Christian Korunka

The Entrepreneurial Personality in the Context of Resources, Environment, and the Startup Process—A Configurational Approach

The goal of this interdisciplinary study is to analyze the entrepreneurial personality in the context of resources, environment, and the startup process based on a configurational approach. The study focuses on the startup process. A questionnaire was developed to measure the configuration areas of personality, personal resources, environment, and organizing activities. A representative sample of 1,169 nascent entrepreneurs and new business owner–managers was examined. Three startup configurations were found which reveal different patterns of personality characteristics. These patterns are interpreted in the context of aspects of the environment, the resources, and the startup process.

The significance of personality in business start-up intentions, start-up realization and business success

Numerous studies with contradictory results have been published on the relationships of personality factors with business start-up intentions and business success. Using a comparison of four conceptually similar studies (Vienna Entrepreneurship Studies) as a basis, this paper analyses the varying roles of personality factors in business start-up intentions, in start-up success and in business success. It can be shown that the significance of personality traits among (potential) business founders decreases in the course of start-up/new business development–from initial start-up intentions, to the start-up process and realization, and on to business success (existence/growth). While up to 20% of the variance in the origins of entrepreneurial intentions can be explained by personality traits, this proportion practically drops to zero in explaining business success. The studies also enable one to assess the value of personality in relation to other configuration fields. Overall, the data from the four studies confirms that a meaningful assessment of the value of personality traits is only possible in conjunction with additional influencing factors in the founders environment, resources and processes. The results suggest that especially for the development of business start-up intentions it is necessary to take measures to promote personality characteristics in schools and universities. It is not possible to predict the long-term success of a business by evaluating the personality factors of the business founder in early stages of the start-up process.

Work engagement and burnout: testing the robustness of the Job Demands-Resources model

This study focuses on work engagement and its negative antipode, burnout, as well as their antecedents and consequences. According to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, two different processes have to be distinguished: a motivational process that links job resources with turnover intention through work engagement, and an energetic process that links job demands and health complaints via the mediating role of burnout. The robustness of the JD-R model was tested in a heterogeneous occupational sample (N = 846). Structural equation modeling analyses yielded a slightly modified model with only exhaustion being indicative of burnout and vigor, dedication along with absorption being indicative of engagement. The results provide evidence for the dipartite structure of the JD-R model. Multi-group analyses revealed the model to be invariant across age and gender. Although strengths of path coefficients and factor loadings differed among white- and blue-collar workers, the basic structure of the model was also confirmed among these subgroups. Therefore, the findings underscore the robustness of the JD-R model.

Work and Family Characteristics as Predictors of Early Retirement in Married Men and Women

This study presents an integrative model of early retirement using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The model extends prior work by incorporating work—family conflict to capture the interaction between the work and family domains and by assuming proximal and distal predictors of early retirement. More precisely, the model suggests that family and job demands and resources predict family-to-work and work-to-family conflict, respectively. All of these factors are presumed to have only indirect effects on retirement timing via the intervening effect of quality-of-life measures, that is, marital satisfaction, job satisfaction, and health. The authors assume that these three factors constitute predictors of early retirement in addition to socioeconomic status and the availability of a pension plan and health insurance. The model was tested with structural equation modeling techniques, and the results were supportive. Therefore, the proposed model offers a general framework for the integration of previous research findings.

Entrepreneurial orientation and education in Austrian secondary schools

Purpose – Entrepreneurship is defined as a “life skill”, and the European Union (EU) has recently called on member states to promote the development of entrepreneurial attitudes from primary school right through to university level. The paper aims to investigate which factors influence entrepreneurial thinking and attitudes towards entrepreneurship in vocational and general secondary education in Austria.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the configuration approach. This approach was adapted as a conceptual model for the origins of entrepreneurial orientation and start‐up inclinations among school pupils. The model consists of four dimensions: person, education context, education process, and environment. A total of 900 Austrian pupils at secondary‐level schools were surveyed with a standardized questionnaire.Findings – The results show that entrepreneurial orientation as well as inclinations to start up a new business can indeed be influenced considerably, with potential targeted influen...

