Marketing and Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

? Marketing and Entrepreneurship Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Concept of Entrepreneurship 4 Relation of Concepts of Marketing to Entrepreneurship 6 Analysis of an Entrepreneur 7 The Entrepreneurial Process 9 Features of Successful Entrepreneurs 10 Analysis of the Entrepreneur through Sarasvathy's and Burn's models 11 Self Assessment (GET and Evolution Tests) 15 Process of Development of Personal Capabilities to Commence a New Venture 16 Conclusions 16 References 18 Introduction Development of entrepreneurial ideas attains much significance in today’s world for it turns out to be an important parameter signifying the growth of the economic standpoint of a country. It is because the birth and growth of entrepreneurial ideas helps in the growth of large number of industries thereby signifying optimal utilization of the existing resource base. Further the generation of large number of employment opportunities with also the growth in the parameters of revenue and industrial growth for the country as a whole becomes possible with the growth of entrepreneurship activities. Thus the study of economic development of a country studied based on the parameters of per capita growth in income, generation of large scale employment opportunities, increase in the level of national income and growth in the export and import activities owes due to the actions of the entrepreneur. The entrepreneurial actions taken by the entrepreneur is found to be subjected to larger amount of market risks as the person decides to move to new business areas or to render large scale innovation to the existing business processes or systems (Charantimath, 49-52). The concept and significance of entrepreneurship indicated above earns further potential when linked to marketing activities. It is found that entrepreneurs mainly tied to small and medium sized business concerns with the help of potential marketing activities earned the potential to gain an enhanced space in the existing business environment. The entrepreneurial firms thus through the help of potential marketing strategies gained a competitive advantage to successfully compete with other firms in the same sector. Hence with the development of the business scenario the entrepreneurial activities are required to be increasingly linked with large scale marketing and promotional pursuits to help the entrepreneur earn success (Nwankwo and Gbadamosi, 13). The paper hereby discusses on the concepts of entrepreneurship through the uses of different models and draws its linkage to marketing activities. Further emphasizing on the above concepts the paper focuses on the actions and entrepreneurial processes of a specific retailer which would be analyzed through the entrepreneurial models like that of Sarasvathy’s and Burns Entrepreneurial Model and also based on the GET tests. Concept of Entrepreneurship The concept of entrepreneurship can be observed to have its emergence in relation to English and French literature when the dimensions of trade were slowly evolving. More specifically the evolution of the concept of entrepreneurship can be found to have gained in regards to French literature where the entrepreneurs were considered to be persons creating large business organizations and thereby are found to undertake large amount of business risks. Thus entrepreneurs are found to be people related to large business organizations and those with potency to manage to high amount of business risks. In the modern business context the concept of entrepreneurship earns a much larger dimension in regards to the innovative mindsets of the entrepreneur in rendering innovation to the existing organization processes and thereby enhancing the competitive advantage of the business policies. Similarly the entrepreneur working on the process of innovation can use potential technological and other resources to produce newer products and services and thus gain control of newer markets. The above discussion can be diagrammatically presented as follows. Figure 1: Entrepreneurship in Relation to Firm and Market (Source: Landstrom, 12) The concept of entrepreneurship can also be studied based on the potential activities of the entrepreneur through the use of creativity and optimal utilization of the existing resources to accomplish the vision and mission set earlier. In that the entrepreneurial activities would be evaluated based on the level of expertise gained by the person and the commitment of the person to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted on him by the society and the country as a whole. The entrepreneur in the course of the above activities must earn high amount of self reliance to accomplish the commitments underlined. This concept of entrepreneurship can also be diagrammatically presented as under. Figure 2 (Source: Landstrom, 18) Relation of Concepts of Marketing to Entrepreneurship The activities of the entrepreneur in order to earn success must strictly endeavor to satisfy the concepts of marketing increasingly related to such. The entrepreneur to gain an increased market for the products and services produced by the new venture must proceed to satisfy the four P’s associated with the concept of product marketing and seven P’s associated in relation to services marketing. Marketing strategies help the entrepreneur to gain increased level of business competencies to successfully compete with other competitors in the same field. The entrepreneurial manager of a business corporation in order to gain a larger market share or move over to newer areas must increasingly endeavor to render large scale innovations in regards to the promotional activities. In this context it is found that the entrepreneurs in order to gain competitive advantage must always endeavor to innovate new marketing and promotional techniques to catch the mindset of the consumers. Extensive use of marketing strategies helps the entrepreneur to rightly gain the information about the changing needs and wants of the consumers in the market and thereby to produce goods and services accordingly. This fact also helps the business entrepreneur to reduce the level of risks associated with taking the new venture or in rendering changes to the existing business processes and activities. These facts would thereby help the entrepreneur in enhancing the potencies and skills to successfully fulfill the vision and mission objectives visualized before starting the business venture. Entrepreneurial actions related to marketing activities would help the person