|
Entrepreneur skills are related to the personal
and interpersonal competencies of people
and are expressed in their behavior.
These skills are not simply inherited or unchangeable
as traditional perceptions exist. Research has
shown and proved that people can change their
behavior through learning and training. These skills
can thus be acquired, honed and need not be
genetic. Having said this, still there is plethora of
writing where there is confusion between
understanding the finer aspects of managerial skills
vs. entrepreneurial skills. Mostly the focus is on developing management skills and
commercial knowledge of the entrepreneur. No doubt,
these skills are indicators of how well the
entrepreneur can perform important tasks but are no
substitute to the innovative individuals' ability to identify
an opportunity, take risks and make a success of a business venture. Micro entrepreneurs, who
defy and fight against odds and earn themselves an income, albeit only a living wage, in the true
sense are not entrepreneurs.
Though there is a definite difference in the literal meaning of the words: qualities, skills
or competencies for the purpose of this article
have been used interchangeably. Competencies are
seen as characteristics that a person brings to a
job situation, which can result in effective
and/or superior performance in such a job. These characteristics include: motives and traits,
social role and self-concept, and knowledge and
skills. In the case of entrepreneurs, they do not have
jobs in the traditional sense. However, they do
have jobs or tasks as they pursue and run a new business. Therefore, for a proper
understanding and getting a better perspective, the question
that needs to be answered is: What are the entrepreneurial competencies that are essential?
In this regard, identifying relevant
entrepreneurial competencies to be instilled or imbibed is
valuable because of their expected causal relationship
with venture initiation and success.
Though there are different definitions of an individual's competency given in extant
literature, for this study we will use the one proposed
by Boyatzis (1982) who defines competency as an underlying characteristic exhibited by a person
that can result in effective and/or superior
performance in a job. This characteristic may be a motive,
trait, skill, aspect of one's self-image or social role, or
a body of knowledge which an individual uses. Bird (1995) maintains that entrepreneurial
competencies can be seen as underlying characteristics
possessed by a person, resulting in new venture
creation, survival, and/or growth. Based on the
exhibited level, these competencies of entrepreneurs can
be classified as threshold or success. The former
are those considered as baseline or at a minimum standard, which include the competencies
required to successfully create a business. The latter are
the competencies necessary to go beyond the
launching stage into organizational survival and growth.
Previous studies have been conducted in which the concept of entrepreneurial competency
has been the guiding principle of analysis.
These studies, however, were oriented to link
managerial or entrepreneurial competencies with
firm-level performance. Here, on the other hand, we
are mainly interested in individual-level
competency as we attempt to help young
entrepreneurs/students become more skilled and motivated
to start and succeed in new ventures. Thus, a common concern is to get individuals to
become more entrepreneurial and innovative. To do
so, one of the goals of entrepreneurship
development and education is to instill the development
of entrepreneurial competencies as to be better prepared for an entrepreneurial life. |
