An Exploration of the Factors Influencing the

Entrepreneurial Intent in the Chinese

Technology Industry

Word count: 10,646

1
Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a key driver of growth in China particularly as the government looks to

increase domestic consumption and to compete on the international platform. This has
encouraged a greater focus on encouraging entrepreneurship, including in the technology
industry as the Chinese government gradually shifts the economy to be more knowledge-
based. To be successful in encouraging entrepreneurship though, an understanding of the
factors affecting the entrepreneurial intent is crucial. In light of the lack of Chinese-specific
studies examining factors influencing the entrepreneurial intent and the absence of qualitative
methods to explore the entrepreneurial intent, this dissertation aims to explore the factors
affecting the entrepreneurial intent of Chinese entrepreneurs in the technology industry using
semi-structured interviews with Chinese technology entrepreneurs. The design of the semi-
structured interview was based around the themes identified from literature including the
psychological and individual factors, family background factors and the institutional context.
This study analyses the interviews from six Chinese technology entrepreneurs using the
thematic analysis to find the following key themes: importance of empowerment, lifestyle
and work-life balance, the role of the family as impetus and impeder, the social influences for
inspirations and widening, supporting role of informal and formal institutions in the
community and the focus on financial incentives in government policies. In light of these
themes, several recommendations have been proposed to policymakers to encourage higher
entrepreneurship behaviour in the technology industry.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intent, China, technology, entrepreneur, culture

2
Table of Contents

Abstract......................................................................................................................................2

List of Tables..............................................................................................................................5

1. Introduction........................................................................................................................6

1.1 Background..................................................................................................................6

1.2 Aim & Objectives........................................................................................................7

1.3 Rationale......................................................................................................................7

1.4 Importance of Studying Entrepreneurial Intent in China............................................8

1.5 Outline of Dissertation................................................................................................9

2. Literature Review.............................................................................................................10

2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................10

2.2 Concept of Entrepreneurial Intent.............................................................................10

2.3 Entrepreneurship School of Thought.........................................................................11

2.4 Psychological and Individual Factors........................................................................13

2.5 Family Background Factors......................................................................................14

2.6 Institutional Context..................................................................................................15

2.7 Chinese Technology Industry Entrepreneurship.......................................................17

2.8 Previous Research on Entrepreneurship Intention in China......................................18

2.9 Research Gap.............................................................................................................19

3. Methodology....................................................................................................................21

3.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................21

3.2 Research Philosophy.................................................................................................21

3.3 Research Approach....................................................................................................22

3.4 Research Strategy......................................................................................................22

3.5 Research Method.......................................................................................................23

3.6 Techniques and Procedures.......................................................................................23

3
 3.6.1 Sampling............................................................................................................23

3.6.2 Data Collection...................................................................................................24

3.6.3 Data Analysis.....................................................................................................25

4. Findings & Discussion.....................................................................................................27

4.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................27

4.2 Empowerment, Lifestyle and Work-Life Balance.....................................................27

4.3 Role of Family as Impetus and Impeder....................................................................28

4.4 Social Influences for Inspirations and Widening the Mind.......................................30

4.5 Role of Informal and Formal Institutions in the Community....................................31

4.6 Government Policies Emphasises Financial Support................................................32

4.7 Policy Implications to Increase Entrepreneurial Intent in the Technology Industry.33

4.7.1 Encouraging Female Entrepreneurs...................................................................33

4.7.2 Improving Knowledge Sharing..........................................................................34

4.7.3 Entrepreneurship Education...............................................................................34

4.7.4 Management Training........................................................................................34

5. Conclusion........................................................................................................................36

5.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................36

5.2 Summary....................................................................................................................36

5.3 Limitations.................................................................................................................38

5.4 Recommendations for Future Research.....................................................................39

References................................................................................................................................40

Appendices...............................................................................................................................48

4
List of Tables

Table 1: Summary of the interviewee backgrounds.................................................................24

5
 1. Introduction

1.1 Background

The process of creating and value for entrepreneurs is called entrepreneurship (Morris and
Jones, 1999). Entrepreneurial activities are vital for the promotion of development of both
society and the economy. As such, recently entrepreneurial problems have been researched
significantly by policy makers and scholars. Entrepreneurial contributions to the economy
have been a focus of research for Baron and Shane (2008), who highlighted entrepreneurs as
highly important to the growth of the economy. In 1976, the central government in China
began to lessen its oversight in a number of sectors (Lu and Tao, 2010), leading to the
emergence of modern entrepreneurial forms. Continuing to transform to a market economy
from a planned one resulted in a growth in jobs, general consumption, and productive output
resulting in entrepreneurship starting to be seen by many as necessary (McMillan and
Woodruff, 2002). China’s entrepreneurial efforts have grown drastically across recent
history. Between 2002 and 2011, approximately a sixth of working-aged people in China
were working on early-stage business ideas and ventures as represented by the TEA (Huang
et al., 2020). During this, the Chinese TEA rate outperformed many nations globally, placing
China at 7th in GEM’s rankings for it (Huang et al., 2020). In modernity, this TEA has slowed
down alongside the country’s generally slowing economic growth. Particularly, in 2015 the
Chinese TEA rate dropped below worldwide averages, making the year a watershed for
China’s entrepreneurs. Since then, China’s rank globally has fallen to 25 th, below halfway of
the 49 countries included in 2018).

Since its rapid ascent, much research has been conducted in China, looking at entrepreneurial
behaviour (Li and Zhang, 2007), though a significant amount of this focuses largely on
entrepreneurial activities. However, the first stage of the entrepreneurial process is
entrepreneurial intention (Linan and Chen, 2009). It refers to the most basic perceptions and
assumptions of an entrepreneur in terms of the societal context of entrepreneurial actions
(Krueger and Carsrud, 1993). Therefore, a key consideration in improving the level of
entrepreneurship in an economy must pay attention to the entrepreneurial intention, including
how it is shaped and the complexity of the relationship between the factors that influences it.
Yet, few studies have attempted to explore this in-depth in existing literature such that there

6
remains a limited understanding in the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intent of
individuals. What is more, empirical research to date do not provide industry-specific
understanding of the factors which impact on the entrepreneurial intent despite the
practicality in such findings which can inform targeted policies and strategies to encourage
entrepreneurship.

1.2 Aim & Objectives

To explore the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intent of Chinese entrepreneurs in the
technology industry.

The objectives of this study include:

(i) To identify the factors contributing to entrepreneurial intent.

(ii) To explore the motives and drivers that shaped the entrepreneurial intent of
Chinese entrepreneurs in the technology industry.
(iii) Based on the findings from the interviews, recommendations to policymakers will
be made to encourage a higher entrepreneurial intent in the technology industry.

1.3 Rationale

The basic job of entrepreneurship to China as previously mentioned is vastly different to the
foundation of its growth, where establishments and the business environment are only
sometimes seen as welcoming to organisations and entrepreneurs (Huang et al., 2020). Since
entrepreneurship re-emerged, it has been seen as having a struggled history of overcoming
challenges from opposing forces (Huang, 2003) such as institutional constraints like barriers
to industrial entry and hardships in gaining resources or clear property rights (Zhou, 2011). In
spite of this impressive expansion of entrepreneurship research in China, many questions still
remain unanswered (Huang et al., 2020).

The analysis of current studies of entrepreneurial intentions of the individual and how they
may be influenced finds a number of issues. Firstly, influencing factors investigated are often
only given partial attention to, without forming a more systematic analysis for comprehensive

7
understanding. Secondly, current research primarily takes statistical methods such as
variance, regression, descriptive, path and cluster analyses which are largely used to
understand independent variables and their linear relationships between one-another, making
it difficult to present findings about variable relationships overall (Tabachnick and Fidell,
2001). As such, biased results may ensue.

In the West, entrepreneurial intention has been widely studied although this is not the case for
China. A large number of studies use the theory of planned behaviour for the prediction of
entrepreneurial intention, though extant literature highlights some of the limitations of this
theory and operationalise this into a survey to examine the causal relationships between
different factors with the entrepreneurial intent. However, due to its cultural difference,
applying theory in China garnered from Western studies would raise questions about how
appropriate or applicable they may be. With the variation of entrepreneurial intention
findings across different cultures (Moriano et al., 2011), more localised research is necessary
to improve accuracy and relevancy of findings.

1.4 Importance of Studying Entrepreneurial Intent in China

Increasingly, entrepreneurs are considered to play a dominant role in the social and economic
growth of China’s industry, creating innovative business ideas and attractive propositions
(Israr and Saleem, 2018). In particular, China’s technological industry has showed impressive
development throughout the past decade. In exploration of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in
China from 2009 to 2019, the recent findings from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
(GEM, 2019) provides interesting results. Over this period, there has been significant growth
in the number of Chinese individuals that have chosen to start a business out of opportunity
rather than out of necessity as the proportion of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship showed
increased from 40% in 2002 to 58% in 2011 (GEM, 2019). Further, China’s entrepreneurial
environment index increased from 2.69 in 2002 to 2.87 in 2010, as rated by GEM experts,
proving China’s significant entrepreneurial growth in the 21st century (GEM, 2019).
Likewise, recent governmental plans to optimise the manufacturing of new technologies
including data computing, industrial internet and three-dimensional printing in China presents
a new energising of its technological market (GEM, 2019). Particularly, the new 2015 and
2016 measures introduced by the China’s State Council to promote innovation and

8
entrepreneurship made such plans readily accessible by making it easier to register companies
as well as offering start-up tax breaks and increased the turnover threshold of business tax
(GEM, 2019). As a result, since the launch of the policy, the country opened 1600 high-tech
incubators for start-up entrepreneurs, proving its remarkable success (Israr and Saleem,
2018). However, despite the expansive growth of entrepreneurial intent in China, Israr and
Saleem (2018) found evidence from OECD nations that less than 10% of the young
population was involved in ‘starting new ventures’ during the early 2000s (Nolan, 2003, p.
4). Likewise, Bosma and Levie (2009) presented similar results findings that the
entrepreneurial activity was less than 5% among the adult population involved in starting and
managing new businesses which is significantly lower than most advanced economies. In this
light, the discussion presents the critical relationship between entrepreneurial intent and
economic growth in China which in turn presents the importance of studying the
entrepreneurial intent of individuals in China.

1.5 Outline of Dissertation

The second chapter is the literature review which reviews the concept and definitions of
entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intent. The chapter also builds the conceptual
framework based on the literature review of the factors of entrepreneurial intent.

The third chapter is the methodology which outlines the research philosophy, approach and
design including the data collection procedure and analysis as well as the ethical
considerations.

The fourth chapter is the findings and discussion chapter, which presents the key findings
from the interviews conducted with the six Chinese entrepreneurs that is then discussed with
reference to the theories and past studies.

The fifth chapter is the conclusion which summarises the research and critically considers the
areas for improvement in this research in light of the limitations of this dissertation.

9
 2. Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter first defines the concept of entrepreneurial intent. The review of the literature is
then categorised into the three key themes relating to entrepreneurial intent that is the
psychological and individual factors, family background factors and the institutional context.
The researcher argues that the industry-specific context will also impact on the
entrepreneurial intent of Chinese entrepreneurs. Therefore, a discussion of entrepreneurship
in China’s technology industry is provided as context. After, the chapter reviews the
empirical works that have been conducted so far on entrepreneurial intent in China. Finally,
the identification of the research gap follows, which rationalises the design of the
methodology in the next chapter.

2.2 Concept of Entrepreneurial Intent

Over the last two decades, much attention has been given to the concept of entrepreneurship
(Davidsson, 2008). Entrepreneur’s contributions to society are significant, including the
creation of jobs, innovation of processes and goods and inventions are their main
contributions. They are seen by many as drivers of the growth of the economy (Baron and
Shane, 2008). Additionally, to these contributions, Mellor et al. (2009) argued that traditional
economic systems hyper focus on price factors, neglecting to appreciate the significance of
innovation and invention, since these are the ways in which entrepreneurs create new value
for the world.