taking the entrepreneurial venture to identify newer sets of business opportunities to satisfy the motives for taking such ventures (Nwankwo and Gbadamosi, 19-21). Analysis of an Entrepreneur In the light of the above discussion the paper would now focus on analyzing the entrepreneurial traits of Walter Elias Disney the entrepreneur who is responsible for the creation of the global entertainment concern Walt Disney. The case of Walter Elias Disney is taken up in regards to the study of entrepreneurial ventures for the case reflects the endeavor of a person to venture altogether into a newer dimension of entertainment that helped in changing the face of the entertainment industry. The case reflects the growing passion in the minds of the Walt Disney regarding the production of animated movies reflecting cartoon characters like the Mickey Mouse which was launched first during the 1928 period. Passion for art was also tied up with increasing amount of business risks like during the period of Great Depression the company was found to huge amount of business risks in rendering $1.5 million for the production of large scale animated movie like ‘Snow White and Seven Dwarfs’. This film along with other continual set of innovations regarding the production of animated films helped the entrepreneur to gain an enhanced market which helped him to enlarge his company. Sustaining the same passion for entrepreneurship the company still focuses on the growth of separate theme parks and other innovative works to enhance their market potential (Greene, 69). While presenting a further analysis of the entrepreneur the following diagram can be taken into consideration. Figure 3 (Source: Burns) The entrepreneurial traits as reflected in the above diagram can be observed in Walt Disney who was quite innovative in his approach and took to larger amount of business risks. Similarly he worked with a vision in mind and was quite self-confident and self-reliant in his business ventures. Situational Factors: In regards to situational factors it is observed that Walt Disney focused on gaining large amount of economic opportunities by venturing into the area for production of animated films whose market was totally a new one to venture into. Antecedent Influences: Regarding antecedent influences Walt’s education and passion in the drawing cartoons together with the existence of social groups reflecting increased faith in him helped him to make further progress in his entrepreneurial venture (Watts, 382-387). The Entrepreneurial Process The entrepreneurial process takes into account some significant steps in setting up the right tasks to achieve the entrepreneurial mission and vision objectives. Firstly the entrepreneur is required to identify the right set of business opportunities in regards to consumer behavior and changing needs. Considerable market research activities are required to be conducted to understand the potency of the returns that would be gained and also on the process of generating the required source of finance. Secondly in regards to the identification of the right business opportunity the entrepreneur is required to make the right plan for effectively gaining the maximum possible advantage from the opportunity identified. Thirdly the entrepreneur is required to focus on the potential of the resource base for the accomplishment of the entrepreneurial objective. Alignment of technological, human, financial and other capital resources are required to be done effectively by the entrepreneur. To this end, the entrepreneur must also manage the organizational environment for the maximum utilization of the identified resource base to help the company fulfill its organizational mission. Effective team work is required in this direction which helps in the involvement of the potential resource base to help the entrepreneur achieve his mission (Hisrich et al.). In regards to the case of Walt Disney it is found that after identification of the right business opportunity in regards to the production of animated films the entrepreneur focused on gaining both technical and human resource competence to help fulfill his dream. Further Walt Disney also focused to gain large amount of financial and infrastructural support to help produce large scale animated films in the future. Features of Successful Entrepreneurs Some of the essential traits of being a successful entrepreneur are that the person needs to be highly motivated in his pursuit of achieving his dreams and thereby must reflect adequate energies and synergies to raise the spirits of the people working with him. Again the person needs to be flexible enough to adapt to external changes by rendering adequate innovation in his operational paradigm to achieve the organizational mission. In addition to motivation and flexibility the entrepreneur in order to achieve business success must be ready enough to take potential risks and thus must be a risk-taker. Leadership and organizational planning abilities must go hand-in-hand with the above traits in helping in the optimal utilization of the resource base. In addition successful entrepreneurs must be highly confident and self-reliable in nature to increase his business potential. Finally a successful entrepreneur is required to have potential knowledge regarding the operational and business paradigm so as to collaboratively work with the organizational people. This trait would help the entrepreneurial manager to largely motivate his co-workers to help accomplish the vision and mission objectives (Analoui and Karami, 13-14). Walt Elias Disney in regards to the above analysis can be observed to be a potential innovator and a large risk taker in the paradigm of venturing into the animated movie production business. Further his sense of knowledge and passion for cartoons along with his interest in performing in an organizational framework helped in achieving his dreams of creating the largest animated company in the world (Watts, 382-387). Analysis of the Entrepreneur through Sarasvathy's and Burn's models The analysis of entrepreneur Walt Disney can be done further in regards to Sarasvathy’s model of entrepreneurship. The model can be further elucidated with the help of the following diagram. Figure 4 (Source: Sarasvathy, 4) The model reflects that the successful entrepreneur to reach to the right consumer base must focus on adequate segmentation of the market based on demographic factors. The entrepreneur having segmented the market must focus on gaining in terms of organizational and financial returns in proceeding to accomplish such business