2012

Impact of Entrepreneurs Qualities and Attributes on Success and Growth of the Business
Case Study of Entrepreneurs from IT Industry

Submitted by Submitted to Date of submission

Table of Contents
1. Research Title and Problem Statement ............................................................................. 2 2. Background of Research ..................................................................................................... 2 3. Reasons for Selection of the Topic...................................................................................... 3 3.1 Personal Reasons ............................................................................................................. 3 3.2 Business Reasons ............................................................................................................. 3 4. Aims and Objectives of This Research............................................................................... 3 5. Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 3 6. Preliminary Review of Literature ...................................................................................... 4 7. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 4 6. Research Methodology ........................................................................................................ 5 6.1 Research Design............................................................................................................... 5 6.2 Philosophy........................................................................................................................ 5 6.3 Approach .......................................................................................................................... 5 6.4 Strategy .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.5 Data Collection ................................................................................................................ 6 6.6 Ethics and Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 6 7. Research Timescale .............................................................................................................. 7 8. Research Findings and Conclusions ................................................................................... 7 References ................................................................................................................................. 8

1|Page

1.Research Title and Problem Statement

The title of the research is following: Impact of entrepreneurial attributes on the success and growth of the business: a case study of entrepreneurs of IT Industry The main concept that will be taken into consideration will be the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial qualities and attributes that are necessary for the success and growth of the business. This research work is the requirement of the coursework (MSc Entrepreneurship). The statement of problem that will be considered as important for the research work will be the following: What qualities are necessary for entrepreneurs and how these qualities lead the businesses towards success and growth taking the famous innovators of the IT industry as role models?

2. Background of Research
In this study the researcher will take into consideration the entrepreneurs from the IT industry All these corporations were introduced by various people that had interest in this field during different time and gained reputation. The entrepreneurs of these corporations are still focusing on increasing their companies products range so that they can maintain their existing position and can also defend their products due to the increasing competition and newer innovations from time to time (Ardishvili et al., 2004). These entrepreneurs of these organisations have not only introduced their innovative products and services but have also managed their organisations well so that they can maintain their competitiveness. Day by day new products are being introduced in the IT industry and the changes are occurring at a very pace due to the advancement in technology (Begley & Boyd, 2000). Therefore the researcher of this study is interested in knowing how these innovators are protecting and growing their products and maintaining their position in the market.

2|Page

3. Reasons for Selection of the Topic

3.1 Personal Reasons
This research work will provide the researcher an insight into the various skills and qualities that are necessary for a successful entrepreneur.

3.2 Business Reasons

Entrepreneurs play an important role in the success of a business. Whatever kind of a business it is, there are certain qualities that are found to be common in the entrepreneurs that bring success and growth to the businesses (Birley, Cromie& Myers, 2006). IT has been the most revenue generating sector of the economy and it has been also facing intense competition in the market as well, therefore this topic has been chosen to know what qualities of the entrepreneurs of this field are helping them in the achievement of sustainability (Brockhaus&Horwitz, 2004).

4. Aims and Objectives of This Research

This study has been conducted with the aim of knowing the impact of entrepreneurialqualities and attributes on the success and growth of the business by taking into consideration the entrepreneurs of the IT industry. The following objectives will be achieved by this study: To critically evaluate the qualities needed by the entrepreneurs for the success of the business. To provide a literature on how these qualities of the entrepreneurs can play an effective role in leading the businesses towards success and the risks can be diversified. To provide conclusions by studying the case of different successful IT entrepreneurs.

5. Research Questions
In this study, the researcher will address the following questions: What qualities are necessary for the entrepreneurs in order to achieve success in the business? How these qualities lead the entrepreneurs to success and face any kind of situation? What qualities have made the IT entrepreneurs attain such level of success and sustain their position? 3|Page