Ajzen (1991) states that intention refers to the extent to which a person is willing to try and
exert effort to engage in an activity or behaviour. In general, stronger intentions lead to
higher likelihoods of the performance of a given behaviour. As such, entrepreneurial intent is
the extent to which an entrepreneur is willing to direct their efforts and experience towards
fulfilling a business venture, with this setting the velocity of an organisation from its creation

10
(Bird, 1988). Due to the intentional nature of entrepreneurial behaviour, it is commonly
agreed that it can thus be predicted by intention (Krueger and Carsrud, 1993). Krueger (2000)
notes entrepreneurial intention to be largely subjective, coming from an entrepreneur’s own
expectations about outcomes from activities. Thompson (2009) explains entrepreneurial
intention as the belief of an entrepreneur’s intent to open a business. In summation,
entrepreneurial intention is a state of one’s psyche which helps to focus intention towards
specific goals in entrepreneurship with the desire for certain results in business. It notes that
entrepreneurs perform actions for the development of new value in extant business, or the
creation of new businesses altogether. As such, entrepreneurial intentions are not
monolithically defined by different scholars, instead providing definitions on a per-study
basis and resulting in unclear overall differences. Entrepreneurial intention is a state of mind
which focuses efforts towards given business objectives to achieve given results.

Despite the large amount of research on entrepreneurial intent’s influencing factors, personal
traits and demographics were largely focused on by early reports (Ferreira et al., 2012; Raab
et al., 2005). Both the single variable method and multivariable method are used currently to
measure the entrepreneurial intentions of an individual. The single variable method measures
a person’s intention purely from individual variables like expectations, plans, preferences and
behavioural anticipation. These studies are either individually self-reported or rely on
researcher judgement to assess. The oversimplicity of this single variable method has led to
criticisms of its reliability and validity in measurements, despite its clarity, leading to the
necessity of measuring entrepreneurial intention using multivariable methods with a number
of different dimensions to lower the likelihood of error (Peng et al., 2012).

2.3 Entrepreneurship School of Thought

Scholars have partaken in a wide discussion about the factors influencing entrepreneurial
intentions.

For over fifty years, research on entrepreneurship can be split by their year of research. The
period after Mclelland (1961) looked at how personality traits impact entrepreneurial
behaviours, followed by the 1980s and 1990s, when more individual entrepreneurial
intentions were focused on, and how they impacted behaviour. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial
intentions were researched in many empirical studies, with some scholars arguing that

11
individual entrepreneurial intentions were more effective than individual personality
variables to predict entrepreneurial behaviour (Ajzen, 1987). In this period, there were six
major models posed for entrepreneurial intention, ranging from Shapro’s (1982)
Entrepreneurial Event Model to the Theory of Planned Behaviour by Ajzen (1991).

A number of scholars such as Xu et al. (2016) have used the entrepreneurial activity model
(Shapero and Sokol, 1982) and the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) as a basis to
establish theory for different research objects.

Shapero and Sokol’s (1982) model for entrepreneurial event formation is widely regarded as
important to much entrepreneurial intention research, with perceived desirability and
perceived feasibility acting as the significant antecedents for entrepreneurial intent.

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by Ajzen (1991) is widely utilised as a theoretical
basis for much entrepreneurial intention research. The TPB has a basis in the theory of
reasoned action, and is now the most renowned social psychology theory for attitude-
behaviour. The TPB framework outlines intention as a result of three antecedents: positive or
negative perception of a behaviour (attitude), one’s perception of social pressure to engage in
or avoid a behaviour (subjective norm), and one’s perception of difficulty or ease to engage
in a behaviour (perceived behaviour control) (Kautonen et al., 2013). The TPB is widely used
with successful results in many related behaviour-based fields to predict and understand
behaviours accurately (Duan and Jiang, 2008). Generally, entrepreneurial behaviours are
planned well, meaning that they have a high level of intention and are impacted by one’s
perception of behaviours, subjective norms, and behavioural control (PBC), leading to this
theory’s wide use in recent entrepreneurial research (Kautonen et al., 2013). Despite this wide
use, researchers also note that the TPB does not completely explain a number of actions, with
intention’s implementation possibly behaving as a moderator between behaviour and
intention (Gollwitzer, 1999). This may be why there is a low level of entrepreneurial
behaviour after a student’s graduation, despite high levels of entrepreneurial intent (Ye,
2009).

The TPB is supported by the findings from many studies (Souitaris et al., 2007), positing
three factors to impact entrepreneurial intention: attitude towards a behaviour, subjective
norm, and perception of behavioural control.

The entrepreneurial event formation model does not contradict the TPB and vice versa, as
noted by a number of studies (Lin and Si, 2014).

12
In the past 20 years, researchers have posited a number of new models intending to improve
upon the TPB and the entrepreneurial event formation model (Lee et al., 2011). For instance,
Elfving et al. (2009) outlines the linearity of extant entrepreneurial intention models, instead
proposing a contextual model of entrepreneurial intention in an effort to reduce such
limitations.

These models look at various factors impacting entrepreneurial intentions of the individual,
and can be separated into three groups: social and environmental, family background, and
individual or psychological factors.

From the perspective of Chinese management research, Child (2009) notes that it is vital to
compare national contexts using a unified classification framework in order to understand
how China differs from the world, and the extent to which a specific Chinese theory of
management would be needed. Alongside this argument for comparison between countries,
Child (2009) outlines a framework which looks at aspects of the Chinese business
management context to help with comparison with other countries. The framework includes
three components: material systems such as economic and technological systems; ideational
systems, which focus on factors such as religious, cultural and political values; and
institutional outcomes such as adherence to international regulation, government and
intermediate factors. Despite their inconsistencies, previously proposed context frameworks
give a good basis for building upon and understanding the contextualisation of Chinese
entrepreneurship in various studies.

2.4 Psychological and Individual Factors

Many scholars have looked at how gender may impact one’s entrepreneurial intentions, with
results often showing males to have stronger intentions than females (Matthews and Moser,
1995). It has been argued that this low intent of females is due to a low level of self-efficacy,
avoiding starting businesses due to a lack of required capabilities (Fielden et al., 2003).
Stereotypes also may play a part, with ideas of familial responsibility also being shown to
negatively impact female entrepreneurial intentions (Lee et al., 2011). Scholars also focus on
how personality traits may influence an individuals entrepreneurial intentions, with some
researchers identifying them as important factors. In comparison with others, entrepreneurs
have some personality traits like high achievement orientation, risk exposure willingness,

13
intelligence, endurance and strong individual control (Shaver, 1995), though some
researchers maintain that these personality traits are not necessarily an explanation for why a
person may choose to start a business (Gartner, 1985).

Some research outlines that an individual’s entrepreneurial attitudes are related to their
entrepreneurial behaviour, with intention mediating the two (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977).
Ajzen (1991) notes that an individual’s attitude forms the basis of important factors for their
entrepreneurial intent. Krueger (1993) further notes that entrepreneurial intentions can also be
impacted by an individual’s subjective norm, which arises from one’s perceived expectations
from important peers such as friends, colleagues, parents and other loved ones, and the
individual’s desire to adhere to such expectations (Krueger, 1993).

It has been found by some researchers that previous entrepreneurial experiences may impact
future intentions (Krueger, 1993). These prior experiences may not merely further and
expand entrepreneurial intentions, but may also grow skills and experience for future
endeavours. Some scholars however argue that these previous experiences largely have
minimal influence on entrepreneurial knowledge, and have minimal impact on attitudes
towards entrepreneurship (Peng et al., 2012).

2.5 Family Background Factors

Some scholars note family backgrounds as a possible factor on entrepreneurial intentions.

Extant research explains how families may impact an individual’s entrepreneurial intent,
primarily through the perspective of role moulding, with parents being seen as an important
aspect of a child’s future entrepreneurial career. In role modelling, the individual can adopt
certain behaviours by informal and unintentional observation as noted by Tkachev and
Kolvereid, (1999) and confirmed by Crant (1996) who asserts that a child raised in an
entrepreneurial family significantly impacts their intentions to start their own business, and
thus naturally following in their family’s footsteps. Scholars go on to discuss this further by
suggesting that environments surrounded by role models can be seen an attractive lifestyle
and so appear a significant factor in wanting to start a business (Birley and Westhead, 1994).
Likewise, in more recent studies, Drennan (2015; Aslsos et al. 2011) suggests that
entrepreneurial intent can be significantly shaped by lifestyle in asserting that those who
found a positive view of their family’s business experience possessed a greater desire to start

14
their own business knowing the advantages it can generate as well as a greater perception of
feasibility in doing so. Furthering this notion, Chaudhary (2017) confirms the positive
relationship between self-employed families and entrepreneurial intent of its children while
Boldureanu et al. (2020) asserts there is greater likelihood for an individual to adopt
entrepreneurial intentions when they are personally acquainted with entrepreneurs. In this
way, Boldureanu et al. (2020, p.5) suggests such presence of an entrepreneurial role model in
a family can almost certainly encourage a person to contemplate a similar career path or even
“shift cognitive attention towards the search for possible entrepreneurial opportunities”.

The hypothesis that a family’s occupational background can influence attitudes towards
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship is heavily supported in China where a study found the
youth from business familial occupation backgrounds significantly favoured becoming an
entrepreneur in comparison to an individual from a service background (Nandamuri and
Gowthami, 2014). Therefore, the strong confirmation from numerous studies concerning the
impact of family role modelling on entrepreneurial intention certainly provides weight to the
influence of family background on attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Nonetheless, some
scholars do not view parents’ behaviour as important in setting examples for influencing a
child’s entrepreneurial intent (Churchill et al., 1987). In further study, although Alsos et al.
(2011) asserts the positive influence of an entrepreneurial family background on
entrepreneurial intent where the individual is surrounded by the highlights of
entrepreneurship, his study goes on to suggest that a poor, failing entrepreneurship
environment can actually provide deterrence to the individuals’ entrepreneurial orientation. In
this way, it is made evident that Alsos’ study both supports and weakens the previous
hypothesis (Alsos’, 2011). In further research, (Kreuger and Dickson, 1993) confirms this
notion in asserting that the children of entrepreneurs are not proportionally more likely to
become entrepreneurs themselves, whilst Shapero and Sokol (1982) argued that attitudes
towards entrepreneurship are less dependent on family background influences, but more so
on other exogenous factors including demographics, traits, skills, culture, and social and
financial support, further dampening the influence of family background on entrepreneurial
intent (Nandamuri and Gowthami, 2014). However, the strong support of the hypothesis that
family background does play a highly significant role on entrepreneurial intent outweighs the
scholarly support that it does not and therefore proves family background to be a critical
demographic feature of entrepreneurial influence.

15
 2.6 Institutional Context

Macro-level socioenvironmental factors are also included in the definition of an institutional

environment, including aspects such as cultural, political and legal ones (Lim et al., 2010)
which can either open or close opportunities for entrepreneurship. Social attitudes,
regulations and other facets of an institutional environment impact the resources available to
entrepreneurs (Welter, 2011). An important piece of research on institutional environments
introduced a concept which was created by Kostova (1997) and Scott (1995), defining the
institutional environment as comprised of cognitive, normative and regulatory dimensions.
These three dimensions have been confirmed by past scholars (Manolova et al., 2008; De
Clerq et al., 2020).

Government laws, policies and regulations comprise the regulatory dimension. Currently,
policies exist to help support entrepreneurial activities, such as lower enterprise registration
fees and low-interest loans, lowering risk and providing resources to individual entrepreneurs
(Busenitz et al., 2000). In helping potential entrepreneurs by providing access to external
assistance, these policies have improved the attractiveness of entrepreneurial activities.

The cognitive dimension focuses on the techniques and knowledge of most people with
respect to entrepreneurship. Growth of entrepreneurship in an environment will increase
significantly when the majority of a population achieves a level of skill and understanding
which would enable entrepreneurial activities. The particular knowledge held by most people
is the institutionalised knowledge (Busenitz et al., 2000). As they gain more knowledge and
information on entrepreneurial resources and opportunities offered by an environment,
people’s affinity for entrepreneurial behaviour will grow. For instance, individuals will come
to understand opportunities and convenience of entrepreneurial activities in the region when
there is a high level of access to relevant workers.

The overall perspectives of locals with respect to entrepreneurship in the context of

ideologies and societal culture form the normative dimension. Ideology with a focus on the
operation of enterprise significantly influences entrepreneurial activity (Manolova et al.,
2008; Busenitz et al., 2000). If there is a general approval of entrepreneurial activities from
the public, who give highly positive feedback, entrepreneurial activity’s attractiveness in the
region grows. Conversely, enthusiasm for entrepreneurship would abate if locals viewed it
negatively, understanding it as an effort to gain profit at society’s loss. This leads to the

16
importance of positive perspectives, since in Chinese culture individuals are expected to
behave in line with the judgement of the general populace.

