Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development - Coursework Example

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature Review 4 Practical Evidence 6 Analysis 9 Conclusion 11 Introduction The success of business is due to several factors, but the most important factor contributing towards the success of business is the entrepreneur him/herself. To a certain extent, the theoretical knowledge of the business possessed by the entrepreneur is of vital significance to the business success but apart from the theoretical knowledge, the personality and craftsmanship of the entrepreneur is also regarded as one of the crucial factors for the entrepreneur’s success (Driessen & Zwart, 2010). At the same time, the process of globalisation and the proliferation of technologies have provided businesses with numerous opportunities and also resulted in intensified competition among the companies at the marketplace. Consequently, the changes witnessed by the present business enterprises have increased the demand for efficient and innovative entrepreneurs with excellent leadership quality (Fillis, 2010). Therefore, one of the pivotal requirements of an entrepreneur while performing his/her tasks successfully is to develop the traits and the qualities of an efficient leader. For instance, when an individual attempts to draw reasons behind the success of Apple Inc, It is often attributed to its late CEO Mr. Steve Jobs. The entrepreneur should have necessary leadership qualities for various reasons such as inspiring his/her employees, gaining trust and confidence of his/her employees as well as potential customers. A successful entrepreneur with essential leadership quality is able to lead his/her employees efficiently even in adverse and dynamic business environment (Vecchio, 2003). The general definition of leadership connotes that leadership is an ability of an individual to influence human behaviour (subordinates) and direct them towards achievement of specific goals (Goffee & Jones, 2007). The report intends to critically evaluate the importance of leadership skills to entrepreneur for managing various activities of an organisation. The report also assimilates the biographical material of late CEO of Apple Inc. Mr. Steve Jobs with literature review related to entrepreneur and attempts to explain the entrepreneurship aspects. The report commences with the section of literature review and then provides practical evidences related with Mr. Steve Jobs and the selected theme i.e. leadership associated with him. Analysis section comprises a synthesis of attributes and evidences of entrepreneurial characteristics of Steve Jobs and relevant dimensions comprehended from literature review. Finally, a valid conclusion is drawn for the report. Literature Review According to Bosma & et. al. (2000), entrepreneurship plays a significant role in economic development and is closely related with small business and technological changes. Accordingly, an entrepreneur along with other business factors determines the structure of a firm. They further advocated that entrepreneurs are more than managers in an organisation and so their responsibilities are greater. An entrepreneur must be a capable executive along with possessing other relevant characteristics like efficient capabilities to lead the efforts of his/her team members towards achieving desired goals (Bosma & et. al., 2000). According to Shane & et. al. (2003), entrepreneurial process in vital for the business operations for several reasons. Accordingly, entrepreneurship leads to innovation and changes in technical aspects and thereby generates economic growth. They further claimed that entrepreneurship is a crucial process through which new knowledge is converted into feasible products and services. They argued that the level of motivation has intense influence on the entrepreneurial process. Consequently, they proclaimed that probability of entrepreneurial success is low to those entrepreneurs having low motivation while those people with high level of motivation may have greater chances to succeed (Shane & et. al., 2003). According to Salome & et. al. (2012), Entrepreneurship is the ability of an individual to seek investment opportunities and operate the enterprise successfully. They claimed that business enterprises do not fail just because of limited availability of capital or machines but also the lack of prerequisite skills needed for growth and for retaining business viability at the market place is one of the significant factors leading towards business failure. They further stressed that despite the abundant availability of physical resources with enterprises, often they cannot sustain business for longer period of time. The argued that primary reasons behind such failure is due to the lack of entrepreneurial skills and competence in managing and directing efforts of the organisational members towards worthy directions (Salome & et. al.,2012). According to Thompson (2006), entrepreneurship and business innovation from the small business perspective has gained notable attention over the years. Contextually, he stated that entrepreneurship is the process of doing something new and different from others. Accordingly, he focussed on creativity and innovative