Examining the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Perceived Behaviour, Intentions, and Competencies as Catalysts for Sustainable Growth: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

This research was undertaken with the objective of relating entrepreneurial perceived behaviour (EPB) and entrepreneurial intentions (EI) with students’ perceptions of the United Nations sustainable development goals. The current research advances on from EPB and EI to analyse whether the study of entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) enhance the impact of EI on sustainable growth. Sustainable growth is measured through the perception of students regarding the United Nations SDGs, measured through SDG3, SDG8, SDG9, and SDG10. Earlier studies have linked EPB with EIs as entrepreneurship, in the long run, has to focus on sustainable growth. EPB comprises entrepreneurial attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms. ECs comprise leadership skills (LS); risk-taking skills (RTS); opportunity identification skills (OIS); perseverance skills (PS); and societal skills (SS). The study is based on a survey with data collected through a structured questionnaire from 480 engineering students. SEM-PLs was used to analyse the results. The outcomes suggest a direct relationship between EPB and EI, and EI and sustainable growth. However, as the main objective of the study was to find whether ECs enhance the impact of EIs with respect to ECs on sustainable growth, the results provide empirical support for EM-EI(ECs)-SG as there is a positive and significant indirect effect, suggesting complementary action, thus validating the proposed theoretical sustainable growth (SG). These outcomes suggest that there is a need to focus on ECs to improve the impact of EIs on SG.