2.7 Chinese Technology Industry Entrepreneurship

China is often associated with weak institutional infrastructures such as low levels of
intellectual property rights. This significantly impacts entrepreneurs and SMEs, with
Ahlstrom and Ding (2014) arguing that the understanding of entrepreneurial approaches to
such barriers is vital to understanding entrepreneurship on the whole in China. For instance,
guanxi (Zhang, 2015) is important to entrepreneurs, who also seek informal institutions in the
form of relationship building (Du et al., 2015; Zhang, 2015). Additionally, entrepreneurs may
feel that bribes are required to encourage government officials to provide access to resources
(Baron et al., 2018).

China’s economic policies have been developing over recent history, as it shifted from a
planned to a market economy (Lin and Si, 2014). In 1978, when China began opening up and
reforming, entrepreneurship was somewhat alien to Chinese people both academically and in
practice. However, once opportunities were opened up, people with the inclination for
entrepreneurship took the chance, leading to a rapidly growing private sector. This drastic
expansion of the private sector has been a driving force behind China’s fast development in
recent history (Huang et al., 20202). The commonness of entrepreneurship is also likely to
decide how successful China’s overall economic transition will be in the future (Huang,
2003). Chinese entrepreneurship is not only important to China, also impacting the world
significantly. Chinese entrepreneurs have influenced the world, initially through exports
made in China but now also through an expansion in their worldwide acquisitions and
mergers across borders. Chinese entrepreneurs do not only provide creation of wealth, but
also compete effectively worldwide. Both in and out of China, Chinese entrepreneurs have
forced responses from their counterparts due to increased competition to survive.

Scholars argue that governments in entrepreneurship research needs a greater level of depth
(Huang et al., 2020). The Chinese government is a vital facet of the economic ecosystem
which encourages and grows entrepreneurship (Bruton et al., 2018). Recently, the Chinese
government has developed a series of policies to help facilitate and encourage
entrepreneurship, since it is considered an important force behind continued development of

17
economy (He, Lu and Qian, 2018). Mass entrepreneurship and innovation is now a focus for
China’s strategy for economic development since 2015. This development of
entrepreneurship has now led to perspectives that China has now entered a golden era (He, Lu
and Qian, 2018) though it is not conclusive as to whether these policies achieve their goals.

As such, Bruton et al. (2008) state that it is important to understand the impacts of cultural
and institutional forces on the moderation of entrepreneurial behaviour in emerging
economies such as China, taking a psychological and organisational behaviour perspective.
Likewise, He, Lu and Qian (2018) argue that the Chinese economy’s unique cultural and
institutional environments give rise to significantly different viewpoints on Chinese
entrepreneurship. For instance, China has a significant level of variation within its borders
(Peng, Wang and Jiang, 2008), with this difference between sub-national organisations
serving to assist or restrict entrepreneurship in varying manners (Zhou, 2011).

2.8 Previous Research on Entrepreneurship Intention in China

Lin and Si (2014) studied the entrepreneurial intention of Chinese peasants by using
entrepreneurial behaviour perspectives, hypothesising that self-efficacy positively moderates
the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and institutional environment, and
entrepreneurial intention and one’s requirements for power. Using a sample of 298 Chinese
peasants from Beijing for qualitative surveys, the analysis supported the majority of the
hypotheses. The results of the study indicate that entrepreneurial intentions of the low-social
class population are positively impacted by the need for power. The study also found that the
institutional environment perceived by individuals had a positive influence on entrepreneurial
intention. These findings suggest that the Chinese government may benefit from updating
entrepreneurial policies to include education and training in entrepreneurial activities which
target the rural masses through a successful model of entrepreneurism, resultantly enhancing
the entrepreneurial intention of rural individuals. Furthermore it was proven that self-efficacy
positively moderated entrepreneurial intention, suggesting that these two factors both
strengthen one-another. This also suggests that self-efficacy negatively moderates the
relationship between institutional environment and entrepreneurial intention, implying that
self-efficacy and institutional environment can be interchangeably used.

Xu et al. (2016) utilised the modified TPB with cluster sampling for a questionnaire for the
reviewing of current education for entrepreneurship in secondary schools in China, with a

18
sample size of 1018. Most of the students had not received entrepreneurship education
previously, which may have negatively impacted perceptions of entrepreneurial behavioural
performance and entrepreneurial intention. The students’ entrepreneurship and behavioural
perceptions were biased, with entrepreneurial activities being seen as externally influenced,
cause-oriented activities. Gender also impacted entrepreneurship intention, as did family
members’ experience of entrepreneurship. Education of entrepreneurship and personal traits
(innovativeness and loci of control) were significant positive factors for entrepreneurial
intent, with these being mediated entirely by PBC. The study supported predictions made by
the TPB, thus providing implications for education on entrepreneurship in the Chinese school
system: removing examination-focused education and encouraging related personal traits;
improving the entrepreneurial confidence of SSS to make entrepreneurial behaviours appear
more achievable; developing standard entrepreneurship syllabi to help transition to higher
education.

Peng et al. (2012) conducted a survey of 2,010 senior Chinese university students in Xian,
from nine different universities, analysing a student’s entrepreneurial intention and related
factors. Findings suggest that university students’ perceived subjective norm significantly
positively impacts entrepreneurial attitude and self-efficacy, whilst entrepreneurial intentions
were also influenced significantly by all the factors.

2.9 Research Gap

Growing amounts of research have been focusing on Chinese entrepreneurship, though

Chinese management research often focuses on general theories instead of more contextual
factors, leading to limitations on the development of understanding and theories (Huang et
al., 2020). The cultural contextual environment in China is unique in terms of
entrepreneurship development. As such, Chinese researchers should move their focus to
include context for theory development instead of theory application, to make a more
applicable and accurate contribution to research (Su et al., 2015).

A downside to much of this empirical research is in the choices of samples, often using
students at university or school to make up the bulk of respondents, such as Xu et al. (2016).
Whilst students may be grouped in various ways such as major, background, level or country
(Guerrero et al., 2008), they overall have lower levels of related skills for business

19
endeavours. As such, analysis of student samples does not produce universal conclusions in
the proof of models for entrepreneurship intention.

Extant literature highlights demographic factors like family entrepreneurial background and
gender which can impact EI. The literature also suggested that personal traits like loci of
control, creativity of the individual, risk taking affinity and need for achievement, and
entrepreneurship education can impact EI. Moreover, whilst attitude, subjective norms and
PBC may also impact EI to an extent, they more commonly behave as mediating factors.
Comparatively few studies have been carried out looking at entrepreneurs in China, and as
such this study intends to fill this research gap by gathering information on the influencing
factors of entrepreneurial intent from Chinese entrepreneurs. This paper has a strong focus on
context to make findings more applicable and further advance theories on entrepreneurship in
China.

20
 3. Methodology

3.1 Introduction

This dissertation is interested in the qualitative investigation in the factors affecting the
entrepreneurial intention of Chinese entrepreneurs to take into account of the complexity and
diversity of the numerous contextual factors which can affect it. This chapter outlines the
research assumptions and the rationale for the decisions made concerning the research
methods and design using the methodology framework proposed by Saunders et al. (2016),
the ‘research onion’ to structure the explanations. This study uses the interview as the
research instrument which is designed in accordance with the understanding gathered from
the literature.

3.2 Research Philosophy

The research philosophy is concerned with “what is (or should be) regarded as acceptable
knowledge in a discipline” (Bryman and Bell, 2015: 23). This dissertation chooses to adopt
the interpretivism philosophy because the researcher believes the social world is complex and
heterogenous, such that the use of the scientific methods would not be able to produce a
reasonable understanding of the world (Bryman and Bell, 2015). Instead, the researcher
considers subjectivity to be important in understanding social acts because it is what the
researcher is interested in understanding. The subjectivity concerns the influences to the
research based on the different stances, values and experiences of the participants including
how they experience the social world and its production (Allen, 2017). The interpretivist
philosophy thus believes that there are multiple realities, for instance, the entrepreneurial
intent would be influenced by the Chinese entrepreneurs’ past experiences at the workplace
and social influences. Therefore, this study makes use of the qualitative research that is “an
inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that
explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture,
analyses words, reports detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural
setting” (Creswell, 1998: 99) such that the researcher does not manipulate the environment

21
unlike in quantitative studies. This places an emphasis on the way that meaning is constructed
by actors and the interactions in the social context.

3.3 Research Approach

In research, the reasoning adopted by the research assumes either a deductive or inductive
process. The deductive process is where the researcher forms several hypotheses based on the
understanding from the existing theories and literature, that is subsequently tested by
collecting data (Saunders et al., 2016). On the other hand, the inductive process is where the
researcher first collects observations concerning the phenomenon, and analyses the data for
patterns and insights that can be used to generate theory and understanding of the
phenomenon (Saunders et al., 2016).

Research methods are either quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. The majority of the
studies in the past has adopted a quantitative and deductive method in understanding the
factors affecting entrepreneurial intent (Lin and Si, 2014; Peng et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2016).
The limitation of this is that it reduces the responses and the understanding of complicate
human behaviour and thought process to numerical form, which simplifies the understanding
of the motivations and entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, this dissertation chooses to adopt
a qualitative and inductive method, so that it would be able to shed more light on the factors
affecting entrepreneurial intent in China where there is a lack of empirical research that
explores the topic. Salkind (2009) indicate that qualitative research to comprehend ideas such
as the attitude and behaviour is more appropriate than quantitative, because it allows better
insight and understanding of the feelings, thoughts and emotions.

3.4 Research Strategy

This study adopts a phenomenological research strategy to understand the factors affecting
the entrepreneurial intent in China. This research strategy is considered the most appropriate
because it concerns individual lived experiences of the Chinese entrepreneurs and explores
the contextual meaning using the situational knowledge of the entrepreneurs (Creswell,

22
2009). Phenomenological studies are able to add to the existing body of knowledge and give
meaning where there is a gap as a result of the scarcity of studies (Creswell, 2009).

3.5 Research Method

There are different types of interviews that can be chosen by the researcher including
structure, semi-structured and unstructured interviews. This study chooses to adopt the semi-
structured interview as it would be able to provide the benefits of flexibility and structure to
the interview, such that it would enable exploration whilst allowing some level of
comparability between the answers of the participants. The semi-structured interview would
see the researcher preparing an interview schedule with some questions to guide the
interview, which would also give assurance to the researcher that the interviews would be
able to address the research question of this dissertation and would provide the interviewee
with a sense of structure. The interview questions have been attached in Appendix 1, where
the design of the interview questions have been based on the key themes identified in the
literature review including social and environment, family background and the individual and
psychological factors.

3.6 Techniques and Procedures

3.6.1 Sampling

The sample size in qualitative studies is less crucial compared with quantitative studies
because the intention of the research is not to explain the causal relationships in a
generalisable manner (Dworkin, 2012) but to explore the phenomenon in-depth, which is
very time-consuming and therefore impractical to do a large sample size using qualitative
research methods too (Young and Casey, 2019). The sample size in this dissertation is
determined by the accessibility to participants in the time frame (Creswell, 2013), since the
access to entrepreneurs in China is challenging without having the personal connections.
This study uses the purposive sampling technique because the researcher is interested in
surveying the entrepreneurial intent and motivations of Chinese entrepreneurs is used to

23
recruit more participants to this research. The criteria of the participants in this study is that
they must be an entrepreneur in China and their business venture should be in the technology
industry. Due to the specificity in the criteria of the entrepreneur and as the researcher has a
limited pool of participants able to satisfy the criteria, the snowball sampling was also used to
recruit entrepreneurs.

