Course: Entrepreneurial Analysis of Steve Jobs' Characteristics

This report provides an assessment of entrepreneurial characteristics, focusing on Steve Jobs. It begins with an introduction to the factors that influence entrepreneurs, such as access to information, environmental scanning, and the utilization of technology. The report then delves into the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, including drive, internal locus of control, risk-taking, and creativity, using Steve Jobs as a case study. It examines Jobs' behaviors, including ambition, initiative, courage, and his unique ability to 'ignore reality,' along with his leadership style and its impact on Apple's innovation and product development, such as the iPhone and iPad. The analysis covers Jobs' creativity, his ability to handle innovation, and the principles of entrepreneurial innovation. Finally, the report presents a critical review of relevant theories and paradigms related to entrepreneurship and innovation, highlighting how Jobs' approach shaped Apple's success and influenced the computer industry.

Assessment of actual entrepreneur
Name:
Course:

Introduction and background
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of creativity and ability to
handle innovation
Third: A critical review of relevant theories and paradigms
Contents

Entrepreneurs depend on several interrelated factors to achieve
their desired goals, including access to information, environmental
scanning and knowledge sharing to enhance organizational
learning. Entrepreneurs who are highly committed to self-
efficiency for success are more capable of exploiting opportunities
and achieving higher levels of performance (Drnovšek, et al., 2010).
Introduction and background

They tend to use the latest technology developments, involve their
stakeholder in decision making, conduct market research and
effectively communicate their ideas and developed products and
services (Drnovšek, et al., 2010).
Introduction and background
Cont.

Startup entrepreneurships are highly challenged with
various internal and external factors that represent a
common stream among them. They are devoted to financial
challenges, human resources, support mechanisms,
environmental elements and market size (Short, et al., 2010).
Introduction and background
Cont.

Contemporary entrepreneurial practices show that entrepreneurs
can utilize tools and methodologies to enhance their startup
movements through learning and development (Weiblen &
Chesbrough, 2015).
Introduction and background
Cont.

Developing and applying performance indicators help
entrepreneurs to measure their overall performance and align their
products and services and business processes with their strategic
orientation. Major performance indicators involve sales volume,
revenues, quality and high conversation rates (Mansour &
Barandas, 2017).
Introduction and background
Cont.

The experiential learning is highly important to be implemented in
entrepreneurial organizations; it enables knowledge creations
through interaction between the past knowledge of the
entrepreneur and the newly gained experience (Mansoori, 2017).
Introduction and background
Cont.

The entrepreneurs go through a circular process across different
learning phases; from acting to reflecting, then they move to
conceptualization. Entrepreneurs are described to achieve the
highest levels of learning when they start to change their beliefs
and pattern of behavior (Mansoori, 2017).
Introduction and background
Cont.

According to Morris, et al. (2008) as cited in (He, 2014), entrepreneurs
are characterized with certain traits, as follows
• Drive to achieve
• Internal locus of control
• Calculated risk taking
• Tolerance of ambiguity
First: Entrepreneur characteristics

• Commitment / Perseverance
• Independence
• Self-confidence / Optimism
• Tolerance for failure
• Persistent problem solving
• Opportunity orientation
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
Cont.

• Integrity and Reliability
• High energy level
• Resourcefulness
• Creativity and innovativeness
• Vision
• Team building
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
Cont.

Behaviors
• Ambition: Steve Jobs was driven to achieve his goals and become the best. He
meant to make his products “insanely great”. His ambition embodied strong
integrity, he was highly dedicated to The highest standards of his craft.
• Initiative: Entrepreneurs are self-starters and Jobs had a plan that he
successfully implemented in reality by bringing his ideas into the form of
newly developed products.
Source: Kutsar, et al. (2014).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)

