CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1. Literature Review

This section of the chapter presents relevant research works of scholars and other writers on

Undergraduates Disposition to University Entrepreneurship Training

2.1.1. Concept of Entrepreneurship

The word entrepreneur is borrowed from the French language. It is derived from

‘entreprendre’ meaning to ‘undertake’. Thus, entrepreneur is an ‘undertaker’ in the literal sense

of the word. Its usage in French language can be traced much before the emergence of activities

generally associated with entrepreneurs today. Entrepreneurship has been defined by various

authors to mean many things since the middle age (Igbo, 2006). Entrepreneurship is seen as

neither a science nor an art. It is a practice. It has a knowledge base. Knowledge in

entrepreneurship is a means to an end.

Entrepreneurship is a dynamic and social process, where individuals, alone or in

co-operation, identify opportunities and do something with them to reshape ideas to

practical or aimed activities in social, cultural, or economical contexts (Berglund &

Holmgren, 2013). Tijani-Alawiye (2004), defines entrepreneurship as the process of adding to

the stock of existing small, medium and big enterprises available to a country by creating and

promoting many capable entrepreneurs who can successfully run innovative enterprises, nurture

them to grow and sustain them, with a view to achieving board socio-economic development

goals.

Entrepreneurship is also the process of bringing together creative and innovative ideas

and copying them with management and organizational skill in order to combine people, money
and resources to Entrepreneurship training an identified need and thereby creating wealth.

Entrepreneurship is the willingness and ability of an individual to seek for investment

opportunities, to establish and to run an enterprise successfully (Suleiman, 2006). The

entrepreneurship spirit is a pre-requisite to an entrepreneurial society and culture. This spirit is

required for the overall economic growth of any nation especially developing ones like Nigeria.

This is in line with the view of Nwangwu (2006) that entrepreneurship is the willingness and the

ability of an individual or a firm or an organization to identify an environmental change and

exploit such an opportunity to produce goods and services for public consumption. In the words

of Dangote as stated by Odjegba (2005) entrepreneurship is built on vision, focus and

determination. It is built on standards management practices, enabling environment, access to

funds.

Ezema (2005) in Olannye and Chukwu (2010) view entrepreneurship education as a

specialized training given to students to acquire skills, ideas, managerial abilities and capabilities

needed for self-employment rather than being employed for pay. Furthermore, Ogundele (2005)

in Olannye et al. (2010:63) observes that because of appropriate entrepreneurship education,

training and development, right from childhood, every six out of ten persons in Indonesia is an

entrepreneur. The truth according to Ogundele is that being risk-taking businessperson (an

entrepreneur) has become the norm of Asian Tigers. Therefore, the possible way of arousing

entrepreneurship consciousness is through education, vocational training and other development-

oriented programs which must be provided for pupils and students at various levels of Nigeria

educational system. (Adejumo, 2000). However, it has to be noted that only business that have

been able to adopt and actually practice the principles of creativity and innovation are positively

impacting the economy and add value to the life of the people. The only thing that is constant in
this world is change. So, if one want to mEntrepreneurship training his or her steps with the rest

of the world then in this scenario it is imperative for him or her to adopt new phenomenon, new

methodologies and new technology. In this regard, the phenomenon of innovation and creativity

is very important. Nowadays, businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals, are adopting the

concepts of innovation and creativity. These concepts of innovation and creativity are becoming

the central part of the strategies of the business and individuals (Uru and Yozgat 2009).

