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theses

Work orientation, the viewing of one’s work as a job, or career or calling explains the different meanings people find in their work. To date research has focused more on outcomes of work orientation. This dissertation takes up the call for scholars to explain how calling orientations are formed, and the conditions under which they may change. I chose to study social entrepreneurs since their concern to create social value in addition to economic value suggests that they may have strong calling orientations. Also, as an emerging field, social entrepreneurship research is still addressing the question of what motivates social entrepreneurs, and I bring the lens of calling orientation to this field. A sequential qualitative-quantitative mixed methods design was followed. The qualitative phase consisted of 32 interviews of entrepreneurs aimed at identifying the origins and conditions related to the evolution of entrepreneurial calling orientation. What emerged from the interviews is that entrepreneurs tend to discover a life calling and to then seek the ideal work environment in which to live it out. Three trajectories to a life calling emerged: people who felt they had always had a life calling, those who gradually discovered it, and those who experienced a sudden epiphany. The ideal conditions that allowed them to live out their calling at work were financial stability, autonomy and the opportunity to be pro-social. The objective of the quantitative phase was to further investigate the relation between life and work calling, to test outcomes of callings in entrepreneurship and to identify differences between social and commercial entrepreneurs. A total of 341 entrepreneurs completed the main survey. Employees from 84 of those ventures participated in an employee survey. Life calling was found to be significantly related to work calling. Outcomes of entrepreneur calling included increased entrepreneur engagement, greater entrepreneur communicated vision; reduced turnover intentions in employees; and greater social impact growth. Social entrepreneurs had these attributes to a greater degree than traditional entrepreneurs. The dissertation therefore mapped the origin and evolution of calling orientations in entrepreneurs, identified outcomes of callings in entrepreneurship and identified differences between social and commercial entrepreneurs.

ETD_7369

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Vincent Ogutu

doi:10.7282/T38W3GJN

ETD doctoral

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