The role of cultural intelligence in the impact of the big five personality traits on individual entrepreneurial orientation

Entrepreneurship encompasses a series of activities wherein individuals or organizations identify and assess innovative business opportunities, endeavor to generate value by assuming risks and uncertainties, and initiate changes or advancements in products, services, productivity, or overall competitiveness. Individual entrepreneurial orientation refers to a concept that incorporates an individual's traits of risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness. This thesis explores the relationship between the big five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness to experience) and cultural intelligence, as well as individual entrepreneurial orientation. The study employed a quantitative research approach. The sample of the study consisted of 454 international students enrolled in undergraduate programs at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. Research data were gathered through a questionnaire and subjected to various analyses, including scale validity and reliability, demographic and descriptive statistical analyses, as well as correlation and regression analyses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Bootstrap technique were employed in the analysis. The findings of the research indicate that the big five personality traits and cultural intelligence positively contribute to individual entrepreneurial orientation. Furthermore, cultural intelligence was found to have a moderating role in the relationship between the big five personality traits and individual entrepreneurial orientation. The thesis concludes by highlighting the contributions of the research to the existing literature. It also provides recommendations for future researchers and offers suggestions for practitioners in the workplace.