An exploratory study of technopreneurial intentions: A career anchor perspective

Abstract

This study investigated if the career anchors of research scientists and engineers (RSEs) influenced their entrepreneurial intentions and the types of businesses they intended to found. The results showed that the security anchor negatively impacted on entrepreneurial intentions, while the managerial anchor had a positive impact. Mixed results were found for the technical and creativity anchors, while no impact was found for the autonomy anchor. Those with a technical anchor intended to found businesses within their technical field, while those involved in applied research intended to found businesses outside their technical field. Situational factors did not moderate the RSEs' entrepreneurial intentions. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.