Integrating motivation, risk-taking and self-identity: A typology of ICT enterprise development narratives

Abstract

This article describes an original typology of enterprise development narratives that emerged from a study of the motivation, risk-taking and self-identity of nascent ICT (information and communications technology) entrepreneurs. The typology provides a multifaceted and integrated framework for appreciating an entrepreneur’s quest to align ‘who I am and what I do’ and achieve what we are calling the ‘self-enterprise fit’. As such, it promises to provide a valuable framework for (re)locating the ‘psychology of entrepreneurship’ in entrepreneurs’ experiences of enterprise development so that our understanding of new entrepreneurs’ approaches to enterprise development is enhanced and business assistance can be more effectively targeted.