Commerce · Ch 3 — Entrepreneurship Development
Entrepreneurial Values and Attitudes
Entrepreneurial Values and Attitudes
Taken together, entrepreneurial values and attitudes refer to the behavioural choices individuals make for success in entrepreneurship. The word 'choice' is important, because there are always alternative ways of behaving. The entrepreneur in the KASH story called these 'habits'; other researchers have called them policies or strategies. Whether it is the decision to choose entrepreneurship as a career, or choices about the product line, growth strategy, profit-making and social responsibility, the choice made can have a tremendous impact on performance.
The table below profiles some dimensions of starting and managing a business and, for each, the behavioural alternative that has generally been observed to go with superior performance.
| Dimension | Behavioural alternative associated with success |
|---|---|
| Type of entrepreneurship | Choose pioneering / innovative products. |
| Business decision | Choose the business as per your qualifications and experience. |
| Recruitment policy | Recruit qualified and trained professionals. |
| Managing growth: pace | Grow only at a manageable pace and extent. |
| Ability to delegate | Delegate and decentralise. |
| Marketing concept | Produce according to customers' requirements. |
| Compensation | Reward good performance with additional increments and promotions. |
| Managing growth: direction | Grow around your core competence. |
| Product planning and development | Innovate and improvise continually. |
| Locational decision | Locate purely on economic merits. |
| Cost rationalisation | Reduce cost by cutting overheads and improving efficiency. |
| Managing competition | Avoid competition (compete intelligently rather than head-on). |