This document discusses factors that contribute to the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses, including innovation, leadership, and thinking globally. It provides examples of both the Scottish salmon farming company and Japanese automaker Mitsubishi to illustrate these concepts. While Scotland has found success with entrepreneurship, Japan lags behind other countries due to cultural factors, though the Prime Minister is working to change attitudes to encourage more entrepreneurial activity and small business growth in Japan. Thinking innovatively and internationally are important for any company that wishes to thrive in today's globalized economy.

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According to Gillies (2014), the chairman of Scottish Enterprise, new companies should be
born international. He states that current existing businesses should be innovative and open
to new concepts and designs, as well as putting emphasis on growing, or continuing to grow
internationally. Gillies (2014) also recommends that companies wishing to grow
internationally should focus on working with companies which already have an international
presence – such as academic institutes and enterprising company’s. Gillies (2014) quotes
“Internationalisation is at the heart of our vision for Scotland’s economy; it is a crucial
component of our core goal of increasing Scotland’s sustainable long term economic
growth.” A good economy within Scotland will provide the country with more jobs, more
money, and market growth and fuel a global presence.
Innovation, enterprising, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and leadership are the key factors in
developing Scotland’s international presence in the world wide economy. This essay will
explore the theory behind successful entrepreneurs/intrapreneurs and leadership methods
which must be taken on to succeed. If companies wish to succeed in the current economy
then they must think further than the country they were founded in. I have discussed
Japanese company Mitsubishi and the Scottish salmon company in regards to multinational
and micro multinational enterprises.
Burns (2011) argues that the ability to identify opportunities and innovate are two key
characteristics of entrepreneurs. Although not only entrepreneurs innovate, organisations of
all sizes must innovate to succeed, and it massively encouraged within work places. Mellor,
as cited in Burns (pg65, 2011), defines it as “creativity + application or invention +
application”.
There are five types of innovation which exists, according to Schumpeter (1996). A report
published by Dabholkar (2010) highlighted the theories that Schumpeter initially created. The
first type of innovation is the launching of a new product – or an existing changed product,
new methods of marketing and production, breaking into a new market – different from the
current market place of the company, gaining new sources in regards to raw material and
new industry structure. Therefore existing and new entrepreneurs should focus on creativity
and aim for one of these types of innovation, in order to succeed in the industry and improve
the economy in the long term, providing jobs and a high turnover.
According to Zahra (1999), as cited in an online journal (Lee and Peterson, 2000),
entrepreneurship has always been considered a factor which relates to economic and
socioeconomic evolution and growth – over the years it has provided job opportunities, the
offering of new products and services and competition in industries and market places.
Timmons (1999) also has an idea similar to Zahra (1999), Timmons, as cited in Burns (2011,
p9) suggests that entrepreneurs are innovators and creators who give back to society. They
create new technological innovations, products and services. Both authors argue that
entrepreneurs can benefit society by creating jobs and fuelling more money into the
economy. These theories also show the clear link between innovation and entrepreneurs, in
order to be an entrepreneur, you must be innovative, or have an individual intrapreneur
within an organisation, who are innovative.
According to research carried out by Alcantara and Kshetri, (2013) it was shown that during
a fair study between Japan and the west (Europe & USA) that Japanese entrepreneurs had
much dissimilar personality traits (Ohe et al. 1991). Small businesses and enterprises in

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Japan also have much poorer levels of development. (Ohe et al. 1991; Suzuki, Kim, and Bae
2002). Bosma et al. (2007) found out, during a study that Japanese entrepreneurs had the
lowest growth motivation amongst the other countries in the study. This suggests that
country culture has an influence on small businesses and entrepreneurs. Between the years
of 2000-2009 Japan held the lowest rates of entrepreneurial action amongst the world’s top
nations.
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is currently working on increasing the level of
entrepreneurs and small businesses within his country. He wishes to improve the banking
system, in order to give out more loans under these circumstances. The prime minister of
Japan also believes that the company needs to become more accepting of failures, which
may go behind thousands of years’ worth of culture. The article also highlights that other
massively successful organisations had a bumpy start and slow growth rates. Shinzo Abe is
trying to highlight that is not the end of an organisation if the growth is slow and first ideas
fail. Overtime Shinzo Abe wishes to change the attitude towards entrepreneurship in Japan,
in order for more small businesses to succeed within the country and globally (The
Economist, 2013). Although the culture difference between Japan and the rest of the world
may make this globalisation of small companies difficult, Shinzo Abe is attempting to change
culture and etiquette.
In an article Dale (1992) highlighted important factors which must be considered if a
company wished to do business alongside a Japanese company, or a Japanese individual.
The first factor is independence vs group work. Japanese individuals are more likely to work
together in a group, compared to others in the West, who take pride in doing things
independently. Social status, social interaction, attitude towards time and methods of
communication are also factors which must be taken into consideration if a Scottish
company wished to work alongside a Japanese company. In order for success to be
achieved it is better for Scottish individuals to merge their personality, and business traits to
suit Japanese. This will ensure that business runs more smoothly and there will obviously be
a higher chance of success. Acompany which has done this is the Scottish Salmon
Company.
The Scottish Salmon company was founded in 2009, and is currently the leading producer in
Scotland of salmon. The company has such a high success due to being highly innovative,
and continuing to grow. The company are continuingly opening up new fish farms across the
Western Hebrides. (Scottish Salmon Company, 2014) Scottish salmon is seen to be of a
very high quality, compared to competitors in the fish industry from Canada and Norway.
The company are highly innovative because they have rebranded their company, introduced
new equipment to improve quality, provide employees with work place flexibility, opened up
into a new market and, as previously mentioned, opened up new farms around Scotland.
These factors can be linked to Schumpeter’s (1996) 5 types of innovation.
An example of a multinational Japanese enterprise is car company Mitsubishi. The company
was originally founded in 1870, by Yataro Iwasaki. The company was originally called
Tsukumo. It started off as a mining and ship building company. Mitsubishi was the first
Japanese company to open up overseas routes. Although the company did not start off
smoothly, the Japanese government favoured and established a competitor, and the heavy
competition between the two companies forced them both into bankrupt. The Mitsubishi we
know now, designing and selling cars, started in 1946. The company acquired many other

