Entrepreneurial Orientation and Learning †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Entrepreneurial Orientation and Learning. Answer: Introduction: If I remember correctly, I was only 10 years old when I realised that I am born to be an entrepreneur. My father asked me what I would like to have on my 10th birth anniversary. I guess he was expecting an answer like a video game or a toy, but I proved him completely wrong. Instead, I asked for a business game. That was the time when my parents also recognised that I have an inclination towards entrepreneurship. I asked for the game not because I wanted to become an entrepreneur, but had an interest in playing business games. Inadvertently, I was actually getting trained in entrepreneurship. This resembles to the childhood experience of Steve Jobs. He started delivering newspapers only to buy a video game, but did not realise that it was actually grooming him for entrepreneurship (Racki, 2016). This is because Jobs learnt the way to keep customers happy and deal with various personality types as he was passionate about his job, irrespective of its nature. Passion is one of the most important personality aspects of an entrepreneur (Price, 2013). As per the research conducted by Tony Tjan, Richard Harrington and Tsun-Yan Hsieh, 65% of the entrepreneurs were found driven by their heart. Tjan further added that most entrepreneurs have unshakable sense of purpose. This justifies the fact that passion is an integral personality trait of entrepreneurs. In my childhood, I was not very strong in communication. I often used to face difficulties in speaking grammatically correct sentences. Although my friends used to bully me for this, I never thought of quitting. Every time I used to ask my teacher to rectify me so that I can apply my learning in the future course of action. In this way I learned to speak confidently. This point towards resilience, which is a strong entrepreneurial personality trait. It was said by Sir Winston Churchill (British politician) that, Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. As an entrepreneur, failure is very common. However, the way an individual deal with the failure is what makes him/her a successful entrepreneur. For example, first automobile venture of Henry Ford went bankrupt, Steve Jobs was discarded from his own company in 1985 and Jack Dorsey was forced to leave his own organisation in 2008. Instead of loosing enthusiasm, they learnt from their failure and brought revolution by introducing Ford Motor, Virgin, Apple and Twitter respectively. This justifies the statement of Wang (2008) that, continuous learning is an important entrepreneurial behaviour. I have always been very particular about my strengths and weaknesses based on which I still set goals to meet with specific deadlines. I believe planning ahead and knowing own strengths and weaknesses are the most common behaviours of unstoppable entrepreneurs. This is because it helps in completing project(s) on time and eliminating the chances of unnecessary delay in product/service delivery to optimise customer satisfaction. Serving others is one of the most common personality traits of a successful entrepreneur (Lee Tsang, 2001). When I look back to my childhood behaviour, experiences and personality, I realise that entrepreneurial skills have always been present in me. Creativity is an integral part of my personality. When I was 15 years old I developed a portable multipurpose holder by using my toys as I have seen how difficult it was for my parents to accommodate everything within a small house where we used to live. I believe creativity holds prime importance in the context of entrepreneurship as it drives innovation (Baron, 2008). It has been revealed that people in Australia are increasingly demanding for innovative products. As identified by the Nielsen Global New Product Innovation Survey, the majority of the global customers has a strong inclination towards innovation. In comparison to the rest of the world, Australian customers are sceptical while trying a new product, provided it is convenient and affordable (Gill, 2015). Once my neighbours saw the portable holder some of them demanded the same product for their own use as they found it innovative and serves the purpose. This is an early example of an innovative idea that made me realise that, innovation that provides a functional difference in true sense and convenience to the customers would prosper in the Australian market. Since then I have been preparing a word document where I write my innovative ideas so that it can be converted into a product in the future and thereby, fulfilling my aim of becoming an entrepreneur. I see opportunities everywhere, which is a strong entrepreneurial personality trait. According to Shane et al. (2003), vision is what differentiates an entrepreneur from others. Entrepreneurs are basically innovators who always look for either developing a new idea or improving an existing product or service to make a difference. My ability to see the future before it takes place and out of box thinking have developed through my higher education. I have completed many academic assignments where I have to launch a new product or service based on the existing market scenario. Such assignments required me to do a market research to identify the niche requirements of the customers based on which a new product with a strong USP can be developed. As a result, I had to see the future in terms of the prospects of the product, future growth strategies and challenges, etc. The academic courses that I have pursued till now have taught me various management functions such as planning, leading/directing and organising, etc. I have led some team works also from which I learnt that in order to become a successful entrepreneur, I have to master the art of leading people rather than managing them. Also, I have recognised that there is no best leadership style; it needs to be changed depending on the current situation. In my o rganisation I would like to rely on creating a vision that would encourage the employees to convert ideas into reality rather than setting targets for them to achieve, which is a common characteristic of managers. According to Collins Hanges (2004), one of the key behaviours of entrepreneurs is motivating a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Thus, my inclination towards leading people rather than managing them would be helpful in proving my entrepreneurial skills. However, I always look for immediate results that might create barriers for emerging as a successful entrepreneur. I need to work on this aspect of my personality to fulfil my dream. References Baron, R.A., 2008. The role of affect in the entrepreneurial process.. Academy of management Review, 33(2), pp.328-40. Collins, C.J. Hanges, P.J.L.E.A., 2004. The relationship of achievement motivation to entrepreneurial behavior: A meta-analysis. Human performance, 17(1), pp.95-117. Gill, T., 2015. A TASTE FOR NEW THINGS: AUSSIES DEMAND INNOVATION THAT OFFER CONVENIENCE AND AFFORDABILITY. [Online] Available at: https://www.nielsen.com/au/en/insights/news/2015/a-taste-for-new-things-aussies-demand-innovation-that-offers-convenience-and-is-affordable.html [Accessed 25 August 2017]. Lee, D.Y. Tsang, E.W., 2001. The effects of entrepreneurial personality, background and network activities on venture growth.. Journal of management studies, 38(4), pp.583-602. Price, J., 2013. https://www.businessinsider.com/traits-of-successful-entrepreneurs-2013-2?IR=T. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/traits-of-successful-entrepreneurs-2013-2?IR=T [Accessed 25 August 2017]. Racki, K., 2016. Why Kids Should Be Taught Entrepreneurship Early On. [Online] Available at: https://www.proposify.biz/blog/kids-entrepreneurship [Accessed 25 August 2017]. Shane, S., Locke, E.A. Collins, C.J., 2003. Entrepreneurial motivation.. Human resource management review, 13(2), pp.257-79. Wang, C.L., 2008. Entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, and firm performance.. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 32(4), pp.635-57.