SMART JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDIES VOL. 10 NO. 1 PAPER 1
 
RANKING ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN SOUTH EASTERN REGION OF SRI LANKA (SERSL): FACTOR SCORE METHOD
 
M.B.M. Ismail* and T. Velnampy**
*    Sr. Lecturer, Dept. of Management, Faculty of Management and Commerce, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Oluvil
**   Dean / Faculty of Management Studies & Commerce, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
 
Different authors have identified different entrepreneurial characteristics. These lists of entrepreneurial characteristics vary from entrepreneur to entrepreneurs and country to country and industry to industry. Few studies have been done to test the relationship between entrepreneurial characteristics and other variables. Presently, entrepreneurship is booming everywhere not only in Sri Lanka but also abroad. Therefore, entrepreneurial Characteristics should be identified for promoting entrepreneurial effort. Objectives of this research are to identify the different entrepreneurial characteristics suitable for entrepreneurs and to group different entrepreneurial characteristics together. Researcher selected 120 entrepreneurs from different sectors. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Response rate was 60%. Factor analysis was conducted using the SPSS. Results showed reliability statistics for 27 entrepreneurial characteristics at 0.977, which indicates high reliability. However, of these 27 entrepreneurial characteristics, 26 have the communality values ranging from between 0.759 to 0.968. Value of KMO for 26 entrepreneurial characteristics at 0.917, indicates that the sample taken to process factor analysis was statistically significant. Three entrepreneurial character components explain around 38%, 36% & 15% of the total variation respectively. All these three character components explain 89% of the total variation. According to factor scores, entrepreneurial character component 2, 1 and 3 have been ranked into first, second and third respectively. It is concluded that out of 27 entrepreneurial characteristics, 26 are applicable for entrepreneurs in SER. These entrepreneurial characteristics can be cascaded into three character components.
 
KEYWORDS: Entrepreneurial Characteristics, Factor Score Method, South Eastern Region, Sri Lanka JEL CLASSIFICATIONS: C38, F64, L26 FULL TEXT