Katie Page: A Successful Entrepreneur And Leader, Essay.

Analyse a current Australian entrepreneur of your own choice.

Discuss the background of the entrepreneur (i.e. history, development, family and socio-cultural background) to see what developed his/her entrepreneurial passion and contribute to this persons success (with reflection on the relevant theories).

Discuss the characteristics of the entrepreneur (with reflection on the relevant theories).

Opportunity recognition and idea development process

Discuss the processes of opportunity recognition and idea development (with reflection on the relevant theories).

Discuss the type of business developed and the competitive advantage(s) of the business compared to that in the market.

Discuss future suggestions for the entrepreneur including different types of businesses or avenues (e.g. selling their business)
he/she may take.

Background of Katie Page

Entrepreneurship is an essential characteristic that is possessed by a person, having the confidence and diligence of establishing a business of their own. The characteristics of such a person include confidence, innovation, hard work as well as high risk. Australia has a large number of famous entrepreneurs who have left their footprints in the business world, and has established themselves as leaders in the business world. One such entrepreneur has been chosen in this assignment, named Katie Page (Carraher and Paridon 2015). The background of the Katie Page as an entrepreneur is described, along with the entrepreneurial traits that are displayed by her. The ideal characteristics of an entrepreneur have been highlighted, along with the recognition of the opportunity (Bae et al. 2014). The competitive advantages and the type of business that have been developed have been shed light upon, in this assignment. Finally, recommendations have been also added to suggest the various types of business avenues that could be chosen. This assignment highlights the entrepreneur Katie Page and her effectiveness as an entrepreneur.      

Katie Page is one of the Australian business executive and one of the most pronounced entrepreneurs, who are considered as a leader for thousands of other budding entrepreneurs. Katie Page is the CEO of the retailer Harvey Norman (Storey 2016). The company is a large Australia based multinational company selling furniture, beddings as well as consumer electrical goods. in the year 2015, Katie Page ranked the fourth on the Australian Business Review’s list of the “50 most powerful women in business” (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  Katie Page was born in the year 1956 in Queensland, Australia. She, along with her three sisters and father had to relocate every four years approximately, since her father was a bank manager (Bhachu 2017). Initially, after her graduation, she planned to become a surveyor. However, she was discouraged by the low payment that the profession offered (Baum et al. 2014). As a 19 years old lady, she competed in an intelligence test, in order to raise fund for the children who suffered from Autism (Carraher and Paridon 2015). Gerry Harvey was one of the judges in the intelligence test, where Katie Page had competed. After a period of six years, Harvey offered Katie a position as his assistant at the Harvey Norman store. Katie Page worked in buying advertisements, marketing and enhancing the publicity of the store (Carraher and Paridon 2015). In the year 1988, 32 years old Katie married 49 years old Harvey. In the year 1999, Katie Page became the CEO of the company Harvey Norman. As an entrepreneur, Katie Page expanded the Harvey Norman stores in New Zealand in 1996 (Drucker 2014). Moreover, she also took the initiative to expand the store in Singapore, in 2000. Along with these countries, the Harvey Norman store was expanded in Malaysia, Ireland and Slovenia (Bhachu 2017). Under the initiative of Katie Page, in the year 2001, the company started its online business. By June 30 2015, Harvey Norman operated in 277 stores in eight countries (Carraher and Paridon 2015). The company earned a revenue of $4.9 billion and a net profit of $165 million.   

Entrepreneurial traits of Katie Page

The entrepreneurial traits that Katie page portrays include leadership and innovation traits.  The confidence that she displayed, in her business, is recommendable (Carraher and Paridon 2015). The leadership qualities of Katie Page is of rarely seen in any businesspersons and is considered to be an example for others (Kirzner 2015). These qualities make Katie Page, to be an example for other potential entrepreneurs. Moreover, the decision-making capabilities, along with the strategic decisions that had been taken by her, uplifted the company Harvey Norman to different heights of success (Carraher and Paridon 2015). The leadership quality that she possessed is one of its kind, and the company Harvey Norman owes its success to her.  

