Entrepreneurs require different types of resources ranging from financial to behavioral resources (Barazandeh, Parvizian, Alizadeh and Khosravi, 2015) which can help them to operate their enterprise successfully. Though most of the resources are found in the environment, others relate to internal factors and are crucial to venture success. Competency is a term that is used to explain these internal factors or resources of entrepreneurs (Barazanden, Parvizian, Alizadeh & Khosravi, 2015). Entrepreneurial competencies refers the underlying characteristics possessed by an individual which assist them to execute the tasks in a manner that is most befitting (Lazar & Paul, 2015).
Competencies include most significant factors that determine success, performance and growth or failure of business operation (Mitchelmore & Rowley, 2013). In the current study entrepreneurial competencies were was operationalized along three dimensions namely managerial, behavioral and attitudinal competencies.
The term competence has been widely used and discussed in management Boyatzis, (1982) and lately in entrepreneurship. Several definitions have been provided for the term competency. For instance, Rudmann, (2008); Maojab et al.
, (2011) referred to competencies are measurable patterns of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors and other characteristics (KSAOs) that differentiate high from average performers. Mitchelmore & Rowley, (2010) used the terms skills to refer to competencies. Researchers in the field of entrepreneurship borrowed the concept and its related theory from management literature (Bird, 1995). This led to the development of the concept of entrepreneurial competencies.
Bird (1995), refer to entrepreneurial competencies as underlying characteristics of a person including motives, traits, self-image, social roles and set of skills that enable a person to perform a task.
Man, lau & Chan (2002) defined entrepreneurial competencies as higher-level characteristic that reflects the total ability of the entrepreneur to perform a job role successfully, and include personality traits, skills and knowledge and are expressed as opportunity, relationship, conceptual, organizing, strategic and commitment competencies. Man et al., further stated that Katz & Green (2009) defined them as forms of business related expertise consisting of five components namely specific knowledge, resource competencies, determination competencies and opportunity competencies which makes up basic business functions.
Mitchelmore & Rowley, (2013), described entrepreneurial competencies as a specific groups of competencies related to successful entrepreneurship. The competencies include attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, skills, abilities, personality, expertise and behavioral tendencies needed for successful and sustaining entrepreneurship while Kochandai, (2012) defined entrepreneurial competencies as individual characteristics that include both attitudes and behavior which enable entrepreneurs to achieve and maintain enterprise success. Other scholars like (Lazar & Paul, 2015) stated that entrepreneurial competencies are underlying characteristics possessed by an individual which assist them to execute the tasks in a manner that is most befitting. Schneider (2017) operationalized entrepreneurial competencies of women entrepreneurs as functional task related to managerial skills, self-efficacy and orientations of competition, risk-taking and innovation.
These entrepreneurial competencies were later used by Phelan & Sharpley, (2011) in their study. Nassif, Andreassi, Tonnelli & Fleury, (2012) in their in depth qualitative study on entrepreneurial competencies that characterize female entrepreneurs in Brazil identified cognitive and affective competencies as essential competencies which supported female entrepreneurs in development of their businesses.
Sony and Iman (2005) categorized entrepreneurial competencies into four dimensions namely: management skills, industry skills, opportunity skills and technical skills while Mitchelmore and Rowley (2010) measured competency by taking into account competency on an individual level, competency as a trader, business intelligence and competency management, competency skills and relationships. They categorized entrepreneurial competencies of female entrepreneurs into four areas; personal and relationship competencies; business and management competencies; entrepreneurial competencies; and human relations competencies; while Kochandai (2012) identified three components of entrepreneurial competencies namely attitudinal, behavioral and managerial competencies.
Despite a growing body of literature in the field of entrepreneurial competencies Schneider, (2017), uncertainty still exists concerning entrepreneurial competencies of female entrepreneurs and enterprise success. Moreover, studies on entrepreneurial competencies of women are rare (Mitchelmore & Rowley, 2013: Revell-Love & Revell-love, 2016). Studies are thus needed to offer more insight into entrepreneurial competencies of women entrepreneurs.
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