Analyzing the Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation Components on Agricultural Entrepreneurship Intention in Rural Areas of Marvdasht

Entrepreneurial intention is considered as the starting point and pre-condition for entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurial orientation refers to the tendency of people to business opportunities, pro-activeness and propensity toward risks, need for achievement and independence. It seems that  entrepreneurial intention is affected by individuals’ entrepreneurial orientation. Since getting familiar with entrepreneurial intentions of individuals and recognizing the related influencing factors has a great role on entrepreneurial development, particularly in rural areas, accordingly, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of entrepreneurial orientation components on agricultural entrepreneurship intentions in rural areas.

This research was conducted by survey method on the statistical population of 150 entrepreneurs employing in the agricultural sector of Marvdasht county. The data collection tool was a questionnaire in which the face validity was confirmed by experts and the reliability was confirmed by a pilot study outside the statistical sample. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data.

The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the validity, reliability and fit of the latent variables of the research. the results of structural modeling showed that the components of independence, the need for achievement (success) and risk-taking of entrepreneurs were predictors of changes in entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, 15% of the variance changes in the entrepreneurial intentions of the studied agricultural entrepreneurs are explained by their entrepreneurial orientation components. The correlation analyses showed that these variables were positively associated with entrepreneurial intention scores in the sample. However, the opportunity identification and proactiveness components did not predict changes in their entrepreneurial intentions.

The strong entrepreneurial orientation generally plays an important role on better entrepreneirual performance in the way that leads high levels of creative, effective, and risk-taking behaviors. Entrepreneurs with higher orientation are those who have the ability to change an uncertain environment and bring the advantages into their context. These factors’ positive direct impact on entrepreneurial intention suggest that entrepreneurial orientation will be achieved by promoting the appropriate facilitative context for getting familiarize with entrepreneurship opportuinities. The study concluded by making a number of practical suggestions to strengthen the entrepreneurial intentions of agricultural entrepreneurs to help managers and agricultural planners.