To do this, the researcher recruited entrepreneurs through word of mouth and using the
researcher’s social media to reach out to technology entrepreneurs. This is possible because
entrepreneurs in China are likely to possess strong social capital and ‘guanxi’, such that there
is a high likelihood they would know of other entrepreneurs in their social network. The
choice of the participants being entrepreneurs in China means that it is possible to understand
the contextual factors and the development of these over time that impact on the
entrepreneurial intent, given the fast-paced changes in China. In total, six participants were
recruited as volunteers to the semi-structured interview data collection in this study.A
summary table of the participants and their background is shown in Table 1:

Participan Gende Ag Education Work Compan Headquarte Nature of

t r e Experience y r Business
Founded
Participant Female 40 Postgraduate Banking 2015 Liaoning Internet
1 banking
Participant Female 31 Postgraduate Government 2015 Jilin Internet
2 agency information
clerk
Participant Male 35 Undergraduat Government 2015 Shanghai E-marketing
3 e office work
Participant Male 39 Postgraduate Investment 2015 Shanghai Internet
4 bank banking
Participant Male 52 Postgraduate Working at 2015 Zhejiang Electronic
5 the graduate communication
school s
Participant Male 36 Postgraduate Constructio 2011 Hebei E-commerce
6 n
Table 1: Summary of the interviewee backgrounds

3.6.2 Data Collection

24
The data collection is conducted online using WeChat video call function. This is appropriate
given the high penetration rate of the social media and the fact that it is very unlikely that a
Chinese entrepreneur would not use this application given that many functions and facets of
daily life and business uses WeChat. This application has a phone and video call function,
which can be used to facilitate the online interaction with the participants according to their
preferences. The use of the online interview will overcome the issue of the researcher being
located in the UK during the time of writing the dissertation, whilst the Chinese entrepreneurs
are in China. Furthermore, the use of online interviewing is important given the current
covid-19 which has seen social distancing measures. On average, the interviews last around
34 minutes including answering the questions of the participants, ensuring they had provided
their written consent and debriefing the participant at the end of the interview. To enable the
researcher to pay more attention to the dialogue with the interviewee, the interview was
recorded on an audio recorder (Bryman and Bell, 2015). This enabled the transcription of the
data to be more accurate and to prevent data loss.

3.6.3 Data Analysis

The interviews are transcribed after the interviews based on the conversation recorded in
Mandarin Chinese, and then translated into English by the researcher. There are various
methods of qualitative data analysis. Since the researcher is interested in presenting a
contemporary understanding on the factors affecting entrepreneurial intent in China, the
thematic analysis is suitable in categorising the vast transcribed data (Blaikie, 2009).
Literature has highlighted how the process of the thematic analysis should be conducted in
six stages (Braun and Clarke, 2006). The first stage of the data analysis is to gain familiarity
with the data. The second stage sees the research then coding the data before the third stage,
where the researcher will determine important themes linked with the entrepreneurial
intention and motivation of the Chinese entrepreneurs based on the codes. The fourth stage
sees the themes being edited and revised, as the researcher synthesises and collates the
findings. The fifth stage is where the themes are finalised and named before the final stage,
where the findings are written up and compared with past studies and existing knowledge
(Braun and Clarke, 2006).

25
 3.7 Ethical Considerations

The Birmingham Business School ethics form has been completed and approved before the
start of data collection. According to Bryman and Bell (2015), some of the key considerations
that need to be made by the researcher includes the issue of receiving informed consent,
anonymity and confidentiality, deception as well as inconvenience. This study has ensured
informed consent as all participants have been asked to read a background on the study
before signing a consent form to express their acknowledgment in the terms of the data
collected and their preferences concerning how the data will be recorded and reported in the
study. Participants are anonymised in the dissertation and they are informed that their
personal information will be kept confidential by the researcher. Furthermore, this study does
not use deception and the measures taken by the researcher, such as the use of online
interviewing, is intended to improve the convenience to the participants.

26
 4. Findings & Discussion

4.1 Introduction

The process of the thematic analysis has been applied to the transcripts of the semi-structured
interviews and codes across the six interviews have been summarised in Appendix 3.

4.2 Empowerment, Lifestyle and Work-Life Balance

The findings showed that there are a number of motives why participants had preferred to
embark on an entrepreneurial venture. This included the difficulty in securing a job for young
people and the financial motives.

“It is an accepted fact that young people are hard to find a job.” –
Participant 1

From this, it can be seen that the acute deficiency of suitable jobs for the aspiring people
might be a source of instigator for them embark on entrepreneurial ventures (Teng et al.,
2019). According to the experimented people’s mind-set, they would rather create their own
source of living rather than putting vain effort into finding a job that would serve other than
themselves. Another underlying reason for such a mind set of interested people can be their
lack of patience for finding a suitable job (Weipart-Fenner, 2020). Many graduates of these
days do not find it time-efficient and worthy to take enough time to look for the perfect job
that would suit them and cater to their needs and wants. Hence, they rather perform enough
market research, find out what are the demands of the market, and try to fulfill them with
their services through their entrepreneurial ventures. The success and failures of their
ventures lie mostly on the research they do prior to launching into the market and their
quality of services.

“The only way for ordinary people to make more money is to start a
business, rather than working for others.” – Participant 3

This opinion of the participant reveals the fact that he, alongside representing the relevant
community, thinks that more money can be earned through his own entrepreneurial ventures.
Hence, it can be inferred that the concerned group’s decision for being an entrepreneur is
very much influenced by their interest in earning more money (Asterbo and Chen, 2014).

27
 “One of my friends quitted his job and started an electronic company with
good profits, which encouraged me a lot more.” – Participant 5

This opinion implied that the concerned group of people thinks that entrepreneurial ventures
are more profitable than normal services. Here too, the mind set for earning more money
plays the main role like the previous opinion. One of the reasons behind their inclining
toward self-made jobs is because they think that normal services would not help them earn as
much money as the entrepreneurial ones. Hence, they switch their decision and choose such
kind of jobs (Asterbo and Chen, 2014).
However, more salient was the positive attitude that participants had towards the idea of
entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship is not only popular and a ‘trend’ but can provide the
lifestyle that provides a more meaningful endeavour for the participants in contrast to the
rigidity of employment. This is not surprising given the poor work-life balance in China’s
technology companies due to the culturally long working hours, perhaps due to the high-
power distance culturally. For example, Wang and Hancock (2019) note how in Tencent, the
working hours are between 10am and 10pm. In fact, a popular phrase in technology
companies in China is ‘996’ which describes the working life to begin work at 9am, ending at
9pm, six days a week (Wang and Hancock, 2019). The sense of unappreciation by
management and dissatisfaction at previous employment also provided drive for
entrepreneurship as an alternative which could also provide a sense of accomplishment and
achievement for the entrepreneur.

““I was under the pressure working in the previous company and complex
human relations” – Participant 6

However, though the negative workplace experience of individuals may encourage

employees to seek entrepreneurship, the interviews also indicated the importance of the work
experience because of the opportunities to expand the network and to gain access to
investors.

“my previous employer invested my company” – Participant 5

The idea of being able to work in the field and area of interest is also indicative of the desire
for empowerment, autonomy and work-life balance as indicated by a number of participants
who claimed that being able to focus on what they are passionate about is an important
reward.

28
 “My major is coding at university, so I want to apply my knowledge at
work” – Participant 3

Therefore, it can be seen that the primary motives for entrepreneurship for Chinese
technology entrepreneurs had been based on intrinsic motivation, primarily focussed on
enjoyment and satisfaction with the work content and work-life balance. At the same time, it
should be noted that this positive attitude to entrepreneurship does not mean that
entrepreneurs had not been unaware of the challenges including the need for self-discipline,
responsibility and hard-work that is required.

4.3 Role of Family as Impetus and Impeder

The role of family and the marital status also plays a key role. The role of entrepreneurship as
an opportunity for a divorcee is also highlighted because it is seen as a way in which the
single mother would be able to reinforce her financial independency.

“Because I am divorced, I feel that women’s financial strength is a very

important condition, and they should not maintain the status quo. Besides,
I have a 5-year-old child.” – Participant 1

Whilst the familial background in entrepreneurship inspires entrepreneurial ideas.

“My dad had his own trading company since I was young.” – Participant 2

“My parents are both having their own businesses in the property industry
and capital investment, which influenced me to start my own one” –
Participant 6

From the above opinions, it is understood that one of the reasons that make people interested
in entrepreneurial jobs is their indirect consideration as the job type as some kind of familial
practice. When the individuals concerned grow up seeing their family members doing similar
kind of job and get to learn about both positive and negative sides of the ventures, they get
inspired to undertake similar activities (Bennedson et al., 2015). On the other hand, the case
might also imply the fact that there might be familial pressure on the individuals concerned to
embark on their entrepreneurial journey because the family member considered the job type
as a family heritage. Especially, in a country like China where cultural and familial heritage
is given so much importance, the young generation might be pressurized to choose
entrepreneurship as their job identity (Bennedson et al., 2015).

29
In accordance with the literature, many of the entrepreneurs rely on their family for their
initial funding.

“My dad is running a supermarket chain, he is the first investor of my

business and helps me a lot as well” – Participant 5

Therefore, it can be seen that the familial influences can act as an impetus for the individual
to engage in entrepreneurship. Research supports this by finding families with business
backgrounds tend to see family members starting their own business (Ranwala, 2016). Whilst
the familial background in entrepreneurship can serve individuals to embark on
entrepreneurship through inspiration because of the ability to access resources including
financing, knowledge and connections through the family links. However, the research also
found that they were some entrepreneurs who had not relied on their family for start-up
capital. The reason might be because Chinese entrepreneurs prefer to find funding from their
family if there is a lower transaction cost and lower interference from the family in their
entrepreneurial venture (Au and Kwan, 2009).

“My parents did not support me due to the instable future and income…
they want me to have a stable work and family” – Participant 3

From the statement of this participant, it can be concluded that entrepreneurial jobs are
perceived to be risky by many people (Malakhovskyi et al., 2019). According to them, these
ventures being completely new, there is little guarantee of the sustainability of the business
and the continuity of incoming cash flow. Hence, the concerned group who want to start their
own entrepreneurial ventures faces lack of considerable support in respect of money and
resources from others. On the other hand, services and other established and running jobs are
considered to be non-risky because of their continuity. Moreover, public service are
perceived to be more economically beneficial than any other jobs (Hall and Nguyen, 2018).
As a result, many of the potential aspirants are bound to choose such services as their mode
of income.
An interesting insight from the interviews is that the success of the entrepreneurship is
viewed to be one that is characterised by inequality, due to the varying access to key
resources, finances and relationships. Specifically, it suggests that Chinese entrepreneurs who
do not have a high socioeconomic status will find it more challenging to achieve success
through their business venture.

“For the middle-class and below… this society requires them to invest in
exceedingly high efforts and sacrifice. In fact, the return is not guaranteed,
this competition is very brutal.” – Participant 1

30
This is interpreted to be due to the high-power distance culture in China and suggests links to
the idea of guanxi and capital in being important factors that ensure a smoother path for the
entrepreneur. However, in some cases it can be seen that the family connections can impede
entrepreneurship because of the association with high risk and instability. Therefore, this
finding contradicts the argument by Matthews and Moser (1996: 30) that “the most salient
factor for entry into an entrepreneurial career remains the parental role model”. The reason
for this might be due to the technical specificity and skills required to be successful for
technology entrepreneurs such that the familial support is less relevant to the entrepreneur
compared with start-ups in other industries. The parents of the technology entrepreneur are
less likely to be able to give input to the entrepreneur and thus the Chinese entrepreneur may
prefer to reduce their interference by limiting their participation.

4.4 Social Influences for Inspirations and Widening the Mind

The social influences from others were found to be important for inspiring entrepreneurs to
embark on their ventures. This is not surprising because the Chinese culture is collectivist, so
there is a keenness in the development and sustaining of the social network (Wang, 2012).

“I have a lot of friends and previous colleagues who started their

businesses, from property to finance industry.” – Participant 6

“I was influenced by others at university who are also interested in starting

the business by themselves.” – Participant 5

The concept of ‘guanxi’ is also crucial for Chinese entrepreneurship (Wang, 2012), although
in the case of the technology entrepreneurs, it appears to be a less salient factor. The reason
for this might be due to the fact that the technology industry requires less of the scarce
resources compared with other industries (e.g. prime store locations, access to minerals or
land). Since the technology industry is one which is dependent more on the technical
expertise of the entrepreneur and the work can often be performed from home, it may reduce
the importance of the guanxi in this case.

“Through my network, I was able to have support and help from other
entrepreneurs… guanxi is the key factor for my business to operate and
maintain success.” – Participant 3
31
Even so, having a wider social network is beneficial for the technology entrepreneur because
it may be able to support the identification of opportunities. In fact, having an extended social
network in important for any entrepreneur who likes to stay updated about the market and
industry where the person is involved in (Quan, 2012). Here, the social network works like a
community, which provides the entrepreneur concerned with necessary and relevant
information that are important for him or her to maintain a sustainable business.

