Strategic thinking as a catalyst: shedding the light on entrepreneurial intention and activities among college graduates

Abstract

This research investigates the factors influencing the transition from entrepreneurial intention to actual entrepreneurial activity among college graduates, focusing on the role of strategic thinking as a determinant of entrepreneurial behavior. Additionally, the study seeks to broaden understanding beyond entrepreneurial intention by incorporating strategic thinking variables as moderators in examining the causal relationships between entrepreneurial activity and its antecedents. The sampling method used in this study was nonprobability sampling. 142 respondents were collected and analyzed using Partial Least Square through SmartPLS. The main findings of the study demonstrate that (i) attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly affect entrepreneurial intention (ii)attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control do not significantly affect entrepreneurial activity, (iii) entrepreneurial intention does not significantly affect entrepreneurial activity, (iv) the effect of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control toward entrepreneurial activity does not mediated by entrepreneurial intention, (v) strategic thinking does not moderate the effect of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control towards entrepreneurial activity, (vi) strategic thinking significantly affects entrepreneurial activity. The study brought several implications related to the predictors of entrepreneurial activity and the integration of strategic thinking into the theory of planned behavior model.