qualities of entrepreneurship in the course of maximising wealth and attaining growth (Thompson 2006). As per Szerb (2003), over the last few decades, entrepreneurship has been the fastest rising area of economic and business focus. The rapidly growing interest of entrepreneurship has created a demand in terms of altering role of small business (Szerb, 2003). Bang (2008) stated that rapid development of society has contributed towards dynamic business environment. He attributed technological explosion to be the main driving force behind the changes in social and business environment. Contextually, he stressed that entrepreneurship will also continue to change due to the changes in the business and social environment in which the entrepreneur operates. Hence, he advocated that enterprises should learn to be dynamic enough to adapt with the changing environment for sustaining business and attaining growth (Bang, 2008). According to Hulsing (2009), small business enterprises are largely dependent upon entrepreneurial endeavours for their growth and success. Entrepreneur plays an important role in regional development and in communities experiencing economic downturn. He identified that leadership characteristics are essential requirements for the effective functioning of both the entrepreneur and the enterprise (Hulsing, 2009). Hult & et. al. (2003) stated that entrepreneurship as a process is rooted in an organisation’s culture rather than being considered as an event. Furthermore, they stated that entrepreneurship is a crucial factor that interacts with other factors to produce business results as opposed to driving performance independently (Hult & et. al., 2003). According to Yang (2008), leadership style followed by an entrepreneur may influence the advancement and growth of small and medium enterprises. However, in dynamic and complex business environment entrepreneurial leadership behaviour is distinct from those of the traditional leadership. Entrepreneurial leadership is an effective and much needed leadership in the present business scenario that plays a significant role in the success of the new ventures. Practical Evidence Steven Paul Jobs also known as Steve Jobs is not a new name to the world. Those people aware of the success of Apple Inc. are indeed familiar with this name. Today, Apple Inc. is one of the richest companies which generated US$ 108 billion in 2011. At present, it has more than 60,000 employees and 365 retail stores located in different countries across the world. A majority of this long-drawn success story of Apple can be attributed to the able leadership and innovative capabilities of Steve Jobs, who led the organisation to attain greater heights. Steve Jobs was born on February 24, in the year 1955 in San Francisco, USA. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs, a lower-middle class couple. After his graduation from high school in 1972, he went to Reed College in Portland, Oregon but later he dropped out of college (Reuters, 2012). Apple Computer Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs and his two friends Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne who were not having strong financial backgrounds. Steve Jobs and his friends founded the incorporation with a small amount of US$250,000 in 1977 when these three friends made a computer which was named to be Apple 1 in 1976. Later, Ronald Wayne sold his share to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Reuters, 2012). Apple Inc., founded by Steve Jobs, is currently one of the most successful electronic companies operating around the world. However, it was not easy for the company to reach the level as it reveals today, many challenges were confronted by the company in its long journey of success. At the same time, one name had always been associated with the company irrespective of its success or failure, which was Steve Jobs. His achievement and contribution towards the company has been far- reaching and it is not easy to summarise them all. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011 at the age of 56 (Cyran & Beales, 2011). However, he was not an ordinary chief executive. He was the man of innovation who was behind the creation of iPod, iPhone and iPad and rescued one of the leading electronic companies during its hard times. He was among those rare entrepreneurs who leave their legacy even after their death. He was an unparalleled executive and innovator, ever produced in the 20th century (Cyran & Beales, 2011). Steve Jobs had perfectionist attitude and an ability to react quickly even in adverse market conditions. During the year 1997, when the company was going through its worst performance, he was appointed as interim CEO after former CEO Gil Amelio was pushed out. In the year 2000, he was made the permanent CEO of the company. Steve Jobs can be considered as a wilful, driven leader, and the products as well as the services that he developed and commercialized, no doubt have changed the lives of people and the industries alike such as music, mobile and computing among others. To a certain extent leadership style adapted by Steve Jobs was complex. He was firmly focussed, committed and confident enough to take risky leaps. His volatile approach towards leadership was