Volume 12, Issue 2 (12-2025)
J Entrepreneurial Strategies Agric 2025, 12(2): 44-59 |
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Olyani M, Jamshidi O, Razaghi Borkhani F, Shafiee F. (2025). Designing an Opportunity-Oriented Model of the Rural Entrepreneurship Process (Case study: Western Counties of Golestan Province). J Entrepreneurial Strategies Agric. 12(2), 44-59. doi:10.61882/jea.2025.431
URL: http://jea.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-431-en.html
URL: http://jea.sanru.ac.ir/article-1-431-en.html
1- Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran
Abstract: (198 Views)
Background: Rural entrepreneurship, as one of the fundamental components of sustainable development, plays an important role in creating employment, reducing poverty, increasing income, and preventing the migration of rural residents. However, the potential capacities for entrepreneurship have not yet been fully realized in many rural areas of Iran, including Golestan Province, due to the lack of comprehensive and localized models for identifying and exploiting opportunities. The present study aimed to design an opportunity-oriented model of the rural entrepreneurship process in the western counties of Golestan Province. With an emphasis on the roles of entrepreneurial alertness, human capital, entrepreneurial spirit, environmental support, and networking skills, this study attempts to explain the mechanisms affecting the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the rural context. Golestan Province, especially its western counties, has a high capacity for entrepreneurship development due to its rich natural resources, climatic diversity, and young labor force. However, the absence of suitable models for identifying and utilizing opportunities is considered one of the serious obstacles to the development path. Based on conducted studies, the rural areas of Gomishan, Bandar Torkaman, and Bandar Gaz counties are at the lowest level of development in Golestan Province and also have the lowest per capita agricultural land. These conditions not only indicate serious limitations in the productive resources of these areas but also double the necessity of identifying hidden capacities and their targeted utilization within the framework of rural entrepreneurship policies. Therefore, the opportunity-oriented model of the rural entrepreneurship process, focusing on the identification and exploitation of local opportunities, can provide a conceptual framework for a better understanding of this process. This model emphasizes the use of local resources and sustainable development. The western counties of Golestan, with their economic and social diversity, have provided a suitable setting for examining this model. The present article aims to explain this model by examining factors influencing opportunity recognition, the ways of their exploitation, and the role of local institutions in facilitating this process. The results of this study can guide policymakers in developing entrepreneurship and improving the conditions of rural areas.
Methods: Considering that this study seeks to present a suitable model of opportunity-based rural entrepreneurship, it is applied research in terms of the purpose, non-experimental regarding variable control, and falls within the category of survey research with an overall quantitative approach concerning data collection. In this research, the statistical population included rural entrepreneurs (owners of rural industries and businesses) in the western part of Golestan Province, which amounted to 250 individuals or businesses according to the statistics of the Golestan Agricultural Jihad Organization in 2024. A sample size of 144 people was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table, and the required data were collected using random sampling with proportional allocation based on the western counties of Golestan Province. The main research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, the face validity of which was confirmed by an academic expert panel, and its convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed using the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) index. The reliability of the research scales was estimated at a desirable level by calculating Composite Reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients.
Results: The results of data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) showed significant and directional relationships among the research variables. Specifically, entrepreneurial alertness had the greatest impact on the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities among rural entrepreneurs in the western counties of Golestan Province. This variable acted as an intermediary link between human capital, entrepreneurial spirit, and networking skills, and played a key role in the process of forming innovative ideas. Based on the path coefficients and model fit indices, about 41.7% of the changes in the variable of opportunity recognition were explained by three factors: entrepreneurial alertness, human capital, and social networks. Furthermore, entrepreneurial spirit and networking skills indirectly influenced opportunity recognition through their impact on entrepreneurial alertness. On the other hand, the results of the model showed that the environmental support variable (including legal, financial, and educational support) did not significantly affect the entrepreneurship process. This result indicates the weakness of institutional structures and the lack of efficient support mechanisms in the rural areas of Golestan Province.
Conclusion: Given the results, policymakers and planners in the field of rural entrepreneurship are recommended to design programs to strengthen entrepreneurial alertness and human capital in rural areas. These programs could include skill-based training, the development of communication networks, and the promotion of an entrepreneurial spirit among rural residents. Additionally, creating suitable platforms for environmental support, such as facilitating access to financial resources, technology, and information, can improve the opportunity recognition process and, ultimately, contribute to the development of rural entrepreneurship. Finally, further research focusing on the role of environmental support and other factors influencing rural entrepreneurship can enrich and complement the findings in this field.
Methods: Considering that this study seeks to present a suitable model of opportunity-based rural entrepreneurship, it is applied research in terms of the purpose, non-experimental regarding variable control, and falls within the category of survey research with an overall quantitative approach concerning data collection. In this research, the statistical population included rural entrepreneurs (owners of rural industries and businesses) in the western part of Golestan Province, which amounted to 250 individuals or businesses according to the statistics of the Golestan Agricultural Jihad Organization in 2024. A sample size of 144 people was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table, and the required data were collected using random sampling with proportional allocation based on the western counties of Golestan Province. The main research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, the face validity of which was confirmed by an academic expert panel, and its convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed using the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) index. The reliability of the research scales was estimated at a desirable level by calculating Composite Reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients.
Results: The results of data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) showed significant and directional relationships among the research variables. Specifically, entrepreneurial alertness had the greatest impact on the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities among rural entrepreneurs in the western counties of Golestan Province. This variable acted as an intermediary link between human capital, entrepreneurial spirit, and networking skills, and played a key role in the process of forming innovative ideas. Based on the path coefficients and model fit indices, about 41.7% of the changes in the variable of opportunity recognition were explained by three factors: entrepreneurial alertness, human capital, and social networks. Furthermore, entrepreneurial spirit and networking skills indirectly influenced opportunity recognition through their impact on entrepreneurial alertness. On the other hand, the results of the model showed that the environmental support variable (including legal, financial, and educational support) did not significantly affect the entrepreneurship process. This result indicates the weakness of institutional structures and the lack of efficient support mechanisms in the rural areas of Golestan Province.
Conclusion: Given the results, policymakers and planners in the field of rural entrepreneurship are recommended to design programs to strengthen entrepreneurial alertness and human capital in rural areas. These programs could include skill-based training, the development of communication networks, and the promotion of an entrepreneurial spirit among rural residents. Additionally, creating suitable platforms for environmental support, such as facilitating access to financial resources, technology, and information, can improve the opportunity recognition process and, ultimately, contribute to the development of rural entrepreneurship. Finally, further research focusing on the role of environmental support and other factors influencing rural entrepreneurship can enrich and complement the findings in this field.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, Entrepreneurial awareness, Entrepreneurial spirit, Opportunity recognition
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