Hank [BS/MSEE,
MSM $$$, Ph.D. Mgmt] teaches IntroductionÂ
Hello all – Jeff here… I’m trying to fill in for Hank for the next week or so while he’s on vacation. I hope that we can all learn something from each other. Or at the very least, continue the rapport that’s been spearheaded by Hank thus far. So here goes the old college try.
Well, since we are endeavoring to “communicate about all things entrepreneurial,†I’ll just get started on something that I’m familiar with. But, just to catch everyone up a little bit: Right now I mostly feel like the poor green guy in the “About†section of this blog – because I just finished my last final exam for the semester yesterday (Accounting – barf!). I know, numbers are important, but they sure can be boring. Anyway…
I’ll start by opening with the interesting things that we found in one of my recent papers I submitted for a final project in one of my classes. I’ll be presenting the paper at a symposium in 
We conducted a survey of entrepreneurial students and non-entrepreneurial students in order to ascertain what some predetermined differences might be. We also interviewed a professor from each of the groups. I know, Warren Buffett once said, “A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought,†and I agree. (I’ll tell yah about the time when I ran for State Representative here in good old Indiana sometime). But, for now we’ll go back to the research. The title of the paper is: A Comparison of the Moral and Ethical Entrepreneurship Factors That Effect Leadership Students at Purdue University.Before you read further try to guess what we found.
Do you think there are differences between entrepreneurial students and non-entrepreneurial students? If so, what do you think are some of these differences?
What might be some moral and ethical issues that an entrepreneur might face? How about an entrepreneurial student?
Are the students better off having faced these issues as a student, rather than as an entrepreneur later in life in the real-work world?
Try to answer some of these questions before you continue…
First, Part of the Abstract (maybe a little boring, but it’s a good intro)
The collected data shows that while there are many similarities, certain trends differentiate the two groups. Non-entrepreneurs seem to know more entrepreneurs than entrepreneurs themselves do, leading to the thought that entrepreneurs seek out compatible personalities rather than like minded individuals.
It was also found from the study that both parties believe that business ethics and entrepreneurship cannot be separated due to the fact that individuals and institutions must trust one another in order for mutually beneficial exchanges to occur.
Entrepreneurs also had a differing view of the risks required for starting a business and seemed to consider the endeavor far less of a risk than non-entrepreneurs, leading to the idea that entrepreneurs simply have a different view of the perceived risk.
Student responses to survey questions emphasize the need for more ethics education in an entrepreneurship curriculum. To better prepare future entrepreneurs, academic institutions should focus early on ethics.
That leads us to the actual good stuff that we found…
Some Interesting Things We FoundÂ
Both groups showed some significant similarities. Both entrepreneurial students and non-entrepreneurial students agree that having a positive attitude (question 3), positive self esteem (question 7), giving back to the community (question 10), solid ethics in running a business (question 15), and possessing leadership qualities (question 17) are important traits and factors to consider.
But, what really surprised us was what the scores related to ethics showed.
Completely off subject… Here’s our tech break: (since I was in the Air Force and Hank was in the Navy) here’s a great picture of an Australian Air Force General Dynamics F-111C Aardvark at Australia’s International Airshow in Avalon 2007, that www.digg.com linked me to (because it had over 2,169 digs in the past 24 hours):
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1203206/M/
Today’s topic:Â Ethics
Even though both groups surveyed believed that it is important to have solid ethics to run a business, the non-entrepreneur students’ average score was slightly higher than the entrepreneurial students’ average score.
Is it possible that entrepreneurship students feel ethics are less important than other business issues?
This may highlight the need for more ethics education in an entrepreneurship curriculum. However, the independent t-test of group questions did not identify this question as significant enough to be valid. It is important to note that both professors we spoke to stated positive comments about ethics in entrepreneurship.
Surprise, there may very well be a disconnect between what professors feel and what students feel… (Say it aint so Sam)… Now, what got us to this point?