both captivating and perplexing. As a leader, he was extremely inspirational and motivational to his employees. He was a strong fascinating leader. His leadership style rescued Apple through several crises. Often, Steve Job’s working style was criticized by his colleagues, partners and subordinates as being cruel manipulative, rude and self-obsessed (Isaacson, 2012). Contextually, he was not a man with rigid rules; he had always demonstrated kind and rewarding behaviours towards his employees. Nonetheless, he possessed outstanding ability to get work done by people in the same manner as he wanted to be (Kurian, 2012). He was always focussed on providing goods that customers wanted and determining new needs and fulfilling them with his continuous innovations. He always praised the works and efforts of his employees and directed their efforts increasing the quality and the productivity regularly (Cyran & Beales, 2011). Throughout his tenure in Apple, Steve Jobs was determined towards identifying opportunities in external environment and endeavoured to position the company to seize these opportunities efficiently and differently from its competitors. His leadership was not limited towards the needs of stakeholders and the related changes but he had also involved himself in creating new products, markets, customers and services. He built new organisational scenarios and formulated strategies that distinguished the company from others in the market. He was embraced with the ability to understand the dynamics of the industry and the key success factors essential for seizing opportunities (Wooten, 2009). Steve Jobs perceived himself not only as an entrepreneur but also as a leader and innovated products that indeed helped the company to reach the greater level of success. His leadership quality enabled him to assess the strategies of competitors and frame own strategies in a better way and seize the opportunities of the market as being a ‘first mover’. Moreover, he gave a new shape to Apple’s culture. In this course, he aligned the prevailing culture and strategies which were driven by his vision to produce new and exceptional products. As a part of Apple’ culture, he made innovations an integral part to the corporate culture. He developed a culture where employees were rewarded for experimenting, demonstrating creativity and taking risks (Wooten, 2009). In one of his interviews, he explained the challenges to innovate are a norm of Apple culture: “It was a great challenge. Lets make a great phone that we fall in love with. And weve got the technology. Weve got the miniaturization from the iPod. Weve got the sophisticated operating system from Mac. Nobody had ever thought about putting operating systems as sophisticated as OS X inside a phone, so that was a real question. We had a big debate inside the company whether we could do that or not. And that was one where I had to adjudicate it and just say, Were going to do it. Lets try. The smartest software guys were saying they can do it, so lets give them a shot. And they did” (Wooten, 2009: pp. 8) According to the above context, it can be stated that Steve Jobs was an efficient entrepreneur, leader, and innovator and shall be remembered for his outstanding leadership capabilities that took Apple to height of zenith. Analysis Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in determining the success and the failure of the business enterprise. The classic example is demonstrated by the late CEO of Apple, Mr. Steve Jobs. The entrepreneurs are responsible for determining and framing the structure of the firm. The entrepreneurs’ role is not limited to founding and organising the activities but it is considerably more than performing managerial activities. Notably, managers’ attitudes are often associated with aversion of business risks while entrepreneur as a leader is to take business risks and exploit the opportunities. Mr. Jobs during his tenure in Apple Inc. performed his role as a manager, a leader and an efficient entrepreneur. The entrepreneurship that was followed by Mr. Jobs was a unique combination of three major components including entrepreneurship, leadership and managerial attitudes. An entrepreneur must be a capable executive along with demonstrating other relevant characteristics such as efficient capabilities to lead the efforts of his/her team members towards achieving desired goals (Bosma & et. al., 2000). Contextually, such initiatives can be clearly seen in Steve Jobs commitment towards Apple. It is also claimed that an entrepreneur should have an exceeding innovative quality and flexibility of adopting the changing technical and business requirements. Nonetheless, Steve Jobs was an excellent innovator and leader. He integrated the Apple’s culture with a vision to produce and deliver innovative and exceptional products to customers. He gave rise to the Apple’s culture that facilitated in creating team spirit and pooling together the various ideas of team members towards achieving organisational missions and visions. The corporate culture that was initiated by Mr. Jobs helped employees and the company to resolve their problems and motivated them towards developing and producing future products. He valued the importance of every employee and