Factors motivating successful entrepreneurs to pursue Entrepreneurship-oriented Executive Education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is considered to be a key economic driver in Kenya, employing up to 80 percent of her workforce. Entrepreneurs operate in a dynamic business environment that constantly demands them to equip themselves with new skills. Some of the efforts towards sustaining entrepreneurship are geared towards stimulating entrepreneurs through training programs that focus on start-ups and other specific needs of growing businesses. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that motivate successful entrepreneurs to pursue Entrepreneurship-Oriented Executive Education (EEE). This study had three objectives; to determine the factors motivating successful entrepreneurs to pursue EEE, to assess the relevance of EEE curricula (content) to successful entrepreneurs and to determine the value that successful entrepreneurs attach to EEE. A descriptive design was used. Purposive sampling was used to draw 35 respondents who had completed their respective programs and earned annual revenues of over KShs 70 Million. The population of the study was drawn from 154 CEOs, who were participants of the Owner Manager Program and Enterprise Development Program at Strathmore Business School and the Strathmore Enterprise Development Centre respectively. The data collected was analysed through SPSS. The findings of the study indicated that the top five factors motivating successful entrepreneurs to pursue EEE were: Because a past participant referred them to the program (68%), To learn how to manage their company’s growth (52%), To gain skills to recruit the right skills (38%), To learn creative and innovative skills (36%) and To learn the hard content (29%). The key recommendation was that business schools and universities strengthen their marketing strategies to include referral programs given that this study highlighted the fact that referrals were a major contributor to the enrolment of successful entrepreneurs into EEE programs.