A Qualitative Study on the Differences and Similarities between the Management Practices of Business Degree Holder and Non-College Degree Holder Entrepreneurs

Abstract

There have been numerous debates on the importance of college education on entrepreneurial success. A business degree is expected to offer students the chance to hone their entrepreneurial, management, and business skills. However, scholars argue that a college degree is not necessary for business success. As such, this study aims to compare entrepreneurs with formal business education and entrepreneurs who succeeded without a college degree. It answers the research question, “What are the differences and similarities between the management practices of business degree holder and non-college degree holder entrepreneurs? This study utilizes a qualitative design. The researcher conducted a series of interviews among three business degree graduates and three non-college degree holder entrepreneurs. After which, the study made use of a qualitative content analysis to determine and compare the different management practices of these entrepreneurs. Results show that business degree holder entrepreneurs and non-college degree holder entrepreneurs differ on their (1) strategic management approach, which include their organizational structure preference, decision making strategy, and management team choices; (2) employee performance evaluation technique; and (3) organizational communication channel preference. On the other hand, the similarities between the management practices of these two groups of entrepreneurs include (a) some of the aspects of their human resource management such as their recruitment and selection process, training strategies, and motivation management; and (b) their communicational management strategies including their communication media channel usage, development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships, and encouragement of team work culture.