Experience and Self-Leadership: An Exploratory Study of Norwegian Entrepreneurs
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3037143Utgivelsesdato
2022Metadata
Vis full innførselSamlinger
- Master of Science [1618]
Sammendrag
The purpose of this study has been to discover how entrepreneurs with different
levels of experience use self-leadership strategies to navigate the entrepreneurial
landscape. Several scholars have emphasized the importance of entrepreneurial
experience when dealing with the obstacles being an entrepreneur entails, like
finding motivation, dealing with challenges and goal management. In the past
years, self-leadership has gained increased traction in an entrepreneurial context,
as a tool for entrepreneurs to lead themselves effectively. However, there is
limited research on how entrepreneurs actually use self-leadership strategies, and
no previous empirical evidence on how entrepreneurial experience influences selfleadership
ability. Our goal has been to promote knowledge about how
entrepreneurs actually lead themselves by comparing novice (inexperienced) and
serial (experienced) entrepreneurs. We have conducted in-depth interviews with
eight informants, four novice and four serial entrepreneurs. Our results show that
entrepreneurial experience does influence the use of strategies. While serial
entrepreneurs rely heavily on one single strategy, novice entrepreneurs utilize the
variety of strategies to a larger extent. The most interesting finding, however, is
about consciousness. Based on our findings, we conclude that as experience
increases, the conscious use of self-leadership strategies decrease. Whether this is
because the strategies become internalized over time, or because entrepreneurs
that have these skills are more likely to become serial entrepreneurs, could be an
interesting topic for future research.
Beskrivelse
Masteroppgave (MSc) in Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Handelshøyskolen BI, 2022