A Study on the Attributes of Entrepreneurial Behaviour
Introduction
Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new organizations or new businesses in response to identified opportunities, which is often a difficult undertaking. The activities in entrepreneurship are different depending on the type of organization that is being started, and ranges from solo to major projects, creating many job opportunities (2006). This supports the activities of the entrepreneurs, who have the characteristics of a leader, being able to apply theories of leadership, and other concepts, in accordance to the success of their organization ( 2006).
The characteristics of entrepreneurship include having an enthusiastic vision, promoting the vision with enthusiastic passion, developing strategies to change the vision to reality, taking initial responsibility to cause a vision to become a success, and being a positive thinker and a decision maker ( 2006). These characteristics determine the factors or attributes associated with entrepreneurial behaviour, which also become crucial to establish the success of the business organization in the market. This paper seeks to discuss the factors or attributes of entrepreneurial behaviour and its effect in business organizations. Its importance will be explained, as applied and evaluated in a specific business organization.
Attributes which Determine Success
A study done by (2003) identifies two groups of several factors that influence entrepreneurial behaviour. These factors include locus of control, risk taking, achievement motivation, problem solving style and innovativeness, perception and work values, which are in turn affected by external factors, such as culture, role models, work experience, education, and environment.
Locus of control is important as it helps demonstrate the self-determination of an organization, which helps determine a higher rate of entrepreneur activity. With an increased self-determination, the company is ready to take risks, which makes the entrepreneur pursue a business idea when the probability of succeeding is low ( 2003). This means that the entrepreneur has the courage and the persistence to engage in his venture, even without the assurance of succeeding. The third personal factor is the entrepreneur’s value system, which entails examination, understanding of one’s place in the society, and the individual’s idea about persons and things ( 2003). This includes the perception and the achievement motivations of the entrepreneur, for their values determine their attitude towards their dedication with their work. The fourth factor is the entrepreneur’s problem solving style and innovativeness, which is the central value of the entrepreneurial behaviour, since it is successfully taking an idea or invention to market. Innovation and problem solving capabilities are expected to be the core of the entrepreneurial capability of an entrepreneur, for they are faced with a number of challenges as they try to implement new ideas and solve problems, so their innovativeness counts ( 2003).
Similarly, these factors are affected by external factors for these external factors interact largely with the mentioned attributes. The education of an entrepreneur is one major concern for his or her knowledge and experience, especially concerning high technology and heavy competition, can affect his or her decisions in the organization. Related to education is the entrepreneur’s perception or interpretations, which play an important role in the total motivational process, for he or she needs to believe that certain strategic actions done will produce positive results, profits, sales, or market share ( 2003). Culture, role models and support also affect these factors, for these three external factors can influence the decision-making process and the personality of the entrepreneur. Culture affects the propensity to act, thus, the actual number of entrepreneurs that will attempt to start a business is also affected. Some cultures have more role models available than others do, which makes entrepreneurial success based on family and community support (2003). It has been reported that social norms had a significant influence on predicting entrepreneurship, as might be due to the high level of locus of control, which would decrease the influence of social pressure (2003).
The significance of these factors can be well appreciated if applied to a specific organization, such as the establishment of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken in China in 1987. It has been reported that part of the KFC’s triumph can be attributed to its first-mover advantage, seeing that there were no fast-food restaurants anywhere in the mainland ( 2003). This means that KFC’s entrepreneurs took the risk of introducing KFC to China to see whether they will succeed. Kentucky Fried Chicken benefited from the curiosity of the citizens about all things Western, such as clean, brightly lit restaurants, fast service and smiling counter help (2003). Moreover, to continually be supported by the Chinese citizens, the management constantly innovate and improve their services, such as providing Chinese side dishes including vegetables, mushrooms, fungus and bamboo shoots instead of coleslaw and mashed potatoes, to suit mainland tastes (2003). This example supports the discussed factors determining the success of business organizations.
Conclusion
The factors driving entrepreneurial behaviour include the complexity of issue, resource scarcity, urgency of issue, strong local leadership, and good enough partnerships (2006). These determine the success in business ventures by its interaction and interrelation, which brings good effects to the company if used wisely. Entrepreneurship is an important aspect in the society, for without it consumers will not have many choices in the market. The emergence of new entrepreneurs in the industry leads us to conclude that many would like to take risk, many have the proper values, many are well educated regarding business, and many have the courage to innovate and improve. This is beneficial to the society, for many citizens can be open to alternatives and suit their preferences.
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