2.1.2. Types of Entrepreneurship

It is classified into the following types:

i. Small Business Entrepreneurship-

These businesses are a hairdresser, grocery store, travel agent, consultant, carpenter, plumber,

electrician, etc. These people run or own their own business and hire family members or local

employee. For them, the profit would be able to feed their family and not making 100 million

business or taking over an industry. They fund their business by taking small business loans or

loans from friends and family.

ii. Scalable Start up Entrepreneurship-

This start-up entrepreneur starts a business knowing that their vision can change the world. They

attract investors who think and encourage people who think out of the box. The research focuses

on a scalable business and experimental models, so, they hire the best and the brightest

employees. They require more venture capital to fuel and back their project or business.

iii. Large Company Entrepreneurship-

These huge companies have defined life-cycle. Most of these companies grow and sustain by

offering new and innovative products that revolve around their main products. The change in

technology, customer preferences, new competition, etc., build pressure for large companies to
create an innovative product and sell it to the new set of customers in the new market. To cope

with the rapid technological changes, the existing organisations either buy innovation enterprises

or attempt to construct the product internally.

iv. Social Entrepreneurship-

This type of entrepreneurship focuses on producing product and services that resolve social

needs and problems. Their only motto and goal is to work for society and not make any profits.

2.1.3. Concept of Entrepreneurship Training

Entrepreneurship training is a structured program that aims to equip participants with the

necessary skillset and mindset for identifying and launching new business ventures (Cope, 2005;

Katz, 2007). Generally, it is the activity of transmitting specific mindsets and skills associated

with entrepreneurship, as well as education and training programs that seek to engender various

entrepreneurship outcomes. As a working definition for this study, Entrepreneurship Training

represents academic education or formal training interventions that share the broad objective of

providing individuals with the entrepreneurial mindsets and skills to support participation and

performance in a range of entrepreneurial activities.

Entrepreneurship training provides individuals with the aptitude to identify business

opportunities, self‐esteem, knowledge and skills to act on them. It includes instruction in chance

identification, commercializing a concept, managing resources, and initiating business

speculation.

The scope of entrepreneurship training interventions varies by curricula and scale. Some

programs are implemented on a global scale, like the International Labor Organization’s Know

About Business and Start and Improve Your Business programs (Goppers and Coung 2007), or

through a global reach, like the Junior Achievement’s programs (Mahohoma and Muyambo
2008). By contrast, entrepreneurship training can be specific to an individual school or

institution, such as the University of Arizona’s McGuire Entrepreneurship Program (Charney

and Libecap 2000) or the microfinance institution FINCA Peru (Karlan and Valdivia 2011).

Further, entrepreneurship training interventions can represent a blend of global and local—

partnerships between global brands and regional or local education ministries and institutions, as

exemplified by the INJAZ Al-Arab program (Reimers, Dyer, and Ortega 2012) and BizWorld

(Rosendahl-Huber, Sloof, and van Praag 2012). Furthermore, Entrepreneurship Training can

involve a range of public and private stakeholders (Volkmann 2009), including government,

educational institutions, businesses, and nongovernmental and international organizations. The

roles of these stakeholders can include the development, financing, delivery, and evaluation of

entrepreneurship training interventions.

Entrepreneurship training programmes generally have a positive impact on existing and aspiring

entrepreneurs, especially in terms of promoting better business practices. Programmes which

provide training for entrepreneurs often include other interventions such as micro-finance,

grants, internships or mentorship (McKenzie & Woodruff, 2013). The varied content of the

programmes as well as differences in length and intensity undermines the extent to which such

interventions can be compared. Consequently, it is difficult to reach a consensus regarding how

effective entrepreneurship training programs are. Entrepreneurship training programmes that

combine training with finance have more impact on raising self-employment through start-ups as

well as enhancing business performance and practices (Cho & Honorati, 2014; De Mel et al.,

2014; Patel, 2014). Entrepreneurs are more likely to remain self-employed if they have access to

a second capital grant (Martinez et al., 2016).

2.1.4. Methods of Entrepreneurial Training

trainee, and on the task being performed. The method should suit the audience, the content, the

business environment, and the learning objectives. Ideally, the method chosen will motivate

participants to learn, help participants prepare themselves for learning, enable the trainees to

apply and practice what they've been taught, help trainees retain and transfer what they have

learned, and integrate performance with other skills and knowledge. Other methods affecting the

choice of a training method include: age, gender, level of education of trainees, number of

trainees, budget, trainers skills and training style. Entrepreneurship education and training must

incorporate methods which support experiments, creativity, alertness, critical thinking and

interaction. Pihie and Sani (2009) have supported the use of action learning as the best

appropriate method due to different educational levels of entrepreneurs.

