Reflective Report

The objective of this reflective report is to build up an appreciation of the characteristics of entrepreneurs, and learning to think like an entrepreneur, as you progress through the first learning outcome of this course.  Research has shown that students better understand and retain the material they are learning if they have the opportunity to reflect on the concepts and recognise them as they apply to their environment.  The value of this report is also as a repository for your thoughts, questions, feelings, and insights about your learning of entrepreneurship and how you see them relating to your own life and the business world.

Required:

A minimum of four entries (answers to the questions) for learning outcome one, that show you have reflected on what you are learning about entrepreneurship.  Each entry must be dated.  The report should be approximately 2000 words (+/- 20%).

Marking Criteria and Questions:

It is essential to demonstrate evidence of reflection, insight and successful evaluation of principles of four questions (entries) concerning entrepreneurship.  These will be linked; you should demonstrate how your thinking has been influenced during the first part of the course.  The marking grid is shown on page 3.

This learning outcome is worth 20%, with each entry being worth 10 marks (5%).  Satisfactory presentation and APA referencing is expected as a necessary part of the assignment.  This outcome concerns the characteristics of the entrepreneur and what had driven them to be an entrepreneur.  Some possible topics you could reflect upon are listed below.  These are not set in concrete and you may adapt them to suit the information you have obtained, but please discuss with the lecturer if you wish to adapt them.

1.              From the readings you have studied about entrepreneurship, consider how your understanding of entrepreneurship and the characteristics required of successful entrepreneurs has changed since the start of this course.  Hint: Ask yourself– what did I understand before the course and what do I now understand?

2.              Analyse two real world examples from the case studies provided in class or your own interviews/research of an entrepreneur.  You should now be looking to provide evidence for your understanding in Question 1, clearly establishing how the theory of entrepreneurship is applied in practice.  You should apply and discuss at least two ‘schools of thought’ of entrepreneurship in your answer about your selected case studies.

3.              Have you found that some entrepreneurs do not appear to follow in their practice either of the theoretical entrepreneurship schools of thought you selected in question 2?  Provide at least one example of a successful entrepreneur that fits this picture.  Justify your argument and evaluate how this person has survived successfully in their chosen business. Hint: You could select a different school of thought to consider or another theoretical framework.

4.              As you come to the end of learning outcome one, evaluate your own personal characteristics for entrepreneurship.  It is expected that you will refer to at least one self-test that you have carried out in order to evaluate yourself.

Instructions:  The report must be your own work.  Any references to others’ work must be referenced correctly using the APA referencing system (7th ed.).

There is also a set of helpful hints on EIT online to guide you in this first assignment. See the Assessments folder. Please ensure you refer to those to keep you on track.