Concise Summary of Research Proposal (Abstract)

 Title of the study: Developing a Framework for Measuring the Entrepreneurial

Drive of Active and Prospective Entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Enterprises of
Jharkhand.

 Name & Address of the Project Director: Niladri Das, Assistant Professor,
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian
School of Mines), Dhanbad-826004, Jharkhand, India.

 Institution of Affiliations (FULL Address): Indian Institute of Technology

(Indian School of Mines), PO- ISM, Dhanbad-826004, Jharkhand, India.

 Duration of the study: 24 Months

 Budget Proposed by the Scholar: Rs. 10,81,450

 Specific Objectives of the Study: The specific objectives of the research project
are as follows:

1. To evaluate the influence of socio-cultural and psychological factors on

entrepreneurial initiatives and success of active and prospective entrepreneurs
in Jharkhand.

2. To identify the learning/training needs of active and prospective entrepreneurs

in Jharkhand that shall contribute to the skill development and resource
requirement, needed to create and sustain new ventures.

3. To develop an appropriate entrepreneurship development model by linking the

key factors of entrepreneurial drive with success for active and prospective
entrepreneurs of Jharkhand.

 Central idea of the Problem: Studies on the specific role of socio-cultural and
psychological factors in Indian setting are very few. This is to a certain extent due
to the difficulties of conducting such studies and to some extent due to the fact that
policy conclusions are not immediately obvious since the process of changing these
factors will take time. The challenge is not to get entrepreneurial activity started,
but to be sustainable. The government is also now more aware of this need but not
much has been done to ensure sustainability. There is a serious need for the future
policies to emphasize more on the success of the entrepreneurial venture rather than
only on starting up of new ventures. The proposed study aims at identifying the
socio-cultural and psychological factors influencing the entrepreneurial success in
small and micro enterprises of Jharkhand and develop a model to measure the
 entrepreneurial drive of active and prospective entrepreneurs and link it with
entrepreneurial success.
The literature emphasizes that both push and pull factors drive entrepreneurial
success, but an integrated framework that clearly demonstrates the relationship
between entrepreneurial motivation, skills, resources and success has not been
adequately developed. Based on the existing literature, this research project
proposes to empirically examine the possible links of socio-cultural and
psychological factors with entrepreneurial success and to identify the structural
interventions that can be designed to make the influencing socio-cultural and
psychological attributes play a favorable role for growth of entrepreneurship in
Jharkhand. This study will try to measure the entrepreneurial drive of active and
prospective entrepreneurs and link it with entrepreneurial success.

 Methodology (in Brief): The study proposes to cover all blocks (both in urban and
rural areas) in the eight districts of Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh,
Koderma, East Singhbum and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand. The target population
for this study includes all the entrepreneurial units of micro and small enterprises along
with potential entrepreneurs among students in colleges, universities, polytechnics and
technical institutes in all the eight districts. This include the undergraduates and post
graduates of engineering, technology, science, arts, commerce, humanities and social
science and management background. The sampling frame comprises of the number of
micro and small enterprises registered with District Industries Centre (DIC) in the eight
districts of Jharkhand (active entrepreneurs) and undergraduates and post graduates of
engineering, technology, science, arts, commerce, humanities and social science and
management background (prospective or potential entrepreneurs) among who are
getting trained or have obtained training in entrepreneurship development at MSME-
DI (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises-Development Institute) Institute and other
entrepreneurial training institutes or have shown inclination for setting up of
entrepreneurial units through business incubator or some other means.
The population of the study includes approximately 8000 MSME units (active
entrepreneurs) registered in DIC of Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh,
Koderma, East Singhbum and West Singhbhum belonging to micro and small
entrepreneurs along with prospective or potential entrepreneurs (approximately 4000)
among undergraduates and post graduates of engineering, technology, science, arts,
commerce, humanities and social science and management background among who are
getting trained or have obtained training in entrepreneurship development at MSME-
DI (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises-Development Institute) Institute and other
entrepreneurial training institutes or have shown inclination for setting up of
entrepreneurial units through business incubator or some other means. Therefore, the
population of the study is approximately 12000 among which 8000 are registered
MSME units (active entrepreneurs) and 4000 prospective or potential entrepreneurs
from undergraduates and post graduates of engineering, technology, science, arts,
commerce, humanities and social science and management background.
However, it is not economical to survey all active and prospective or potential
entrepreneurs; hence sampling will be done to find out the sample size from a finite
population. The sample size will be approximately 1250 (at 95% confidence level) and
there will be 700 active entrepreneurs (registered MSME units) and 550 prospective or
potential entrepreneurs. Thereby, stratified random sampling method will be used for
the selection of 1250 sample entrepreneurs (700 active and 550 prospective or
potential) from the eight districts of Jharkhand. The stratification would be done in such
a manner that various groups of active and prospective entrepreneurs both in urban and
rural areas will be included for the study along with demographic variables like gender,
age, education, income level, etc. The sample of active entrepreneurs can be divided
into categories of successful, average and unsuccessful entrepreneurs judged on the
basis of performance in production, sales, expenditure and profit and also the point of
view of the entrepreneurs concerned.
The study shall utilize a multiple research design including preliminary workshop,
focus group interviews, questionnaire responses and a few case studies of
entrepreneurs. This will be followed by data entry, submission of clean data sets and
data analysis using relevant statistical techniques as discussed in the detailed research
proposal.