New Venture Development - Essay Example

? New Venture Development of the Question Individuals must possess prior knowledge and the cognitive properties necessary to value such knowledge in order to identify new opportunities - Corbett (473) The above statement is reflecting nature of this paper and also representing the core research problems of the paper. In such context, the researcher will shed light on entrepreneurship literature and highlight the lived experience of entrepreneurs. The researcher will use phenomenological lenses to view the research problems hence; nature of this paper will be more philosophical rather than definitive. Cope (473-491) pointed out that how it feels like creating a new business venture without mentors? The question 1 also depicts the same question but in different fashion. Bakker, Curseu and Vermeulen (95-219) stressed on Social cognitive learning theory (SCLT) in order to highlight the fact that first-time entrepreneurs need support from an experienced mentor or suggestion from peer group in order to be succeeded. Cope (473-491) conducted research on novice entrepreneurs and found that in most of the cases, these entrepreneurs faced challenges while establishing new ventures. For example, one entrepreneur told that he was completely in dark about the future of the business in next 5 years while one told that she did not have the knowledge about how much resource to be allocated at what sector of the venture and other novice entrepreneur told that he broke down after his first attempt to establish business venture failed. Phenomenological analysis of the problems faced by these novice entrepreneurs reveals the fact that fear has created in the mind of these entrepreneurs due to failure of first venture and scope of infusing the social leaning through experienced mentor. Politis (399-424) argued that social capital theory and learning model can be used to understand lived experience of an entrepreneur while starting new venture. Politis (399-424) stated that enthusiasm level of entrepreneurs remains high while starting the new venture and it has been fuelled by the dream to grab the opportunity but in most of the cases, these entrepreneurs lack the social learning which can guide them to do the business. There can be four types of learning modes such as accommodator, diverge, converge and assimilator. Armstrong (527) argued that the four learning platform should be integrated in single frame in order to increase the risk taking capacity of entrepreneurs. Armstrong (527) stated that in most of the cases, a novice entrepreneur lacks the strategic thinking capability, business knowledge, lack of idea regarding life cycle of the startup venture, business experience but such incompetence can be addressed by taking guide of an experienced individual. It is evident from the research works of Armstrong (527) and Politis (399-424) that ability to take calculated risk is essential for a novice entrepreneur to become successful. But, presence of a social group or mentor can help a novice entrepreneur to take calculated risk by transferring knowledge about risk management, enterprise establishment, metamorphosis from different stages of enterprise life cycle etc. Although, there are examples of entrepreneurs who established successful enterprise without having mentor but in other cases, novice entrepreneurs lacks all four kinds of learning phase such as accommodating, diverging, converging and assimilating necessary knowledge to establish a successful enterprise (Politis, 399-424). Hence, the researcher has found that Social cognitive learning theory (SCLT) can be successfully used to understand the need of mentor in the life of a new entrepreneur while the theory should be further elaborated in order to frame the metamorphosis of a novice entrepreneur into a successful one. Question 2 Singh, Bains and Vinnicombe (389-405) defined mentoring as the asymmetric relationship between a more experienced and knowledgeable individual and protege. A mentor takes the protege under his/her wing and guides the protege how to survive in tumultuous environmental situations. In case of entrepreneurship, the concept of mentor-mentee relationship is very much pertinent because there are examples, where an entrepreneur established successful business with guidance of esteemed and knowledgeable mentor. McGregor and Tweed (420-38) conducted research on perception entrepreneurial mentee regarding the role of the mentor in creating new business. Majority of the respondents stated that they got immense support from mentors whether be it the financial advice or the resource allocation advice, which have gave them clear direction in establishing the new venture. Petridou (523-42) conducted research on female entrepreneurs who got the support of mentor and majority of respondents pointed out that mentoring did not help in increase of skill-based learning. In case of research work of Petridou (523-42), entrepreneurial mentees stated that “mentors can give you the advice regarding the risk and root map to establish business but you should have the risk taking capacity to establish business.” This sentence is clearly stating the perception