Entrepreneurial competencies and readiness of extension service beneficiaries of a state university in Negros Occidental / Desiree Joy D. Perez

Dissertation (Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management) -- University of Negros Occidental- Recoletos, April 2020

Entrepreneurship as a driver and pillar of a country's economy improves the
quality of life of the people. It is an alternative for financial independence and self-
sustainability. With this, it has become a prominent goal in response to the current
economic challenges and to reduce poverty. Central to the success of starting an
entrepreneurial activity is the competency and readiness of an individual as it allows
them to perform and sustain various tasks related to it. To effectively and efficiently lead
an entrepreneurial activity, one should be competent and ready. To date, enterprise
development in the country is beset with challenges like the ease of starting a business
particularly communities in the rural areas.
The current study aimed to assess the level of entrepreneurial competencies and
extent of entrepreneurial readiness of the extension and community service beneficiaries
of a state university in Negros Occidental. Also, it seeks to find out whether a significant
relationship exists between these two variables. A researcher-made questionnaire was
employed to generate the data and administered to 179 beneficiaries of the training
conducted by the institution. Gathered data were analyzed using descriptive-comparative
and correlational research design. To realize the descriptive objectives, frequency,
percentage, mean, and standard deviation were employed. Meanwhile, a test of
normality was done and the statistical tools without the assumption of normality such as
Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis were employed in the analysis of data involving
inferential statistics. Furthermore, a Spearman Rank Correlation was used to determine
the significant relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and readiness.
The findings of the study revealed that, in general, the level of entrepreneurial
competencies of the ECS beneficiaries was moderate. Of the three (3) indicators,
knowledge and skills rated moderate only. Meanwhile, the extent of entrepreneurial
readiness rated high, that is evident of the consistency in the high ratings of both the
motivation and intention to engage in entrepreneurship. Significant findings can be seen
in profile characteristics such as educational attainment, and entrepreneurial training.
Respondents who have higher educational level and have undergone entrepreneurial
training are competent and ready for an entrepreneurial activity as compared to others.
Likewise, the result revealed that a relationship exists between the entrepreneurial
competencies and readiness. Accordingly, the result is indicative that entrepreneurial
competency is associated with entrepreneurial readiness leading to entrepreneurial
engagement. It highlighted the role of competency to the readiness of becoming an entrepreneur.
In the quest of improving the community's general well-being to become self-
sufficient and self-reliant, the study offers direct evidence that necessitates inclusion of
appropriate business education and entrepreneurial training in the existing program of the
ECS unit. It suggests that education and entrepreneurial training have a valuable effect
on the competency and readiness of the beneficiaries. Those who have higher
educational attainment and have undergone entrepreneurial training were found to be
entrepreneurially competent and ready. Training on transferred technology is only one
aspect and there is a need to improve the economic advancement of the beneficiaries
from the lens of an entrepreneur to make the outcome more fitted in the business context.
Hence, the findings of the study provided baseline information in designing
entrepreneurship development plan that can be integrated to the existing program of the
extension and community service unit ofthe institution.