focussed on directing the efforts of his team members and subordinates in a way that yielded best benefits to the company. He identified the needs of stakeholders as well as strived towards creating new markets and customers that embrace the company with increasing market share. In the context of entrepreneurship, innovation is positioned as the prime condition of entrepreneurial leadership. Mr. Jobs had possessed one of the best innovative and entrepreneurship qualities combination. Innovations of iPod, iPhone and iPad are the evidences of his extraordinary innovative qualities that indeed succeeded in delivering the most favourable results for Apple. It is often stressed that effective entrepreneurship is necessary for accomplishing the organisational along with other factors of production. To a great extent, Mr. Jobs was one of those entrepreneurs who rightly proved this fact. During the time of Apple’s worst performance, Steve Jobs with his extraordinary abilities and leadership capabilities rescued the company from its decreasing market share and profitability. The fascinating and perplexing leadership style followed by Mr. Jobs had acted as a boon for the company to establish itself differently from its competitors across the global business arena. The leadership skills that he demonstrated had greatly influenced the other people within and outside the company. Through his charismatic leadership style, he was able to motivate his employees to deliver the desired results. As an efficient entrepreneur, Mr. Jobs sought opportunities at the market place and seized those opportunities towards the benefits of the stakeholders and the company at large. He was a charismatic, articulate leader and a risk taker embedded in his vision. The leadership demonstrated by Mr. Jobs infused the sense of mission among the employees. At the same time, the motivated workforce of Apple worked hard for satisfying their leader and achieving goals. Many would describe Mr. Jobs as bold and passionate in his leadership style but he was not an irresponsible executive. He had a precision in his leadership style that communicated objectives of the company and commitment towards the employees (Katzenbach, 2012). A business entrepreneurship always requires a quick perception relating to market conditions and opportunities. Steve Jobs was quick in assessing the strategies of competitors and making strategic decisions which resulted in the company to enjoy the advantages of being ‘first mover’. In order to attain flexibility in decision making process, he strived to create an environment in which employees can make decisions instantly without much intensive bureaucratic limitations (Bernitsas, 2011). Conclusion Entrepreneur is one of the critical success factors of any organisation. The entrepreneurs must be determined towards accomplishing the visions and communicating employees in order to seek their best possible efforts. Apart from demonstrating managerial role, entrepreneurs should also possess necessary leadership qualities and should be able to lead and direct employees’ efforts towards desired direction. At the same time, he/she must have to identify the changing needs of customers and provide them with new and innovative products. In this context, Mr. Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple Inc., presents one of the best example of modern entrepreneurship. Today, almost all the people are familiar with the name Apple Inc. and its exceptional products like iPod, iPhone and iPad. These products have changed the lives of many people and the way people perceived technology. However, the man behind the success of Apple and these products was none other than Mr. Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs, during his tenure in Apple, had led the company to attain zenith of success. However, in the course of its success story, the company and Mr. Jobs both confronted many challenges and opportunities. Mr. Jobs possessed exceptional acumen with extraordinary qualities that distinguished him from other executives of the company and its competitors. The charismatic leadership style followed by Mr. Jobs inspired and motivated the employees towards producing products for the future. He was a fascinating and a bold leader, who was always willing to take risks but he was not irresponsible. He made innovations as an integral part of Apple’s culture. In precise, success of Apple can be significantly attributed to Steve Job’s exceptional ability as an entrepreneur, leader and innovator. His leadership style will influence and inspire the entrepreneurs around the world in years to come. References Bernitsas, M., 2011. Establishing Strong Culture. Steve Jobs: The Businessman, the Visionary, the Leader. [Online] Available at: http://marinosb.com/files/MarinosBernitsasOnSteveJobs.pdf [Accessed November 07, 2012]. Bosma, N. & et. al., 2000. Theories of Entrepreneurship. Determinants of Successful Entrepreneurship, pp. 5-34. Bang, M.S., 2008. The Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Dynamic Society. The Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Dynamic Society, vol. 1, iss. 1, pp. 34-45. Cyran, R. & Beales, R., 2011. Jobs’ Worth. Steve Jobs and Apple. 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