of novice entrepreneurs regarding the role of mentor in creating a new business venture. Entrepreneurs believe mentors are the guidebook to establish new ventures or address specific risks but mentors cannot increase self skill to manage business. Although, such philosophical claims may be hard to establish due to non availability of the literature on the topic but claims can raise doubt over the underpinning of Social cognitive learning theory. Petridou (523-42) gave a sequential flow of mentor-mentee learning such as: 1) in the first stage, cognitive learning takes place when mentee captures the experience, viewpoint and knowledge of the mentor regarding enterprise establishment, 2) in the second phase, affective learning takes place when mentee starts implementing the idea of the mentor in real world business venture and compare the results, 3) attitudinal learning takes place when mentee starts developing his/her positive attitude regarding the challenges in new business venture due to influence of mentor and 4) at the final stage, mentee develops the motivation to overcome all the struggle and hardship in the road of converting a new venture to successful one due to influence of mentor. In this metamorphosis cycle, the term “attitudinal change” is very important, because the term is showing how a mentor can help a nascent entrepreneur to establish new venture. Mentor might not develop any special skill among a novice entrepreneur but the a mentor can not only infuse cognitive aspects such as knowledge rational thinking, strategic decision making etc among novice entrepreneurs but also develop a positive attitude among entrepreneurial mentee to handle all the challenges in the road of establishing new business. Question 3 The third question is indeed an interesting one which tries to shed light on imagination, idea, feelings and believe of entrepreneurs regarding critical impact of help from mentor. Using phenomenology can help the researcher to find the rationale behind the perception of entrepreneurs regarding their mentor because phenomenology is being designed to measure the subjective consciousness of people towards the outer world. It is evident from the research work of Fuller, Warren and Welter (3-10) that in case of entrepreneurial mentee, using phenomenological lenses can represent the view of mind of entrepreneurs while being mentored. Previous finding shows that entrepreneurs believe that mentorship helps them to develop tactical knowledge, understand flaws in business process and clear out doubt regarding unforeseen start-up pitfalls etc while they were novice. Rigg and O’Dwyer (319-329) also found that many entrepreneurs believe that mentoring has developed their strategic and tactical skills to improve start-up venture performance. Rae (324) argued that SCLT has an excellent application during the mentor-mentee interaction and in most of the cases; entrepreneurs tend to appreciate the benefits of mentoring as a modified version of learning. Rae (324) defined mentor driven knowledge sharing as “learning to recognize and act on opportunities, and interacting socially to initiate, organize and manage ventures.” Different researchers conducted research on variety of feeling aspects of entrepreneur hence it is difficult to describe feelings of entrepreneurial mentee regarding most important to their success while being mentored in single sentence. In such context, Rae (591-606) argued that a mentor can influence an entrepreneurial mentee not only by sharing knowledge but also by developing identity and character of the candidates. Rae (591-606) criticized the role of University education in developing entrepreneurs because university classroom driven mentoring always focuses on helping novice entrepreneurs to prepare the business plan while the focus should be on developing entrepreneurial skill. Fuller, Warren and Welter (3-10) defined the feelings of entrepreneurs regarding the most important aspects of mentorship which can drive their success by giving the following deductive model. Table 1: Behavioral Model Mentoring Process Behavior Change Importance Experimenting Mentors provide knowledge and mental support to mentee to approach an existing problem with new viewpoint and enthusiasm. Due to knowledge exploration, mentee develop the courage to experiment new things in entrepreneurial venture. Change in attitude among mentee is very important and there is linear relationship exist between increase in risk taking capacity and successful establishment of enterprise. Organizing Mentors can develop organized thinking capacity (both strategic and tactical) among mentee. Mentor shares experience and professional knowledge with mentee and that can increase capability of mentee to perceive probable risks and formulate the suitable enterprise growth plan. There are entrepreneurial mentee who feel that helping to develop organized thinking capability is one most important contribution of mentor. Sensitivity Mentor can guide an entrepreneurial mentee regarding industry shift and weak signals in the newly formed enterprise. Such guidance can increase responsiveness and risk sensitivity of mentee and the mentee can identify the