Entrepreneurial Marketing Competency - Outline Example

Reflective Log of Report The characteristics and nature of entrepreneurship have a significant impact on marketing activities of SMEs owned by entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is critical to identify entrepreneurial marketing competencies and to establish how they are manifested at specific levels of entrepreneurial growth (Uslay & Ndubisi, 2014: p11), which, in this case, is at the marketing decision-making phase. The first entrepreneurial marketing competency is judgment competency, which is especially important in the decision-making stage of entrepreneurial marketing. Personal judgment is essential for making entrepreneurial marketing decisions, specifically for marketing decisions that impact customer dimensions, opportunity analysis, levels of provided services, and product ranges. In relation to the report, this competency helps in the identification of market opportunities for the Audi E1, as well as the ability to assess opportunities with scarce resources. In addition, judgment competency helps the entrepreneur to weigh the market opportunity for the Audi E1 against other alternatives that could emerge. Judgment in making this decision for entrepreneurs is usually based on experience, intuition, and hunch, which means that the entrepreneur must show high product knowledge levels (Uslay & Ndubisi, 2014: p16). Another competency required for entrepreneurial marketers in the decision-making stage is the experience competency, which is linked to the previous judgment competency. This competency is important in relation to specific business fields, for instance knowledge of who major players in the electric vehicle industry. Moreover, another important aspect of this competency can be seen in the level of confidence that an entrepreneur’s experience wealth will allow them to make predictions on whether customers of electric cars might react unfavourably or favourably in specific circumstances (Bjerke & Hultman, 2012: p24). This vital competence and how it is expressed is refreshing in this case because it is indicative of the entrepreneur ability to utilize, enrich, and enhance their experience via proactive marketing. Therefore, this competency is dynamic in that it can be enriched and refined constantly with every marketing experience. As a result, previous entrepreneurship marketing experience came into play during the present activity, increasing the entrepreneur’s competency to deal with increasing numbers of marketing decisions. When the workload is heavy, for example, the competency of experience enables accurate prioritization of the clients’ orders sans fears that the client will be dissatisfied (Bjerke & Hultman, 2012: p24). The third entrepreneurial marketing competency that applies to this decision-making stage is knowledge competency. This competency is an especially important dimension in the decision making stage of entrepreneurial marketing. In this case, knowledge is referent to the entrepreneur’s knowledge about the electric car product ranges, industry activity, competitors, customers, and emerging trends in the market (Sethna, 2013: p42). Typically, it is important for the entrepreneur in this case to be highly competent in discussing the individual electric car product ranges, as well as to elaborate on the specific segments of the market where the enterprise operates. The entrepreneur is also competent enough to talk about the market for electric cars in terms of their usage and can also break down the individual Audi E1 product line, rather than only being knowledgeable about the geographical market. Moreover, they are also able to talk knowledgeably about competitor activity and competitors. It is also evident that entrepreneurs who do not feel competent to take decisions related to marketing in areas where they do have as much knowledge, which means that to be successful, entrepreneurial marketers should be cognisant of their shortcomings in terms of setting prices and promotion, for example (Buskirk & Lavik, 2014: p50). The communication competency is perhaps one of the most important competencies in entrepreneurial marketing and may be viewed from two perspectives, which are the external and internal dimensions of communication. In relation to the external dimension, the essential indicators will be emphatic on markets, suppliers, customers, and competitors in marketing communication (Schindehutte et al, 2013: p42). On the other hand, the internal dimension of communication competency is mostly evident in the entrepreneur’s emphasis on the employees, as well as the employees’ level of entrepreneurial confidence and awareness. In this case, both external and internal communications in marketing the Audi E1 involves the proactive use of the personal contact network of the entrepreneur in most cases. In relation to the Audi E1 business model, more emphasis is placed on external communication because of the customers’ importance. However, both dimensions are essential in relation to the decision-making phase of entrepreneurial marketing. It is generally dependent on the entrepreneur’s range of component skills, including confidence, knowledge, and ability to use knowledge and experience, and ability to use uncomplicated and simple language (Schindehutte et al, 2013: p43). Understanding the existence of these communication competency sub-elements is important because it also aids the entrepreneur’s self-development of expertise. There are other entrepreneurial marketing competencies, including vision, planning, and motivation, which although not as influential as the four noted above still have an important role to play in marketing the Audi E1 as identified in the report. Motivation, for example, is an essential competency, manifesting in terms of stamina, confidence, job satisfaction, positive attitudes, energy, commitment, and high task-orientation levels related to the marketing activities (Grichnik, 2011: p29). The planning competency is another important entrepreneurial marketing competency, which has several component parts. In the case of marketing the Audi E1, the most important components of this competency are opportunity analysis, organizing, analytical ability, implementation skills, experience, judgment, adaptability, motivation, and intuition. In other words, this competency may be viewed as a combination of all entrepreneurial marketing competencies involved in the decision-making phase of marketing (Grichnik, 2011: p31). Finally, the competency of vision is a key entrepreneurial marketing competency, specifically because entrepreneurship is typically allied to focus on the future for the entrepreneur (Nijssen, 2014: p35). In addition, vision has strong links to the competencies of planning and judgment, although, in this case, it may be taken as an individual competence because electric cars are still viewed as cars of the future. The vision competency can also be linked to creativity and innovation, as well as the ability to identify, understand, and leverage opportunities for electric cars in the market. Taking into consideration that the entrepreneur is at the decision-making phase of the business model, these competencies are highly interrelated and the degree to which each competency comes into play depends on the specific markets in question (Nijssen, 2014: p35). References Bjerke, B., & Hultman, C. (2012). Entrepreneurial marketing: The growth of small firms in the new economic era. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Buskirk, B. D., & Lavik, M. (2014). Entrepreneurial marketing: Real stories and survival strategies. Mason, Ohio: Thomson, South-Western Grichnik, D. (2011). Entrepreneurial Marketing. Wiesbaden: Gabler Nijssen, E. J. (2014). Entrepreneurial marketing: An effectual approach. Abingdon: Routledge Schindehutte, M., Morris, M. H., & Pitt, L. F. (20143). Rethinking marketing: The entrepreneurial imperative. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall Sethna, Z., Jones, R., & Harrigan, P. (2013). Entrepreneurial marketing: Global perspectives. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Pub Uslay, C., & Ndubisi, N. (2014). Entrepreneurial Marketing Mindfulness. Bradford: Emerald Group Publishing Limited Read More