Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions - Assignment Example

Individual Coursework Questions 1.1. My personal definition of “entrepreneurial,” or rather, “an entrepreneur,” is that an entrepreneur is a person who can identify an opportunity to provide a product or service in a new way, and develop and follow through with a strategy to profitably take advantage of that opportunity. This definition comes from experience in business studies and observing other entrepreneurs, but is very similar to the definition of “entrepreneur” first given in 1936 by Joseph Schumpeter. In that definition, an entrepreneur is someone who is responsible for a “discontinuous” economic development – or in other words, a new business idea – that comes about from that person’s putting together a new combination of goods, services, quality, methods of production, new sources of supply, or new markets (Schumpeter, 1936 in Bull & Willard, 1993: 185-186). 1.2. An example of my entrepreneurial inclinations that may be considered particularly relevant to a position in another company is a routine I developed in the course of working as a cashier at a convenience store. After observing the habits of regular customers for some time, I realized that they usually moved in a consistent pattern through the store, and bought the same things most every time they visited. By altering the store displays slightly on a regular basis – not enough to confuse these customers, but just enough to put different products in their view when they looked for their favourites – I was able to encourage them to try new things and increase their purchases, which of course helped the store’s revenues. 1.3. My being entrepreneurial benefits the company because the definition of an entrepreneur is not necessarily limited to ‘one who begins his or her own enterprise’. As my example above shows, there are entrepreneurial opportunities available at any level. My entrepreneurial attitudes are guided by my past experiences, and modified by the employment situation I find myself in (Davidsson, 1995: 5). Knowing this, I can apply them to whatever extent the boundaries of my role allow. This is important to the company, because achievement motivation, self-confidence in one’s own abilities, and comfort with being placed in positions with defined areas of control or responsibility all combined with an entrepreneurial orientation have been shown to positively impact firm performance, as my small example above also shows (Poon, et al., 2006: 72-73). Thus my entrepreneurship is a good fit and an added value for this company. 2. There are many small things that I can consider personal weaknesses, but taken all together they point to bigger issues with some of the five major personality dimensions – Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (Zhao & Seibert, 2006: 260-262) – that either help or present obstacles to my entrepreneurship. The three that are my biggest weaknesses are Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Agreeableness. Extraversion is necessary for an entrepreneur because of the wide range of people with whom one must interact (Zhao & Seibert, 2006: 260-261). I am not naturally an extrovert; I am not “shy,” but it is not my usual nature to initiate an interaction with someone else. That trait leads to a bit more neuroticism, which is a tendency to experience negative emotions, and a bit more agreeableness, or willingness to compromise, than is helpful to entrepreneurial aims. Being an entrepreneur subjects one to an unstructured work environment more than a ‘regular job’ would, and this can lead to anxiety (Zhao & Seibert, 2006: 260). Being agreeable is usually considered a good trait, but too much can handicap one’s ability to make hard decisions and look out for one’s self-interest (Zhao & Seibert, 2006: 261). Overcoming these weaknesses is relatively easy. First, recognising that I have them is important. Second, keeping a firm focus on my entrepreneurial goals helps to overcome or at least modify natural tendencies that may be obstacles. For example, I can ask myself, “In what way should I interact with this person in order to achieve the result I want?” Perhaps I should be more assertive and less agreeable, perhaps not. Which is another important point: It is important to study and gather as much information as possible, and ‘get to know’ the people I have to engage. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses; knowing what they are so that they can work together is a good path to success. 3. My two best roles in a team are either those of an Idea Generator or a Specialist, because they help to avoid the weakest parts of my personality, and make the best of my imagination and attention to detail. Being an Idea Generator is valuable in a team, because as has been the case in many team exercises, finding a ‘place to start’ is often the hardest part of beginning an enterprise. Not all ideas will be worthwhile, of course, but I find it easy to produce several alternatives to a particular question; this gives the team a direction in which to focus, and then of course the interaction of the team members helps to find which idea is the best, or generates a new idea from the suggestions I have presented. Once a plan has been made, I tend to switch to the role of Specialist; as I explained in the previous question, I am more comfortable being ‘introverted’, or working on my own, so I strive hard to stay organised and focused on my part of the overall project. Because confidence comes from competence, I put great effort into gathering information and study, and as a result, usually become an expert, or at least adept, in my area of responsibility. The role I am least likely to assume is that of a Moderator. Being a moderator not only requires an ‘extrovert’ personality willing to initiate engagement with other people, which is not my natural personality, but also requires a great deal of competence in others’ areas of responsibility in order to understand their points of view. Doing that takes effort away from gaining the competence I feel I need in my own responsibilities, and from my point of view, might hurt the team overall. References Bull, I., and Willard, G.E. (1993) “Towards a Theory of Entrepreneurship”. Journal of Business Venturing, 8: 183-195. Davidsson, P. (1995) “Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions”. Proceedings of the RENT IX Workshop, Piacenza, Italy, 23-24 November 1995. [online] Available from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00002076/01/RENT_IX.pdf. Poon, J.M.L., Ainuddin, R.A., and Junit, S. (2006) “Effects of Self-concept Traits and Entrepreneurial Orientation on Firm Performance”. International Small Business Journal, 24(1): 61-82. Zhao, H., and Siebert, S.E. (2006) “The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Entrepreneurial Status: A Meta-Analytical Review”. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2): 259-271. Read More