MD4044 Entrepreneurship Roles Analysis Report: University Name

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of entrepreneurship and its impact on economic development. It explores the multifaceted roles of entrepreneurs in creating strong economies, emphasizing their importance in innovation, resource utilization, and job creation. The report uses Elon Musk as a case study, examining his entrepreneurial journey with Tesla and SpaceX. It delves into the difficult decisions Musk has made, including investment choices and expansion strategies. Furthermore, the report critically assesses the ethical and legal challenges Musk has faced, such as nepotism allegations and SEC investigations, highlighting the complexities of leadership in the business world. The analysis underscores the significance of multifaceted management abilities and effective problem-solving in the face of adversity.

Running head: ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
Executive Summary
The report is concerning the study of entrepreneurship and the various aspects that govern the
same in the context of individual, organizational and economic development. The study has been
made considering entrepreneur Elon Musk and the various factors that have affected his
leadership. The importance of entrepreneurship towards the economy has been analyzed. Moving
forward, the critical analysis of the entrepreneurship of Musk have been made. The implications
point towards entrepreneurship requiring multifaceted management abilities and effective
tackling of challenges.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Role of entrepreneurs in creating strong economies........................................................................3
Critical analysis of Entrepreneurship...............................................................................................4
Difficult decision making scenario..............................................................................................4
Ethical Challenge.........................................................................................................................6
Legal issues..................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

3ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
Introduction
The study focuses on the roles played by entrepreneurs towards determining the growth
of an economy. The role of entrepreneurship in strengthening the economy of a country has been
essentially discussed. Entrepreneurship is further evaluated through the systematic analysis of an
entrepreneur and the significant decisions taken by the person to in the entrepreneurship journey
that was taken. Elon Musk and his entrepreneurship considering his organization Tesla has been
considered for effective analysis of the subject matter. Elon Musk has dominated the news media
reports in the recent years because of his charismatic personality and unique visions. The various
decisions that have been taken till now by Elon Musk in his leadership career have helped his
company to grow and develop into large global enterprise. However, in the process the leader
has faced significant challenges that have at times threatened him and his organizations. The
value of his leadership skills and aspects in terms of economic growth and organizational growth
need to be discussed further.
Role of entrepreneurs in creating strong economies
Countries largely depend on effective and large business organizations to lead their
economic progress. This is because these are the organizations that are most capable of utilizing
the resources that are available and provide essential productivity. Large organizations also help
towards brining foreign revenue and contribute further to the economic progress of countries.
The functions of organizations are essentially multifaceted. They are involved as much in the
production process as much they are involved in the knowledge gathering processes (Read et al.
2016). The knowledge gathering functions of the large organization lead to the better
understanding of the world market on which economies at a global level are crucially dependent.

4ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
International business organizations are effective towards the determination of economic growth
of different countries along with the world.
It should also be considered that organizations depend on the entrepreneurs that lead
them for achieving success. Hence, the crucial role of entrepreneurship in the development of
national economy cannot be ignored. Entrepreneurs are the primary users of innovation. It is the
entrepreneur who is vested with the responsibilities of identification of essential business
opportunities and take effective action towards their realization. Optimal utilization of an
economy’s resources can only be done through the vision of entrepreneurs at the helm of leading
business ventures (Davidsson 2015). Per Capita income is greatly affected by the real incomes
that are generated by the entrepreneurs and industrialists. Economic growth in this ways is more
directly related to the activities of the entrepreneurs. Moreover, organizations create employment
opportunities that ultimately lead to the acquirement of better living standards of the employees
that are also citizens of a country. Entrepreneurs lead growth in the infrastructure of a country.
Large scale infrastructural projects are either funded or managed by entrepreneurial ventures in
collaboration with the authorities (Antonakis and Day 2017). They also greatly contribute
towards the promotion of technology that leads to the further consolidation of the economic
development of a country.
Critical analysis of Entrepreneurship
Difficult decision making scenario
The life of Elon Musk can definitely be analyzed in terms of the crucial entrepreneurial
decisions that he took to expand the various organizations that are associated with him. Tesla

5ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
Automotive is one of the prime organizations that he is associated with. Many of the difficult
decisions that he has had to make have been in regards to the business expansion of Tesla
considering his role as the CEO of the organization (Tesla.com 2018). Elon Musk is mostly
known for his futuristic visions that focus on the usage of environment friendly and renewable
energy sources. He is also much focused towards space travel and understanding the universe.
He established SpaceX for the realization of his goals of space travel and uncovering the
mysteries of the universe (Schröder 2016). Despite all that he has achieved he had to make many
difficult decisions at various crucial junctures of his entrepreneurial career.
One his most significant and difficult decision at the same time was to invest in his space
exploration venture called SpaceX. He took the very difficult decision to invest in his venture
called Space Exploration Technologies also called SpaceX. Elon Musk at that time was a
significantly successful entrepreneur with his previous venture Paypal, a money transfer facility.
However, he took a huge gamble in his career where he invested the 180 million dollar proceeds
from Paypal into SpaceX, Tesla and Solar city projects respectively. Of this the most difficult
decision was in regards to the 100 million dollar investment he made in SpaceX (Dobbs 2016).
This is because unlike the other ventures this was a space exploration venture and was subject to
far greater risks than any other investment. According to him he had to borrow money to give
rent due to this decision he made at the time. This was a very difficult situation at that point in
time as he ran the risk of losing all his accumulated wealth if the venture investments were
unsuccessful. This was a pivotal decision in the entrepreneurial life of Musk that later led to his
rapid growth in the corporate world. All the three ventures were greatly successful with SpaceX
being one of the biggest success stories in regards to privately funded space exploration. SpaceX
within a span of just seven years successfully designed the Falcon space launch vehicle and the

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Dragon multipurpose spacecraft. This was one of the most innovative steps that had ever been
taken by a private entrepreneurship. The success was followed immediately by recognition from
NASA and the company also received a contract for manufacturing launch crafts for delivery of
cargo to space stations of the organization. Similarly successful were the other ventures of Tesla
and Solar city. Tesla motors have been recognized for its ecofriendly vehicle production and
solar city is currently second largest in terms of providing solar energy in US.
Ethical Challenge
Since, Elon Musk took part in some of the most innovative business ventures in the world
there were also significant ethical challenges that he came across. Ethical challenges often pose
significant threats to the future of entrepreneurs as they can undermine many of the successful
initiatives and ventures that have been taken. Ethical challenges are challenges that put into
question the debatable impact of entrepreneurial ventures on the society or the environment. A
significant ethical challenge occurred when Musk was charged with nepotism. The significant
ethical challenges that were met were in regards to the decision making functions in regard to the
Solar City Project. In 2016, Musk focused towards buying Solarcity project, with his other
venture Tesla motors. He is the owner and CEO of Tesla Motors and in SolarCity, he is the
chairman. There were acquisitions that were raised of Nepotism. This is because Musk was the
largest shareholder with 20% shares. Additionally, he had a cousin Lyndon Rive as the CEO of
Solarcity (CNBC 2017). In order for the takeover deal to commence, the board members of the
solar city and Tesla had to vote in favor of the business deal. However, Elon Musk announced
that he would not be taking part in the voting process along with another close ally Antonio
Gracias. This was as explained by Musk, to keep the decisions made by the boards of both
companies unanimous.

7ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
However, the major ethical issue was that the entire board member groups of both the
organizations consisted of many cousins and other family relatives of Musk. This led to the
criticism of this meeting as most of the people were close enough to Musk in order to make
biased decisions in favor of the business deal. This was a significant ethical challenge as on the
one hand Musk and his close associates were trying to portray a clean image of the
organizational decision making processes and on the other hand there were too many close
relatives and favoured people of Musk within the process that one sided decisions were certain.
The ethical challenges thus occurred to affect the governance of the companies. This even put to
question the future decision making process that would take place concerning all the different
ventures that Elon Musk was part of (CNBC 2017). The ethical challenge was hard for the
organization to deal with. This caused the company to issue many statements assuring of the
democratic procedures that take place in the organization’s decision making. This was a
significant ethical challenge encountered by the organization as this had wider impact on the
operational procedures and employee satisfaction in the company. The ethical challenge raised
questions in regards to the corporate governance and the role of nepotism in the organizational
decision making process at the various companies that had Elon Musk as the leader.
Legal issues
Entrepreneurs that tend to run large organization need to be aware of the several legal
issues that they can face even due to their slightest negligence. Elon Musk faced a significant
legal issue when he was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged false or
manipulative tweets (Sec.gov 2018). Musk made a tweet concerning his plans to take Tesla
private at 420 US Dollars with secured funding. As a result of this Tesla’s stock prices
skyrocketed. However, later the entrepreneur got into legal trouble for violating the terms of

8ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
SEC. According to the SEC, Musk had not agreed on any terms that concerned the funding
functions before his declaration. Moreover, no discussion was held in regards to the setting of the
prices to 420 Dollars concerning possible sources of funding. Tesla shareholders were also not
asked before expressing any views on going private (Sec.gov 2018). Additionally, no retail
investors were consulted by the person in regards to the possibilities of maintaining investments
and the legal compliance aspects that were related to the same. The SEC accused Elon Musk of
violating the corporate laws on various instances due to this issue.
The law suit was significant in the entrepreneurial life of Elon Musk. This was largely
because this kind of problem was never previously faced by the organization or the entrepreneur.
This can also be said to be a significant issue of negligence on the part of Musk. Legal issues
often tend to drastically affect the success paths of various organizations. This was a significant
issue for which Elon Musk could face severe legal consequences. Three shareholders of Tesla
also filed lawsuits against Musk. The shareholders alleged that Musk tried to unfairly manipulate
the stock prices for obtaining greater profits. The tweets also made the Department of Justice to
join the others in investigating whether the tweets of Musk were purposefully manipulated. This
is a very good example of how entrepreneurs can face legal problems due to their irresponsible
behaviors in social media (Sec.gov 2018). Elon Musk definitely made a very controversial tweet.
In regards to leadership it becomes very important that a certain level of decorum is maintained
while venturing into the social media. The major problem that can be identified in this case that
Musk disclosed information related to significant financial interest for both the organization and
its various stakeholders through a casual tweet. The tweet was short and was in no manner an
official statement that would have been otherwise issued through any social media platform by
either Tesla or Elon Musk. Leaders have to essentially consider their internet activities as in the

9ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
current corporate scenarios they can lead to greater legal problems than can be anticipated
otherwise. In essence, legal issues are one of the largest entrepreneurial challenges (Cooper
2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that the organization is intrinsically related to the individual
entrepreneur. It becomes important that the entrepreneurs tackle the various challenges that
affect their ventures and decisions judiciously in order to develop themselves as individuals
along with their organizations. Elon Musk has been a good example of entrepreneurial decision
making, growth and efficient leadership skills. The challenges faced by him have been effective
towards determining the issues that can affect the entrepreneurs in the current corporate
scenarios. The success aspects, ethical issues and the legal issues that entrepreneurs face in the
current corporate scenarios determine their individual and organizational growth in a rapidly
evolving corporate world.

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References
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Barringer, B.R., 2015. Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures. Pearson
Education India.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
CNBC. (2017). Elon Musk. [online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/
Cooper, A.C., 2017. Networks, alliances, and entrepreneurship. Strategic Entrepreneurship:
creating a new mindset, pp.201-222.
Davidsson, P., 2015. Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-
conceptualization. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(5), pp.674-695.
Dees, J.G., 2017. 1 The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. In Case Studies in Social
Entrepreneurship and Sustainability(pp. 34-42). Routledge.
Dobbs, M.E., 2016. Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Journal of Applied
Management and Entrepreneurship, 21(1), p.83.
Kirzner, I.M., 2015. Competition and entrepreneurship. University of Chicago press.
Moritz, M., Redlich, T., Krenz, P., Buxbaum-Conradi, S. and Wulfsberg, J.P., 2015, August.
Tesla Motors, Inc.-Pioneer towards a new strategic approach in the automobile industry along
the open source movement. In Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), 2015
Portland International Conference on (pp. 85-92). IEEE.

11ENTREPRENEURSHIP ROLES ANALYSIS
Read, S., Sarasvathy, S., Dew, N. and Wiltbank, R., 2016. Effectual entrepreneurship.
Routledge.
Schröder, C., 2016. How feasible are Elon Musk’s plans to settle on Mars? A planetary scientist
explains. The Conversation.
Sec.gov. (2018). SEC.gov | Elon Musk Settles SEC Fraud Charges; Tesla Charged With and
Resolves Securities Law Charge. [online] Available at:
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-226
Tesla.com. (2018). Electric Cars, Solar Panels & Clean Energy Storage | Tesla. [online]
Available at: https://www.tesla.com/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2019]. Tesla.com. (2019). Electric Cars,
Solar Panels & Clean Energy Storage | Tesla. [online] Available at: https://www.tesla.com/