Small Firm Growth As A Function Of Learning And Entrepreneurial Orientation. (70 Characters)

Small firm growth as a function of both learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation

How Should Crowdfunding Research Evolve?

What can scholars of entrepreneurship learn from sound family businesses?.

Early business model evolution in science-based ventures: the case of advanced materials.

An integrated entrepreneurial performance model focusing on the importance and proficiency of competencies for start-up and established SMEs. 

How Should Crowdfunding Research Evolve?

Entrepreneurial ventures require a lot skills like leadership and risk taking power. The paper would deal with these two skills by taking the case study. It considers two theories, Gibbs theory and Schumpeter’s theory.

My team mates and I decided to launch an entrepreneurial venture of an online website that would enable the users to shop a variety of products. The entrepreneurial business venture necessitated us to brainstorm to bring about innovative ideas which often led to conflict of opinions (Dees 2017).

I have inferred from my learning that the entrepreneurial theory which the new business project would hold appropriate is Schumpeter’s theory of innovation According to the theory innovation in the industrial and commercial sector lead to attraction of investments to bring about new products and advanced versions of the existing products. I can point out that in the light of the above theory, the new online shopping portal would have innovative attributes which would enable it to provide customers with more benefits. These exclusive benefits would enable the online shopping site create higher level of customer satisfaction and generate more revenue. This would enable it to gain competitive advantage in the market (West and Bogers 2014).

I have understood that the new entrepreneurial business idea would consist of an online shopping portal that would enable the consumers buy products. The online portal would offer both economic range and premium range products, thus ensuring satisfaction of both upper and middle class customers. The website would enable the customers choose from a wide range of products like apparel, grocery items and electronic items (Drucker 2014). The buyers would be able to avail discounts every time they shop in addition to additional products at discounted prices. These aspects of the new business model would make it profitable to customers. However, this extensive would require support of all the team members.   

My team mates readily agreed to embark on the project of the online shopping portal. I felt really very happy and motivated at the support of my team mates.

I can evaluate that the business idea of an online shopping portal requires immense technical, financial and resource strength. A business firm starting such an initiative requires to acquire immense market knowledge on customer preferences, primary and secondary consumers and various other factors in order to conductAnalysis of the business idea:

I understood on analysing the entrepreneurial business idea that is a very promising and would prove profitable. It can also analyse that the team mates including me have to conduct extensive research to gain a sizeable amount of knowledge on the online shopping portals and their operations (Burns 2016).

What can scholars of entrepreneurship learn from sound family businesses?

According to my opinion based on my learning the entrepreneurial business venture of online shopping portal would be extremely profitable. However, it would require collaboration of all the team members who would gain knowledge on various aspects like customer preferences.

The action plan as per my learning would consists of consist extensive research in different fields like customer preferences and technological aspects of online portals. The team mates of mine would study articles, books and other literary sources to gain knowledge about the customers’ preferences as far as online portals are concerned. They should also consult technological experts to gain more knowledge in the field of business (Huggins and Thompson 2015).

I have learnt that one of the most significant entrepreneurial attributes as I can reflect is risk taking propensity. It is this attribute which drives entrepreneurs to take risks in order to exploit business opportunities existing in the market to benefit from them and gain profits.

I learnt that the entrepreneurial business venture would face several internal and external risks. First of all, since the market of online shopping websites have become extremely competitive with dominance of multinational ecommerce companies like Amazon. These multinational companies would pose serious challenges to the new ecommerce companies. The second challenge would be availability of funds. This is because new entrepreneurial business ventures have no revenue base of their own which limits them their borrowing power (Piperopoulos 2016). I can point out that new business ventures like the venture revolving on online portal given in the case study require contribution from all the team members. This often leads to conflict among the team members owing to conflict in opinion and ego among the team members. I can point out that it is a challenge for the team leaders to ensure unity and coordination among team members in spite of presence of conflicting ideas and interests among team members (Woodside, Bernal and Coduras 2016).

I feeling extremely stressed due to several reasons. First, it was a new business venture which required immense market research. This required immense collaboration among the team members. Moreover, there was conflict among two of the team members which was about to lead to the collapse of the team. It was under this intensely tensed condition that I took charge of the team. Hence, considering the situation I was very stressed due to this conflict among two of my team members (Carmody-Bubb, Duncan and Ree 2015).

Early business model evolution in science-based ventures: the case of advanced materials.

I can evaluate that I handled the conflict between two members very efficiently as a leader. I could point out that the conflict between the two members was about to bring about collapse of the team and consequently to the entrepreneurial venture of online shopping portal. I can also point that I had to nullify the impact of the previous authoritative leader to establish collaborative environment within the team (Hagen, Denicolai and Zucchella 2014).

I can analyse that I managed the risk very efficiently as a leader. I took the responsibility of the team leader when the team members were suffering from lack of attachment to the team and were planning to change their teams. I used my interpersonal skills to establish smooth communication among the team members. I used Gibbs Theory to promote a healthy team environment and taught the members to neglect minor faults of each other. I advocated on need to build a healthy team culture which would eventually lead them towards attainment of the goal of successful launching of the online shopping portal (Cahn and Abigail 2014).

I can reflect upon the risk taking propensity of mine as an entrepreneur and as a team leader and mention that I was efficient in the areas. I succeeded in reinstating collaboration among the team members and managing conflict among them.