“I have a lot of friends from research institutes which allows me to receive

new information quicker and find the right market” – Participant 5

Interestingly, it was noted that social influences can come from diverse channels rather than
necessarily those close to the entrepreneur. The awareness of others’ success through
entrepreneurship or the education of the individuals served a crucial role in piquing the
interest of the entrepreneurs (Stuart and Sorenson, 2005).

““I attended a conference which attracted my attention on fintech” –

Participant 4

“I met another mother before, and she worked several jobs after
graduation. Later, she wanted to start a business.” – Participant 1

As such, the social influences influencing the entrepreneurial intent of the Chinese
technological entrepreneurs are not related to the possession of tangible assets or resources
but rather, the wider social network is able to provide the entrepreneur with more ideas for
innovation and creativity.

4.5 Role of Informal and Formal Institutions in the Community

The local community plays a role in influencing the entrepreneurial intent of the individual
because it helps to provide another important support network for the entrepreneur. The
knowledge transfer and sharing are also crucial for the entrepreneurs because it provides
them with access to technical expertise and knowledge that would be able to help them
identify opportunities including innovations or improve products and services (Pugh et al.,
2018).

32
 “local community helped me a lot which gives us a lot of conveniences,
and some professors and entrepreneurs are invited to come to share their
stories with us.” – Participant 3

Many of the local communities play a salient role in the growth of the entrepreneurs who
belong to that particular community. According to these communities, entrepreneurship the
main mode of self-employment (Taylor and Plummer, 2003). Hence, the communities that
are situated in a relatively lower demographic position than others and have familiarity with
low socioeconomic status, they particularly endorse the significance of rising
entrepreneurship. Hence, they offer more support than others in the development of aspiring
entrepreneurs. In many cases, they provide d them assistance with capital, resources and other
guidance that would be required for the latter group to gain establishment in the society and
for the overall launching of their business (Pugh et al.,2018). The local communities here,
play the ultimate roke of a supporter. A part of this support is also the result of the notion of
the local community as such that more local entrepneurial ventures would help them to gain
local economic improvements (Taylor and Plummer, 2003).

“since 2012, my local community has been providing free management

training, interest-free loan and inviting some popular entrepreneurs to do
presentations” – Participant 5

Thus the community is also crucial because of the support for entrepreneurs in the form of
management training, networking and accessing information about business resources like
loans.

The Chinese entrepreneurs indicated that they were aware of the avenues in which to seek
financing although these tend to require collateral from the entrepreneurs such as their
property (Zhou, 2009).

“If I am in urgent of money and I have a lack of liquidity… if the amount is

not a lot, then I will get a loan with a minimum of 1,000 yuan and the
maximum is 10w (this is calculated based on the deposit in the bank).” –
Participant 1

“I used my property to get the loan from bank, and financing from other
finance institutions.” – Participant 3

Furthermore, the interviews showed how the increasing importance of entrepreneurship has
encouraged institutions to innovate products which would be beneficial to entrepreneurs.

33
 “For competitiveness, insurance companies have introduced new financial
products for SMEs, where companies can use collateral. The highest is the
70% of the value, the interest is similar to the interest in the bank. “2014,
government already published regulation and policies to support internet
banking, which determined my intention to open my own company. … local
government also supported my company by providing 100 RMB no interest
loan.” – Participant 1

4.6 Government Policies Emphasises Financial Support

The recognition in the importance of entrepreneurship has encouraged the Chinese

government to have implemented strategies to encourage individuals to begin entrepreneurial
ventures. To encourage a greater level of entrepreneurship in the technology industry, some
initiatives that specifically target the entrepreneurs interested in technology were
implemented.

“2014 was the year that government started encouraging people start high
technology businesses” – Participant 3

In order to provide better support to the rising entrepreneurs, the government of China has
finalised and formulated some policies for the banks which would be followed for financing
the Micro, Small and medium enterprises of China. The policies have been formulated in
such a way so that it offers all kind of monetary assistance to the entrepreneurs who might
seek such sort of support (Wonglimpiyarat, 2015).

“Regulation has been published in my province to support start-up

business, in terms of better rent and fund allowances. We are also able to
apply the scheme which allows us to reduce costs and spend more on R&D
and construction etc.” – Participant 2

However, it is clear that the opportunities and policies that have been rolled out vary across
provinces. The implications of this is that it might lead to skews in the entrepreneurial
initiatives, such that some regions in China that could benefit greatly from entrepreneurship
may not see much, whilst there may be high levels of competition in another (Lu and Wei,
2007).

“Living in Shanghai gives me more opportunities” – Participant 4

34
The strategies implemented by the Chinese government also seemed to be based on
issuing loans and tax deductions for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“I had received 5 million interest free loan from local government and
been invited me to go open my business at local technology community for
10-year free rent and low tax corporate tax” – Participant 5

However, it can be argued that in many circumstances, the main barrier to the entrepreneurial
intent is not financial-oriented. As such, this suggests that there should be better government
policies to better reflect the needs of Chinese entrepreneurs.

4.7 Policy Implications to Increase Entrepreneurial Intent in the Technology

Industry

The present research is crucial for literature and in identifying practical implications that
would be able to accelerate the entrepreneurship in the Chinese technology industry.

4.7.1 Encouraging Female Entrepreneurs

Given the role of entrepreneurship in providing flexibility particularly to Chinese females in a

patriarchal society, more support should be given by the government to empower females to
embark on their own career in technology, which can be conducted from home and so they
can balance their work with other commitments, like raising children. For instance, the
government could provide business training programmes to alter the mindset of females and
technical skills to enable them to possess the skills to embark on a technological career (Siba,
2019).

4.7.2 Improving Knowledge Sharing

Given the importance of social influence for inspiring technology entrepreneurs and in
improving their products and services, the government should consider avenues in which to
allow entrepreneurs to interact with other entrepreneurs and professionals and educators
(Turkina, 2018). Therefore, the national and local governments should try to arrange more

35
opportunities for knowledge sharing, including hosting social networking events, holding
competitions and conferences on technologies which should be free to attend by the
interested public. The greater exposure and transparency in the developments in technologies
may encourage individuals to have a greater interest in the industry and in opportunities for
entrepreneurship (Elfrink and Hulsink, 2003). Considering some entrepreneurial endeavours
have relied on teams, this would also provide opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs to
network and recruit talent who may be able to drive the ideas forward.

4.7.3 Entrepreneurship Education

The importance of entrepreneurship education is rising in China in recent years to cater to the
requirements of the country’s journey of transforming into an innovation-oriented country.
This is also hoped to transform the quality of education (Weiming et al., 2016). Therefore,
entrepreneurship education should be incorporated into the school curriculums to socialise
individuals to have a positive attitude to entrepreneurship and to erode some of the
uncertainties and information asymmetries in the process.

4.7.4 Management Training

To make the future entrepreneurs of the country more capable to meet the national and global
demand for innovation, it is very important to provide them with management training.
Management training is a type of training that intends to help an individual develop his or her
skills as a leader and manager (Terrion, 2006) which is related to entrepreneur success. A
responsible entrepreneur is entitled to carry out the managerial duties concerning his new
venture and take other important decisions (Echtner, 1995). Hence, the aspiring entrepreneurs
of China need to avail themselves of the management training.

36
 5. Conclusion

5.1 Introduction

This conclusion chapter summarises the research including the findings and the contributions
to knowledge. The chapter also conducts a reflection of the limitations and proposes
recommendations for future research so that the understanding of the entrepreneurial intent
may be more comprehensive.

5.2 Summary

The role of entrepreneurship for the continued development of China has seen an increasing
number of initiatives and interventions by the Chinese government to encourage a higher
entrepreneurial intent. This is particularly true in the technology industry, as China seeks to
strengthen its value chains and shift to a knowledge economy. To promote a higher number
of entrepreneurial ventures in the technology industry, an understanding of the factors
impacting on the entrepreneurial intention is necessary given that the entrepreneurial
intention is the first stage of the entrepreneurial process (Linan and Chen, 2009). However,
whilst there has been extensive research conducted on the entrepreneurial intention in the
west, this is not true for China. Given the stark historical, political, sociocultural and
institutional environment, the findings from the west are unlikely to apply to China. This is
especially since scholars have highlighted that the entrepreneurial intent would vary across
cultures (Moriano et al., 2011). As such, this dissertation aims to explore the factors affecting
the entrepreneurial intent of Chinese entrepreneurs in the technology industry. To contribute
to literature, in contrast to past studies that adopted a deductive and quantitative research
design (Lin and Si, 2014; Peng et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2016), this study adopted an inductive
research approach and qualitative method of the semi-structured interview. This allowed the
researcher to examine the external and personal factors that shape the experiences and values
of the Chinese entrepreneurs. In doing so, this dissertation presents a more in-depth
understanding of the complex factors that impact on the entrepreneurial intent of Chinese
individuals in the technology industry.

37
The first objective was to identify the factors contributing to entrepreneurial intent. This was
done by conducting a review of existing literature, where it was possible to group the key
factors into either the psychological and individual factors, family background and
institutional context.

The second objective was to explore the motives and drivers that shaped the entrepreneurial
intent of Chinese entrepreneurs in the technology industry. The identification of the key
themes from the literature review was used to design the interview schedules that has been
used to interview six Chinese entrepreneurs from the technology industry. These interviews
were conducted online with the six participants and transcribed and translated into English.
The vast unstructured data was analysed using the thematic analysis to identify the key
themes relating to the research into the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intent.

The key findings from the thematic analysis identified that the key motivations for the
technology entrepreneurs in China were primarily instigated from their intrinsic motivation,
including the desire for empowerment, lifestyle and work-life balance. The attitude to
entrepreneurship is often framed as an alternative to the rigid and dissatisfying traditional
workplace and as an opportunity for the entrepreneur to engage in work that they are truly
passionate about. Contrary to past studies, the role of the family and the family background in
business did not always see the entrepreneur being motivated to begin a business venture
although in some cases it did (Lee et al., 2011). Therefore, this dissertation finds that the role
of the family is both an impetus and impeder. This might be perhaps due to the lack of
understanding in the technological works by older generations such that Chinese
entrepreneurs may prefer to reduce their interference. The social influences were found to be
important for the entrepreneurial intent because it helped to provide inspirations for
individuals to begin business and to widen the mind to identify opportunities that could be
pursued. Interestingly, the role of guanxi as a resource was found to be important but not to
the same degree as in literature (Zhang et al., 2015). The reason for this is interpreted to be
the nature of the technology industry being more knowledge-intensive rather than based on
physical resources. The role of the informal and formal institutions in the community are
important in supporting entrepreneurs, including facilitation of knowledge transfer and
sharing, widening the social network and providing management training (Terrion, 2006).
The government policies enacted so far has been advantageous for entrepreneurs, reducing
their financial burden and concerns. There have also been targeted measures for the

38
technology industry, though these tend to be more financial-based incentives such as tax
deductions and interest-free loan (Wonglimpiyarat, 2015)..

In light of these findings, several policy recommendations have been proposed to address the
third objective. First, policymakers should encourage females to take up entrepreneurship,
particularly as entrepreneurship can be an alternative to the discrimination and stereotype in
the traditional workplace and which is flexible for family commitments (Siba, 2019).
Second, national and local governments should consider improving knowledge sharing and
networking opportunities for entrepreneurs and the public free of charge to promote
awareness and interest. Third, there should be appropriate entrepreneurship education in the
school curriculum to socialise individuals to consider entrepreneurship as a viable path
(Weiming et al., 2016). Furthermore, management training should be provided to support
technology entrepreneurs who may lack the relevant skills to have the confidence in
launching their business and in being able to sustain the business (Terrion, 2006).

5.3 Limitations

The findings from this research is limited to the technology industry in China since the
institutional and contextual factors in the technology industry, including the policies that are
available to the participants, would differ in another industries.

One of the limitations that hindered the researcher while conducting the study was the
small sample size consisting of only si xinterviewees. An optimum sample size, according
to the nature of the research question, is very important in order to achieve unbiased
findings. Smaller the sample size, smaller will be the representation of the entire
population which is relevant to the study (Hackshaw, 2008). A larger sample size
decreases the standard deviation which diminishes the differences between the findings of
the survey and the findings of the sample interviews and ultimately increases the accuracy
(Kotrlik and Higgins, 2001). However, a small sample size also impacts the reliability of
the survey outcomes negatively as it followed by a higher variability and ultimately leads
to bias. This is generally caused due to non-response or unavailability of the interviewees.
Furthermore, small sample biases strengthen the bias of voluntary response as respondents
might not relate to the topic or are uninterested in taking the interview or the survey. On
the contrary, larger sample sizes help in detecting a precise mean value of the data and also

39
aids in identifying and disqualifying outliers that could disrupt the accuracy of the data,
and thus diminishes the margin of errors (Kotrlik and Higgins, 2001).

