Am I an Entrepreneur - Research Paper Example

Am I an Entrepreneur? GET test for self assessment and analysis of entrepreneur traits College …………….. Date : ……………………………………….. Discussion of my own assessment across 5 entrepreneurial dimensions, social, and environmental influences General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test, which was developed from the work of Johnson and Caird (1988), is one of the most useful, comprehensive, accessible and easy tests to administer and assess the entrepreneurial tendencies (Fayolle and Klandt, 2006, p. 48). The GET test conducted for me gave me a satisfying result that I have basic enterprising qualities. Out of the total 54 questionnaire designed to assess five dimensions of the personality, it was found that my enterprising tendencies for two dimensions turned to be ‘high’ and for the other three it was ‘medium’. As Frese and Chell (2000) argued, even though additional work is required to measure to verify the psychometric properties of the test results, some studies have proved that GET has criterion, and convergent validity and good internal consistency (p. 22). According to this view, I strongly believe that my GET test results are positive and I possess entrepreneurial skills and tendencies. Out of the 12 items of ‘Need for achievement’ the first dimension of GET test, my enterprising tendency was high. Being future oriented, optimistic, strong in task orientation, restless and energetic, effective manager and responsible for achieving goals, I am having high propensity to the entrepreneurial skills. As I am prone to working alone, to express myself to have strong need to act in own way, and being individualist, the second dimension in the GET test -Need for autonomy/independence which included 6 items- gave me a score of ‘high’. According to Strazdiene and Garalis (2008), an enterprising person who shows high motivation level, will be energetic, liking leadership, planning and acting on his own ways. He is independent as well as active and dynamic (p. 134). As far as the score of Need for Autonomy is concerned, I am energetic and I am having leadership qualities that are highly required for a successful entrepreneur. The third dimension of GET test was Creative Tendency, comprised of 6 items, which gave me a score of ‘medium’. Strazdiene and Garalis (2008) found that an enterprising person will be restless with his ideas, innovative thoughts and he will use imagination for solving problems. He sees world differently (p. 134). As I am not good enough in imaginative and innovative business spheres, I suppose it will be good idea to get involved in those businesses that don’t necessarily need high imaginative and innovative power. I was about to score high in the fourth dimension- Calculating risk taking with 12 items in questionnaire-, but, missing one point gave me a score of ‘medium’. Risk taking is the very basic quality of an effective entrepreneur because; he peruses opportunities and seeks information and expertise to assess whether it would be a better decision to engage in a risky opportunity (Strazdiene and Garalis, 2008, p. 134). According to Brockhaus (1987), entrepreneurs are high risk takers. The final dimension is internal locus control that included 12 items of questionnaire. The score I gained in the fifth dimension was ‘medium’. My ‘medium’ score in the internal locus shows that I have relatively less inner state control than outer state control. I am not fully able to seek control own life (Strazdiene and Garalis, 2008, p. 134). Even though the last three dimensions gave me a score of ‘’medium’, the overall performance says that I have good entrepreneurial skills Interview summary with the entrepreneur I found Mr Tass Zorbas as highly efficient and successful entrepreneur in the interview I conducted with him. He has extensive experience of around 34 years in window treatment and this long experience might have contributed him much outstanding capabilities in his enterprising career. He is highly experienced in management. A good manager can be an excellent entrepreneur this is what I perceived while I interviewed him. According to Cunningham and Lischeron (1991), an entrepreneur is a person who organizes or manages a business undertaking by bearing the risk for the sake of earning profit (p. 51). Tass Zorbas is an excellent entrepreneur as well as an efficient manager. His family background brought me to think that ‘Great man school of thought’ may not be true with everybody. ‘Great man school’ of thought suggests that an entrepreneur is born as he is. He is not charismatic. He is born with entrepreneurial skills and that is why he is great (Cunningham and Lischeron, 1991, p. 46). But, Mr Zorbas was not an inborn entrepreneur. Neither his parents nor his relatives were entrepreneurs, but he became entrepreneur by necessity. When there was an emerging demand for vertical blinds and he partnered to work with his in-law, the opportunities made him a successful entrepreneur. He designed and developed vertical blinds, he functioned