Module:
Topic: Richard Branson, Virgin’s Entrepreneur
Student Name:
Student ID:
Class day & time:
Tutor’s Name:
1.Introduction
Entrepreneurship makes a great contribution to economic growth and reduces unemployment. Entrepreneurs, the main body of entrepreneurial activities, promote the generation of innovation and transformation. Entrepreneurship is cloly related to traits of entrepreneurs. The report analyzes different traits of entrepreneurs in terms of locus of control, motivation, and innovation. The report is to introduce Richard Branson who is the fo
under of Virgin Group limited in 1989. The Virgin Group is a very famous enterpri in the United Kingdom and specializes in the tourism and entertainment industries, including 70,000 employees in 35 countries through over 60 companies. The report illustrates how does Richard Branson become a billionaire starting from scratch from the introduction, the background of the entrepreneur, entrepreneur traits, opportunity recognition and idea development process and competitive advantages. Finally, the report puts forward some recommendations for entrepreneurship.
2.Background of the entrepreneur
The entrepreneurial actions of Branson are under the constraints of social institutions. Economic actions are embedded in a system of specific social relations (Mark Granovetter, 1991, p.481-530).
The actions of Richard Branson are related to his family and social origins. Branson was born on July 18, 1950, in England. He spent a difficult time in educational agency and was hard to graduate from the all-boys Scaitcliffe School at his age of 13. Then he transfe
rred to a boarding school located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. Branson still struggled in school and left school at the age of 16. Nevertheless, he grew up in a well-educated middle-class family, being a son of lawyer and flight attendant. When he was in boarding school, he starts his magazines in the summer holidays. Besides, the working experience of his mother familiarized him with lf-employment. Before her marriage, Branson’s mother is a flight attendant and she also sold wooden boxes and wastepaper bins which were handmade to some shops.
For the educational part, Branson was ud to taking the plunge from his childhood, his parents arranged him various physical adventures. He grew up in a critical marginal family and his aunt is obsd with biplane and skydiving. His family knew how to imbue with autonomy, initiative, and creativity. When Branson planned to breed parakeets for lling, his father made remarkable birdhous and his mother was responsible for attending to the birds. Given his family and social origins, Branson was not doomed to be a blue-collar worker with rules.
Besides, the existence of society-scale factors is supported by Branson’s entrepreneurial actions. He was a wild entrepreneur in a society of economic liberalism and free enterpri promotion and was a mature entrepreneur during the economic recession. In the mid-1960s, Parliament progressively modified legislation on liberalism and equality. In the context of the economic liberalism, Branson founded his first magazine named “Student” for young groups at his age of 16. The first edition of the magazine was sold $ 8,000 advertising fee. Branson launched a mail-order firm in 1970 and opened Virgin Retail in 1971. Thanks to Virgin Retail, Virgin Records was t up in 1973 and the entrepreneur started to consider new investment for the airline ctor. In the early 1990s, entrepreneurs went through tough times. Under the influence of the international economic slowing down, the British recession and the First Gulf War have verely affected Virgin Atlantic and Branson’s finance. Facing the economic recession, Branson was no longer to take chances but cho to keep Virgin Atlantic and ll Virgin Music to EMI in 1992.
From this view, the economic actions of Branson are constrained by social factors that p
laced restrictions on the ability of entrepreneurs to act on his own. The theory could be suitable for the organizational transformation in Virgin.
3.Entrepreneur traits/characteristics
Psychological theories of entrepreneurship concentrate on individuals (Landtrom, 1998, p. 26-27). The theories focus on personal characteristics for driving entrepreneurs. Personality traits are stable qualities that a person shows in most situations (Coon, 2004). The individuals have inborn qualities and potentials to lead himlf to be an entrepreneur. Some entrepreneur traits and behaviors contribute to individuals obtaining more opportunities, a high-level of innovations and management skills.
3.1 Locus of control
Locus of control is considered as a significant aspect of personal traits. Rauch and Fre (2000, p. 41) found that business owners have a slightly higher internal locus of control than other populations. Rooter illustrates that locus of control is a perception of individual
s about the root caus of their life events (Rotter, 1996, p.1-27). Richard Branson is a risk-taker and has an innovative mentality. Branson is full of energy and ambition to head for the top and does not have the fear to take risks. He has a strong ability to put ideas into actions and cannot wait once he makes up his mind. He has already taken actions within enthusiasm and full of energy when others tend to think or dream. Branson is flexible to adapt to the conditions and rapidly recovers from tbacks and conquer hinders in adver circumstances. Due to the personality trait, it is easier for him to move into a wide range of different business in the whole world. Moreover, Branson has a good ability to innovate what others do not. He can always generate new innovative ideas or get new ideas from others. The trait is not limited by any uncertain markets and any conditions. Branson’s personality traits of risk-taker, flexible, innovative and positive drove him to create and expand a multifaceted enterpri.
3.2 Need for achievement
People need require success and achievement. Entrepreneurs are driven by this need to
achieving (McClelland, 1961, p. 210-215). Branson is motivated by his interest in creating things that he can be proud of, instead of making money. Branson left school and started his career at the age of 16. He launched a magazine named “Student” for young people and t up a recording store called Virgin Records in his early 20s. The successful record company enables him financially cure and drives him to ventured into airlines and other business fields. So far, the Virgin Group has covered 200 business, rving over 50 million customers all around the world.
4.Opportunity recognition and idea development process
4.1 Opportunity recognition
An opportunity-bad theory offers entrepreneurship rearch with an extensive conceptional framework (Fiet, 2002). Entrepreneurs cannot bring about changes but ek for opportunities that changes engender (Drucker, 1985). Entrepreneurship is motivated by the perception of opportunities (Stevenson, Roberts & Grousbeck, 1985, p. 34-35). Ardichvili, Cardoz, and Ray (2003, p. 105-123) illustrate the opportunity recognition proce
ss includes three steps: (1) perceiving needs in resources and market. (2) Discovering a connection between specific resources and market needs. (3) Setting up a different form of business concept with resources meeting market needs. In the middle of the 1960s, the so-called “underground” movement cropped up into the open. The youth started to reject the lifestyle of their parents and organized to freely live their musical and drug experiments for expressing their convictions. Under the context of the British youth’s protesting breakthrough. Branson built his first business, called Student Magazine. The magazine was to be proved very successful. Branson had become pay attention to money-making opportunities while he focud from editorial onto accounting. In the business lifetime, he is a great fan of saying “yes”, even sometimes he has no idea where is his direction and how to achieve the goals. He insists on that opportunity favors the bold and has ud this risk-taking mentality for building Virgin.