5.4 Recommendations for Future Research

Based on the fact that there are variations in the institutional and contextual factors, future
research could replicate this study by conducting it in another industry to derive greater
understanding on the factors contributing to the entrepreneurial intention of Chinese
individuals.

Random sampling helps in creating a balanced subset of respondents which possesses a

better potential for representing the bigger group as a single set (Emerson, 2015). It is
because the individuals that are included in the subsets of the bigger group are selected
randomly which means that each respondent in the large set of population has equal
probability of getting chosen. Thus, random samples represent the whole group of target
audience and eliminates the bias that can be caused due to sampling (Emerson, 2015).
Moreover, random sampling is a simple method to conduct a research and it does not take
a long time for its completion, which leaves behind bonus time for the researcher to use it
for interpretation and analysis. On the contrary, convenience sampling shows findings of a
study considering the whole population in general without the consideration of individual
responses (Emerson, 2015). This may be followed by under-representation or over-
representation of responses within the sample and can cause biases (Etikan, 2016).

The data collected via qualitative methods is generally open-ended and answers questions
that are reasoning in nature. It does not provide with quantifiable statistics to strengthen
the analysis (Queiró, et al., 2017) Mixed method approach to a study provides the
researcher with the flexibility of both- qualitative and quantitative techniques, in order to
assess a complicated study more efficiently (Tashakkori and Creswell, 2007).

40
References

Ahlstrom, D., and S. J.Ding . 2014. “Entrepreneurship in China: An Overview.” International

Small Business Journal 32 (6): 610–618

Ajzen, I. (1987). Attitudes, Traits and Actions: Dispositional Prediction of Behavior in

Personality and Social Psychology. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 1-63.

Ajzen, I. (1991). Theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 50, 179–211.

Allen M. (2017) Research Reports, Subjective In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of

Communication Research Methods SAGE

Alsos, G. A., Carter, S., & Ljunggren, E. (Eds.). (2011). The handbook of research on
entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural development. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Åstebro, T. and Chen, J., 2014. The entrepreneurial earnings puzzle: Mismeasurement or
real?. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(1), pp.88-105.

Au K. and Kwan H. K. (2009) Start–Up Capital and Chinese Entrepreneurs: The Role of
Family Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 33(4), 889-908
Baron, R. A. , J.Tang, Z.Tang, and Y.Zhang . 2018. “Bribes as Entrepreneurial Actions: Why
Underdog Entrepreneurs Feel Compelled to Use Them.” Journal of Business Venturing 33
(6): 679–690.

Baron, R.A. and Shane, S.A. (2008), Entrepreneurship: A Process Perspective, 2 Ed., Mason,
OH: Thomson South-Western

Bennedsen, M., Fan, J.P., Jian, M. and Yeh, Y.H., 2015. The family business map:
Framework, selective survey, and evidence from Chinese family firm succession. Journal of
Corporate Finance, 33, pp.212-226.

Bird, B. (1988). Implementing entrepreneurial ideas: The case for intentions. Academy of
Management Review, 13(3), 442–453.

Birley, S, & Westhead, P. (1994). A taxonomy of business start-up reasons and their impact
on firm growth and size. Journal of Business Venturing, 9(1), 7–31.
Blaikie, N. (2009). Designing social research. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Polity Press.

41
Boldureanu, G. Ionescu, A., Bercu, A., Grigoruta, M., Boldureanu, D. (2020).
‘Entrepreneurship Education through Successful Entrepreneurial Models in Higher
Education Institutions’.

Bosma and Levie (2009). Global entrepreneurship monitor: 2009 global report. In Babson
College / Universidad del Desarrollo / Reykjavik University.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research
in psychology, 3 (2), 77-101

Bruton, G. D. , D.Ahlstrom, and K.Obloj . 2008. “Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies:

Where are We Today and Where Should the Research Go in the Future.” Entrepreneurship
Theory and Practice 32 (1): 1–14.

Bruton, G. D. , S. A.Zahra, and L.Cai . 2018. “Examining Entrepreneurship through

Indigenous Lenses.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 42 (3): 351–361.

Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015). Business Research methods 4th edition. Oxford University
Press.

Busenitz, L. W., Gomez, C., & Spencer, J. W. (2000). Country institutional profiles,
Unlocking entrepreneurial phenomena. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 994–1003.

Chaudhary, R. (2017). Demographic factors, personality and entrepreneurial inclination: A

study among Indian university students. Education+ Training, 59(2), 171–187.
Child, J. 2009. “Context, Comparison, and Methodology in Chinese Management Research.”
Management and Organization Review 5 (1): 57–73. doi:10.1111/j.1740-8784.2008.00136.x

Crant, JM. (1996). The proactive personality scale as a predictor of entrepreneurial

intentions. Journal of Small Business Management, 34(3), 42.
Creswell JW (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: choosing among the five
traditions. Sage Publications, London

Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design : Choosing among five
approaches (3., [updated] ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods

approaches, 3rd Edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

42
Davidsson, P. (2008), Looking Back at 20 Years of Entrepreneurship Research: What
Did We Learn?, In Landström, H., Crijns, H., Laveren, E. and Smallbone, D. (Eds.),
Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Growth and Performance: Frontiers in European
Entrepreneurship Research (pp. 13-26), Glos, UK: Edward Elgar.

De Clercq, D., Dimov, D., & Thongpapanl, N. T. (2010). The moderating impact of internal
social exchange processes on the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship.
Journal of Business Venturing, 25, 87–103

Drennan, J, Kennedy, J, Renfrow, P. (2005). Impact of childhood experiences on the

development of entrepreneurial intentions. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, 6(4), 231–238.
Du, J. , A.Guariglia, and A.Newman . 2015. “Do Social Capital Building Strategies Influence
the Financing Behavior of Chinese Private Small and Medium-sized Enterprises?.”
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 39 (3): 601–631.
Duan, W. T., & Jiang, G. R. (2008). Are view of the theory of planned behavior. Advances in
Psychological Science, 16(2), 315–320

Dworkin, S.L., 2012. Sample size policy for qualitative studies using in-depth interviews.
Archives of Sexual Behaviour 41, 1319-1320

Echtner, C.M., 1995. Entrepreneurial training in developing countries. Annals of tourism

research, 22(1), pp.119-134.

Elfring, T. and Hulsink, W., 2003. Networks in entrepreneurship: The case of high-
technology firms. Small business economics, 21(4), pp.409-422.

Etikan, I., (2016). Comparison of Convenience Sampling and Purposive Sampling. American
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), p.1.

Ferreira, J. J., Raposo, M. L., Rodrigues, R. G., Dinis, A., & Paco, A. D. (2012). A model of
entrepreneurial intention: An application of the psychological and behavioral approaches.
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 19(3), 424–440.

Fielden, S.L., Davidson, M.J., Dawe, A.J., & Makin, P.J. (2003), Factors Inhibiting the
Economic Growth of Female Owned Small Businesses in North West England. Journal of
Small Business and Enterprise Development, 10(2), 152-166.

43
Gartner, W. B. (1985). A Conceptual Framework for Describing the Phenomenon of New
Venture Creation. The Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 696-706.

GEM (2019), “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor China 2019”.

Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans.
American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503

Guerrero, M., Rialp, J., & Urbano, D. (2008). The impact of desirability and feasibility on
entrepreneurial intentions, A structural equation model. International Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal, 4, 35– 50

Hackshaw, A., (2008). Small studies: strengths and limitations. European Respiratory
Journal, 32(5), pp.1141-1143.

Hall, D. and Nguyen, T.A., 2018. Economic benefits of public services. Real World
Economic Review Issue, (84), pp.100-153.

He, C., J.Lu, and H.Qian . 2018. “Entrepreneurship in China.” Small Business Economics .
doi:10.1007/s11187-017-9972-5.

Huang Q., Liu X. and Li J. (2020) Contextualization of Chinese entrepreneurship research: an

overview and some future research directions Entrepreneurship & Regional Development
32(5-6), 353-369 |

Huang, Q. H. 2003. “The Private Enterprises: A Main Engine to the Sustaining Growth of
China’s Economy.” In Sustaining Growth of the Chinese Economy the Twenty-first Century ,
edited by S.Yao and X.Liu , 96–116. London: Routledge.

Israr, M., Saleem, M. (2018) ‘Entrepreneurial intentions among university students’ Journal
of Global Entrepreneurship Research. Article number: 20, 8.

Kautonen, T., Gelderen, M. V., & Tornikoski, E. T. (2013). Predicting entrepreneurial

behavior: A test of the theory of planned behavior. Applied Economics, 45(6), 697–707

Kotrlik, J. and Higgins, C., (2001). Organizational Research: Determining Appropriate

Sample Size in Survey Research. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance
Journal, 19(1).

Krueger, N. (1993). The Impact of Prior Entrepreneurial Exposure on Perceptions of New

Venture Feasibility and Desirability. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(1), 5-21

44
Krueger, N. F. (2000). Competing role models of entrepreneurial intentions. J. Bus. Ventur.
15, 411–432. doi: 10.1016/s0883-9026(98)00033-0

Krueger, N. F., & Carsrud, A. L. (1993). Entrepreneurial intentions, Applying the theory of
planned behavior. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 5, 315–330

Lee, L., Wong, P. K., Foo, M. D., & Leung, A. (2011). Entrepreneurial intentions, The
influence of organizational and individual factors. Journal of Business Venturing, 26, 124–
136.

Li, H., & Zhang, Y. (2007). The role of managers’ political networking and functional
experience in new venture performance, evidence from China’s transition economy. Strategic
Management Journal, 28(8), 791–804

Lin S. and Si S. (2014) Factors affecting peasant entrepreneurs’ intention in the Chinese
context International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 10, 803-825

Liñán, F., & Chen, Y.-W. (2009). Development and Cross-Cultural Application of a Specific
Instrument to Measure Entrepreneurial Intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,
33(3), 593-617.

Lu, J., & Tao, Z. (2010). Determinants of entrepreneurial activities in China. Journal of
Business Venturing, 25, 261–273

Lu, L. and Wei, Y.D., 2007. Domesticating globalisation, new economic spaces and regional
polarisation in Guangdong Province, China. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale
geografie, 98(2), pp.225-244.

Malakhovskyi, Y., Gamaliy, V., Zhovnovach, R., Kulazhenko, V. and Cherednichenko, M.,
2019. Assessment of the risks of entrepreneurship as a prerequisite for the implementation of
innovation projects. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 22, pp.1-6.

Manolova, T. S., Eunni, R. V., & Gyoshev, B. S. (2008). Institutional environments for
entrepreneurship, Evidence from emerging economies in Eastern Europe. Entrepreneurship:
Theory and Practice, 32, 203–218.

Matthews, C. & Moser, S. (1995). Family Background and Gender: Implications for Interest
in Small Firm Ownership. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 7, 365–377

45
Matthews, C. H., & Moser, S. B. (1996). longitudinal investigation of the impact of family
background and gender on interest in small firm ownership. Journal of Small Business
Management , 32, 29-43

McClelland, D.C (1961). The achieving society. New York: Van No Strand

McMillan, J., & Woodruff, C. (2002). The central role of entrepreneurs in transition
economies. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1, 153–170

Mellor, R., Coulton, G., Chick, A. Bifulco, A., Mellor, N. and Fisher, A. (2009),
Entrepreneurship for Everyone, London: SAGE Publications

Moriano, J.A., Gorgievski, M., Laguna, M., Stephan, U. and Zarafshani, K. (2011), A
Cross-cultural Approach to Understanding Entrepreneurial Intention, Journal of
Career Development,

Morris, M. H. & Jones, F. F. (1999). Entrepreneurship in Established Organizations: The

Case of the Public Sector. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24(1), 71–91

Nandamuri, P., Gowthami, C. (2014). ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation and Family Background:

A Correlation Analysis’ Entrepreneurial Orientation of the Youth – A Socio-Democratic
Analysis.

Nolan (2003). Entrepreneurship and local economic development. Paris: OECD.

