Chapter 11: Individual Perspectives: Beyond the 'Heroic' Entrepreneur
This case study comprises brief descriptions of four well-known entrepreneurs: Alan Sugar, James Dyson, Hilary Devey and Steve Jobs. It also contains links that you can follow in order to obtain further information about each of their unique entrepreuenrial journies. Download the full case study here: Chapter 11 - Case study
Chapter 11: Questions
1. Which individual-level entrepreneurial characteristics can you identify in the profiles above? Note that there need not be evidence for each of the traits for each of the individuals!
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Sugar |
Jobs |
Devey |
Dyson |
| Need for achievement |
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| Over-optimism |
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| Risk-taking propensity |
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| Desire for autonomy |
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| Locus of control |
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| Creativity |
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Guidance answer
Refer to Section 1.2, ‘In search of the entrepreneurial individual’ and Figure 11.1, Five ‘classic’ individual-level entrepreneurial characteristics, for supporting information. Though people often talk about entrepreneurs having these individual characteristics, there is a continuing debate and new evidence emerging from psychology and the behavioural sciences. See Section 11.2 and Section 11.3 for additional insights, then reconsider your initial set of answers.
2. Conduct your own web search and try to find profiles for a wider range of entrepreneurs (including social entrepreneurs and those based in different parts of the world). Add these to the table you completed for question 1, noting any significant differences between the individuals or any patterns that emerge.
Guidance answer
While people often view entrepreneurial characteristics as universal, there may be some cultural differences. For example, in Section 11.3.3 of the text, the authors note that, ‘In individualistic cultures [over-confidence] is often presented as a positive characteristic – self-confident people are dynamic, exciting and willing to take the initiative, while their less confident counterparts ‘sit on the fence’, looking hesitant and uncertain. However, research evidence suggests that over-confidence can lead to serious mistakes, such as introducing riskier products, underestimating the competition and failing to build support networks (Gudmundsson and Lechner 2013: 279-80).