How many students do you think pay for the music they listen to these days? The truth is, not many. Most listen to free music they’ve downloaded. Some download the music legally and some don’t. Whether the music is obtained legally or not, is not the point.
The point is that the music labels have a faulty business structure. They are trying to sell buggy whips to model-T owners. And then, they’re surprised when it doesn’t work. So, they launch lawsuits against the model-T owners and expect them to stop driving their new, black, fast cars. Sure, they only come in one color. But, nobody is going back to the old way of doing things. Students have access to the technologies that allow them to easily obtain free music (both legally and illegally). Soon, everyone will have this ability.
The entrepreneurial thing to do would be to start a new record label that offers free music to the end customers and comes up with the ROI and profitability another way. One idea I’ve heard recently would be to record many different names when an artist records a song. Then, if someone wanted a “special†song for their “special†person, they could pay something like $20-40 and get a song specifically for that special someone. There are other ways to generate profit from this new business model.
Anyone wanna start a new record label?
Conclusion
Entrepreneurship education involves ethical and legal actions and our research shows that there is a difference in these actions between entrepreneurial students and non-entrepreneurial students. The differences in the ethical and legal challenges which students’ trend towards while pursuing an entrepreneurial education are important to note and when differences exists that could be effected in a positive manner – this should be done.
So, I’d like to leave everyone with a question to ponder and perhaps answer: Why would entrepreneur students believe that ethics are not as important when starting a new business as non-entrepreneurial students?
Maybe tomorrow I’ll talk about how entrepreneur students and non-entrepreneur students feel about risk. How do you think both groups answered this question in our survey: An entrepreneur is someone who takes risks? [(1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree]. The answer surprised us… maybe more on that tomorrow. ß (That’s called a teaser). Don’t tell my girl friend (gf in text messaging) I’m just a tease. Oh wait – I don’t have a gf.
Blog at’cha tomorrow.
References & Other Posts on the SubjectÂ
See what mobuzztv says about it here: http://dailybuzz.mobuzz.tv/en/dailybuzz/fon_home_for_kryptonite_and_al_jazeera_on_youtube
Check out the prevailing thought on business ethics in the late 90’s here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_n7_v26/ai_20945237
Here’s one author’s thoughts on the trends in ethics (2002):
Here’s a great post from TechDirt titled, “Does Peer Production Turn Capitalists Against Entrepreneurs?†This one is right up our alley and talks about web2.0, Google, & the peer production model:
Ethics and law often differ. Ethics boils down to treating others like you would like to be treated. This doesn’t need to be taught in college. Postgraduate students understand it. The law says the law overides moral and ethical behavior. The laws of each municipality, state and country are puzzling to consumers and business owners. There is great need for coverage of the laws in many fields of college study. As for free downloaded music, its against several laws. Those downloading illegal copyrighted material are learning how to thieve and defraud. Commerce is based on trust. What happens when everybody is untrustworthy? I’ve recently been to China and India and have seen the unbelievably cheap widgets, books, CDs and DVDs. How will your future entrepreneurs feel when their prospective customers figure out a way to get your product without paying you for them?
Beachbum is, of course, exactly right here… The protections that are afforded future businessmen & women are erroding. A recent Washington Post article here, titled: Rulings Weaken Patents’ Power said that patents are becoming less and less effective. The article may be found here: [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001668.html?referrer=emailarticle ].
I see society moving this way. I don’t think it’s right, but as an entrepreneur trying to keep my thumb on the pulse - I see the combining of many different countries with regard to rules & laws. Thus far, the countries of the world haven’t “played well” (what the word LEGO means) in this arena. I don’t see that changing either. In fact, I think it will get worse.
The lesson of the story for the entrepreneur: Develop your services and products fast enough, web-3.0 enough, and open enough so that it won’t matter if everyone rips it off or not. ***(I just don’t know exactly how to do that at this time).