Peng Z., Lu G. and Kang H. (2012) Entrepreneurial Intentions and Its Influencing Factors: A
Survey of the University Students in Xi’an China Creative Education 3, 95-100

Peng, M. W. , D.Wang, and Y.Jiang . 2008. “An Institution-based View of International

Business Strategy: A Focus on Emerging Economies.” J Int Bus Stud 39: 920–936.

Pugh, R., Lamine, W., Jack, S. and Hamilton, E., 2018. The entrepreneurial university and
the region: what role for entrepreneurship departments?. European Planning Studies, 26(9),
pp.1835-1855.

Quan, X., 2012. Prior experience, social network, and levels of entrepreneurial
intentions. Management Research Review.

Queiró, A., Faria, D. and Almeida, F., (2017). Strenghts And Limitations Of Qualitative And
Quantitative Research Methods. [online] Available at:
<http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.1017> [Accessed 8 September 2020].

46
Raab, G., Stedham, Y., & Neuner, M. (2005). Entrepreneurial potential: An exploratory study
of business students in the U.S. and Germany. Journal of Business and Management, 11(2),
71–88.

Ranwala R. S. (2016) Family Background, Entrepreneurship Specific Education and

Entrepreneurial Knowledge in Venture Creation International Journal of Scientific and
Research Publications 6(9), 495-501

Salkind, N. J. (2009). Exploring research, Pearson/Prentice Hall

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., 2016. Research Methods For Business Students.
Harlow: Pearson Education

Shapero, A., & Sokol, L. (1982). The social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In C. A. Kent,
D. L. Sexton, & K. H. Vesper (Eds.), The encyclopedia of entrepreneurship (pp. 72–90).
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall

Shaver, K.G. (1995). The Entrepreneurial Personality Myth. Business and Economic Review,
41(3), 20-23

Siba E. (2019) Empowering women entrepreneurs in developing countries

https://www.brookings.edu/research/empowering-women-entrepreneurs-in-developing-
countries/

Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S., & Al-Laham, A. (2007). Do entrepreneurship programmes raise
entrepreneurial intention of science? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources. Journal
of Business Venturing, 22, 566–591

Stuart, T.E. and Sorenson, O., 2005. Social networks and entrepreneurship. In Handbook of
entrepreneurship research (pp. 233-252). Springer, Boston, MA.

Su, J., Q.Zhai, and H.Landström . 2015. “Entrepreneurship Research in China:

Internationalization or Contextualization?.” Entrepreneurship & Regional Development,27 ,
no. 1–2: 50–79.

Tabachnick, B. G. & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using Multivariate Statistics. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.

Tashakkori, A. and Creswell, J., (2007). Exploring The Nature Of Research Questions In
Mixed Methods Research.

47
Taylor, M. and Plummer, P., 2003. Promoting local economic growth: the role of
entrepreneurship and human capital. Education+ Training.

Teng, W., Ma, C., Pahlevansharif, S. and Turner, J.J., 2019. Graduate readiness for the
employment market of the 4th industrial revolution. Education+ Training.

Terrion, J.L., 2006. The impact of a management training program for university
administrators. Journal of Management Development.

Thompson, E. R. (2009). Individual entrepreneurial intent: construct clarification and

development of an internationally reliable metric. Entrep. Theor. Pract. 5, 1042–1087.

Tkachev, A, & Kolvereid, L. (1999). Self-employment intentions among Russian

students. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 11(3), 269–280.
Wang R. (2012) Chinese Culture and Its Potential Influence on Entrepreneurship
International Business Research 5(10), 76-90
Wang X. and Hancock T. (2019) Overdoing it: the cost of China’s long-hours culture
https://www.ft.com/content/d5f01f68-9cbc-11e8-88de-49c908b1f264
Weiming, L., Chunyan, L. and Xiaohua, D., 2016. Ten years of entrepreneurship education at
chinese universities: evolution, problems, and system building. Chinese Education & Society,
49(3), pp.198-216.
Weipert-Fenner, I., 2020. Unemployed mobilisation in times of democratisation: the Union of
Unemployed Graduates in post-Ben Ali Tunisia. The Journal of North African Studies, 25(1),
pp.53-75.

Wonglimpiyarat, J., 2015. Challenges of SMEs innovation and entrepreneurial

financing. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.

Xu X., Ni H. and Ye Y. (2016) Factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions of Chinese

secondary school students: an empirical study Asia Pacific Education Review 17, 625-635

Ye, Y. H. (2009). Research on the influencing factors of undergraduates’ entrepreneurial

intention. Education Research, 4, 71–78

Young D. S. and Casey E. A. (2019) An Examination of the Sufficiency of Small Qualitative

Samples Social Work Research 43(1), 53-58

Zhang, J. J. 2015. “From Market Despotism to Managerial Hegemony: The Rise of

Indigenous Chinese Management.” Management Organization Review 11:2: 205–210.

48
Zhou, W. 2011. “Regional Deregulation and Entrepreneurial Growth in China’s Transition
Economy.” Entrepreneurship & Regional Development 23 (9–10): 853–876.

Zhou, W., 2009. Bank financing in China’s private sector: The payoffs of political
capital. World Development, 37(4), pp.787-799.

49
Appendices

Appendix 1: Interview questions

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Year founded
4. Background to company
5. Province

6. What is your education background please?

7. What were your background and qualifications in your business before you started
your business?

8. Please could you describe to me the moments when you realised you wanted to start
your own business? What made you decide to do it?

9. What were your views of entrepreneurship before you started your business?

10. What do you think influenced you to want to start a business?

11. Did you have other entrepreneurial experiences before that?

12. Did anyone else close to you at the time start their own business?

13. How did you secure the financing for your business?

Social and Environment

50
 14. What was the competition like before when you decided to start your business, and
also when you started your business?

15. How supportive were the local community to the idea of entrepreneurship before?

16. How did the policies, regulations or legislations affect your entrepreneurial intent or
process?

17. What was the role of ‘guanxi’ to your intention to start a business? Did you use
guanxi when you tried to start your business?

Family Background

18. How did your friends and family react to your idea when you told them about your
intention to start a business?

19. Are your parents/family from a business background?

Individual/Psychological Factors

20. How risky did you feel your business venture would be?

21. What kind of personality do you think is needed to start a business in China?

22. Do you have anything else you would like to add concerning your entrepreneurial
intent?

51
Appendix 2: Interview with Participant 1

影响科技行业从业者的创业意图

来源渠道：微信

填写时间：2020/8/21 13:00:34

1. 您的性别是*

2. 年龄*

40

3. 公司成立时间*

2015

4. 公司的主营业务*

互联网金融

5. 公 司 成 立 的 省 份
*

辽宁

6. 创业者的教育背景*

硕士研究生

7. 在创业之前，你是做什么工作的*

银行职员

8. 请你向我描述一下你意识到自己想创业的时刻？ 是什么让你决定这么做的？
*

52
1、创业是一种潮流。年轻人好工作不好找，已经是公认的事实。工作不好找，创业也
就成为一个很好的选择。投入成本，投入精力，自己养活自己，自己养活手底下的工
人们。当创业成为一种潮流，选择创业的人就更多了。 2、年轻就要折腾。年轻人，
就要折腾，不能活的老气横秋的。选择创业，让自己身体里的每一个细胞都燃起来。
无所畏惧，没有什么可以失去的，就算是失败，时间也是最好的财富，还年轻，就有
重新开始的底气。 3、证明自己的能力。证明自己的实力，证明自己的能力，创业无
疑是一个很好的选择。凡事亲力亲为，眼观六路耳听八方，随时掌握市场前沿信息。
用创业来证明自己的实力，无疑是很好的选择。 4、没有更好的出路。不仅仅是年轻
人，就连中年人，在工作岗位上慢慢定型，难以有更大的提升空间了，选择创业，开
始一种新的生活方式，未尝不是一种获得。 5、投身擅长的领域。与其干着不喜欢的
工作，还不如选择创业。做自己喜欢的，擅长的，付出百分之百的努力做好，就能收
获意想不到的惊喜。创业，不仅仅是艰辛，也可以是一种全身心投入一件事情的满足
以及成就感。

9. 创业前你对创业有什么看法？*

首先我个人认为：并不是说选择创业就说明我们已经厌倦了拿固定的工资，并且在一
般人看来，工资越多很可能就能把他们留下来，我觉得最大的还是因为我们有这个
（创业）理想和信念。 每个人都愿意为自己的理想而拼搏，为自己的信念而努力；比
起在别人手底下打工，这是很不相同的。 在创业的筹划中，其实说来各方面的先期准
备是必不可少的，在创业的过程中，我觉得我们能从哪方面去发展；能看清将来的趋
势；这才是最重要的。对于未来在哪一行业来讲倒也不必太在意，当然，自己最擅长
的那是最好的。至少我们可以对自己的成绩有一定的肯定吧。

10. 你认为是什么影响了你想创业？*

第一个是家庭原因，因为我离了婚，让我感觉到女性的经济实力是一个很重要的条件 ，
不应该安稳保持现状，而且我还有一个 5 岁的孩子，我必须要有一个好的经济实力，
才能给予我的孩子一个好的未来。

第二个原因就是政策原因，当时国家号召全民创业，万众创新，我收到政策的感染，
更加坚定我去创业的想法

11. 在那之前你有其他的创业经历吗？*

没有，当时大学毕业，就进入了银行上班

53
12. 当时你身边有没有其他人自己创业？*

我之前认识了一个宝妈，她毕业之后也打过好几个工，后来就想创业，三年前终于有
一天，来了一个机会，她相信了这个机会，因为产品好，相信的人，人格好，直接抓
住，开始创业，在创业的过程中，也帮助了很多人解决了问题，主要是产品解决了问
题，于是她一干就是三年！

13. 你是如何为你的业务融资的？*

创业融资方法一、定期存单抵押贷款。 如果急需用钱时而手头现金不足，定期储蓄存
款又尚未到期，提前支取将损失不少利息。此时，个人定期储蓄存款小额抵押贷款可
解难。该贷款额度起点为 1000 元，每笔不超过抵押存单面额的 80％，最高限额为 10
万元，贷款期限不能超过存单到期日。 创业融资方法二、保单质押贷款。 保险公司
为了提高竞争力，也开始为投保人提供中小企业融资新渠道，推出了保单质押贷款。
保单抵押贷款最高限额不超过保单的保费积累的 70％，贷款利率按同档次银行贷款利
率计息。如中国人寿保险公司的“国寿千禧理财两全保险”，就具有保单质押贷款的
功能：投保人缴付保险费满 2 年以上，且保险期已满 2 年的，可凭保险单以书面形式
向保险公司申请质押贷款。

14. 当你决定创业的时候，以及你创业的时候，竞争激烈嘛*

在别的国家能得到不错机会的人，在我们这个社会很可能连饭都吃不上。 而这个社会
拥有过于庞大的既得利益团体，掌握着社会发展的讯息，掌握着社会发展的最新需求 ，
使得那些原本就对社会发展反应迟滞的弱势群体，在如今的社会更加难觅机会。更不
用说还有直接给职位，直接花家里钱还不担心花的完的更少但是财富更集中的既得利
益团体中的既得利益者。 对于中上层来说，这个社会的竞争仅限于机会和好机会的选
择，这个竞争并不激烈。 但是对于中层及以下，这个社会需要他们投入超凡的精力和
代价，而且回报还不一定有。这种竞争是非常残酷的。

15. 你居住的当地社区对创业理念的支持程度如何？*

以房引才”，按照分层分类原则，对试点项目新引进的人才根据其专业水平、业绩贡
献等，分别给予住房激励、购房优惠、房租减免等奖励政策。政策打破唯学历论人才 ，
不搞“一刀切”，而是注重特色人才对当地的贡献实绩，建立精细化的人才分层分类
引进目录清单，针对不同层次人才制定不同住房奖励政策，使人才政策精准发力。创
业支持，探索以社区为组织单元的城市创业发展新模式。对进行创业创新行为的社区
居民提供租金减免、补助发放、无偿资助等优惠和支持政策，充分发挥社区共享创业

54
空间的创业孵化服务平台功能作用，为创业者和创业企业提供政策咨询、创业培训、
创业指导及融资等全方位创业服务。

16. 政策、法规或法规如何影响您的创业意图或过程？*

2014 年的时候，国家提出大众创业，万众创新的政策，对互联网金融进行了大量的政
策，法规支持。我当时在银行上班，是第一波受到政策鼓舞的银行人员，国家的政策
加强了我的创业意图和创业信心。因此我在 2015 年就开始了我就注册了互联网金融公
司，辽宁省政府也对我的创业活动进行了支持，给予 100 人民币的免息贷款。这也是
我当时选择科技行业的主要愿因之一

