PI Training Impact
The PI Training creates an impact through increasing entrepreneurial success. Learn more about the effectiveness of the PI Training.
Introduction
The impact of Personal Initiative (PI) Training is manifold. First, it contributes to changing the mindset of entrepreneurs, which enables them to identify new opportunities, act on them quickly, develop better ideas on how to influence their environment, get more feedback and persist in the pursuit of their new ideas. This in turn allows participants to generate higher levels of sales and profits.
Second, by providing an effective entrepreneurship training in low- and middle-income economies all over the world, we support the growth of local businesses, and thereby contribute to poverty reduction.
PI Training Results
The PI Training is based on scientific evidence, and research meets the highest scientific quality standards by utilizing randomized controlled trials (RCTs). RCTs are the only approach that allows to draw causal conclusions and to better understand the conditions and mechanisms by which entrepreneurship trainings affect business success. PI Training has been implemented in the context of several internationally funded research projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. PI Training is evaluated using multiple measurement waves. In Togo, for example, its impact was assessed over a period up to seven years. Below, you find results from Leuphana University’s research in Togo (see Campos et al., 2017).
The word on PI Training has also spread and researchers and practitioners have adopted the PI Training and other psychological training interventions as one of the most promising avenues to fight poverty. For example, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) has included this approach in their “Best Bets” Report, advising policymakers and international organizations to use this approach to tackle poverty.
Deep Dive: Why is the Training Effective?
The PI Training has proven to be effective in increasing business performance. Recent evaluations have even shown that the training maintains its effectiveness seven years after the training, with participants having significantly higher sales and profits compared to a control group (Campos et al., 2024). Beyond measuring the impact of the training, the research group around Prof. Frese have identified several mechanisms that help explain why the training is as effective.
Participating in the PI Training leads to increases in various factors that impact business performance. On a behavioral level, participants of the PI Training increase their level of personal initiative, they become more innovative, are more likely to diversify the products or services they offer and invest more labor and capital into their businesses. Additionally, even though good business practices are not a focus of the training, participants improved on this level. Lastly, through becoming more proactive, they also gain more access to financial services. These changes in turn explain why and how the training is effective.
The results over the years have shown that the training is effective – but only if it is implemented correctly. While the training generally produces very positive results, if the trainers are not trained correctly or the curriculum is not adjusted well to the target group, results may vary. With our extensive experience on designing and implementing PI Training interventions, we want to ensure that the training creates the most impact possible.