6. Preliminary Review of Literature

Researchers (Frese et al., 2005; Flamholtz, 2006) have successfully identified that there is a link between the attributes of the entrepreneurs and growth of the businesses. Some of the researchers (Frese et al., 2003; Gartner, 2008) have stated that those attributes are the personal initiatives of the entrepreneurs; some (Greiner, 2003; Grove, 2006) have stated that the competencies of the entrepreneurs in specific areas lead them towards the success and growth of the business. Those areas are marketing, finance, HRM and IT. Some (Hansen, 2003; Kiggundu, 2004) have identified that the ability of the person to identify and avail and opportunity and make it successful is the most distinguishing feature of an entrepreneur. While there are few researchers (Koop, De Reu&Frese, 2005) that made entrepreneurs as people that have the skills to lead, manage, compete, ability to raise capital, personality and network for making smoothly flow of operations possible. However need for achieving something has been also stated as the attribute of successful entrepreneurs. Further researchers (Koop, De Reu&Frese, 2005; Grove, 2006) have stated that risk taking ability and locus for control over the operational activities bring success as the entrepreneurs are willing for such things as they are seeing an opportunity for success. The entrepreneurs face unexpected and uncertain circumstances during the very start of the business venture which shows their determination and tolerance of ambiguity. Some researchers (Lau, Chan, &Ho, 2005) have distinguished entrepreneurs from managers in the sense that they are risk takers as well as innovators. These characteristics so far identified looking at the existing literature have a direct effect on the success of the business. Criticising the success of the businesses and the entrepreneurs, it has been found that all those successful entrepreneurs had some qualities that led to success. Personality traits and personal initiatives are the attributes that made the employees perform effectively in the workplace (Frese& Fay, 2005). Proactive attitudes have been identified as the attribute that become the reason for the growth of the businesses as they were able to identify and grasp the opportunities (Frese et al., 2005).

7. Theoretical Framework

4|Page

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Personality traits

Success and growth of business

Risk taking behaviour

Interpersonal skills

Innovator and initiator

Tolerance and locus of control

6. Research Methodology
The effectiveness and accomplishment of the research results depends upon the appropriateness of the methods being applied by the researcher.

6.1 Research Design

Saunders research onion includes all eh approaches and techniques that are needed by the researcher to make the methodology systematic. Each layer contains too many options from which the researcher can choose the most suitable and relevant to the study (Fowler, 2005).

6.2 Philosophy
Among the various different philosophies present in the first layer, interpretive seems to be the most effective philosophy and by adopting this philosophy, the researcher will gain considerable amount of knowledge (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002).

6.3 Approach
The researcher will adopt the inductive approach for this study to test the identified characteristics of the entrepreneurs that have made them successful and for this purpose; data will be collected (Gill and Johnson, 2002). 5|Page

6.5 Data Collection

The researcher will consider Primary data for this study only and this study will be qualitative and on the basis of the existing data (Bryman, 2009).

6.6 Ethics and Data Analysis

University research ethics will be followed by the researcher and the data will be gathered from authentic sources. The researcher will not copy the data from any source and will search a lot to make this study authentic, valid and reliable.

7. Pilot testing
Questionnaire has been developed containing seven questions and will be prove to be helpful for collecting the information related to the research topic. Questionnaire is developed on the basis of research objectives and following tables shows the questions and their link with the research objectives.

Questions You had inborn quality to deal with people effectively? The success of your business is totally your own effort? You think that having leadership qualities can help to become a good entrepreneur? Has somebody inspired you and how did you inculcate the qualities necessary for a successful entrepreneur?

Study Objectives 1 1 2

Do you think that all the successful entrepreneurs of the present initiated smoothly?

It is essential to have entrepreneur skills in order to be successful in business? Do you think every businessman can be a good entrepreneur?

6|Page

In Pilot study the questionnaire was filled by different Entrepreneurs personally. The overall response of them was that the entrepreneurial skills can be achieved and it is all the matter of dedication and how you realize your inborn qualities such as leadership. The data has been collected from the owners of different self owned companies and local businessman in the market. The results are showing that 72.73% respondents have this quality to interact with people successfully and can make easy decisions. 81.82% respondents said that they have learned it with the passage of time. 8 respondents are those who said that business can be successfully with this quality.

8. Research Timescale
The timescale presents the schedule in which this research work will be completed.

Month Week Revising the draft Literature Review Methodology Analysis Conclusion Recommendations Introduction Reviewing the research Finalizing the research

February March 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

April 2 3 4

8. Research Findings and Conclusions

In this study, the researcher will use the interpretive as the research philosophy for the completion. Therefore the approach for analysing the data will be the interpretive. The findings will be based on the data that is collected from the primary sources to support the study.

