Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

CHAPTER 2

Entrepreneurial

Super-Hero

PART 1

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL

DNA

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Influences on entrepreneurs

Influences

on entrepreneursAntecedent

influences

Situational factors

Culture of society

Personal characteristics and traits

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Owner-manager DNA

• Need for independence

• Need for achievement

• Internal locus of control

• Ability to live with risk and uncertainty

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Entrepreneurial DNA

• Innovative

• Opportunistic

• Need for independence

• Need for achievement

• Internal locus of control

• Self-confidence

• Proactive and self-motivated

• Vision and flair

• Ability to live with risk uncertainty

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Michael Dell

We learned the importance of ignoring conventional wisdom and doing things

our way....It’s fun to do things that people don’t

think are possible or likely. It’s also exciting to achieve

the unexpected.

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

I have always lived my life

by thriving on opportunity

and adventure. Some of

the best ideas come out of

the blue, and you have to

keep an open mind to see

their virtue.

Richard Branson

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Implications for entrepreneurial

management

Creative,

innovative

Opportunistic

Achievement

‘Can-do’

‘Work is fun’

Sharing information

and knowledge

Change is normal

Celebrate

success

Measured

risk taking

Belonging,

ownership

Continual

learning

Self-confident

but realistic

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Michael Dell

A company composed of

individual owners is less

focused on hierarchy and who

has a nice office, and more on

achieving their goals.

Creating a culture in which every

person in your organisation, at

every level, thinks and acts like

an owner means that you need

to aim to connect individual

performance with your

company’s performance.

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Implications for

organisational structure

Structure must encourage:

• Opportunity spotting, creativity & innovation

• Sharing information, knowledge and learning

• Sense of ‘belonging and ‘ownership’

• Delegation and decentralisation

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Implications for management

Need for:

• Strong vision

• Good communication

• Good timing

• ‘Light touch’ and delegation

• ‘Positive’ attitude to encourage self-

confidence and self-efficacy

Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building the Entrepreneurial Organization by Paul Burns

Wrap Up

• Entrepreneurs are both born and made

• The linking of character traits of an individual

to the success of business.

• Success or failure in business comes from a

mix of many different things including the

history and experience of the entrepreneur.

• Sharing ownership to attract other

experienced manager loyalty.

• Entrepreneurship also influenced by

environment.