The Prediction of Entrepreneurial Alertness Among Rural Cooperatives Based on Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Passion

In the context of rural resource constraints, how different dimensions of social capital and entrepreneurial passion affect entrepreneurial alertness is an important issue worth studying. The purpose of this study was to predict the entrepreneurial alertness of rural cooperative members based on social capital based on the mediator role of entrepreneurial passion. The research population was composed of 3,851 members of rural cooperatives in Kermanshah province, Iran. A standard questionnaire was used for data collection. Formal validity, convergent validity, and divergent validity were checked for the questionnaire, and its reliability was confirmed by a pilot test and the calculation of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (.82-.90). The SPSS22 and SmartPLS1 software suites were used to analyze the data. The survey methodology was used to achieve the results and performance. The findings showed that social capital (p = .428) and entrepreneurial passion (p = .383) had a positive effect on entrepreneurial alertness. Also, the mediator role of entrepreneurial passion in the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial alertness was confirmed. This study contributes to an understanding of the entrepreneurial alertness in rural cooperatives by asking members making up social capital how they perceive the main factors that can better enable sustainable ventures to thrive and play a role in sustainable transitions. The purpose of this study was to predict the entrepreneurial alertness of rural cooperative members based on social capital based on the mediator role of entrepreneurial passion. The research population was composed of 3851 members of rural cooperatives in Kermanshah province, Iran. A standard questionnaire was used for data collection. Formal validity, convergent validity, and divergent validity were checked for the questionnaire, and its reliability was confirmed by a pilot test and the calculation of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.82-0.90). The SPSS22 and SmartPLS1 software suites were used to analyze the data. The survey methodology was used to achieve the results and performance. The findings showed that social capital (p = 0.428) and entrepreneurial passion (p = 0.383) had a positive effect on entrepreneurial alertness. Also, the mediator role of entrepreneurial passion in the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial alertness was confirmed. This study contributes to an understanding of the entrepreneurial alertness in rural cooperatives by asking members making up social capital how they perceive the main factors that can better enable sustainable ventures to thrive and play a role in sustainable transitions. This study faced some limitations. First, the samples in this study were selected from a single province (Kermanshah province). Different provinces may have differences in culture, rural values, and social morality. Future research could obtain samples from multiple provinces to incorporate and compare these differences. Second, this study used cross-sectional data. Considering that the outcome of social capital may be delayed, cooperative members can take several years to prepare for entrepreneurship. Future research could conduct investigations over a more extended period to trace the effects of entrepreneurial passion and social capital on entrepreneurial alertness.