Learning Opportunities and Learning Behaviours of Small Business Starters: Relations with Goal Achievement, Skill Development, and Satisfaction

29 Pages Posted: 26 Sep 2005

See all articles by Marco van Gelderen

Marco van Gelderen

Massey University

E.C. Lidewey van der Sluis

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM); Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics

Paul Jansen

VU University Amsterdam

Date Written: July 30, 2004

Abstract

Learning is a vital issue for small business starters, contributing to short term and long term business performance, as well as to personal development. This study investigates when and how small business starters learn. It specifies the situations that offer learning opportunities, as well as the learning behaviours that small business starters can employ in order to learn from these opportunities. In a cross-sectional, quantitative study of recently started small business founders, learning opportunities and learning behaviours are related to three outcome measures: a performance outcome (goal achievement), a personal growth outcome (skill development), and an affective evaluation outcome (satisfaction). The results show the importance of learning opportunities and learning behaviours in influencing these outcome variables, albeit not always in the directions we hypothesized.

Keywords: learning, learning opportunities, learning behaviours, entrepreneurship, small business start-ups, performance

JEL Classification: M, M10, L2

Suggested Citation

Gelderen, Marco van and van der Sluis, E.C. Lidewey and Jansen, Paul, Learning Opportunities and Learning Behaviours of Small Business Starters: Relations with Goal Achievement, Skill Development, and Satisfaction (July 30, 2004). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2004-037-ORG, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=594983

Marco van Gelderen (Contact Author)

Massey University ( email )

College of Business, School of Management
Albany Campus
Auckland
New Zealand

E.C. Lidewey Van der Sluis

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T08-21
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands
31 0 10 408 2421 (Phone)

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, 1081HV
Netherlands
31 0 20 444 6105 (Phone)
31 0 20 444 6005 (Fax)

Paul Jansen

VU University Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, 1081HV
Netherlands

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