venture. Proper marketing and promotional strategies must be envisaged by the entrepreneur to help the entrepreneur reach a larger market base in order to achieve the business mission. Similarly on the point of segmenting the consumer base the entrepreneur must endeavor to increase his focus from identifying the potential consumers from the general market identified in the former case. The case of Walt Disney shows that after segmenting the market based on demographic profiles and thereby focusing on the target market the concern carries large number of promotional and marketing activities both individually and in relation with other firms like Coca Cola and McDonalds to promote new innovations in regards to games or new cartoon characters. This is a reflection of a strategic partnership in regards to Walt Disney (Sarasvathy, 4). However the above model is found to focus on the consumer and market base but fails to render required analysis of the competitor’s position and the potential synergy and energy base of the entrepreneur to mitigate the level of business risks. Thus another model rendered by Burns can be put into effect for solving the needed queries. Figure 5 (Source: Burns) In regards to the above model it is found that Walt Disney had the potential idea of venturing into the production of animated films for having the said knowledge base. Along with that he also reflected potential entrepreneurship skills by being a risk taker and in being highly self-reliant in his actions. Further he gained knowledge of the potential consumer base and thereby gained resources in terms of human, technological and financial standpoints to become the hallmark of animation entertainment industry. Potential marketing strategies were put into effect taking the help of other potential firms to gain an increased market. The above diagram thus helps in analyzing the competitive advantage gained by Walt Disney to become the market leaders in the animation industry of the world (Budd and Kirsch). Self Assessment (GET and Evolution Tests) The Self Assessment test for Walt Disney can be conducted based on the SWOT analysis which would reflect the internal strengths and weakness of the firm in the light of potential business opportunities and threats. Walt Disney should enhance its internal strengths to gain the maximum from the level of opportunities available and also must mitigate the level of internal weakness in regards to the above direction. The SWOT analysis of Walt Disney can be reflected in the following diagram as follows. Figure 6 (Source: Grewal and Levy, 35) Walt Disney through its operation based on a diversified business paradigm based on production of movies to running of luxury cruise liners focuses on gaining hold of a larger market. Large number of potential brands is under operation under Disney’s umbrella brand which helps the company to produce diversified and quality animated movies. The global animation firm gains the support of large scale business opportunities gained from its effective viewer base prompting its sales and market to grow exponentially. However the major weaknesses the firm suffers from are its enhanced dependence on outsourcing teams like cable operators to distribute the contents created. Further the theme parks created also reflect impacts of fall in out of season sales. The global animation company also suffers from threat from upcoming players in the animation industry (Grewal and Levy, 35-36). Process of Development of Personal Capabilities to Commence a New Venture In regards to the above discussion I also aspire to move towards a new entrepreneurial venture concerning the opening up of an academic institution which would help aspirants seeking a career in the animation industry. For the above entrepreneurial vision envisaged above I worked to conduct considerable market research activities to understand the demand of the people regarding the course contents of the animation academy. I worked to organize the needed resources which would be required to accomplish my stated dream. Resources pertaining to financial, technological and human competence were focused to be gathered for the project. With activities like applying for a loan and advertising in the situations vacant columns of local newspapers and online recruitment portals for gaining financial and human capital I also extensively carried out marketing and promotional activities with the distribution of leaflets and pamphlets in busy areas. Further the collaboration with other companies like animation companies also helped to gain an increased space in the edutainment market of the region. Conclusions Entrepreneurial activities constitute the triggering factors behind the economic and social development of a country. The concept of entrepreneurship though age old in reach confers a new statement in regards to the changing world. With the growth in significant amount of competition the concept of entrepreneurship to sustain its potential stand has increasingly tied up with the marketing and promotional strategies which thereby help the entrepreneurial activities gain consistent success. In this light the entrepreneurship activities of Walt Elias Disney is analyzed based on entrepreneurial theories and models to understand the secret behind the concern’s growing success in the world of entertainment. References Analoui, Farhad, and Karami, Azhdar. Strategic management in small and medium enterprises. United States: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2003. Budd, Mike, and Kirsch, Max, H. Rethinking Disney: private control, public dimensions. United States of America: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. Burns, Paul. Entrepreneurship and small business. 3rd ed. UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Charantimath, Poornima M. Entrepreneurship Development and Small Business Enterprise. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. 2006. Greene, Cynthia. L. Entrepreneurship: Ideas in Action. United States: Cengage Learning, 2011. Grewal, Dhruv, and Levy, Michael. Marketing. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2008. Landstrom, Hans. Pioneers in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. New York: Springer, 2009. Nwankwo, Sonny, and Gbadamosi, Tunji. Entrepreneurship Marketing: Principles and Practice of Sme Marketing. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2011. Sarasvathy, Saras, D. “What makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial?” Harvard Business Review, 2001. Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002. Read More