Construction of a scale for measuring business creation intention within the framework of the Moroccan entrepreneur's social network: Application of Churchill's paradigm

Abstract

The literature points to the importance of entrepreneurial intention to achieve entrepreneurial success without explaining the passage from intention to the act of entrepreneurship as well as the role of social relations and the entrepreneur's network to succeed in this passage. This article aims to develop a scale for measuring entrepreneurial intention that leads to the effective creation of the project through the experience of creating a business by Moroccan entrepreneurs, taking into account their social networks.

The challenge of our research is initially purely descriptive, and the objective of this research is to develop a scale for measuring entrepreneurial intention.

Referring to the classification developed by Mbengue and Vandangeon-Derumez, (1999), our study is positioned in a hypothetico-inductive approach.

The lack of existing measurement scales in the context of the future entrepreneur's social networks prompted us to go into the field by setting up an exploratory qualitative study on the theme of entrepreneurial intention and the social network.

We sought to understand to what extent the notion of entrepreneurial intention could apply to the social field, with this in mind, we decided to conduct a series of semi-structured exploratory interviews on the theme of entrepreneurial intention and the entrepreneur's social network. Interviews with 18 heads of small Moroccan businesses with whom we were able to record interviews, to transcribe them and analyze the content in order to extract the items to measure the entrepreneurial intention which leads to effective creation in a social approach. Then we proceeded to the analysis of the content of the verbatim transcribed following the interviews to generate the items and proceed to their purification through a quantitative survey. The second quantitative survey was conducted among 107 Moroccan entrepreneurs from all regions of Morocco who have already experienced the transition from the phase of entrepreneurial intention to the actual creation of the project.

This second quantitative survey is of an exploratory nature, it aims to purify the scale of measurement. The third survey was conducted among 170 Moroccan entrepreneurs in order to finalize the research instrument.

The approach adopted is based on the steps recommended by the paradigm of

Churchill. It aims to integrate the knowledge of measurement theory as well as the appropriate techniques to improve it into a systematic procedure.

JEL Rating: A14

Type of paper: Empirical research