7|Page

References
Adizes, I. 2003. Organizational passages: Diagnosing and treating lifecycle problems in organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 9: pp. 3-24. Aldrich, H. E., Reese, P. F., &Dubini, P. 2003. Women on the Verge of aBreakthrough?Networking Among Entrepreneurs in the United Statesand Italy.Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 1: pp. 339356. Ardishvili, A., Cardoza, R.N., Harmon, B., &Vadakath, S. 2004. Towardsa theory of new venture growth. In P.D. Reynolds, W.D. Bygrave,N.M. Carter, S. Manigart, C.M. Mason, G.D. Meyer, & K.S. Shaver(eds). Frontiers of entrepreneurship research. Wellesley, MA: BabsonCollege. Begley, T. M., & Boyd, D. B. 2000. Psychological characteristicsassociated with performance in entrepreneurial firms and smallbusinesses. Journal of Business Venturing, 2: pp. 79-93. Birley, S., Cromie, S., & Myers, A. 2006. Entrepreneurial networks: theiremergence in Ireland and overseas. International Small BusinessJournal, 9: pp. 5673. Brockhaus, R. H. 2002. Psychology of the Entrepreneur.In D. L. SextonKent, C.A., and K. H. Vesper (Eds.), Encyclopedia ofEntrepreneurship. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 39-71. Brockhaus, R. H. Sr., &Horwitz, P. S. 2004.The psychology of theentrepreneur.In Sexton, D. L., and Smilor, R. W. (Eds.).The Art andScience of Entrepreneurship. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 25-48 Flamholtz, E. G. 2006.How to Make the Transition from anEntrepreneurship to a Professionally Managed Firm. San Franciscoand London: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Frese, M., Fay, D., Hilburger, T., Leng, K., & Tag, A. 2005. The conceptof personal initiative: Operationalization, reliability and validity intwo German samples. Journal of Organizational and OccupationalPsychology, 70: pp. 139-161. Frese, M., Kring, W., Soose, A., &Zempel, J. 2003. Personal Initiative atwork: Differences between East and West Germany. The Academy ofManagement Journal, 39(1): pp. 37-63.

8|Page

Gartner, W. B. 2008. Who is an entrepreneur? Is the wrong question.American Journal of Small Business, 12(4): pp. 11-32. Greiner, E. 2003. Evolution and revolution as organizations grow. HarvardBusiness Review, 50(4): pp. 37-46. Grove, A. S. 2006. Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the CrisisPoints that Challenge Every Company and Career. New York:Doubleday: a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group,Inc. Hansen, E. L. 2003. Resource acquisitions as a start-up process: initialstocks of social capital and organizational foundings. In Reynolds, P.D., Autio, E., Brush, C. G., Bygrave, W. D., Manigart, S., Sapienza,H. J. and Shaver, K. G. (eds), Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research.Wellesley, MA: Babson College. 111120. Kiggundu, M. N. 2004. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa:What is known and what needs to be done. Journal of DevelopmentalEntrepreneurship, 7(3): pp. 239-258. Koop, S., De Reu, T., &Frese, M. 2005.Sociodemographics factors,entrepreneurial orientation, personal initiative and environmentalproblems in Uganda. Success and failure of microbusiness owners inAfrica: A psychological approach. pp. 55-76. Krueger, N. 2003.The impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure onperceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability.Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 18(1): pp. 5-21. Lau, T., Chan, K.F., &Ho, R. 2005. Cross-Border Entrepreneurs - A Studyof the Changing Strategies and Competencies of Hong KongEntrepreneurs Upon Exposure to the Emerging Market of China.Journal of Enterprising Culture, 12(2): pp. 165-193. Fowler, F. Jr. 2005.Survey Research Methods. (3rd Edn), California: Sage. Frese, M., & Fay, D. 2005. Personal Initiative: An Active PerformanceConcept for Work in the 21st Century. Research in Organizational Behaviour, 23: pp. 133-187. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Lowe, A. 2002.Management Research: An Introduction. (2nded). London: Sage. Gill, J. and Johnson, P. 2002. Research Methods for Managers.(3rd ed). London: Sage Publications. 9|Page

Bouma, G. and Atkinson, G. 2011. A Handbook of Social Science Research: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide for Students. (2nd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bryman, A. 2009.Research Methods and Organisation Studies. London: Unwin Hyman.

10 | P a g e

Appendix:

1) Select Appropriate Gender? a) Male b) Female 2) What is your age group? a) 24-30 years b) 31-36 years c) 37-42 years d) 43-50 years 3) You had inborn quality to deal with people effectively a. Yes b. No

4) The success of your business is totally your own effort?

a) Yes b) No 5) You think that having leadership qualities can help to become a good entrepreneur? a) Yes b) No 6) Has somebody inspired you and how did you inculcate the qualities necessary for a successful entrepreneur? a) Yes b) No 7) Do you think that all the successful entrepreneurs of the present initiated smoothly? a) Yes b) No 8) It is essential to have entrepreneur skills in order to be successful in business? a) Yes b) No

11 | P a g e

12 | P a g e