Entrepreneurial drive beyond the need for achievement: a point of difference in South Asian entrepreneurial drive, inspiration and motivation

Entrepreneurial drive or aspiration is known as entrepreneurial motivation (EM) which is fundamental to entrepreneurial activities and a central theme of the literature since the inception and evolution of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship models that are in existence in South Asia are often based on the western ideological assumptions of the need for achievement (N-Ach) and personality trait theory. Research on how socio-cultural factors influence EM in the South Asian context, where entrepreneurs are fashioned with unique social means of existence, is indispensable. The exploratory nature of this socio-culture-based study embraces the fundamental philosophy of subjectivism. A qualitative research methodology and inductive holistic case study approach including grounded theory analysis, allowed context sensitive realities of EM in Sri Lanka to emerge. Findings of this study suggest that EM in Sri Lanka is rooted not only in a need for individual achievement, but also in the conscious or unconscious need to satisfy a sense of social intimacy. Finally, this study recommends that if people matter in entrepreneurship, then the cultural context of people must have an impact on EM in the South Asian societies.