Entrepreneurial Orientation Essay Example

I. Introduction

Entrepreneurship maintains a consistently vital role in significant aspects of daily life. Defined as the process of exploiting opportunities by generating value through the innovative combination of resources, entrepreneurship is a significant economic force. The presence of entrepreneurship represents a significant growth factor for world economies. In practice, successful entrepreneurial initiatives have the potential to reduce unemployment and provide new jobs to the workforce. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) must be present for organizations to organize successful entrepreneurial initiatives. Based on the implied importance of EO, the writer seeks to explore personal applications of EO further. This paper seeks 1) to explore the personal importance of entrepreneurship to the writer; 2) further define EO and its dimensions; 3) discuss the connection with each dimension, its influence on the writer, and how it can be improved. 

II. Significance of Entrepreneurship

I have increasingly understood and become fascinated with entrepreneurship’s inner workings and ubiquitous nature. The entrepreneur, as an archetype, is not the fanciful character, the magnificent risk-taker, or even the maverick, idolized in society. The entrepreneur is the ambitious individual, or group of individuals, with keen observation skills and necessary resources to exploit an opportunity. The entrepreneur at its core is a problem solver, capturing value through the discovery of problems and the creation of value through innovative solutions. Amongst successful entrepreneurs, an item of great significance is the presence of a growth mindset. A growth mindset -- individuals believe in their ability to improve and strive to better themselves continuously and in all walks of life -- allows entrepreneurs to expand their repertoire of competencies and continuously adapt.

Entrepreneurship derives its importance based on several additional factors. Using organizational or personal resources to create innovations, entrepreneurs maintain the potential to improve the quality of life for people everywhere. By focusing on decreasing emissions output, a firm could redirect the course of the biosphere. As this requires many firms to work together to make a difference, it requires singular firms to begin a coalition to decrease emissions. The ability to initiate a change of this proportion by controlling and coordinating the allocation of resources makes entrepreneurship important. The autonomy of entrepreneurship is essential. Having financial freedom and being autonomous creatively and strategically makes entrepreneurship daunting yet thrilling. Narrowing in on acting entrepreneurially to seize the opportunity that is entrepreneurship, I must focus on EO to develop and employ entrepreneurial tendencies.

III. Entrepreneurial Orientation

To define EO, one must first understand orientation -- a tool that provides the direction or alignment of one’s thoughts, inclinations, and interests. EO further explores orientation within entrepreneurship as the “processes, practices, and decision-making styles of firms, or individuals, that act entrepreneurially” (Lumpkin, Dess; 1996). EO grants individuals a unique perspective promoting flexibility, creativity, and continuous innovation. 

Based on my perspectives, my drive to create value as an entrepreneur, and how I act, I believe I am entrepreneurially oriented. Compared to my classmates, siblings, and other peers, I believe I maintain a higher EO than most. My father has created, owned, and operated many businesses, and I continue to see him practice sustained regeneration within his firm. Compared to my classmates, I believe my tendencies are more entrepreneurially motivated than most. I am ambitious and constantly observe my surroundings, think of solutions, and further understand the frameworks of businesses. I am motivated to think critically to scale entrepreneurial initiatives. 

I can continue developing and defining my EO by thinking entrepreneurially and envisioning long-term opportunities. EO appears in five dimensions: autonomy, proactiveness, innovativeness, competitiveness, and risk-taking. 

IV. Dimensions of EO, their Influence and continuous Development of Entrepreneurial Orientation

Autonomy, the “wings” of entrepreneurship, propels growth in entrepreneurship by granting freedom and adaptability, the ability to act independently, and a pension to disrupt the status quo. Preferring to deliver results alone since I was a child, self-efficacy remained important from a young age. I enjoy beginning an endeavor by myself, so I can gather my thoughts and potential directions and then communicate with others for critiques. I am autonomous and tend to act independently of the norm and follow my ideas, sometimes down rabbit holes. The allure of freedom is so grand that it drives me to maintain complete autonomy throughout my life, creating an expectation of success based on opportunities I exploit. 

Proactiveness, the “spirit” of entrepreneurship, refers to the entrepreneur’s ability to scan for possibilities, think forwardly, and act early to discover an opportunity. Further, it describes a mindset of positivity and hopefulness about the future. I exhibit the characteristics seen in proactiveness. I constantly scan markets and update myself on information to find opportunities. I have had most of my wealth in various portfolios for a few years, and I consistently rebalance and attempt to find new opportunities as the markets change. I have three separate accounts, and two have maintained over 30% annual growth over three years. Due to this, I believe I express traits of proactiveness by my ability to scan markets and select opportunities through noticing shifting trends. My ability to notice these trends allows me to expect changes in the future and adapt to potentially harsh circumstances. 

Innovativeness, the “soul” of entrepreneurship, defines the inventiveness and level of experimentation used to create or improve products and services. I have built a full-scale financial model for a large-scale water project from scratch. I created a model different from traditional models yet incorporated all necessary aspects. I believe I made minor innovations on a proven system through this project. As I lack experience in innovation, I know I will need to begin increasing experimentation with opportunities discovered. 

Competitiveness, the “sword” of entrepreneurship, refers to a will to challenge rivals and remain assertive while facing changing conditions. I maintain high standards for myself and strive to achieve expectations. I do not actively compete with my classmates, but rather all my peers globally attempting to enter the workforce; thus, my standards must remain above average to remain competitive. I have not experienced actual competition yet, and although the competition started when I was born, I plan to be a winner. 

Lastly, risk-taking, the “heart” of entrepreneurship, refers to making decisions under conditions of uncertainty with unlikely outcomes. I am very focused on investing, so I am prone to risk-taking. I will often find potential investment opportunities that lead to quick negative returns; however, often, the risk pays off. While I do take risks in investing, I am quite risk-averse in other ways. I will need to overcome the fear of loss and not miss the boat on potentially lucrative opportunities. 

V. Conclusion

As entrepreneurship is present in all aspects of life, its importance remains clear. Further, the entrepreneurial orientation of a group or an individual is equally as important. The writer discussed the personal value of entrepreneurship as it lies in the ability to create change and operate autonomously. Second, the paper examined the definition of EO and the dimensions that appear within EO. Lastly, the writer discussed each dimension of EO from a personal perspective, determining that while there is an EO present, there can be significant improvements to spur future success and growth.