Researching and Evaluating an Entrepreneur: A Critical Analysis

Undertaking Research About an Entrepreneur

Choose an entrepreneur to undertake research about. This entrepreneur may be a family member, a friend, a contact, or a well-known entrepreneur. You will be expected to undertake in-depth research about this entrepreneur making use of primary and / or secondary research. Primary research may include conducting an interview with the entrepreneur if possible. Secondary research could include drawing information from their company website, press coverage, company reports, financial data, academic studies of the entrepreneur etc.

Use this research to answer the following:

1.Critically evaluate the entrepreneurial skills and activities demonstrated by the entrepreneur.

2.How does your evaluation of the entrepreneurial skills of the entrepreneur make you reflect on your own entrepreneurial skills?

3.What effects have the entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial skills and activities had on business, the economy, society and the environment? How does this influence your views about enterprise and entrepreneurship in general?

Task specific guidance:

When researching and writing this assignment you may find it helpful to consider the following in order to guide your reflections: -

Entrepreneurial Activities and Skills of the Entrepreneur

·Take a close look at their current and previous actions and experiences.

·What are the main characteristics that distinguish this entrepreneur? Use their life stories and experiences to identify these characteristics.

·Would you consider this person to be an entrepreneurial person? If so, why? If not, why not? What makes them entrepreneurial in your perspective?

·How do the entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial skills (or their lack of entrepreneurial skills) compare to your own entrepreneurial skills (for example, risk taking skills, leadership skills, decision making skills, problem solving skills)? How does this make you feel about your entrepreneurial skills? (When thinking about your own enterprise skills you may find it helpful to reflect on your experiences on this module so far, or other modules that involve(d) enterprising content/ activities)

·Would you have done anything differently if you were this person? If so, what would you have done differently and why? If not, why not?

·Based on your research about this entrepreneur and your experiences of undertaking this module, would you want to be an entrepreneur in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

·What have been the implications of their entrepreneurial skills and activities (for example, on their business, on the economy, on society, on the environment)? How does this affect your views about the value and impact of entrepreneurship?  

·Do you think it would be better if the entrepreneur you researched was more entrepreneurial in terms of achieving better impact? If so, who would it be better for? If not, why not?

All claims you make should be supported by strong argumentation and your discussions should draw on academic literature and theory covered in the module. You may also engage in wider reading by drawing on news articles and relevant journal papers.

The previous section on ‘Assessment task’ provided some general guidance regarding the topics and areas to be covered in this assignment. In order to build up your written assignment, the following format using the sub-headings below is suggested, though, you might be creative in developing a more interesting format:

·Introduction to the entrepreneur

·Research undertaken

·Entrepreneurial activities and skills of the entrepreneur

·Self-reflection on enterprise skills

You are encouraged to be creative with the presentation of the assignment. The more creative, the better!

Further guidance

For this assessment it is essential that you:

1.Demonstrate a good knowledge of topics covered in the module as well as knowledge from relevant journal articles in the reading list. Avoid citing content from Wikipedia, Investopedia etc.

2.Avoid being descriptive, rather critically evaluate the skills and activities of the entrepreneur. Draw a comparison between the entrepreneur’s skills and activities and the literature. By doing this, you will make the connection between theory and practice. Any findings of the skills and activities of the entrepreneur that contradict the literature should also be discussed critically using the sources mentioned in point 1.

3.Use examples, where appropriate, to illustrate your points.