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Research was conducted in Western Australian Government‐funded Child Care Centres; and results suggest that the global level of job satisfaction of the directors was high; however no background variable was significantly related to job satisfaction. Intrinsic motivators were perceived to influence both the level of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of individuals and were more important for members of the plateaued group, while the groups were not different on extrinsic motivators. The conclusion is that people should be given the opportunity of working in other centres and in the central administration office, allowing directors to face new challenges and have new interests thus lowering the level of job dissatisfaction.

In the past decade or so, workplace organisation and restructuring processes, have been subjected to the most intense scrutiny. Driven by rapidly intensifying competitive pressures, work organisations sought increased flexibility, especially from labour, as they struggled to maintain market shares in an economic environment increasingly characterised by excess in labour supply. Pressures for change were probably most evident in the public sector where economic and ideological forces combined to limit the growth of government services and increase their exposure to competitive forces.

It is apparent that there exists no such thing as one identifiable and universal entrepreneurial culture. Furthermore, the key to initiating the process of entrepreneurship lies within the individual members of society, and the degree to which a spirit of enterprise exists, or can be stimulated. The key question is, what triggers the release of this invaluable enterprising spirit? This paper seeks to make a small contribution towards an explanation by focusing on one aspect – the relationship of certain cultural and societal factors. It is argued that there is a significant relationship between entrepreneurship and cultural specificity. This has been progressed through a cross‐country study that involved Australia, Slovenia, Mexico, North America, Finland, Scotland, South Africa and Kenya. Following a review of the variables that contribute to culture in general and entrepreneurial culture in particular, a sample of findings from the study are integrated to illustrate key categories of analysis. The aim is to instigate a shift in thinking from universal generalisations relative to entrepreneurship, to a deeper understanding of the symbiotic relationship between entrepreneurship and culture.