Entrepreneurial Autonomy and its Dynamics
研究了创业者自主性的实际体验、随时间的变化，以及内外部条件和创业者行动如何影响自主性，发现自主性取决于决策自由度是否自愿选择，客户常构成挑战而商业伙伴则增强自主性。
Founding and owning an independent business does not automatically provide the owner/founder with autonomy. Autonomy‐motivated entrepreneurs must often make an effort to achieve and maintain autonomy. The aim of this research is to investigate the experience of autonomy, its variations over time, and how it is affected by a range of internal and external conditions as well as the actions of the entrepreneur. The research design utilises a qualitative methodology, asking 61 business owner/founders to respond to a range of vignettes that depict autonomy‐related tensions. The results indicate that whether a business owner actively experiences autonomy is best assessed by not only asking for the degree of decisional freedom he or she currently enjoys, but also whether that degree of freedom is chosen voluntarily. Other main findings are that customers regularly represent challenges to autonomy, whereas business partners are often seen to enhance it. The results reveal various autonomy dynamics, showing movements between currently exercised, temporarily sacrificed, and involuntarily lost decisional freedoms. These movements are influenced by a range of factors, including the importance of particular customers or assignments, the phase in the business life cycle, and the financial performance of the business.