Why entrepreneurship? Almost three decades ago, Shapero (1985) raised the question. The entrepreneurial scene at that time was booming all around the world, not only in Europe and America but also in East Asia. It seems to offer something of greater importance than governments and corporations. ‘For communities and for society, entrepreneurship provides the means for achieving the level of diversity, innovation, and independent decision making required for survival, development and freedom’ (Shapero, 1985). While analyzing entrepreneurs worldwide, Shapero (1985) emphasized the word ‘control’, in his context, it’s ‘control over one’s own life’ and ‘entrepreneurs made the decision to take control’. In addition, freedom, creativity, and independence became some of the major driven forces and motivations for entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship itself alone benefits organizations and societies.

It is considered to be a human development process, which offers opportunities, self- expression, diversity, and dynamics to the world (Shapero, 1985). The word entrepreneurship in English is derived from the French verb “entreprendre”, which means to participate or undertake, therefore, an entrepreneur is there to make things happen (Kirby, 2004). Lessem (1986) suggested that an entrepreneur possesses certain characteristic traits such as risk-taking ability, need for achievement, locus of control, desire for autonomy, creativity and opportunism, and intuition.

In the context of the above case:

Discuss the five character traits of an entrepreneur as mentioned in the case.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Entrepreneurs are frequently willing to take calculated risks and venture into uncertain circumstances They are at ease with the inherent unpredictability of business creation and management This trai... View the full answer