VOCE - Valuable Observations on Critical Elements in Entrepreneurial Coaching

This doctoral thesis is the culmination of three years of dedicated research. It focuses on the entrepreneurial support ecosystem, with the overall research aim of deepening the understanding of how entrepreneurial coaching demonstrates its effectiveness. Entrepreneurial coaching is defined as a developmental intervention aimed at entrepreneurs facing critical stages of the entrepreneurial process, such as start-up or failure, with the ultimate goal of fostering their independence in finding their own solution. The effectiveness of coaching has long attracted attention in various academic fields. Over time, a body of knowledge has emerged, supporting the notion that coaching effectiveness manifests in the generation or enhancement of both personal and professional outcomes. However, existing studies that assess coaching effectiveness do not explain how these outcomes are generated, nor how critical success factors interact to influence these outcomes. The thesis comprises three distinct studies, representing a synthesis of the candidate’s learning process throughout the doctoral program. The first paper is a systematic literature review aimed at organizing the fragmented and often confused body of knowledge on entrepreneurial coaching, which is frequently conflated with other forms of support interventions. From this study, an organizational framework emerges, which includes four dimensions of entrepreneurship through which coaching has been studied: entrepreneurial process stage, target, context, and outcomes. Furthermore, by combining these four dimensions, the study identifies five distinct types of entrepreneurial coaching, highlighting its multifaceted role. Finally, a research agenda is developed to sustain the conceptual identity of entrepreneurial coaching over time. The second and third studies are empirical in nature. Their objectives are to identify, respectively, the critical success factors of entrepreneurial coaching as perceived by professional coaches, and the various interactions between key factors and perceived outcomes from the perspective of start-up entrepreneurs. The results highlight that perceived coaching effectiveness is driven by success factors such as coach professionalism and authenticity, the entrepreneur’s motivation, and the coaching relationship, which should remain informal in nature. Additionally, the studies identify deterrent factors to perceived effectiveness that act as barriers to outcome recognition. These barriers stem from a weak coaching culture both at a personal level (among entrepreneurs) and at an organizational level (within support structures such as accelerators and incubators). The thesis contributes to the entrepreneurial coaching literature by presenting a theoretical framework that identifies the key success factors of coaching interventions and their interactions in influencing the generation of positive outcomes. It highlights that coaches and start-up entrepreneurs hold both converging and diverging perceptions regarding the factors that promote coaching effectiveness. For coaches, elements of professionalism and specialized training are crucial. For entrepreneurs, the behavioral dimension of the coach and their authenticity are fundamental, as these foster an informal relationship that engages the entrepreneur on a personal level, thereby enhancing their perception of the intervention’s effectiveness.