Chapter 2: The entrepreneurial mindset

Learning outcomes

• Conceptualise the entrepreneurial mindset through a multidisciplinary approach

• Describe the multifaceted nature of the entrepreneurial mindset
• Discuss instruments for measuring entrepreneurial mindset
• Explain current and future trends affecting entrepreneurial mindset
• Discuss ways to cultivate entrepreneurial mindset in South Africa
• Describe entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges.
Introduction
• The global economy in the 21st century is complex
• strategies for creating a business and dealing with entrepreneurship education need to change to
adapt to global competitiveness, governance, growing economies, globalisation and political
realities
• It is the era of the knowledge worker and the global labour pool
• The UN SDGs have challenged the world to act to end poverty, so sustainable growth is a priority
• Entrepreneurship is a key focus of the SDGs to achieve this
 2.1 Entrepreneurial mindset defined
• This is a way of thinking about your business that captures the benefits of uncertainty; key themes:
2.1.1 Entrepreneurial mindset: a non-Western
perspective
• Although colonialism provided opportunities for Western entrepreneurs, colonial governments in
Africa and elsewhere were rarely agents of expatriate enterprise or metropolitan industries
(Hopkins, 1987)
• Colonialism slowed entrepreneurship growth in Latin America, Africa and Asia
2.2 Conceptualising entrepreneurial mindset
• The origin of entrepreneurship can be traced back to the 1700s
• Entrepreneurial mindset is rooted in behavioural science within the field of personality and
cognitive and social psychology
• The origins of, and significant contribution to, how best to measure entrepreneurial mindset
started in the 1930s, when personality traits were conceptualised
• On the African continent, the question of African culture and personality started to be studied in
the early 1960s
• The Big Five personality traits predict business intention, creation and success
• They are:
• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
2.3 Cultivating entrepreneurial mindset
• Successful entrepreneurship must be experiential, be able to build confidence, have a social meaning,
present a social challenge and improve quality of life
• There is limited information about how to teach individuals the skills they need to be successful
entrepreneurs in a learning environment
• Deep experiential learning helps with life skills, and educators’ experience and skills matter when they
deliver entrepreneurship programmes
• Teaching-centred theory promotes skills development because students get to be active while working
on their projects
• But learning-centred pedagogy allows students to engage and become entrepreneurs
2.3 Cultivating entrepreneurial mindset
(continued)
• The five most important entrepreneurial factors are:
• Innovation
• A futuristic mindset
• Risk-taking ability
• Adaptability
• Commitment
• Individual characteristics of entrepreneurs include:
• Ascribed characteristics
• Achieved characteristics
• Learnable characteristics
• Demand and requirement characteristics
2.3 Cultivating entrepreneurial mindset
(continued)
• The five characteristics of entrepreneurial mindset are:
• Engaging the energies of everyone in your domain
• Pursuing the very best opportunities, rather than exhausting yourself and
our organisation by chasing after every option
• Seeking new opportunities
• Focusing on execution and adaptation
• Pursuing opportunities with enormous discipline
2.3 Cultivating entrepreneurial mindset
(continued)
• Qualities making up an entrepreneurial mindset are:
• A clear and achievable vision, even if the resources may not be in an
entrepreneurs’ control
• Self-awareness
• Confidence
• Self-motivation
• A willingness to take calculated risks
• A willingness to listen to others
• A lack of fear of failure
• A willingness to work hard
2.4 Instruments for measuring
entrepreneurial mindset
• Entrepreneurial mindset is difficult to measure
• Creativity is part of entrepreneurial mindset
• The focus on entrepreneurial mindset has traditionally been on the entrepreneur’s
personality
• Measurement instruments include:
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)
2.5 Current and future trends affecting
entrepreneurial mindset
2.5.1 Infrastructure
• South Africa lags behind the First World in hard infrastructure such as
roads, trading spaces and technology
• Rural areas and townships have Third World infrastructure
• Metropolitan cities have developing nations’ infrastructure
• There is inadequate support for entrepreneurs from banks
• Cheap imports harm local entrepreneurs
2.5 Current and future trends affecting
entrepreneurial mindset
2.5.2 Ways of thinking
• The future of entrepreneurship may lie in entrepreneurs’ self-knowledge
through psychometric assessment instruments such as the Herrmann Brain
Dominance Instrument (HBDI)
• The HBDI can help entrepreneurs to transform their ways of thinking to a
mindset that is more entrepreneurial
• Entrepreneurial thinking has moved from being analytical, practical and
traditional to being creative and collaborative
• In a fast-paced environment, entrepreneurs need to understand their
thinking preferences as a strength
 2.6 Opportunities and challenges
2.6.1 Opportunities in the African context
• Technology is expected to change the nature of jobs in the future
• So, children need to be prepared with the attributes and skills of future
workers
• The number of jobs with ICT intensity is increasing in Africa
• Smart cities and smart businesses (such as Airbnb and Uber) are becoming
more prevalent
• Entrepreneurs can now do business on a global scale and reach international
markets
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings vast opportunities
• Globalisation and AI have become a requirement for entrepreneurs to stay
competitive
 2.6 Opportunities and challenges

2.6.2 Challenges to the entrepreneurial mindset

• These include the global economy’s current status, unemployment,
competition and education
• The youth faces challenges such as increasing labour costs, youth
unemployment and limited employment for graduates
• Other challenges are rapid technological disruptions, regulatory barriers and
increased financial uncertainty
2.7 Entrepreneurial mindset and the sharing
economy
• The work environment of the future will demand innovative people who create jobs that do
not exist
• most jobs that are in demand today did not exist 10 years ago
• The nature of work is changing due to the sharing economy: an economic model in which
people share or rent goods and services instead of buying them
• Technology innovations and the supply side have increased the growth of peer-to-peer
platforms
• Creativity and innovation breakthroughs are drivers of economic growth and tend to create
and improve millions of jobs
2.7 Entrepreneurial mindset and the sharing
economy (continued)
• The seven key elements essential for embracing entrepreneurial mindset are:
• Encourage creative risk-taking and flexible thinking
• Create opportunities for self-starting and self-managing: Use initiative and embrace
your interests or passion
• Affirm the thinking process
• Find a community
• Provide the tools, but let entrepreneurs choose what works best
• Embrace design thinking: This includes an appreciation of planning, structure etc.
• Model the thinking process
• There has been a shift away from traditional employer–employee relationships over the
past decade
• Jobs are becoming flexible and unpredictable
• In an era of more individual entrepreneurs, success is not guaranteed