Small Business Institute® Journal Small Business Institute® 2014, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1-10 ISSN: 1944-1150/69 The Job Characteristics Model: An Extension to Entrepreneurial Motivation John H. Batchelor Kristie A. Abston K. Blaine Lawlor Gerald F. Burch University of West Florida University of West Florida University of West Florida Tarleton State University This article is designed to enhance understanding about how job characteristics motivate entrepreneurs. This is an important area of research because entrepreneurs invest so much time and money into the creation and development of their business ventures and it is important to understand how the work they do relates to their motivation. We applied the organizational behavior concepts of the Job Characteristics Model developed by Hackman and Oldham (1975) to entrepreneurship in order to better understand the work of entrepreneurs and raise awareness of this important gap in the literature. Our hope is that the proposed research agenda will spark interest in and contribute to the legitimacy of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Entrepreneurship continues to be a popular research area with a number of academicians studying the differences between entrepreneurs and traditional business managers (e.g., Blanchflower, 2004; Hamilton, 2000; Schjoedt, 2009). As reflected in the opening quote from The Body Shop Founder, Anita Roddick, entrepreneurs often appear to be motivated by some of the same job characteristics as business managers, such as task significance and autonomy. This study examines entrepreneurs and their work using a job characteristics, or “work itself” (Hackman & Oldham, 1980, p. 4), perspective of entrepreneurship. Hackman and Oldham (1975) developed the job characteristics view as an alternative to job design for conceptualizing traditional jobs as well as the utility of certain aspects of work in achieving positive outcomes, such as motivation and satisfaction. We extend this work to the realm of entrepreneurship, specifically to the work performed by the entrepreneur him or herself. We propose that the characteristics of entrepreneurial work are unique as compared to that of others performing similar duties within traditional organizations (business managers). Further, we propose that although the work of entrepreneurs is unique, the conceptual framework of the Job Characteristics Model, originally designed for traditional workers, still applies in an entrepreneurial setting. Finally we argue that the work performed by the entrepreneur has the potential to influence their feelings and behaviors to a greater extent than that of business managers. Previous findings on job characteristics, with samples of those employed by others, show that certain job characteristics can lead to desirable outcomes such as high levels of motivation, performance, and satisfaction (Fried & Ferris, 1987). Research within the field of entrepreneurship has shown that the promise of more desirable job characteristics can motivate those currently employed by others to start their own ventures (Cromie, 1987). Further, Schjoedt (2009) was the first to test whether the job characteristic findings of previous studies concerning managers were generalizable to entrepreneurs. His findings were that while the job characteristics of entrepreneurs and business managers were significantly different from one another, they still were significant predictors of job satisfaction for entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory that builds and extends upon previous findings regarding the unique job characteristics of entrepreneurs. First, we recommend that researchers verify previous findings showing that certain job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, autonomy, and feedback) are significantly different for those working for others than those engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Second, we explore how these characteristics may predict entrepreneurial internal work motivation, and finally, we suggest that entrepreneurs may experience higher levels of internal work motivation than business managers. The conceptual model is shown in Figure 1. A list of JCM milestones relevant to the current study is found in Table 1. Propositions are offered to guide research, and implications for research and practice are discussed. Small Business Institute® Journal - Vol. 10, No. 1, 1-10 Figure 1: Conceptual Model JOB CHARACTERISTICS INDIVIDUAL OUTCOME P1a + Skill Variety P1b + Task Identity Internal Task P1c + Work Significance Motivation P2: E > M P1d + Autonomy P1e + Feedback E = Entrepreneur M = Business Manager P3: MPS > MPS E M MPS = Motivating Potential Score (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) Table 1: Brief List of JCM Milestones Relevant to the Current Study Author Year Contribution Hackman & Oldham 1974 Job Diagnostic Survey (Assessment tool for JCM) Hackman & Oldham 1975 Model for diagnosing job Hackman & Oldham 1976 Motivating Potential Score – Score for motivating potential of a job James & Tetrick 1986 Established temporal relationship for job characteristics and satisfaction Fried & Ferris 1987 Stronger relationship between job characteristics and psychological outcomes than behavioral outcomes (meta-analysis) Behson, Eddy, & Lorenzet 2000 Two stage model of JCM without critical psychological states results in better fit than three stage model (SEM) Humphrey, Nahrgang, & Morgeson 2007 Proposed expanded JCM Schjoedt 2009 Extended JCM research into the field of entrepreneurship Batchelor, Abston, Lawlor and Burch - 2 Small Business Institute® Journal - Vol. 10, No. 1, 1-10 THE ENTREPRENEUR Early studies of entrepreneurs tried to identify the personality characteristics that differentiate entrepreneurs from the general public. This trait approach, focusing on the entrepreneur, has proven unfruitful (Gartner, 1988) with most researchers abandoning efforts to identify the personality traits of those likely to become entrepreneurs. The behavioral approach is offered as an alternative to the failed trait approach (Gartner, 1985). This method’s primary focus is on new organization creation from the perspective of the venture; hence, the entrepreneur is viewed as a catalyst for the creation process (Gartner, 1985, 1988). When viewing entrepreneurs from this perspective, the question changes from “What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur?” to “What causes an individual to create a new venture?” To answer the latter, investigating the job characteristics of the entrepreneur may be a logical step (See Schjoedt, 2009). Specifically, we encourage researchers to study the characteristics of entrepreneurial activity that leads someone to seek self-employment. When most people think of entrepreneurs, they conjure thoughts of successful, famous, highly intelligent, and extremely wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg who started their entrepreneurial journey in their early twenties after dropping out of college. Reality paints a different picture: the typical entrepreneur is a man in his forties who has no intentions of obtaining great wealth and is married to someone who works. The typical entrepreneur is just trying to make a living (Shane, 2008). This second, more factual portrait of what an entrepreneur is should lend itself well to the framework of the Job Characteristics Model proposed by Hackman and Oldham (1975). JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL As the names imply, the Job Characteristics Model (JCM), and more specifically the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), were designed to evaluate and improve the “jobs” of those employed by others. The primary purpose is to diagnose existing jobs and evaluate the effects of job changes on employees for outcomes such as motivation, productivity, and satisfaction (Hackman & Oldham, 1975). This approach focuses on the work of the job itself as opposed to other job design focused perspectives (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). The JCM is identified as one of the key employee motivation theories for organizations (Ramlall, 2004). The tenets of this approach are that the characteristics of a job lead to critical psychological states which lead to personal and work outcomes with each step being moderated by one’s need for growth. The core job characteristics are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Critical psychological states are “experienced meaningfulness of work”, “experienced responsibility for outcomes or work,” and “knowledge of results.” Personal and work outcomes are high internal work motivation, high quality work performance, high satisfaction with work, and low absenteeism and turnover (Hackman & Oldham, 1975, 1976). While these characteristics were originally designed for the jobs of those employed by others, they also apply to the self-employed. In particular, autonomy is identified as a primary motivator by entrepreneurs for creating their own venture (Kuratko, Hornsby, & Naffziger, 1997). APPLICATION TO ENTREPRENEURS The JCM is used primarily within existing organizations, focusing on those employed within them. This concept is still new to the field of entrepreneurship. Schjoedt (2009) is one of the few entrepreneurship researchers to use the JCM to understand the job characteristics of entrepreneurs. His analysis focused on one outcome measure: satisfaction. The results of Schjoedt’s study found that the mean differences of job satisfaction and four job characteristics did differ significantly between entrepreneurs and managers. Further, he found that autonomy, variety, and feedback were significant