as a marketing manager by introducing his product to Australian market, he achieved product recognition through demonstration and he faced challenges of distribution too. He was first an ‘opportunity seeker’, then ‘product developer’, then ‘manager’, then innovator and finally ‘risk bearer’ too. This career development can be viewed as similar to that Schumpeter’s theory about entrepreneurship. According to him, entrepreneurship includes 1) developing new products, 2) developing new method of production, 3), identifying new market, 4) discovering new sources of supply, 5) developing new organizational forms (Brockhaus, 1987, p. 1). While interviewing him, he expressed his view about the key success factors that are strategic network, loyal employees and marketing strategies. A significant point I noted was that he often will be away from his family affairs and so on for the sake of business. The interview showed that innovation and risk taking played pivotal role in Mr Zorba’s successful entrepreneurship career. Even when he is old, he seems to take risks more positively and he has always challenging mind. Brockhaus (1980) hold the view that an entrepreneur is mostly directed towards the measurement of an individual’s perception and bearing of the risk (p. 509). Analysis of the entrepreneur’s traits, family, social, economic and environmental influences Mr Tass Zorba took the General Enterprising Tendency test and the result was very accurate that he was found to be a perfect ‘entrepreneur’. He scored 51 out of the total of 54 items in all five dimensions in the GET test. According to Casson (1982- quoted from Strazdiene and Garalis, 2008), the typical qualities of a successful entrepreneur are his ability to bear risk, innovativeness, knowledge of market functioning, marketing skills, business management skills and ability to cooperate. All these characters can be found in Mr Zorba. His GET test results incorporate all these factors plus various other personal qualities, skills, abilities and personalities. Mr Zorba is highly willing to work 365 days a year and his passion is to work hard and achieve the goals. Cromie (2000) regarded Need for Achievement as the key entrepreneurial attribute that is a person’s strive hard to attain success and it is way of life rather than a simple drive (p. 16). Mr Zorba is an effective entrepreneur because he is passionate to work harder in order to achieve the goals and it is like his way of life. He has scored ‘high’ from the first dimension- Need for achievement- Entrepreneurs want to be in control and many entrepreneurs experience difficulty to work under a restrictive environment. Restriction stifles his creativity. Normally, entrepreneurs tend to avoid restrictions imposed by rulers, policies and social norms etc (Cromie, 2000, p. 21). Mr Zorba showed his enterprising tendency to be free and to be independent. In the third dimension of GET test, Mr. Zorba was seen to be very creative and innovative, because, his vertical blinds business was an illuminating example of how he brought tremendous changes through innovation and creativity. Successful entrepreneurs will develop new ideas, spot market opportunities, or combine ideas and available resources in different ways to create value (Cromie, 2000, p. 20). Zorba’s business example was full of creativity, innovation and he combined his new ideas and opportunities to explore new markets. As far as risk taking and internal locus are concerned, Mr. Zorba has high propensity to take risk and he was self confident. Zorba was willing to accept risk for gaining the vast opportunities that he will be able to explore automatically once he is successful to bear the risk. According to Cromie (2000), actively seeking risk is different from risk averse. Entrepreneurs cannot avoid risk and some of them are willing to accept the risk for what they believe in (p 19). Family seems to be less influenced on Mr.Zorba’s business life. Same time, social, economic and environmental factors will influence his only when those factors are some how related to his business matters. He was concerned about his market, product and distribution and these show that his environment was having much influence on his business. Comparison of GET test results of entrepreneur with my assessment The difference is obvious; I scored 2 ‘high’ and 3 ‘medium’ out of total five dimensions of GET test while Mr. Tass Zorba scored 5 ‘high’ out of five dimensions. His GET test result proved that he is an outstanding and highly successful entrepreneur. My GET test result was that I am relatively less efficient entrepreneur, but still, I possess many of the potential traits of successful entrepreneur. According to Davidsson (2006), if GET test results can be assessed by other methods, it would be helpful to increase the result accuracy of the test (p. 178). As I already conducted an interview with Tass Zorba and I realized his excellence in his entrepreneurial skills, the results of GET test were helpful for me to sum up the facts about his entrepreneurial