17. “关系”对你创业的意图有什么作用？你创业时有没有利用关系网？*

中国是一个人情社会，大家也比较热衷于利用自己的关系去解决什么事情。因为我之
前在银行工作的愿因，在我进行创业的时候，我的很多银行朋友给我就给予了很多支
持和帮助。因此，关系帮助了我更便捷和快速的进行创业活动

18. 当你告诉他们你打算创业时，你的朋友和家人对你的想法有何反应？*

父母不支持，原因应该是出于担心。担心创业失败，担心会影响你的以后生活工作。
朋友也不是很支持，大家都觉得我之前的工作是一个相对稳定的工作，不要去冒险创
业，尤其还是一个离婚的女性，大部分的朋友都认为我是一个荒唐的事情。

19. 你的父母/家人有商业背景吗？*

没有

20. 你觉得你的商业风险有多大？*

主要是法律风险，在诸多的法律风险中，容易涉嫌非法集资是最大的风险。无论 dao
是异化了的 P2P 网络借贷融资还是互联网公众小额集资形式其运营缺乏法律依据，现
有的制度没有明确其性质而处于法律的灰色地带。现实中也出现了许多假借 P2P 网络
平台而进行非法集资的事件，如天力贷案、郑旭东案、网赢天下倒闭事件等。淘宝上
也先后出现过公开销售未上市公司股份和 PE 基金份额的事件。由于其向超过 200 人的
不特定对象公开推荐、发行证券且未经审批，按照证券法两者都已构成“非法证券活
动”，均被证监会叫停。除此之外，法律风险还体现在利用互联网金融从事洗钱活动 、
个人信息的泄露、擅自发行公司、企业债券、经营者挪用资金、职务侵占、以非法占
有为目的进行虚假融资而可能构成诈骗罪或者合同诈骗罪等刑事法律风险。

21. 你认为在中国创业需要什么样的人格特征？*

55
欲望，实际就是一种生活目标，一种人生理想。创业者的欲望与普通人欲望的不同之
处在于，他们的欲望往往超出他们的现实，往往需要打破他们现在的立足点，打破眼
前的樊笼，才能够实现。所以，创业者的欲望往往伴随着行动力和牺牲精神。 2、忍
耐 对于创业者来说，有时肉体上的折磨算不得什么，精神上的折磨才是致命的，如果
有心自己创业，一定要先在心里问一问自己，有没有那样一种宠辱不惊的定力与精神 。
如果没有，那么一定要小心。对有些人来说，一辈子给别人打工，也许是一个更合适
的选择。 3、眼界 广博的见识，开阔的眼界，可以使创业活动少走弯路。创业思路有
几个共同来源。第一，职业。第二，阅读。第三，行路。第四，交友。创业者一定要
多走、多阅读、多观察、多思考，让自己“眼界大开”做好创业准备。

22. 关于你的创业意向，你还有什么要补充的吗？*

56
Appendix 3: Coding

Code Quote Participant

Motivation
Difficulty to find “It is an accepted fact that young people are hard to find 1
job a job.”
Entrepreneurship “When entrepreneurship becomes a trend, more people 1
is a trend choose to start a business.”
Proving oneself/ “Proving your own strength, proving your ability, 1
accomplishment entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a good choice.”
“My major is coding at university, so I want to apply my 3
knowledge at work”
“It is a good way to prove yourself to others, and more 2
importantly to yourself that you can do it.”
“I think I need to challenge myself at my 30s, instead of 6
working in the company I did not enjoy and wasting
time.”
“I want to start a creative business and differentiate from
others”
New lifestyle “start a new way of life is a gain” 1
“I was not satisfied working at a government institution 2
after 4 years.”
“My manager did not recognise my work and I had low 4
salary by the time”
“I was under the pressure working in the previous 6
company and complex human relations”
Personal “Dedicated to the field of expertise… do what you enjoy” 1
interests
“I found that I have more interests on start up companies 2
in Internet and education industries.”
Conference “I attended a conference which attracted my attention on 4
fintech”
Influence from “I was influenced by others at university who are also 5
others interested in starting the business by themselves.”
“I have a lot of friends and previous colleagues who 6
started their businesses, from property to finance
industry.”
Experience “I had positive experience and results from domestic and 6
overseas projects. ”
Flexibility “I was working at government institution, but I was keen 3

57
 to have a more flexible work”
External “2014 was the year that government started encouraging 3
environment people start high technology businesses”
“Living in Shanghai gives me more opportunities” 4
Policy “at that time, my local government published a new 4
policy of no corporate tax for fintech companies in first 5
years”
“current policy encourages and supports entrepreneurs to 6
help local start-up.”
Goal “I have the goal to start my business and commercialise 5
my ideas as well”
View to entrepreneurship before
Importance of “I think the biggest thing is that we have entrepreneurial 1
entrepreneurial ideals and beliefs”
attitudes and
values
Problem solving “Being the employer, it is crucial to have problem 2
ability solving ability when problems come up”
Self-discipline “… you can’t just take a break whenever you want to, 2
you have more responsibilities.”
Working hard “Everyone is willing to work hard for their ideals and for 1
for own ideals their beliefs; this is very different from working under the
and beliefs hands of others.”
“There are a lot of obstacles along the journey, but you 3
need to work hard and solve each problem.”
Teamwork “You still need to listen to your team and what do they 2
think about the business and products,”
Marital status “Because I am divorced, I feel that women’s financial 1
and family strength is a very important condition, and they should
not maintain the status quo. Besides, I have a 5-year-old
child.”
“My dad had his own trading company since I was 2
young.”
“My family supports my business idea and since my 2
parent running a trading company, I had a lot of helps
from them in the beginning.”
“My parents did not support me due to the instable future 3
and income… they want me to have a stable work and

58
 family”
“My dad works at bank, so he helped me a lot on law and 4
regulation when I have questions”
“My dad is running a supermarket chain, he is the first 5
investor of my business and helps me a lot as well”
“My parents are both having their own businesses in 6
property industry and capital investment, which
influenced me to start my own one”
“My family and friends are really supportive and my 6
business cannot maintain without their helps”
Friends “One of my friends quitted his job and started an 5
electronic company with good profits, which encouraged
me a lot more.”
Policies “At that time, the country called on all people to start a 1
business and all people to innovate.”
“local government was encouraging start-up in 2
technology industry which determined my decision.”
“Living in Shanghai gives me more opportunities” 4
Network “I met another mother before, and she worked several 1
jobs after graduation. Later, she wanted to start a
business.”
Experience “I had the experience at university to buy staff for other 2
students.”
More income “The only way for ordinary people to make more money 3
is to start a business, rather than working for others.”
Creative “being creative is the key in technology industry in order 4
to continuously coming up with new ideas”
Sensitivity “need to be more sensible on the money and information” 4
Challenge “Starting a business need to face a lot of challenges, but I 6
have prepared myself and have the confidence”

Financing
Loan “If I am in urgent of money and I have a lack of 1
liquidity… if the amount is not a lot, then I will get a
loan with a minimum of 1,000 yuan and the maximum is
10w (this is calculated based on the deposit in the bank).”

“I used my property to get the loan from bank, and 3

financing from other finance institutions.”

59
 “I would use bank loan if I need cash” 4
“local government gave me loan with no interest” 5
“I also had interest free loan from multiple banks due to 6
the A-level rating verified from many rating
organisations.”
Investors “… found investors to invest my business” 3
“my previous employer invested my company” 5
“I had investments from many venture capital 6
companies.”
Asset collateral “For competitiveness, insurance companies have 1
– new financial introduced new financial products for SMEs, where
products for companies can use collateral. The highest is the 70% of
SMEs the value, the interest is similar to the interest in the bank.

“2014, government already published regulation and

policies to support internet banking, which determined
my intention to open my own company. … local
government also supported my company by providing
100 RMB no interest loan.”
Inequality “For the middle-class and below… this society requires 1
them to invest in exceedingly high efforts and sacrifice.
In fact, the return is not guaranteed, this competition is
very brutal.”
Community “… the local community will support entrepreneurs by 1
reducing rents, providing funds, giving free consultation
and services to them. ”
“local community helped me a lot which gives us a lot of 3
convenience, and some professors and entrepreneurs are
invited to come to share their stories with us. ”
“local community is really helpful and supportive… for 2
example, lower loan interest and R&D spend fund
(minimum 0.1 million RMB to maximum 0.6 million
RMB.)”
“I received 0.2million RMB loan from local community 4
in the beginning”
“since 2012, my local community has been providing 5
free management training, interest-free loan and inviting

60
 some popular entrepreneurs to do presentations,”
“local government supported a lot on businesses like 6
mine and created a good social environment for
entrepreneurs… those start-ups have increased 30% of
local GDP in totals”
Political
Regulation “regulation has been published in my province to support 2
start-up business, in terms of better rent and fund
allowances. We are also able to apply the scheme which
allows us to reduce costs and spend more on R&D and
construction etc.”
Policy “Young entrepreneurs are able to receive 0.2 million loan 3
and I do not need to pay my business rent for 5 years due
to the policy”
“I had received 5 million interest free loan from local 5
government and been invited me to go open my business
at local technology community for 10-year free rent and
low tax corporate tax”
“my business profit has increased to 75% due to 6
supportive policy, especially the low corporate tax
policy”
Risks
Legal risk “Many activities of internet banking are still in the gray 1
area of current law, and some businesses are using the
platform doing illegal activities like money laundry.”
Business risk “Technology companies develop really quickly, so it is 2
difficult to keep updated service and technologies to win
more customers.”
“we need to have strict business risk control and 6
evaluation in place to minimise the business risk”
Competitors “There are already many companies doing similar 2
business as mine, including big and SMEs, so it is really
competitive within the industry.”
“Technology industry is really competitive, plus there is 3
an increasing number of people start businesses in recent
years”
“Internet industry is always competitive but is 4
necessary.”
61
 “it is hard to stand out from other peers since the product 5
similarity in the industry.”
“there are numerous competitors in the industry with 6
uncertain factors”
Business model “hard to adjust business model to apply in the fast- 4
risk changing environment”
Security risk “security risks existed especially for internet industry due 4
to the limited technology”
Market risk “it is unavoidable to have the market risk since the 4
business in both traditional financial and internet
systems”
“the China-US trade war impacts the industry with 5
potential risk”
Credit risk “Since the business relies on online transactions, it is 4
difficult to verify all the users’ identity and credit rates”
Capital risk “It could result in big problems if there is no reliable 3
forecast on capital requirement in the beginning… need
to understand first 3 months will not be profitable”
Entrepreneur quality
Personality “I think people who are desirable and resistance with 1
broad horizon are necessary for being an entrepreneur.”
“they need to be decisive, think outside of the box, like 2
new ideas and very efficient.”

“”
Leadership “willing to take responsibility and being the leader” 3
Adventurous “… willing to try and take the risk” 3
spirit
Creative “tend to be an explorer and have new ideas” 3
“.., being creative to have new product and service and to 5
lower the costs and price to customers. We still need
more original ideas in China rather than copying others
from Western countries.”
Sensitivity “they need to be sensitivity on other people’s reaction” 3
“catch the opportunity before others and sense the 5
commercial value behind it”
Strategic “need to have strategic plan to improve.” 4
Knowledge and “everything else is based on good technical knowledge 4
skills and relevant skills.”
Organisation “organisation skill is necessary since you work within the 5

62
skill team”
Positive “Being positive is the key and basic skill to face all the 6
challenges and problems”
Guanxi
Easy to start the “My network from previous work at bank helped me to 1
business start a business quicker and easier.”
“I have a lot of friends from research institutes which 5
allows me to receive new information quicer and find the
right market”
Increase the “I think it is important to have guanxi in China, 2
sales especially for small business. This could expand the sales
network and increase the sales in return.”
“I managed to make profit in the first year since I have 4
the big network received from my 10-year experience
working in investment company.”
Success factor “Through my network, I was able to have support and 3
help from other entrepreneurs… guanxi is the key factor
for my business to operate and maintain success.”
Necessary “Guanxi is a necessary and fundamental element to start 6
a business… I managed to decrease my operation costs
by over 95% thanks to my network.”

63