social capital and how it is used in your business setting.” will help for future studies. Competent help is an important aspect of this category and may help future studies better identify how this can affect entrepreneurial intentions. . Competent help: Finding the people who are capable and able to complete task and duties that you need help in. Competent help. Individuals may find it intimidating and unnerving to find. competent help for their business. Entrepreneurs are always looking for the right people for their business, but often times their social networks lack the required help that is needed. If an entrepreneur’s social network lacks competent help, they may seek other means of finding help either within their existing social networks, or from outside sources. If individuals have to resort to finding outside help, they may be met 38.

(45) with some resistances from within due to their unnerving ideas with the concept of hiring people they don’t know. When asked about finding help for his business, Adam mentions “I think that there will be some challenges that I can perceive which would be how they are on their resume and then their interview, compared to how they do their work. I found in the past in Taiwan, employees tend to need more guidance and they like to deal with things on a check list. So they are told to do this thing. They do it and then check it off. Next thing, check it off. If there are some missing things on the list, they tend to wait and be told what to do more than proactively doing things. So that is one little thing that I am worried about when hiring people. It’s just a cultural thing.”These worries could prevent entrepreneurial intentions because of the perceived difficulty of finding competent help within social networks or outside sources. This could be further studied in future studies.. Environmental opportunities Environmental opportunities were not initially part of this study because they did not fall under either category; human capital and social capital. However, throughout this second study, I found that environmental opportunities were part of a determining factor for entrepreneurial intentions. Environmental opportunities may help provide additional explanations on how an individual becomes an entrepreneur. Figure 4 depicts the time and space categories, and the sub-categories belonging to environmental opportunities. Below I have put theses environmental opportunities into three sub-categories. They are as followed:. 39.

(46) . Control over your environment: Someone whose actions are not controlled by a more powerful person or organization within the environment.. . Personal development within the environment: Growing, improving, or changing over time to become more advance or complete within an environment.. . Area’s cost of doing business: The cost that entrepreneurs may need in a particular area or place in order to sustain their basic business needs.. Figure 4: Time and Space Subcategories for Environmental Opportunities. Environmental opportunities sub-categories • Environmental opportunities. • Contorl over your enviornment • Perosnal development with the enviornment • Area's cost of doing business. • Entrepreneirial Intentions. Entrepreneurial intentions. Environmental opportunities. Control over your environment. Entrepreneurs may feel the need to be independent and have control over their own destiny. Working for other people may take away from their independences and may hinder them from their success. It is 40.

(47) important for entrepreneurs to have control over what they are doing as Bob has describe “I had a part-time job and I was changing jobs a lot because I had to fly over seas for different gigs and a lot of jobs kind of fired me because I have always chose my music first. I think I was a bit all over the place with changing jobs. I know I didn’t really even want a job, and I didn’t like working for anybody. So I feel like being an entrepreneur may be the only way to go.” Working for others may be acceptable for some individuals, on the contrary some entrepreneurs may not like it as Adam mentioned “I never liked working for people. I just never liked it.” Putting a stronger emphasis on independence in future studies may help us better understand individuals and their intentions to start a business. Personal development within the environment. The entrepreneurs in this second study expressed the need for development. Individuals usually understand their flaws and their lack of knowledge and are always looking for ways to improve themselves. Adam mentions “It is extremely important to have training courses and development activities. That is actually one of the things that my company is working on. We’re working on a project right now that helps to improve soft skilled corporate training.” Some individuals may lack an environment that offers personal development which may hinder them from having entrepreneurial intentions. Personal development should be emphasized more in future studies. Area’s cost of doing business. The cost of doing business was not a big factor in the former study; however this may have been something that should have been considered. The cost of doing business may give individuals an advantage to lower their start-up cost. Their perceived opportunity to open a low cost start-up may be the sole reason why they have entrepreneurial intentions. Bob explains “I think to start up a business here is quite good because of the cheap living cost. As a foreigner you can 41.

(48) start off as being an English teacher and get paid reasonably well per hour and you can focus a lot of your time on your business or whatever you are starting. I think that is a big pro if you are thinking of starting a business. And obviously if you manage to acquire a second language such as Chinese that is going to be another pro as well.”. Summary The framework that was laid out in my qualitative study gave great details about my respondent’s entrepreneurial background and what has influenced them in their entrepreneurial journey. These details in my study have given the entrepreneurial field new information and ideas for future studies. The aspects of human capital and social capital should be expanded on in future studies. The important aspects of human capital and social capital may shed light on how the international community can produce more entrepreneurial intentions. Also, new factors such as environmental opportunities could be further explored. Environmental opportunities may offer more explanations for what motivates individuals to become entrepreneur. Adam, Bob, and Carl all recognize the importance of human capital and social capital in their entrepreneurial journey. They also understood the importance of environmental opportunities. I will expand upon my finding in the next section in my study.. 42.