FREE ESSAY ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Peter Drucker (1985) states in his article, A Prescription for entrepreneurial
management", " Leadership does not necessarily mean bigger; it means being accepted as
the leader, recognized as the standard setter. Above all, it means having the freedom to
lead rather than being obliged to follow" (p.36). 
In looking at these definitions it can be seen that there are many different types of
leadership. Several examples might be transformational, charismatic, and entrepreneurial
leadership. Entrepreneurial leadership is vital to an individual and to a corporation's
success.
Entrepreneurial firms are a major source of innovation and change. They create jobs, new
tax revenues, and other transfers of money. At a time when U.S. productivity growth is
lagging behind other countries, and when our large corporations are laying off workers
and focusing on core businesses, entrepreneurial firms assume a more significant role;
They do what large companies are not doing (Miner, 1997, p.54).
Definitions of Entrepreneurial Leadership
Stevenson, Roberts, & Grousbeck (as cited in Morris, Avilla, & Allen, 1993) Define
entrepreneurship as "The process of creating value by bring together a unique package of
resources to exploit an opportunity" (p.56). Furthermore, (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Miles &
Arnold, 1991; Miller & Friesen, 1983) also cited (Morris et al., 1993):
The process itself consists of the set of activities necessary to identify an
opportunity, develop a business concept, and then manage and harvest the venture. As a
process, it has applicability to organizations of all sizes and types. The
entrepreneurship construct has three underlying dimensions: innovativeness, or the
development of novel or unique products, services or processes; risk-taking, or
willingness to pursue opportunities having a reasonable chance of costly failure; and
proactiveness, or an emphasis on persistence and creativity in overcoming obstacles until
the innovative concept is fully implemented (p.596).
Entrepreneurial Leadership within Management
Success for entrepreneurs requires innovation. There are several ways to achieve this
according to Drucker,
1. Entrepreneurial management first requires that the organization be made receptive to
innovation and willing to perceive change as an opportunity rather than a threat. It must
be organized to do the hard work of the entrepreneur and create the entrepreneurial
climate. 
1. It secondly requires systematic measurement-or at least systematic appraisal-of a
company's performance as entrepreneur and innovator, and built-in learning to improve
performance.
1. Thirdly, entrepreneurial management requires specific practices with respect to
organization structure, staffing, management compensation, incentives, and rewards
(p.33). 
Not only is innovation a key factor in the success of entrepreneurial management but, an
important issue that needs to be brought to management's attention; individualism and
collectivism within the corporation. Morris et al., states the following, " Managers and
theorist interested in entrepreneurship must begin to come to terms with the roles of the
individuals and the group, respectively, within an organizational context. These roles
are an integral component of the internal environment of the firm" (p.603). Drucker
(1985) authoring another article with the same title as his book, "Setting up
entrepreneurial units" is quoted as saying, For the existing business to be capable of
innovation, it has to create a structure that allows people to be entrepreneurial... This
means, first, that the entrepreneurial, the new, has to be organized separately from the
old and existing... This means also that there has to be a special locus for the new
venture within the organization, and it has to be pretty high up. Even though the new
project, by virture of it's size, revenues, and markets, does not rank with existing
products, somebody in top management must have the specific assignment to work on
tomorrow as an entrepreneur and innovator (p.22). 
Berglass (1977) believes that this is extremely important especially with top management.
In business, no one respects a CEO who has lost the will to stick his neck out. Risk
aversion among successful entrepreneurs is somewhat widespread. With surprising
regularity, formerly fearless entrepreneurs responded to success by holding the reins on
risk and change so tightly that they end up strangling their businesses(p.35)
Achieving Entrepreneurial Success
Miner found through research that there, "is not just one kind of person who has the
potential to succeed as an entrepreneur. Furthermore, the findings show that the type of
person an individual determines the route he or she should follow" (p.54). He found that
there were four types of personalities, they are:
1. Personal Achiever
a. Need to achieve-Very High
a. Desire to plan and set goals-Not a Major Factor
a. Strong personal initiative-High
a. Strong personal commitment to their organization-High
a. Belief that one person can make a difference-an internal, rather than external, locus
of control-High
a. Belief that work should be guided by personal goals not those set by others-Very High
1. Empathetic Super Salesperson
a. Capacity to understand and feel with another-to empathize-Very High
a. Desire to help other-High
a. Belief that social processes are very important-Very High
a. Need to have strong positive relationships with others-Not a Major Factor
a. Belief that a sales force is crucial to carrying out company strategy-High
1. Real Manager
a. Desire to play a corporate leader role-High
a. Decisiveness-High
a. Positive attitudes to authority-High
a. Desire to compete-Very High
a. Desire for power-Not a Major Factor
a. Desire to stand out from the crowd-Very High
1. Expert Idea Generator
a. Desire to innovate-High
a. Love of Ideas-Very High
a. Belief that new product development is crucial to carrying out company strategy-High
a. Good intelligence-Not a Major Factor
a. Desire to avoid taking risk-High(pp,55-61)
He further about various patterns of the four personalities:
There is no reason that a person cannot have more than one of the four personality
patterns that make for successful entrepreneurship. In my experience, over a third of
established entrepreneurs so possess at least two strong patterns. Multiple patterns are
particularly frequent when personal achievers or real managers are involved. They are
least likely in the case of empathetic super salespeople. Those who possess more than one
strong pattern are called complex entrepreneurs. They may activate these patterns
concomitantly and thus follow multiple routes at roughly the same time. Or, they may
Bring the multiple patterns to bear in some type of sequential order(p.62).
Despite the four different types of personalities that each person might possess,
Pinchot(1994) gives a dozen tips on how to regain or hold onto their entrepreneurial
spirit:
1. Find a vision worthy of persistence. Your vision should meet three test: 1) create
more value for customers and stockholders; 2)increase the value of the capabilities and
assets of the organization; 3) align with your deepest values and give you a chance to
use your greatest talents.
1. Choose a vision of moderate risk.
1. Seek and use feedback.
1. Develop cross disciplinary business judgment
1. Share ownership with the team.
1. Never reject help.
1. Do whatever needs to be done.
1. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
1. Come to work willing to be fired.
1. Know where the waterline is.
1. Never show fools unfinished work.
1. Balance reality and the dream (pp.15-18)
Analysis of Entrepreneurial Leadership
Entrepreneurial leadership is becoming very popular among all types of people. Since
there has been more research done on entrepreneurial leadership, the number of people who
have tried entrepreneurship has increased. One person who has done this successfully is
Rosabeth Kanter.
Rosabeth Kanter is a Harvard Business School Professor and the author of many books and
articles on management, strategic management and leadership. Ms. Kanter's ideas on
management and leadership were once considered redical but, are now highly regarded and
used frequently.
Kanter is an excellent example of entrepreneurial leadership because she, "believes that
a true leader must possess a number of qualities, including wisdom, the ability to see
new things, and incite inspiration through communication, and being relationship
oriented" (Abernathy, 1998, p.44). By Kanter teaching/presenting all of these different
ideas to students, colleagues, manager, etc. through classes and seminars she is being an
entrepreneurial leader.
She is wise, has the ability to see new things, incites inspiration through
communication, and is actively relationship oriented. The fact that she is a consultant
says it all because, starting your own business is being an entrepreneur. "My advice to
companies today is often the same as it was then. I said they were losing sight of
innovation, customers, were too internally focused and brutal when dealing with staff.
They didn't want to listen...Now they're listening" (Merriden, 1997,p.56).