skills. I have ‘need for achievement and Need for independence’ qualities, but, I am not imaginative and creative for bringing new ideas. Starting my own business will be riskier than associating with an already established business. But, Mr Tass Zorba’s case was entirely different. His experience of around 34 years in the business and skills and expertise he earned from product development, management and leadership made him san excelled enterprenuer with such high rank in the GET test. He was highly successful to bring newer ideas of new product designing and development, he introduced new horizons of the potential market and he took the risk for the sake of achieving goals. According to Strazdiene and Garalis (2008), an entrepreneur is very much motivated person, energetic, hard-working and dynamic to carry out his planned activities. His motivation is determined by a strong need for achievement (p. 134). From the GET test results, it was found that Mr Tass Zorba is highly motivated towards his business and he was willing to carry out 365 days business a year. He was passionate for hard work as well as energetic and dynamic. Even though I possess some of the entrepreneurial skills, I was found to be as not enough good in motivation, energy and willingness to work hard. As Morrison (2000) emphasized, entrepreneurship initiation has its foundation in the personalities as well as his intuition and society and culture. Morrison (2000) regarded entrepreneurship as more holistic than an economic function. The example of Mr.Zorba and his excellent entrepreneurship qualities show that his application of innovatory processes and acceptance of risk-bearing function are resulted from his intuition as well as from his personalities. He is willing to work 365 days a year and keeping even family away, this is because, he is more determined and self motivated. His personalities as well play vital role in his skills. My GET test results showed that my entrepreneurial skills are not so grown up to such levels. Even though, I possess many of the traits and qualities, I am not creative and imaginative, I am not skillful to bear the risks and I am not able to take advantages of opportunities. Conclusion This research paper is an interesting project which attempts to apply entrepreneur psychology in comparison with my own entrepreneurship with that of a highly successful entrepreneur. The General Enterprising Tendency test has been used as the central to this work. The comparison of my GET result with that of Tass Zorba, whom I interviewed, helped me understand the specific areas where his entrepreneurial skills are high and my skills are not apparent. My GET test scored 2 high and 3 medium points while his GET test scored all high points out of the five dimensions of GET test. As he has been in the business field for around 34 years and he has been developing markets, products and his own business domains, he is proficient in ‘need for achievement’, need for independence’, internal locus, creativity and risk bearing propensity. The test showed me that I am not much skillful in imagination and creativity and hence I felt that I am missing very important talents that an entrepreneur must have. Brockhaus (1980, quoted from Liles 1974) stated that in becoming an entrepreneur, an individual must be able to risk financial well-being, career opportunity, family relation and psychic well-being (p. 510). The case of Mr. Tass Zorba is an example for this. His career showed me that he has been highly risk bearing personality as he often is away from family for many days and he was willing to face any challenges. References Brockhaus R H. (1987), Entrepreneurial Folklore, Journal of Small Business Management, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Brockhaus R. H (1980), Risk Taking Propensity of Entrepreneurs, Academy of Management Journal, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Cromie S (2000), Assessing entrepreneurial inclinations: Some approaches and empirical evidence, European journal of work and organizational psychology, University of Ulster, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Cunningham, J. B., and J. Lishceron (January 1991), Defining Entrepreneurship, Journal of Small Business Management, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Davidsson P (2006), New firm startups, Illustrated Edition, Edward Elgar Publishing Fayolle A and Klandt H (2006), International entrepreneurship education: issues and newness, Illustrated Edition, Edward Elgar Publishing Frese M and Chell E (2000), Psychological approaches to entrepreneurship, Illustrated Edition, Psychology Press Morrison A (2000), Entrepreneurship: what triggers it? International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, Bradford, Vol 6, Iss 2; pg. 59, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Strazdiene and Garalis (2008), Identification of College Students Entrepreneurship Qualities, Socialiniai tyrimai / Social Research, Siauliai University, Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Read More