The most effective entrepreneurial learning involves the student actively participating in “hands-

on” learning activities. Lzquierdo and Beulens (2008), in support, suggest that perceived benefits

of the instructional approach can be attributed to the amount of practice and the inclusion of real

world experiences offered to participants during learning. Researchers, in this respect, concur on

the use of learning by exposure, for example interactive workshops, case studies, role play and

action learning. Most importantly micro entrepreneurs learn best in areas relevant to their

businesses. The authors advocate for the use of pictorial study materials for their impotence in

catering for all classes of entrepreneurs regardless of their educational backgrounds. (Smith and

Perks, 2006), advocates for consulting activities, working with entrepreneurs, business

simulations and involving co-learner group support as more appropriate to instil the relevant

skills to entrepreneurs . Pretorius and Wlodarczyk (2007) place more emphasis on role playing,

management simulations, structured exercises of focussed learning by mentoring and feedback

survey conducted by Gartner and Vesper (1994) and Hills (1988) where development of business

plans, entrepreneurs and role models were identified as most successful exercises. In the survey

it was further identified that training effectiveness can be enhanced by use of live case approach,

where trainees would be given the opportunity to work directly with the local entrepreneurs or

entrepreneurial agency inviting them to give lectures on their own experiences, Kickal, et. al.

(2008).

According to Kirti (2021), the various methods of entrepreneurship training includes;

1) Lecture Method: 

As the name suggests, lecture method involves providing information to the trainees orally. In

case of any doubt arising in the minds of trainees, clarification can be given spontaneously by the

instructors.

2) Written Instructional Method: 

When the training contents are to be used in the future by the trainees, this method is used and it

is most popular in case of standardized production system.

3) Individual Instruction: 

In this method, only one person is chosen for providing entrepreneurial training. When a tough

skill is to be imparted in the candidate, this type of training becomes very useful.

4) Group Instruction: 

When the training is to be provided to the group of different individuals, this method is adopted

particularly when these persons have to perform the same type of activities and similar

instructions are to be given to all the candidates.

5) Demonstration Method: 
This method is mainly useful when the physical exposure is to be imparted by the trainer. In this

method, the main focus is on providing practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge.

6) Entrepreneurship training: 

This method of training mainly involves the group of people to discuss the different issues faced

by them. They share their views, ideas and different conclusions are drawn on the basis

of various alternatives and suggestions.

7) Conference: 

This method is generally used for imparting knowledge regarding new ideas and techniques to

the trainees. Here, conferences are organized and experts from different fields are called to share

their knowledge and experiences useful for the trainees.

2.1.5. Factors Influencing Undergraduate Disposition to Entrepreneurship Training

Entrepreneurial disposition is the tendency of the individual to be entrepreneurially inclined, and

would resist any attempt to discourage him/her from considering self – employment as the best

alternative to any other means of employment, with full knowledge of the risks and other

uncertainties that characterize the entrepreneur’s journey

Literatures reveal a wide range of factors that influence entrepreneurial disposition and intention

of individuals. Some of these literatures focus mainly on personality traits or factors such as self-

confidence, risk taking, need for achievement, and locus of control and others focus on other

contextual factors like economic, demographic, and social factors. For instance, Isah and Garba

(2015) opined that people become self-employed either because they want to explore an existing

opportunity or because there is limited paid employment [Link] and Selcuk (2008)

in their study titled which factors affect entrepreneurial disposition of university students?’ posit
that a person is surrounded by an extended range of cultural, social, economic, political,

demographic, and technological factors as such personality traits cannot be isolated from these

contextual factors. For this reason their study broadly grouped these factors as Educational

support factors (in form of supportive university environment, and education), structural support

factors and relational support factors. They however, found that that entrepreneurial intention

was only associated with educational support and structural support not relational support which

takes the form of influence from family and friends. Notwithstanding, this study was conducted

in Turkey and its findings are not universal in their application.

