Manageering university startups: The role of self- and collective-efficacy in managing and engineering startups

Abstract

Universities are increasingly expected to launch successful startups which are critical for national economic competitiveness because it helps generate jobs, economic growth, and prosperity. Although management theories are essential to engineer and manage startup tasks, the problem is that management theories are not sufficient for startup success. Rather, it is also essential that entrepreneurs believe both in their individual capabilities and team capabilities to successfully execute startup tasks. To help university stakeholders enhance startup survival, the research investigates three questions. Does expert entrepreneurship advice always enhance startup survival? Can self-efficacy and collective-efficacy theories enhance startup survival? How to build self-efficacy and collective-efficacy scales to enhance startup survival? To investigate these research questions, the research methodology: (i) conducts a literature review on entrepreneurship advice; (ii) conducts a literature review on self-efficacy, collective-efficacy, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy; and (iii) conducts a two-month pilot implementation of the Manageering University Startups program at a French speaking university in North Africa during October to December 2022.Finally, university stakeholders are encouraged to adopt three recommendations. First, entrepreneurs should continuously adopt well-known strategy frameworks, operational best practices, and entrepreneurship advice so they know what startup tasks to do. Second, entrepreneurs should also continuously enhance their individual self-efficacy and team collective-efficacy so they are more likely to successfully execute startup tasks. Third, entrepreneurs should also measure at least semi-annually their individual self-efficacy and team collective-efficacy using the Manageering University Startups Self-Efficacy and Collective-Efficacy scales so they are aware of individual and collective areas that need to be improved.