Attitudes and Entrepreneurial Orientation of Government funded co-operatives towards social entrepreneurship in the Gauteng Province

Abstract

The intention of the study was to conduct descriptive research that assessed the present state of co-operatives, which includes their understanding of the concept of social entrepreneurship, and to further describe and measure the extent of the elements of entrepreneurial attitudes that exist in the co-operatives. It focused on the existence of entrepreneurial orientation and its influence on the co-operatives’ business, and critically identified the perceived barriers to engaging in social entrepreneurship. The study tested the propositions and linked to the following constructs: entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial orientation, and perceived constraints towards social entrepreneurship.

Given that a valuation was envisioned as a product, the research was directed from a positivist approach and therefore the quantitative research method was engaged. The sample population comprised directors of co-operatives and the sampling frame was active members of registered co-operatives. A non-probability sampling technique was utilised as this group of directors serves as a connection between top management members and lower active members of the co-operatives. The research instrument that was used was the questionnaire survey, which was adapted from Morris and Covin (1989) and Kuratko and Hornsby (2013). The data were analysed using factor analysis and correlation techniques. The results of the study indicate that there is an awareness of the concept of social entrepreneurship in the co-operatives sector. There is evidence of positive attitudes towards social entrepreneurship among the co-operative members. The outcome of the study is that there seems to be a certain level of innovativeness, risk-taking and pro-activeness in co-operatives in Gauteng in South Africa. Furthermore, the results also proved that there is a positive and strong relationship between the external variable that is government funding, and the four EO dimensions.