Similarly, Talas, Celik and Oral (2013), conducted a study on the influence of demographic

factors on entrepreneurial intentions among undergraduate students as a career choice. The study

found that students’ faculty, monthly income of the household head, and type of high school

before undergraduate education were statistically significant indicators. Willie, Oladele,

Olalekan, Abiodun, Abolaji, Helen, Maruf, and Muhammed. (2009), in their study of the

Determinants of Entrepreneurial Propensity of Nigerian undergraduates found that, the main

factors that significantly explain entrepreneurial interest are parents’ educational qualifications,

family entrepreneurial history, family socio-demographics, students’ entrepreneurial experience,

and students’ socio-demographics.

Dyer et al (2008) identified psychological/personal, cognitive and social network differences as

the factors that distinguish entrepreneurs from non – entrepreneurs. Gauging the differences in

entrepreneurship orientation between males and females, Quaye et al (2015) posit that, males are

entrepreneurially oriented than females. They identified pro-activeness, innovativeness and high

risk–taking propensity on part of males as the factors creating the differences in their

entrepreneurial orientation. Stewart et al (2003) also identified achievement motivation, risk-

According to them, people who score high on risk – taking propensity, achievement motivation

and innovation turn to be entrepreneurially disposed than people who score low on these factors.

Also, Zheng, Genshu and Hui in 2012, found that the influencing factors of students’

entrepreneurship dispositions as individual and psychological factors, family background factors

and socio-economic environment factors. They found all these factors as significant influences

on students’ entrepreneurial dispositions. From the above, the influencing factors of

entrepreneurial disposition can therefore be broadly grouped as follows; Entrepreneurship

Education, Environmental Factors and Personality traits.

The above is explained under two major factors which are the Environmental factors and the

Personality Traits

i. Environmental Factors

Environmental factors in this context consists of all factors external to an individual such as

family and friends, government legislation, government support factors and the state of the

economy. Specifically, these factors include; unemployment and poverty rate in the country,

available technology, infrastructural facilities (road networks, power, and communication),

encouragement from family and friends, availability or non-availability of finance, and current

political ideology of government. All these can influence the disposition of students before

venting to entrepreneurial training either on a temporal basis or a permanent one.

ii. Personality Traits

Personality is defined as those characteristics of the person that account for consistent patterns of

feelings, thinking, and behaving (Mayer, 2007). However, there are several other definitions of

personality from which a common view reflects that personality is a psychological system,
composed of a group of parts that interact, develop and that impact a person’s behavioral

expression (Mayer, 2007). Literature establishes a link between personality and entrepreneurship

such that some 40 personality traits have been identified as being associated with

entrepreneurship, but 6 have special importance and they are; Internal locus of control, high

energy level, Need for achievement, self-confidence, Awareness of passing time and tolerance

for ambiguity (Daft, 2012).

i. Internal locus of control: this is the belief by individuals that their future is within their

control and the external forces have little influence.

ii. High energy level: this entails high levels of passion which is a recipe that help

entrepreneurs to overcome inevitable obstacles and traumas.

iii. Need to Achieve: this is a human quality linked to entrepreneurship in which people are

motivated to excel and pick situations in which success is likely.

iv. Self-Confidence: self-confidence is a feeling of self-assurance arising from an

appreciation of one’s own abilities. People who start and run a business must act

decisively (Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition). They need confidence about their

ability to master the day-to-day task of the business. They must feel sure about their

ability to win customers, handle the technical details, and keep the business moving.

v. Awareness of Passing Time: a key personality traits of an entrepreneur is that they tend

to be inpatient and they feel a sense of urgency. They want things to progress as if there is

no tomorrow.

vi. Tolerance for ambiguity: this is the psychological characteristics that allows a person to

be untroubled by disorder and uncertainty

2.1.6. Ways Entrepreneurship Training Participation Can Be Increased

Entrepreneurship is a skill that is also useful in both personal and social aspects of everyday life.

