Comparing how entrepreneurs and managers represent the elements of the business model canvas

This paper uses self-efficacy to compare how entrepreneurs and managers represent the nine elements of the business model canvas (BMC; Osterwalder, 2004). A six-item efficacy scale was developed to measure each element. Principal components analysis was conducted on the total scale scores of 108 Irish entrepreneurs and 63 Irish managers separately; two components emerged for entrepreneurs, and a different two components surfaced for managers. The self-efficacy data suggest that mental representations of the BMC may be two-dimensional and that they may differ between entrepreneurs and managers. This study extends the reach of the BMC to the individual level and also extends previous research on self-efficacy differences between entrepreneurs and managers.