Presenter Shoaib Muhammad Balouch Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan What Drives the Self-Entrepreneurs? Revival of Incentive Theory of Motivation in the Context of Freelancers Presenter Shoaib Muhammad Balouch Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Co-Author Prof. Dr. Massod-ul-Hassan Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan

Introduction This study aims to find the motivations behind Pakistani freelancers. Fourth industrial revolution has revolutionized every field of life like artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, genetics, biotechnology and CIT to name a few. These revolutionary developments not only demanding the new skill sets from the upcoming workforce but also changing the way the work has been done in the past. The flexible working arrangement is the top-rated trend and its impact is already changing the working environment as new technologies are enabling workplace innovations in organizations.

Introduction This changing trend gave birth to a new job market that is called freelance marketplace where freelancers are connected through the internet to provide different services. Freelancers on the internet are providing their services in all those areas that can be done remotely. Freelancers working through internet provide their services on hourly and on short-term projects basis to different clients. Freelancing also reducing the financial cost of the organizations and it is the most promising form of employment that fully meets the challenges of the modern information society

Freelancing in Pakistan Pakistan stands on the 3rd place in the list of countries providing freelance services with 11 % market share Pakistani professionals with different skills sets are knocking at the door of international market to provide their services remotely through internet. Freelancers share many characteristics but there are different motivations behind the adoption of freelancing as a career and this motivation of a freelancer can be intrinsic or extrinsic.

Underlying Theories Self-determination theory For Better understanding of different motivational factors the following two theories have been incorporated Self-determination theory The basic idea of SDT is that an individual continuously faces the vibrant interaction with the world around him, this interaction either support the need satisfaction or thwart it and as a result of this person-environment interaction the people become motivated or de-motivated. Incentive theory of motivation According to this theory, people are pulled towards specific behavior because of positive incentives and rewards associated with it.

Methodology Respondents who are engaged in online-based activities like internet-based freelancing feel more familiar and comfortable with online interaction for investigation. Semi-Structured Interview had been conducted online from 41 freelancers and open-ended questions were asked to get detailed answers. For the generation of themes and categories, content analysis was done. In this process, the categories are constructed, and relevant content is coded in these categories from the raw data

Categories and Themes Category Motivation for starting Freelancing %age of Respondents Current motivation after some experience Extrinsic Monetary Reward (18) 44% Monetary Reward (10) 24% Intrinsic Work-Family Balance (8) 20% Work-Family Balance (3) 7% Flexibility and Autonomy (4) 10% Flexibility and Autonomy (8) For developing the skills (5) 12% For developing the skills (1) 2% Unemployment (2) 5% ------ 0% Higher return as compare to conventional jobs (4) Higher return as compare to conventional jobs (19) 46%

Findings Most of our respondents said that they started freelancing for money and majority of them is still motivated because of monetary reward. Word Cloud of the respondent’s answers shows “money” is the most repeated word in whole document.

Word Tree of “Money”

Findings 78 % of the freelancers were motivated because of extrinsic factors as compared to the 22 % freelancers who were motivated because of intrinsic factors. Money as the major motivational factor as the motivation of 44% of the freelancers is monetary reward for starting this career and 46 % freelancers stated that higher return as compare to conventional job is their motivation These facts support our argument that incentive theory of motivation best describes the behavior of freelancers although it was rejected in the conventional setting of employee-employer relation.

Recommendations Job Posts on freelancing websites should be clearly indicates the monetary benefits associated with that task. It will attract highly skilled freelancers. Freelancing has also proved its tendency to reduce the unemployment rate. Freelance training program on national level can help in solving unemployment issue because strengthening the capacities of individual entrepreneurs is a good strategy for economic growth. English language training should be a part of freelance training because many skilled professionals are not able to start freelancing because of language barrier.

Recommendations Professional freelancing as a subject can be introduced in all Masters and BS Programs to prepare students for this new working environment IT industry in Pakistan can grow by promoting the freelance working environment and by hiring Pakistani freelancers.

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