Entrepreneurs: Born or Made? (Term Paper Sample)

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? Introduction An entrepreneur is a person who chooses self-employment thereby pursuing a business venture or idea to achieve financial success or certain social ends. According to Chell (2008), unemployment has become a rampant problem that has resulted in governments encouraging their citizens to pursue entrepreneurship to create jobs and wealth in their countries. Businesspersons face many challenges including lack of resources and probable failure. Despite the said challenges, many individuals have been able to succeed in their ventures. This has generated much interest in what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. For this reason, psychologists conduct research on the personality traits that ensure success for the businesspersons. This has resulted in two differing conclusions. The first is that individuals who tend to pursue entrepreneurship possess certain innate characteristics that equip them for their ventures. The second holds that individuals can learn entrepreneurship and do not necessarily have to possess natural dispositions. This paper uses personality trait theory to explore the two sides to this argument to determine whether entrepreneurs are born or made. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur There are many characteristics attributed to entrepreneurs. Naturally, these stem from successful entrepreneurs, as they are the ones of interest to most people. These are important when it comes to determining whether individuals can learn and develop the said traits in their pursuit of entrepreneurship. The five prominent features that stand out are as follows: Confidence Confidence is the ability to possess and portray certainty in oneself. This is critical when pursuing a business, especially if others criticize it or actively make efforts to hinder its success. As previously mentioned, entrepreneurs face many challenges as they pursue their venture. Being confident greatly contributes to the ability of these businesspersons to persevere. Groenen et al.'s (2013) study illustrates that entrepreneurs are more overconfident as compared to their non-entrepreneur counterparts. The qualification of the trait of confidence to overconfidence shows that it is in great abundance in the personality of entrepreneurs. Conscientiousness Conscientiousness is the ability to be organized and efficient. This is an important trait for an entrepreneur to possess since they take part in many activities to ensure that their business performs well. Ciavarella et al.'s (2004) study shows that this trait plays a significant role in the survival of businesses in the long term. In the study, long-term survival denotes stability of the enterprise for more than eight years (Ciavarella et al., 2004). Innovation This is the ability to come up with pristine ideas, methods, and products. This trait is imperative in entrepreneurship due to its role in determining success in business. Stokes, Wilson, and Mador (2010) point out that to effect change in the business world through innovation; businesspersons require high levels of creativity. This shows the importance of this characteristic in entrepreneurship. Risk taking When one ventures into a business of his own creation, many uncertainties come with the process. This calls on entrepreneurs to possess the willingness to take risks as they establish their business. Like confidence, the willingness to take risks is important in ensuring that the business perseveres in times of crisis (Kuratko, 2013). Autonomy Autonomy denotes the need for people to act independently of others. This is a vital trait in an entrepreneur because many of them fail to garner support when they start pursuing the enterprise they have in mind (Stokes, Wilson and Mador, 2010). Therefore, they need to be independent of others to enable them to achieve their business objectives. The above characteristics do not encapsulate the personality traits of all entrepreneurs. However, their identification in a significant number of studies makes them relevant to establishing whether they fall in the category of nature or nurture. The Case for Born Entrepreneurs This school of thought sees entrepreneurs as unique individuals that have innate personality traits that enable them to succeed in free enterprise. Because of the elucidated personality traits, it is easy to conclude that they are naturals and that entrepreneurs are born, and not made (Getz, 2013). There is mounting research that entrepreneurs, especially the successful ones possess certain inherent attributes that predispose them to pursue the path of establishing their own business. Shane's (2010) study indicates that certain combinations of some individuals' genes can result in traits that make it likely that they will start an enterprise. The resultant features are personality traits that enable the entrepreneurs to become such. Specifically, the genes influence their ability to identify opportunities in the business industry (Shane, 2010). From the personality traits expounded in the previous section, conscientiousness, confidence, and innovation stand out as attributes that are of particular interest in genetic entrepreneurship. Shane (2010) points out that certain gene combinations have an effect on conscientiousness levels in individuals. Therefore, it is consequential that they affect people's tendency to start businesses (Shane, 2010). However, this linkage is indirect, as scientists have not yet established a direct link between the two. Since most entrepreneurs possess this characteristic, the possible role of genes in its development and establishment cautions its dismissal from the subject of genetic entrepreneurship. Shane (2010) points out that one's genes have control over 45% to 61% of variance when it comes to the ability to innovate. Therefore, the level of the innovative trait in an entrepreneur, in part, stems from gene combinations. Innovation is an important part of entrepreneurship. Therefore, genetic influence on innovation, consequently affects one's tendency to start a business of their own. The same goes for confidence, which is another essential trait in entrepreneurs. Genes take credit for the variance in the level of confidence in people: between 29% and 49%. Again, the evidence supporting this is indirect and requires further research to prove it undoubtedly. Fisher and Koch's (2008) study on 234 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) both entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, shows that some individuals are predisposed to become entrepreneurs compared to others. The study indicates that this variation is due to heredity, as did Shane's (2010). The personality traits that the study identified as common among ‘born innovators' include confidence, autonomy and risk taking (Fisher and Koch, 2008). The proponents of this school of thought hold that this categorization of entrepreneurs has a significant bearing on the labour market. One of these is that it helps employers fit the right people into jobs that have an entrepreneurial requirement (Fisher and Koch, 2008). Examples include managers and product developers. Another purpose that this school of thought serves is to help people who are looking into starting their own business to determine whether they fit the description (Fisher and Koch, 2008). On the positive side, this would encourage people to pursue business if they possess these features (Fisher and Koch, 2008). It would also enable others to find themselves as fitting to find employment even as they possess entrepreneurial characteristics. On the other hand, the same criteria would discourage those who do not possess the attributes of an entrepreneur. Studies showing that most successful entrepreneurs possess these qualities are likely to make this school of thought carry more weight in people's lives (Fisher and Koch, 2008). This is because they would not have the opportunity to develop the traits that would enable them to succeed in free enterprise. The Case for Made Entrepreneurs This school of thought holds that one need not possess certain inherent characteristics for them to become entrepreneurs. Instead, they submit that people can develop the traits of an entrepreneur if they take the time to do so (Shefsky, 2011). This disagrees with the school of thought that sets apart businesspersons as unique creatures hence barring others from becoming like them through learning. The features of entrepreneurs are observable and in some cases measurable (Getz, 2013). For instance, research methods such as self-reporting and observation provides information on personality traits and reveals people's traits. Researchers use this to gain further insights into the influence of personality traits on entrepreneurship. Willingness to take risks may be harder to measure because only the financial risk that entrepreneurs take is quantifiable. Other gambles that pertain to their personal lives and health are impossible to measure currently (Chell, 2008). However, scientists are making efforts to determine how they can achieve this in order to provide more information on this aspect of entrepreneurship. The mentioned development enables people to make sense of entrepreneurship and provides information to those looking to develop such attributes. Schermerhorn (2010) asserts that when a person possesses talent, he/she needs to hone it in order to thrive as an entrepreneur. This means that individuals born with entrepreneurial characteristics that fail to engage in self-development activities such as training and education are not likely to prosper as businesspersons. Possessing innate skills and attributes, therefore, do not assure one of success. This sums up the adage, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent decides to sleep'. This indicates that a person who lacks t...