New Information Technologies, Job Profiles, and External Workload as Predictors of Subjectively Experienced Stress and Dissatisfaction at Work

Implementation cycles of information technologies in modern workplaces have become shorter, and employees have to constantly adapt to changing work situations. Presented here are preliminary results from a comprehensive research project. The 2nd Vienna Implementation Study, which investigated the effects on workers of continuous implementations, that is, the implementations of new information technologies on workplaces already equipped with computers. In a longitudinal research design, strain and dissatisfaction of 466 employees in 10 different companies are investigated. In each company, an implementation of a new information technology occurs during a specified time period. Seven measurements are taken over a 22-month period. Contextual factors postulated to moderate employee reactions to the new information technology include the following: type of implementation, implementation style (e.g., implementation management, participation) job profiles, external workload of employees, and personality factors....

Working with new technologies: hormone excretion as an indicator for sustained arousal. A pilot study.

Effects of working with new technologies (visual display units) on hormone levels were investigated in a pilot study. The relationship between subjective strain and hormone levels was also assessed. Twenty subjects participated in the study reported here, which is a part of a comprehensive longitudinal study, in which 279 employees participated. Measurements were taken two months before the new technology was installed (baseline: work with conventional technology), during the implementation phase of the new technology, and at a 12-month interval. Fourteen complete data sets were analysed. The introduction of new technologies was accompanied by enhanced levels of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). Levels also remained high one year after the implementation. Similar values were found on work days and rest days. Cortisol changes were less evident; excretion tended to increase after the implementation had been completed. The relationship was weak between hormone levels and subjective strain measurements. The results indicate that working with new technologies was accompanied by enhanced physiological arousal of the employee. Reactivity was related more to a particular occupational setting than to scales of subjective assessment.

An interview study of 'continuous' implementations of information technology

Modern workplaces are continuously affected by frequent implementations of information technology. Managing the technologys implementation can have an important moderating function between implementation characteristics and demands as well as effects for the companies and their employees. The development of an interview guide for evaluating technology implementations and their management and a first empirical application of the instrument are presented here. Developed incrementally, the interview guide consists of 139 questions on implementation characteristics, implementation management, and effects. Results of interviews with 59 managers of implementation projects are presented. The implementation projects fulfilled the following criteria: no first-time introduction of information technology, at least 10 employees affected and at least one day of training per employee. Most of the implementations investigated were characterized by increases in qualification demands, changes in work structures, and incr...

Development and validation of an instrument for assessing job demands arising from accelerated change: The intensification of job demands scale (IDS)

Accelerated societal and organizational changes have placed new pressures on employees. Especially, service employees are exposed to intensified workloads, planning and decision-making, and learning demands. Despite the growing attention given to this intensification of job demands, a comprehensive measure is missing. In the present study, we developed the Intensification of Job Demands Scale (IDS) and validated it in four samples (N = 1363). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the differentiation into five subscales, namely work intensification, intensified job-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified career-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified knowledge-related learning demands, and intensified skill-related learning demands. This five-factor structure holds for both the German and the English versions of the instrument. Convergent and discriminant validity tests showed that the IDS subscales are moderately related to established measures of job demands, but at most have small correlations with negative affectivity. Providing support for the incremental validity, the IDS subscales were found to add to the prediction of burnout and job satisfaction beyond established job demands. Finally, the IDS subscales helped to identify employees who experienced changes in their work situation. In sum, the results indicate that the IDS is a valid and reliable measure to assess the intensification of job demands.

Angewandte Psychologie im Spannungsfeld zwischen Grundlagenforschung und Praxis - Plädoyer für mehr Pluralismus

Zusammenfassung. Betrachten wir die geschichtliche Entwicklung der Psychologie seit Wilhelm Wundt, so stellen wir fest, dass sich unsere Wissenschaft zunehmend ausdifferenziert. Waren es in den Anfangen vor allem allgemeinpsychologische Forschungsfragen, so sind seither neben weiteren Grundlagenwissenschaften grose Anwendungsfacher entstanden, die nicht zuletzt dafur verantwortlich sind, dass die Psychologie bestandig an Einfluss in der Gesellschaft gewonnen hat. Bei aller Unterschiedlichkeit der zahlreichen Disziplinen lassen sich innerhalb der Psychologie vereinfachend dargestellt zwei Kulturen beschreiben. Eine Mehrheitskultur, die durch die Grundlagenwissenschaften gepragt wird und eine Minderheitskultur der Anwendungsfacher. In der Arbeit werden zunachst die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede dieser beiden Kulturen herausgearbeitet. Dabei tritt ein Problem zu Tage: Die Wert- und Bewertungsmasstabe der Grundlangenforschung passen nur eingeschrankt zu den genuinen Aufgaben und Leistungen der Anwendungswi...