Thus, to improve student’s participation in Entrepreneurship training, the following should be

put into consideration.

1. Integrate relevant education with entrepreneurship to facilitate entrepreneurship skills

development

Most young Africans believe they have the capacity to start a business and that there are good

business opportunities (Kew, et al., 2013; GEDI, 2018). Moreover, research has shown that

young Africans who are confident that they possess the skills to start a business are four to six

times more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activity (Kew, et al., 2013). However, while

confirming the high score on Opportunity Perception, the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index

shows that the Continent’s entrepreneurial ecosystems score to be lowest in the areas. While this

is partly due to the lack of formal employment opportunities in the labour market, it also

suggests that Africa’s education systems are not sufficiently preparing young people for the

world of work. As acknowledged in the 2018 Africa Talks Jobs Forum, African governments

have an important role to play here as the public education system remains the first and foremost

avenue for reaching African youth (ATJ Conference Communique, 2017)

2. Employ and support smart and effective financing for start-ups

Young people need access to start-up capital and other types of finance to create and grow their

businesses. However, access to formal financial institutions and financial services is particularly

restricted for youth in Africa (AU Study on YEP, 2019). Thus, Governments can provide timely

tailored financing options by partnering with banks and engaging responsively with youth.

3. Support and enhance an enabling entrepreneurial ecosystem

create their businesses (Psilos & Galloway, 2018). There is, therefore, a need to strengthen the

entrepreneurship ecosystem such as to provide room and support for the emergence and growth

of young entrepreneurs. This can be done, for instance, through the establishment and support of

entrepreneurship hubs. Start-up hubs, incubators and accelerators are the nurseries of the

entrepreneurial ecosystem. Young people gather here to network, access ICT infrastructure,

attend trainings, find business partners, receive business development advice, create prototypes,

inspire and be inspired. The 2017 Africa Economic Outlook report emphasizes that skills and

business incubation services are prominent determinants of success in supporting entrepreneurial

activity (AfDB, OECD, & UNDP, 2017).

4. Promotion of gender responsive programming

Gender responsive programming and ecosystem support enhances participation of and outcomes

for young women. Women face different challenges than men, and these are often not considered

in general efforts to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The majority of entrepreneurs in

Africa are women, but their businesses are less productive and have fewer employees than their

male counterparts (WBG, 2019). Women are believed to have less assets and capital to invest

and are less likely to adopt advanced business practices (WBG, 2019). Women face different

constraints than men which causes them to make different decisions that often lead to less

productive outcomes (WBG, 2019) and this ranges from legal and other forms of discrimination

and marginalisation to time constraints due to family obligations and household responsibilities.

Thus, for young women in particular, successful programs tend to combine business skills

training with life skills and/or mentorship (Fox & Kaul, 2017).

2.1.7. Empirical Framework

predominantly focused on factors such as new firm formation and self-employment decision to

measure entrepreneurship. However, in developing countries and emerging economies such as

India, where the unemployment level is high and long-term employment opportunities are

limited, self-employment decisions are rather linked with the need to survive than with any

positive attitude toward risk bearing or uncertainty. In their study of small-scale pharmaceutical

enterprises in India, Bhaduri and Worch (2008) presented econometric evidence of the impact of

past experience on various dimensions of entrepreneurship, such as discovery of new

opportunities, responsiveness to uncertainty, and coordination of a firm. It is noted that the way

entrepreneurs perceive and make sense of entrepreneurial options would be guided by their past

experiences based on cognitive learning. This process is what Bhaduri and Worch (2008) called

an entrepreneurship frame.

According to the work of Kauffman Foundation (2000), it was found that entrepreneurship

knowledge increased the probability of start-ups, self-employment and also that it enhances the

likelihood of economic reward and self-satisfaction of the entrepreneur.