Behaviors
• Courage: Entrepreneurial enterprises are exposed to failure and success, and
their ability to take calculated risks. Jobs failures and ability to bounce back
are mythical. Apple I and II were modestly sold, Lisa failed and his company
NeXT failed. But he kept trying different approaches until his persistence paid
off and Apple was transformed into a global titan (Kutsar, et al., 2014).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Behaviors
• Creativity: Steve Jobs was mainly characterized by his strong belief in
creativity and judgment that he gained from his family.
• Confidence: Jobs was highly confident of his ability to achieve his goals. For
example, when he noticed that the iPhone plastic display could be scratched
easily on a trial run, he decided to place it with the ‘Gorilla glass’ that was
highly resistant to scratches.
Source: Kalla (2012)
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Behaviors
• Ignore reality: Jobs could distort the reality field through his strong will.
• Collaboration: Jobs believed that spontaneous meetings yield creativity. He
believed in the importance of organizational learning and knowledge sharing
between team members in achieving high and quick success.
Source: Kalla (2012)
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Outcomes
• Productivity: Jobs succeeded to add value to the customer through his newly
developed products that fulfilled theirneeds. He depended on a win-win value
exchange to achieve success and customer engagement (Kutsar, et al., 2014).
• Rethinking designs: The iPhone went through many phases before it was sold
in the market. Jobs personally worked developed the design of the intricate
boxes of the iPhone. He worked on unpacking the product across development
stages to add more usability features (Kalla, 2012).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Outcomes
• Innovation: Jobs noticed people's needs and transformed them into innovative
products. For example, he created iTunes software and the iTunes store that
represented an ecosystem that transformed the entertainment industry (Kalla,
2012).
Attributes
• Rudeness: He was very tough and hard to work with, impatient and used
verbal abuse (Klein, 2015).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

• Attributes
Attraction: He was a charismatic and visionary leader that attracted many people
around him due to his success in motivating them to achieve what they thought to
be impossible. Jobs rudeness and roughness are not separated from his
inspirational ability. His pressure on the team members in Apple fueled their
passion to develop pioneer products (Klein, 2015).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Attributes
• Simplicity: Jobs was able to handle complex function to provide the customer
with the simple solution they desire. For example, the iPod the music player
that gradually powered down then flashed again with just a swipe. His
developed systems could stand alone or perform together through the
interconnected ecosystem (Kalla, 2012).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Influences
• Leadership: Jobs leadership style differentiated between the leaders and
followers and urged leadership to be the ultimate of the human capital. His
orientation considered the importance of the human factor in the success of his
business more than the quantity of invested money.
Jobs was a task-oriented leader who meant to achieve his predefined goals and
led without emotions. Jobs is classified as an autocratic leader, he never meant
to delegate authority and he used to take the final decisions depending on his
strengths. He tightly controlled employees and work processes.
Source: Kalla (2012)
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Experiences
• Control the experience: Apple used to take the full responsibility for its
products from end-to-end. Jobs considered the user experience in every detail
of the product.
• Vision and considering details: Jobs devoted attention to the large picture as
well as the small details. He was a great visionary leader, he developed various
types of nods to launch personal devices. In 2010, he implemented the
successor strategy and the technology hub was moved to the cloud and Apple
built huge servers to serve in uploading and sync content.
Source: Kalla (2012)
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Traits
• Intelligence: Jobs personal traits led him to success, unlike other
entrepreneurs. Even his disadvantaged traits acted as success factors. His
independent thinking out of the rules resulted in the development of highly
differentiated products (Kutsar, et al., 2014).
First: Entrepreneur characteristics
(Steve Jobs)
Cont.

Creativity refers to individuals' ability to generate fresh ideas that
satisfy people's needs. Ideas could stem from observation,
questions, frustration, imaginations or serendipity (Shewfelt, 2012).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation

Entrepreneurship readiness represents its ability to implement new
programs successfully. It requires effective leadership to support
idea implementation, learning skills development, capacity
planning knowledge of industry requirements, consumer practices
and environmental changes (Morariu, 2012).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Entrepreneurs should be capable of influencing innovation and its
related activities in organizations. They should be able to match
organizational innovation with market needs. The proper
leadership style of the entrepreneur is critical to facilitate the
innovation process. Strong leadership plays an essential role in
facilitating communication between team members with various
interests (Anning-Dorson, et al., 2017).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Strong leadership can effectively align the innovative strategy with
the organizational strategy that leads to innovation success. Apple
adopts the product diversification strategy through the
introduction of many products represented in iPhone, iPod shuffle,
iPod movie and iPod Nano, iTunes and iPad and many others
(Anning-Dorson, et al., 2017).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Principles of entrepreneurial innovation:
Entrepreneurs can select innovation principles based on their
importance and relevance to their business according to Johnson,
et al. (2012), as follows:
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation

Principles of entrepreneurial innovation:
• Development of new products or services: They have to develop
new products that can be easily sold, be new to the market and
satisfy specific needs. Apple could create a competitive market
position through innovation and the introduction of a strong
brand name.
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Principles of entrepreneurial innovation:
• Introduction of new production methods: Innovation should
introduce new production schemes that increase the production
of the same inputs or introduce new outputs. Apple aims for the
compatibility of its products for example, the iPod was
developed to complement iTunes.
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation

Principles of entrepreneurial innovation:
• Opening new markets: Newly developed products have the
chance to penetrate new markets or increase sales within the
same markets. Apple depends on its core competencies in
introducing different products and diversifying them. This
strategy enabled the company to diversify its sources of revenues
across different markets.
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Principles of entrepreneurial innovation:
• Finding a new source of materials supply: Entrepreneurs should
find a suitable source of supply at the required levels of quality,
budget and time. Apples' diversification strategy enabled it to
use shared technologies, resources and activities across different
product lines around the globe. Therefore, Apple obtained firm-
specific intangible core competencies essential to sustain its
competitive advantage.
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Examples of Apple innovative products
• iPhone: It enabled the users to make phone calls, browse the
web, function as the iPod and take pictures. It was elegantly
designed that involved expensive components in its
manufacturing, including brushed aluminum body and gorilla
glass screen (Mitchell, 2014).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation

Examples of Apple innovative products
• The App store: The launch of the App store in 2008 significantly
increased the sales volume of iPhone. The App store is easy to
use, access and allows the users to directly download
applications to their devices. It contributed to 53.5% of total
sales in 2013. The great success of iPhone influenced the
computer industry as a whole across the globe (Latif, et al.,
2014).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

Examples of Apple innovative products
• iPad: The success introduction of the iPad led many of Apple
competitors to quit the market, including Samsung and
Microsoft. iPad totally changed the traditional image of
personal computers, how they perform and function. It was
capable of supporting long movies with high resolution and its
weight and size was a real hit to the computer industry. Jobs
could save Apple from high financial losses and led the company
to new business success (Latif, et al., 2014).
Second: Analysis of entrepreneur's level of
creativity and ability to handle innovation
Cont.

The degree of an entrepreneurship openness to innovation is
directly related to its number of innovative products and services it
introduces. The relationship between innovation measures and the
output takes an inverted U-shape relation. The simplicity of
innovation measures enables in producing more innovative
products in the complex environment (Formica, 2018).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms

The entrepreneurship theories
• The macro level theories: They investigate the links between
entrepreneurs' small micro-level reality enhancement and the
reality enhancement on the macro-level of the economy. High
innovative entrepreneurs enhance people reality by creating
innovative products for users and by generating job
opportunities that enable people to earn income and gain new
knowledge and innovative skills. Therefore entrepreneurial
activities significantly relate the micro-level enhancement of the
reality with the macro-level reality enhancement (Mui, 2013).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms

The entrepreneurship theories
• The macro level theories: The progress on the macro-level is
brought by entrepreneurs who introduce new ideas to the society
that could take the form of new products and services, enhanced
production methods, new markets, new materials and developed
ways of doing business. The entrepreneur unique characteristics,
the cost and benefit analysis and their impact across business
activities and the entrepreneur motivation to succeed by
applying a certain course of action determines the
entrepreneurship type (Mui, 2013).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

The entrepreneurship theories
• The micro level theories: Being an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial
motivation and act are integral components of entrepreneurship.
They pertain to processes that unfold at the individual level to
influence the entrepreneurship spirit and value creation. The
challenges for entrepreneurs are to discover the curricular, co-
curricular and extracurricular activities needed at the micro
level in order to infuse entrepreneurship spirit (Yousafzai, et al.,
2016).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Entrepreneurship lifecycle
• First stage: Bootstrapping: In this early stage, the entrepreneur
begins the implementation of his activities by configuring his
ideas into a profitable business. The risk level should be
considered to be able to continue his work of implementing his
new ideas (Kesim & Salamzadeh, 2015).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms

Entrepreneurship lifecycle
• First stage: Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping refers to the
entrepreneur dependence on his own resources without the need
of incorporating external resources. He has to secure the
financial resources to demonstrate the feasibility of the product,
form and manage the working teams (Kesim & Salamzadeh,
2015).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Entrepreneurship lifecycle
• Second stage: Seed: In this stage, the entrepreneur enters new
markets, develop new teamwork, need average investments and
evaluates the venture. Also, he is challenged with a high degree
of uncertainty that leads to a large proportion of entrepreneurs
to fail at this early stage because of the shortage of supporting
mechanisms (Kesim & Salamzadeh, 2015).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Entrepreneurship lifecycle
• Second stage: Seed: The business could survive in the best case,
but it will generate low profits with minimum success rate. If it
survived in this stage it has high potential to transform into a
profitable organization (Kesim & Salamzadeh, 2015).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Entrepreneurship lifecycle
• Third stage: Creation: At this stage, the entrepreneur begins in
accessing the market with the newly developed products. The
organization is really formed by the end of this stage. When this
stage ends, the entrepreneurship stops (Kesim & Salamzadeh,
2015).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Leadership theories
• Trait theory: It distinguishes between leaders who were born
with leadership traits and personality characteristics that
leaders gain over their lifetime. Leaders have genetic traits, like,
intelligence, self-confidence, attractiveness and effectiveness
(Ahmed, et al., 2016).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms

Leadership theories
• Contingency theories: According to these theories, there is no
one theory that can describe the leadership style in a complete
way. Environmental factors affect the leadership style and
followers can influence the leadership style (Ahmed, et al.,
2016).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Leadership theories
Trait and contingency theories analyze the leadership of
entrepreneurship startups in relation to ideas, creativity,
innovation and development. Startups are complex, they have a
specific lifecycle. They can take the form of individual business, low
investment, family and friends, teamwork or angel investors
(Ahmed, et al., 2016).
Third: critical review of relevant theories
and paradigms
Cont.

Ahmed, Z., Nawaz, A. & Khan, I., 2016. Leadership theories and styles: A literature
review. Journal of Resources Development and Management, Volume 16.
Anning-Dorson, T., Odoom, R., Acheampong, G. & Tweneboah-Koduah, E., 2017.
Innovation and organizational development: the role of organizational leadership.
African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 8(3), pp. 338-351.
Drnovšek, M., Wincent, J. & Cardon, M., 2010. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and
business start-up: developing a multi-dimensional definition. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 16(4), pp. 329-348.
Formica, P., 2018. A glimpse into the cultural foundations of open innovation. Industry
and Higher Education, 32(2), pp. 69-72.
He, L., 2014. The perceived personal characteristics of entrepreneurial leaders,
Australia: Edith Cowan University.
References

Isaacson, W., 2012. The real leadership lessons of Steve Jobs, USA: Harvard Business
Review.
Johnson, K. et al., 2012. The innovative success that is Apple, Inc., USA: Marshall
University.
Kalla, S., 2012. 10 leadership tips from Steve Jobs. [Online]
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/susankalla/2012/04/02/10-leadership-tips-
from-steve-jobs/#1b8ebea2667f [Accessed 08 April 2019].
Kesim, H. & Salamzadeh, A., 2015. Startup companies: Life cycle and challenges.
Serbia, 4th International Conference on Employment, Education and Entrepreneurship
(EEE), .
Klein, S., 2015. Steve Jobs and philosophy: For those who think different. Chicago: Open
Court.
References
Cont.

Kutsar, V., Ghose, N. & Kutsar, Y., 2014. Leadership analysis using management tools:
Steve Jobs. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 4(2), pp. 125-
130.
Latif, M., Jaskani, J. & Ilyas, T., 2014. Issues faced by Apple Inc in smart phones
industry. International Journal of Accounting and Financial Reporting, 4(2), pp. 50-65.
Mansoori, Y., 2017. Enacting the lean startup methodology: The role of vicarious and
experiential learning processes. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior &
Research, 23(5), pp. 812-838.
Mansour, D. & Barandas, H., 2017. High-tech entrepreneurial content marketing for
business model innovation: A conceptual framework. Journal of Research in Interactive
Marketing, 11(3), pp. 296-311.
References
Cont.

Mitchell, W., 2014. Why Apple’s product magic continues to amaze – skills of the
world’s #1 value chain integrator. Strategy & Leadership, 42(6), pp. 17-28.
Morariu, J., 2012. Readiness for evaluation and learning: Assessing grantmaker and
grantee capacity, Washington: Innovation Network, Inc.
Mui, A., 2013. Mui, Andruin, Linking Micro-Level Entrepreneurial Action and Macro-
Level Economic Progress: The Interdisciplinary and Multidimensional Domain of
Entrepreneurship Research, USA: SSRN.
Shewfelt, R., 2012. Idea Generation. In: Becoming a food scientist: To graduate school
and beyond. New York: Springer, pp. 13-23.
Short, J., Ketchen, D., Combs, J. & Ireland, D., 2010. Research methods in
entrepreneurship opportunities and challenges. Organizational Research Methods,
13(1), pp. 6-15.
References
Cont.

Weiblen, T. & Chesbrough, H., 2015. Engaging with startups to enhance corporate
innovation. University of California, Berkeley, 57(2), pp. 66-90.
Yousafzai, M., Junaid, M. & Shah, S., 2016. Entrepreneurship and value creation:
Curriculum at macro, meso, and micro level. NICE Research Journal, pp. 19-35.
References
Cont.