I can reflect upon the risk taking capability of mine and set an action plan to improve it further. I would read more books and articles to increase my knowledge on risk taking. I would also attend seminars to interact with professionals to enhance my risk taking capacity (Way, Jimmieson. and Bordia 2016).

I got the opportunity to showcase several leadership attributes of mine while leading the entrepreneurial venture team. The first leadership quality which I exhibited was establishment of unity among the team members and conflict management skills. There were certain team members who had conflicting interests regarding certain matters. I used my conflict management and communication skills to establish communication among the conflicting members (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).

The second leadership skill which I exhibited as the leader of the entrepreneurial team was motivation. The entrepreneurial venture revolved around introducing online shopping services which was very risky considering the fact that the ecommerce market already had players like Amazon. Thus, the new entrepreneurial ventures was supposed to come under the influence of intense market competition right at the initial phase. I motivated my team members even though some of the members did not appreciate my efforts (Wong et al. 2018).

An integrated entrepreneurial performance model focusing on the importance and proficiency of competencies for start-up and established SMEs.

The third leadership quality I revealed was determination to lead the team towards attainment of the goal. The previous team leader was authoritative and used his position to impose his ideas on his fellow members. He treated them as subordinates and disregarded their opinions and ideas. This led to a general lack of respect among the team members for each other. I can point out that I used my determination to change the uncooperative and hostile mentality among the team members. I succeeded by gaining cooperation from even the conflicting members which further enhanced my qualities as a leader. I motivated the team members when they lacked motivation and confidence. I however realised that I was not able to serve the interests of all the team members (Rahim 2017).

I can reflect that my feeling about leadership qualities are mixed. I was satisfied that I was able to improve the team culture among the members. I was able to re-establish the lost team cohesion due to the authoritative leadership style of the previous which ultimate eat into the team values. I can also point out that I was able to manage the conflict among the two conflicting members. I successfully motivated the team members when they lacked confidence when again showed my motivating nature as a team leader. However, I also point it was not possible for me to satisfy the demands of all the members. I feel confident and would lead teams successfully in the future. I would also take up courses and read articles on famous corporate leaders to enhance my leadership skills (Garaigordobil and Martínez-Valderrey 2015).

I can evaluate upon reflection upon my leadership skills that I am efficient as a leader but I need to work on certain areas. I can point out that I was good in managing the conflict among the team members and counteract the hostile team culture established by the previous leader. I can further point out that I was good at motivating the team members and leading them towards achievement of the goal. However, I was efficient in satisfying the demands of all the team members which might have left some of the members resenting. I can point out upon evaluation that I require to improve this area of my leadership style.

I can analyse the incidence and point out that I was quite efficient as a leader. I was able to manage the conflicting situation within the team which the previous leader created. I was confident and was able to motivate the team members when they lacked confidence. However, I can point out that as a leader I require to further enhance my leadership skills to be able to tackle more complex and challenging situation more efficiently.

Analysis of the business idea:

I can conclude upon reflection that I am an efficient leader but need to work on my weak areas. I would make certain action plan to hone my leadership skills to boost my professional development in the future.

I would attend seminars and conferences on leadership to sharpen my leadership qualities. I would also read books, journals and articles to strengthen my leadership power. Then I would also watch videos to leadership.

I can conclude from the discussion that entrepreneurial ventures are dependent on team work for their success. Entrepreneurs should concentrate on building team motivation in order to attain their goals. They should build a smooth communication stream among the team members and concentrate managing conflict. These strategies would strengthen the motivation among the team members and they would work harder to attain team goals.

References:

Burns, P., 2016. Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.

Cahn, D.D. and Abigail, R.A., 2014. Managing conflict through communication. Pearson.

Carmody-Bubb, M.A., Duncan, P.A. and Ree, M.J., 2015. Emotional intelligence and personality predict conflict management style: examining relationships and factor structures. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business Volume.

Dees, J.G., 2017. 1 The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. In Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability(pp. 34-42). Routledge.

Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.

Garaigordobil, M. and Martínez-Valderrey, V., 2015. The effectiveness of Cyberprogram 2.0 on conflict resolution strategies and self-esteem. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57(2), pp.229-234.

Hagen, B., Denicolai, S. and Zucchella, A., 2014. International entrepreneurship at the crossroads between innovation and internationalization. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 12(2), pp.111-114.

Huggins, R. and Thompson, P., 2015. Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional growth: a network theory. Small Business Economics, 45(1), pp.103-128.

Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Parker, S.C., 2018. The economics of entrepreneurship. Cambridge University Press.

Piperopoulos, P.G., 2016. Entrepreneurship, innovation and business clusters. Routledge.

Rahim, M.A., 2017. Managing conflict in organizations. Routledge.

Way, K.A., Jimmieson, N.L. and Bordia, P., 2016. Shared perceptions of supervisor conflict management style: A cross-level moderator of relationship conflict and employee outcomes. International Journal of Conflict Management, 27(1), pp.25-49.

West, J. and Bogers, M., 2014. Leveraging external sources of innovation: a review of research on open innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31(4), pp.814-831.

Wong, A., Wei, L., Wang, X. and Tjosvold, D., 2018. Collectivist values for constructive conflict management in international joint venture effectiveness. International Journal of Conflict Management, 29(1), pp.126-143.

Woodside, A.G., Bernal, P.M. and Coduras, A., 2016. The general theory of culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, and quality-of-life: Comparing nurturing versus thwarting enterprise start-ups in BRIC, Denmark, Germany, and the United States. Industrial Marketing Management, 53, pp.136-159.