Katie Page is an efficient entrepreneur.  She guided the company with confidence and took various decisions which were risky.  With her intelligence and strategic management she was able to establish the company Harvey Norman to a different height altogether (Bhachu 2017).  Not only did she assist her husband successfully but established herself as one of the most renowned entrepreneur that the world of business had ever witnessed (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  The diligence with which she worked, along with her decision making capability transformational leadership and charismatic personality made her a truly successful entrepreneur. Not only in her business, Katie Page is also good sportswoman herself (Schaper et al. 2014).  Supporting and sponsoring various budding athletes and sports personalities along with encouraging women in sports, is done by her. With her encouragement, various young women have been interested in various kinds of sports and helped to bring fame to their countries (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  

Opportunity recognition

Figure 1: Opportunity recognition model

(Source: Carraher and Paridon 2015)

The opportunity recognition has a key role to play in the life of an entrepreneur.  The various and the decisions that the entrepreneur took throughout her life, highlights the success of the person (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  The model includes various factors that are essential for the recognition of opportunities.  Education along with personal and work experiences are two of the essential factors that play a key role in the opportunity recognition model (Bhachu 2017).  The prior knowledge of the market and the issues of the customers are collected (Carraher and Paridon 2015). The entrepreneurial alertness that the entrepreneur develops and the strong network that she possesses, works towards a successful recognition of opportunity.  In case of Katie page this model is true.  She is successful in using her education as well as her experiences along with the knowledge of market and the demands of the customers (Kuratko 2016).  The entrepreneurial alertness and the development of strong network made her truly a successful entrepreneur, and indeed a role model for all budding entrepreneurs (Bhachu 2017).

Opportunity recognition model

The competitive advantage which Katie Page gives to her company includes the awareness of the market along with use of the latest technology that made her products different from the contemporary companies (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  The demands of the customers were successfully incorporated in the upcoming products thus enhancing the customer relationship with the company (Carraher and Paridon 2015).  Moreover the technical awareness of the staff and the updated training that the employees were given insured competitive advantage over the other companies (Bhachu 2017).  The innovation in the furniture and bedding makes the products of Harvey Norman unique.  The company Harvey Norman indeed owes its   success to Katie Page who has given it the opportunity to gain competitive advantage, and established it as the leader in the market.

It is recommended that Katie Page, being an able entrepreneur take the company Harvey Norman to a different height with the incorporation of technology and innovation (Carraher and Paridon 2015). Though the company has been incorporating innovation with the use of technology yet in order to remain in the competitive advantage among all the other contemporary companies, it is recommended that innovative designs of the furniture are made along with the latest technology (Chaston 2017).  The company could also enter into the process of expansion in the Asian market.  This will open a new opportunity for the company along with its expansion (Bhachu 2017).  The Asian market has a good opportunity for variety of furniture, bedding and electronic goods. Hence expansion in the Asian market is a possible recommendation that will ensure that Katie page establishes herself and her company as a leader in the business (Carraher and Paridon 2015).

Conclusion

Katie page is indeed one of the most famous women entrepreneurs that the world of business had ever seen.   Her encouragement and motivation, along with the leadership qualities that she portrays make her truly a woman of fame. The benevolence activities that she does, make her noteworthy and stand out in the crowd.  The glory that she brought to herself and her company is indeed an example to all potential entrepreneurs who hesitates to follow their dreams. The entrepreneur traits that Katie Page posses have been highlighted in this assignment along with the opportunity recognition that she did for her company. With the use of her education as well as personal and work experience, she gathered the requirements from the customers and established her company Harvey Norman to a great height. She identified various opportunities that she and her company could explore in order to enhance the business of Harvey Norman. The competitive advantages she incorporated in her company with the use of innovation and technology distinguishes her as one of the most successful entrepreneur.  She is one of the most famous entrepreneurs that the worlds of leadership and business have ever witnessed. She is indeed an inspiration for thousands of other entrepreneurs and paved the way of success for the budding entrepreneurs.   

References

Bae, T.J., Qian, S., Miao, C. and Fiet, J.O., 2014. The relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions: A meta?analytic review. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 38(2), pp.217-254.

Baum, J.R., Frese, M. and Baron, R.A. eds., 2014. The psychology of entrepreneurship. Psychology Press.

Bhachu, P. ed., 2017. Immigration and entrepreneurship: culture, capital, and ethnic networks. Routledge.

Carraher, S.M. and Paridon, T.J., 2015. Entrepreneurship journal rankings across the discipline. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 19(2), pp.89-98.

Chaston, I., 2017. Entrepreneurship. In Technological Entrepreneurship (pp. 1-24). Springer International Publishing.

Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.

Kirzner, I.M., 2015. Competition and entrepreneurship. University of Chicago press.

Kuratko, D.F., 2016. Entrepreneurship: Theory, process, and practice. Cengage Learning.

Schaper, M.T., Volery, T., Weber, P.C. and Gibson, B., 2014. Entrepreneurship and small business.

Storey, D.J. ed., 2016. Entrepreneurship and new firm. Routledge.