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Success in business is more about learning than luck
By Thomas Man |
February 1, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CAN you really learn to be an entrepreneur? New research suggests that top Chinese business players do indeed learn. They teach themselves to become better and better at making money.
This is, of course, good news for the rest of us who would like to build profitable operations, and even business empires, of our own.
Many who ponder the achievements of star entrepreneurs the world over believe they are the beneficiaries of the following combination of factors: belonging to a family with shrewd business operators who can act as role models, possessing street-smart intelligence and just being lucky.
In China, where many business players haven't grown up hearing about how successful capitalism works at the family dinner table, ambitious entrepreneurs aren't relying on chance. They are studying at every opportunity and achieving huge success.
This was a key characteristic identified in a recent, in-depth research project on the learning behavior of a dozen Hong Kong entrepreneurs who started up and developed their own highly profitable companies.
Although the focus was on Hong Kong business players, we can extrapolate the findings to Chinese mainlanders because the majority of them actually operate their businesses in the mainland, and other research we have conducted suggests that entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and on the mainland have much in common.
There are many similarities in their social and cultural environments and they often work in the same markets. They demonstrate similar entrepreneurial competencies, including being very strategic and always looking for new business opportunities. The main differences between them are, as you might expect, mainland entrepreneurs are more adept at harnessing guanxi; and, in Hong Kong they have a more Western approach to planning, control and organizational details.
Learning habits
The study shows that Chinese entrepreneurs take learning very seriously, from textbooks as well as business mentors.
It highlighted six main learning habits common to Chinese entrepreneurs: They actively seek learning opportunities; They learn selectively and purposely; They learn in depth; They learn continuously; They improve and reflect on their experiences; They transfer their learning outcomes into current practices.
In practice, this means that successful entrepreneurs constantly examine their business operations from every angle. They pay attention to the finest details and agonize over past mistakes with a view to not repeating them in future.
Top entrepreneurs also spend much time listening to other people - to their customers and staff, including those who have left the business. This is so that they can continually improve their business activities.
They carefully evaluate their own successes and failures in order to reinforce successful practices and avoid repeating mistakes. Each puts much effort into understanding every aspect of his or her business and its environment.
Business players in the study said they participate in daily management and acquire hands-on experience about the business operations, rather than taking an investor's passive perspective. They learn technical details about the business. In a nutshell, Chinese entrepreneurs continuously improve their business activities by actively learning from their past actions as well as from rivals.
The University of Nottingham Ningbo China research focused on developing a model of entrepreneurial learning. The average age of entrepreneurs included in this study was 45. About a third were women, and most were university graduates.
Most had built businesses from scratch into firms with at least 500 employees. At least one-third had more than 1,500 people working for them.
The findings lend weight to theories that entrepreneurs are continually working on improving their entrepreneurial prowess through an active process of learning and reflection.
Successful entrepreneurs involved in our research actively participate in training courses and look for management practices and ideas from others and from textbooks. They analyze how to apply certain management theories in their own businesses. Unsurprisingly, the work environment is a central element in the learning style of Chinese entrepreneurs. First-hand experience is critical in the learning process.
Learning is selective and based on actual experience - which tells us that the best learning scenario is at work rather than in the lecture room, and that, at the very least, case studies should be a major focus in any business course content.
Thomas Man is an associate professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China's business school.
This is, of course, good news for the rest of us who would like to build profitable operations, and even business empires, of our own.
Many who ponder the achievements of star entrepreneurs the world over believe they are the beneficiaries of the following combination of factors: belonging to a family with shrewd business operators who can act as role models, possessing street-smart intelligence and just being lucky.
In China, where many business players haven't grown up hearing about how successful capitalism works at the family dinner table, ambitious entrepreneurs aren't relying on chance. They are studying at every opportunity and achieving huge success.
This was a key characteristic identified in a recent, in-depth research project on the learning behavior of a dozen Hong Kong entrepreneurs who started up and developed their own highly profitable companies.
Although the focus was on Hong Kong business players, we can extrapolate the findings to Chinese mainlanders because the majority of them actually operate their businesses in the mainland, and other research we have conducted suggests that entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and on the mainland have much in common.
There are many similarities in their social and cultural environments and they often work in the same markets. They demonstrate similar entrepreneurial competencies, including being very strategic and always looking for new business opportunities. The main differences between them are, as you might expect, mainland entrepreneurs are more adept at harnessing guanxi; and, in Hong Kong they have a more Western approach to planning, control and organizational details.
Learning habits
The study shows that Chinese entrepreneurs take learning very seriously, from textbooks as well as business mentors.
It highlighted six main learning habits common to Chinese entrepreneurs: They actively seek learning opportunities; They learn selectively and purposely; They learn in depth; They learn continuously; They improve and reflect on their experiences; They transfer their learning outcomes into current practices.
In practice, this means that successful entrepreneurs constantly examine their business operations from every angle. They pay attention to the finest details and agonize over past mistakes with a view to not repeating them in future.
Top entrepreneurs also spend much time listening to other people - to their customers and staff, including those who have left the business. This is so that they can continually improve their business activities.
They carefully evaluate their own successes and failures in order to reinforce successful practices and avoid repeating mistakes. Each puts much effort into understanding every aspect of his or her business and its environment.
Business players in the study said they participate in daily management and acquire hands-on experience about the business operations, rather than taking an investor's passive perspective. They learn technical details about the business. In a nutshell, Chinese entrepreneurs continuously improve their business activities by actively learning from their past actions as well as from rivals.
The University of Nottingham Ningbo China research focused on developing a model of entrepreneurial learning. The average age of entrepreneurs included in this study was 45. About a third were women, and most were university graduates.
Most had built businesses from scratch into firms with at least 500 employees. At least one-third had more than 1,500 people working for them.
The findings lend weight to theories that entrepreneurs are continually working on improving their entrepreneurial prowess through an active process of learning and reflection.
Successful entrepreneurs involved in our research actively participate in training courses and look for management practices and ideas from others and from textbooks. They analyze how to apply certain management theories in their own businesses. Unsurprisingly, the work environment is a central element in the learning style of Chinese entrepreneurs. First-hand experience is critical in the learning process.
Learning is selective and based on actual experience - which tells us that the best learning scenario is at work rather than in the lecture room, and that, at the very least, case studies should be a major focus in any business course content.
Thomas Man is an associate professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China's business school.
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