loopholes in the venture. The factor is derivative of two of the above factors which decreases its importance among entrepreneurial mentee. Question 4 Bakker, Curseu and Vermeulen (95-219) stated that Social cognitive learning theory has direct relationship with self-efficiency theory. According to Bakker, Curseu and Vermeulen (95-219), self efficiency of a person is created with the help of knowledge transmission from more experienced peer group or mentor. For example, a novice entrepreneur might not have the knowledge and competency to establish a successful venture but the novice entrepreneur can gain knowledge and competence to establish a successful venture after going through periodic conversation session with mentor or through a well organized mentorship program. In such context, the fourth question raises the doubt over the believe that today’s mentee will someday become mentor of a protege and during this transformation, is mentors' decision to mentor novices in the future influenced by their lived mentoring experiences when they were novices? Well, the question is pretty much complex because the above mentioned assumption is not widely accepted and very few researchers conducted research on the topic. Thompson and Downing (528-44) pointed out that most of the novice entrepreneurs face the fear and uncertainty before entering to the world of enterprise and this is the reason why they seek support from external support system. Hence, there are possibilities that mentee might show respect to the mentor at the initial stage of mentoring but the respect might decrease when personality of mentor-mentee clashes. Kutzhanova, Lyons and Lichtenstein (193-210) stated that mentors might use their personal experience to develop entrepreneurial skill among mentee but it is up to mentee to decide whether to get influenced by the experience or not? It is evident from the research works of Kutzhanova, Lyons and Lichtenstein (193-210) that personality of mentee might differ from the personality of mentor and in such instances, mentee might not accept the viewpoint of mentor. But, if mentee finds that there is gap exist in his/her capacity handle various problems in establishing new venture and the mentor has the capacity to guide him/her, then, the mentee will focus only on learning the entrepreneurship skill rather focusing on personality conflict. Lived experience of entrepreneurial mentee in context to their mentoring experience in future can be depicted in the following fashion; Personality of Entrepreneurial Mentee Developing Mentoring Style Mentoring Experience An inquisitor who has the patience to listen to assimilate valuable knowledge of a mentor. Thinking of the mentee becomes more mature and attitude of the mentee becomes more positive regarding calculated risk taking. During mentoring, the person shares the learning experience blended with personal experience during the stint of entrepreneur with novice entrepreneurs. The individuals can easily develop personal bonding with mentees though responsive behavior. Works Cited Armstrong, Peter. "Science, enterprise and profit: Ideology in the knowledge-driven economy." Economy and Society 30.4 (2001): 524-552. Print. Bakker, Rene M, Petru Curseu, and Patrick Vermeulen. "Cognitive factors in entrepreneurial strategic decision making." Cognition, Brain, Behavior 11 (2007): 95-219. Print. Corbett, Andrew C. "Experiential Learning Within the Process of Opportunity Identification and Exploitation." Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice 29.4 (2005): 473-491. Print. Fuller, Ted, Lorraine Warren, and Friederike Welter. An emergence perspective on entrepreneurship: Processes, structure and methodology. Amsterdam: EGOS, 2008. Print. Kutzhanova, Nailya, Thomas S Lyons, and Gregg A Lichtenstein. "Skill-based development of entrepreneurs and the role of personal and peer group coaching in enterprise development." Economic Development Quarterly 23.3 (2009): 193-210. Print. McGregor, Judy, and David Tweed. "Profiling a new generation of female small business owners in New Zealand: Networking, mentoring and growth." Gender, Work and Organization, 9.4 (2002): 420-38. Print. Petridou, Eugenia U. "E-mentoring women entrepreneurs: Discussing participants’ reactions." Gender in Management: An International Journal 24.7 (2009): 523-42. Print. Politis, Diamanto. "The Process of Entreprneeurial Learning: A Conceptual Framework." Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice July (2005): 399-424. Print. Rae, David. "Universities and enterprise education: Responding to the challenges of the new era." Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 17.4 (2010): 591-606. Print. Rigg, Clare, and Breda O’Dwyer. "Becoming an entrepreneur: Researching the role of mentors in identity construction.' Education + Training 54.4 (2012): 319-329. Print. Singh, Val, Divindra Bains, and Susan Vinnicombe. "Informal mentoring as an organizational resource." Long Range Planning 35 (2002): 389-405. Print. Thompson, John, and Ron Downing. "The entrepreneur enabler: Identifying and supporting those with potential." Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 14.3 (2007): 528-44. Print. Read More