Sustained Social Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Roles of Prior Experience and Networking Ability

Happiness Ozioma Obi-Anike, Chikodili Nkiruka Okafor, Cross Ogohi Daniel, Ifeoma Joanes Onodugo, Wilfred I. Ukpere () and Ben Etim Udoh
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Happiness Ozioma Obi-Anike: Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, Nigeria
Chikodili Nkiruka Okafor: Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, Nigeria
Cross Ogohi Daniel: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja 900001, Nigeria
Ifeoma Joanes Onodugo: Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, Nigeria
Wilfred I. Ukpere: Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, School of Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
Ben Etim Udoh: Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, Enugu Campus, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 410001, Nigeria

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-24

Abstract: The intention to set up social ventures remains an unpopular choice for intending entrepreneurs due to its obvious limitations of resource constraints. Yet it remains a vital means of making social goods available to disadvantaged people, especially in developing countries. Our study aims to investigate how prior experience and networking ability interacts with empathy, moral obligation, self-efficacy, and social support to induce social entrepreneurial intentions in budding entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Using simultaneous linear regression, we analyzed data from a collection of 315 respondents enrolled in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)—a one-year mandatory national service scheme for graduates of higher institutions who are on the verge of making critical career choices. Our findings show that the main effects were statistically significant, while networking ability, more than prior experience, moderated the main effects. Conclusively, budding entrepreneurs need to hone their networking skills in order to exploit their social networks and complement the benefits of prior experiences as they contemplate social entrepreneurship. Future investigations can focus on determining how other environmental factors such as government/institutional support, technological adoption, and infrastructure would affect social entrepreneurial intentions.

Keywords: networking ability; prior experience; social entrepreneurship intentions; moral obligation; self-efficacy; NYSC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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