Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Management Guru Peter Drucker makes the connection between entrepreneurship and innovation neatly as”
“Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.”
Entrepreneurship and Innovation are buzzwords of business talk. Many of the most prominent business enterprises we know of and are familiar with have been the result of the marriage between these qualities. These include Google, Apple, Microsoft and so many. The successes of these entrepreneurial ventures have incited the spirit of entrepreneurship in almost everyone with the result of a spate of ventures, big and small are springing up everywhere. But is it that easy, being a successful entrepreneur? What are the chief qualities required to be a successful entrepreneur?
Before that, let us take a look at what entrepreneurship stands for. The term describes the process of visualising, planning and creating a business venture with your own investment and doing all the aspects required for construction and sustaining it. People are realising that building a successful business is not just about pumping a huge amount of money or resources in it, it is about having a strategic plan and tactics to channelize the focus of the whole business in a particular direction, with vision as well as about creating a culture which nourishes and encourages innovation. (From the Booz & Company’s 2011 annual Global Innovation 1000 report, In fact, entrepreneurship is itself redefined as an “act of most raw, dynamic type of innovation. It is a new company, and very often a new product or even a new category or industry. Entrepreneurship is where many disruptive changes are being made,” explains Professor Michael Gibbs” It is thus about creation and disruption occurring together (www.topmba.com, 2013)
An example of such a disruptive innovative entrepreneurial venture is Google. In principle some experts define Innovation = Invention + Implementation as well as the fact that innovation is a combination of inventiveness as well as entrepreneurial spirit and process to create something of value to customers. Some of the key factors which are critical to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship includes:
1. creativity – ability to think beyond the box, think different and new, see different possibilities where none existed, this is the root basis of entrepreneurism
2. non conformism – able to look beyond established practices and behaviours
3. They are not limited by the kind and type of existing data. They take risks inspite of known facts
4. comfortable with uncertainty and readiness to try new things.
5. passion and determination
6. have a definite vision
7. Being creative is not enough. You should have the ability to implement it. Therefore successful entrepreneurship requires both the ability to think innovatively as well as the ability to implement it.
8. inspiration is good but perspiration is necessary.
The heart of successful entrepreneurship is innovation contingent with ability to convert into a workable form which adds economic value. (www.kevinhindle.com, 2009) This is one of the dangers when the emphasis tilts towards creation of new ideas but not towards implementation of them.
Research has shown that innovativeness in companies has to be shown top down. That is the most innovative companies have their leaders taking ownership for being the leaders in coming up with innovative ideas. In addition, the research shows that Creative innovators displays the five following traits: associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking. These are the discovery skills which are necessary for coming up with new ideas. (Dyer & Gregersen et al., 2009)
The close link between successful entrepreneurship and innovation is thus amply evident, with innovation being an intrinsic feature of entrepreneurship. Examination of my personal qualities through the Hill leadership self assessment has shed light on where i stand with respect to possessing the necessary skills for innovative entrepreneurship. Overall, I possess many of the qualities required for successful entrepreneurship as per this essay. Innovative entrepreneurship requires vision, focus, planning and execution ability and creative thinking ability amongst other things. Also, in order to achieve success in the competitive business environment one also needs such qualities as persistence, endurance and team work. As per the assessment, I feel i possess sufficient leadership skills, strategic planning and thinking out of the box, I do well in strategic thinking but am not so good at articulating organisation mission and vision to others and i would like to work on that. Defining roles and responsibilities is the area which i am least experienced at and would like to work on that. Other strengths of mine, which will be of great use to a start up scenario, include ability to take decisions and thus leading courageously, taking risks, encouraging the team to support organisational goals and change management which are necessary requirements while guiding a risk taking mission.
List of References
Why true innovators must behave like entrepreneurs [Editorial]. (2012). Marketing Week, 35(31), 10.
Can startups help turn the tide? (2012). Harvard Business Review, 90(9), 30–31.
Dyer, J. H., Gregersen, H. B., & Christensen, C. M. (2009). The innovator’s DNA. Harvard Business Review, 87(12), 1–9.
Hunter, M. (2012). On some of the misconceptions about entrepreneurship. Economics, Management, and Financial Markets, 7(2), 55–104.
Ekore, J. O., &Okekeocha, O. C. (2012). Fear of entrepreneurship among university graduates: A psychological analysis. International Journal of Management, 29(2), 515–524.
www.kevinhindle.com. (2009). Relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship: easy definition, hard policy. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.kevinhindle.com/publications/J4.2009-AGSE-Hindle-Inn-Ent-Pol.pdf [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014].
www.topmba.com. (2013). [online] Retrieved from: http://www.topmba.com/mba-programs/executive/choosing-emba/innovatorship-link-between-innovation-and-entrepreneurship [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014].
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