In a study by Kirby (2004) on whether personal attributes of students had an effect on their

attitudes towards entrepreneurship, results showed that more independent and outgoing students

had a higher inclination than their counterparts. Also studies by Souitaris, Zerbinati and Andreas

(2007) they found that entrepreneurship understanding stimulates students’ subjective norms and

intentions towards entrepreneurship by providing them with knowledge, skills and a sense of

belief that inspire them to choose entrepreneurship as a career. In another study by Basu and

Virik (2008), it was found that entrepreneurship education improves the attitudes of students

towards entrepreneurship.
Also, research by Ismael, Abdullah and Othman (2010) on the influence of gender on the

inclination of students towards entrepreneurship found that there was a significant difference

in their attitudes towards entrepreneurship between male and female students

Use of successful entrepreneurs as guest speakers was also found by Bergh, Thorgren & Wincent

(2011) to have a positive effect on students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship. A supportive

university environment was also found to have a positive impact on the entrepreneurship

inclination of students (Sriram, Mersha and Herron, 2007).

In addition to this, study by Iqbal et al (2012) also showed that after the students had participated

in entrepreneurship program, most students believed that:

i) If they start their own business, they would have a high probability of success

ii) They were better prepared to start their own businesses

iii) The entrepreneurship programme had given them enough knowledge and skills to

successfully start their own businesses.

This is also confirmed by a study by Kabui and Maalu (2012) which found that most students

who had gone through the entrepreneurship course which impact their knowledge and perception

had a positive perception of entrepreneurship as a future career although the same results also

showed that factors that included fear of failure and lack of sufficient capital were some of the

major barriers to the students’ intentions to start their own businesses.

2.2. Theoretical Framework

Theoretical framework section of the research has been described as the primary pre-occupation

of the natural/physical sciences and it is embedded in their culture. According to Oluwadare

(2005), theory is described as the pulpit for scientific exposition. In Olufayo (2004), theory is

conceived as a systematized body of knowledge specifying the relationship between two or more
variables, which has the onerous task of predicting and explaining phenomenon. The theory used

in this study is the Social Learning Theory posited by Albert Bandura

The Social Learning theory of Albert Bandura (1986) establishes that the environment causes

behavior, but behavior also causes the environment. Bandura calls this concept reciprocal

determinism, where the world and the behavior of persons are mutually caused. Bandura believes

that human conduct must be explained in terms of the reciprocal interaction between cognitive,

behavioral, and environmental determinants.

The social cognitive theory of Bandura (SCT) centers on the concepts of reinforcement and

observation, giving more importance to the mental internal processes as well as to the interaction

of the subject with others. The SCT postulates that observation and imitation are given across

models that can be parents, educators, and friends, and can even be heroes taken from television.

The only requirement for learning can be that one person observes another individual, or models

behavior to carry out a certain conduct. The observation and imitation intervene upon the

cognitive factors and help the subject decide whether or not the observed behavior is to be

imitated. The cognitive factors are the capacity of reflection and symbolization as well as the

prevention of consequences based on processes of comparison, generalization, and auto-

evaluation. One of the aims of the SCT is the development of the self-evaluation and the self-

reinforcement constructs. According to Bandura, individuals possess an auto-system that allows

them to measure the control on their own thoughts, feelings, motivations and actions. This

system exercises self-regulation to enable individuals with aptitude to influence their own

cognitive processes and actions and in this way to alter their environment.

2.2.2. Relevance to the Study

interaction with previous entrepreneurs can reinforce entrepreneurial behavior therefore

increasing the participation of student into entrepreneurship training. The observation and

imitation of former entrepreneurs will intervene upon the cognitive factors of the students and

can help the students to decide if the observed behaviours should be imitated or not also some

ecological constraints surrounding the ambient such as tools and equipment can alter students

from participating in entrepreneurial trainings. .