Relationships among predictors of entrepreneurial process of causation and effectuation and venture performance of building material industry in Nigeria

Entrepreneur venture performance is a determining factor for continuous survival of businesses. Poor venture performance in Nigerian, building material retail trade has dwindled building material retailers businesses. An entrepreneurial opportunity has been a contentious phenomenon in the field of entrepreneurial study. Some scholars argued that opportunity is ‗objective‘ recognition process. While others believed is ‗subjective‘ creation process. Studies of opportunity as a recognition process is matured and have valid measures. On the other hand studies of opportunity as a creation process is in the nascent stage, with no valid measure. Some scholars argued that entrepreneurial process of causation is consistent with opportunity recognition and while others believed that entrepreneurial process of effectuation is consistent with opportunity creation. There are others who argued that the two processes can coexist in a single opportunity. Lack of consensus on the nature of entrepreneurial opportunity made research on entrepreneurial opportunity to lack the cumulative characteristics required. Existing studies of opportunity creation are qualitative studies that do not make it possible to draw generalization and test relationship among other variables. Most of what we know about entrepreneurship are from studies conducted by developed countries, and who considered large organizations that employ graduates of business schools, other small businesses that do not employ these graduates, and whose shares are not with the stock exchange market are not studied as much. The aim of this study is to achieve the following research objectives. 1. To develop and operationalise the ‗Entrepreneurial Opportunity Creation‘ construct. 2. To examine the influence of entrepreneurial Demographic Factors, Personality Traits, and management Skills on entrepreneurial processes of Causation and Effectuation in BMIT. 3. To examine empirically if Opportunity Recognition and Opportunity Creation are influenced by the entrepreneurial Causation and Effectuation process in the building material industry trade. 4. To identify the relationship between Opportunity Recognition and Opportunity Creation on Venture Performance in BMIT. A survey method is employed to collect data from retailers in Building Material Industry Trade in Nigeria. 360 usable responses were received and analysed using appropriate statistical procedures. The research model was tested using partial least square (PLS) technique. Smart PLS 2.0 was used to validate the research model and test the research hypotheses. This study eclectically combined antecedents of the entrepreneur in the form of: Demography, Education, Personality Traits and Management skills as predictors of causation and effectuation, and further test their effects on opportunity recognition and creation. The effects of opportunity recognition and opportunity creation are tested on venture performance. Previous studies of entrepreneurial opportunity creation are qualitative in nature. The findings of this study indicate that Personality Traits and Management Skills significantly influence entrepreneurial process of Causation and Effectuation. It is also found that Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurial Special Education significantly influence Causation process. Also, Opportunity Creation is influenced by Effectuation Process. The analysis shows that Opportunity Recognition is influenced by Causation and Effectuation Process and there is a direct influence by both Opportunity Recognition and Opportunity Creation on Venture Performance. These findings support the argument that both approaches to the study of opportunity can be integrated into one framework. On the other hand Age has no influence on Entrepreneurial Process of Causation and Effectuation. Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurial Special education have no influence on Effectuation Process. We show that Entrepreneurial Opportunity Creation may be a second order reflective construct, as opposed to a formative construct, with three associated sub-dimensions (Action and Reaction, individual differences, and socially created). Finally, broader implications of the study and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

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