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brands over the 140 year period and are closely linked with the camera company Nikon and
Mitsubishi electric. (Mitsubishi.com, 2013). Founder Iwasaki was innovative and found a
niche in the market, and the company, 140 years later is still a massive success and a
multinational billion dollar company.
McGrath and Macmillan (2000), cited in an online journal by V Gupta (2004) argue that there
is a large demand for a business leader within an organisation, and that they are called the
entrepreneurial leader. They claim that this is a type of leader who can work under pressure
and are able to deal with a world which is “highly unpredictable” and external factors can
take away current benefits of an organisation. Instead of trying to predict and plan out the
future of an organisation, the entrepreneurial leader adapts themselves and the organisation,
preparing themselves for changes in the future. In order for entrepreneurs to become
successful they must follow this frame of mind. This theory suggests that entrepreneurial
leaders embrace change and are able to find positives in bad situations for organisations,
instead of planning out every detail of a solution to avoid changes impacting them.
House & Aditya (1997), as cited in online journal by V Gupta (2004) claim that leadership is
the result of joint commitment and goals of a leader and their followers. Successful leaders
are able to recognise exceptional performance from the assembly in regards to performance,
such as the growing of entrepreneurial firms and improvements in the face of external
factors such as competitors. House & Aditya (1997) also assert that “outstanding leaders”
operate through behaviours such as empowering employees, image building and supporting
members of the group. They are also able to adapt easily in unfamiliar, difficult environments
gained through external factors that the company cannot control. These arguments from
House & Aditya (1997) suggest that employees and leaders of entrepreneurial organisations
have to build a positive relationship and work towards a common organisational goal, in
order to be successful. The traits which leaders should follow according to the theorists
should be adapted by all entrepreneurs to become a successful, and stable organisation.
Douglas and Shepherd (2000) as cited in an online journal article by Douglas and
Fitzsimmons (2013) argue that the consequences of entrepreneurial activities and actions
are; profits, independence, exposure to threat and exposure to labour. Although other
theorists do not particularly agree with this theory. Many claim that intrapreneurs can be
found in all organisations and according to website Investopedia (2009) the definition of an
intrapreneur is “an inside entrepreneur, or an entrepreneur within a large firm, who uses
entrepreneurial skills without incurring the risks associated with those activities.” Which
suggests that Douglas and Shepard’s (2000) idea is inaccurate, since an intrapreneur is an
individual within a large organisation with the same traits and personality as an entrepreneur.
Ross and Unwalla (1986) as cited in Burns (p489, 2011) say that intraprenuers are “result
orientated, ambitious, rational, competitive and questioning”. The theorists also reason that
intraprenuers are able to resolve conflict within organisations. Pinchot (1985), as mentioned
in Burns (p490, 2011) also suggests that intraprenuers carry the same traits as
entrepreneurs, in regards to being goal-orientated and self- driven. Although he suggests
that, unlike entrepreneurs, intraprenuers are motivated by work place rewards and
recognition. Intraprenuers are also able to delegate tasks to other employees within an
organisation, but are willing to get the job done themselves, or help out other members of
staff.

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Atnonic and Hisrich (2003), as cited in Burns (p490, 2011) state that “the levels of
intrapreneurship varies and can be adapted to suit different organisations”, and Ross (1987),
as mentioned in Burns (p480, 2011) suggests that the practice of intrapreneurship becomes
more difficult as institutes grow into large companies. These theories, argued by different
theorists suggest that intrapreneurship within organisations is an essential factor to help not
only the growth of the organisation, but the growth and the success of individual
departments within larger organisations. In Burns (p490) Pinchot (1985) observed that if too
little intraprenuers existed within an organisation there are two solutions, either attracting
intraprenuers from other organisations, or employing managers with the same
characteristics as intraprenuers and adapting them to suit the organisation and the
organisation’s needs. This idea clearly highlights the importance and the need of
intraprenuers in organisations, in order to help with the success of companies.
All organisations and small enterprises are now born globally, and have the surrounding
countries and nations to break into. According to Dimitratos et al (2003) micro-multinational
enterprises are “small- and medium-sized firm that controls and manages value-added
activities through constellation and investment modes in more than one country”. MMNE is
the term used for small businesses and/or enterprises with a global presence. Lumpkin &
Dess (1996) argues that innovation involves a company which is able to produce creative
ideas new products and services. Therefore all MMNE companies and all companies that
wish to be MMNE must be innovative, and must be able to follow innovation in regards to
Schumpeter’s (1996) ideas. Rugman and Verbeke (2004) argue that micro-multinational
enterprises are key in globalisation driving improved commercial interdependence between
coast-to-coast markets. It is beneficial for all new companies to think globally, and
companies should look at the success of the Scottish Salmon company as evidence it can
work.
The factors discussed in regards to entrepreneurs, innovation, intraprenuers, leadership and
the globalisation of organisations and small enterprises explain the importance of success in
small businesses. Small enterprises must also be familiar with the importance of thinking
intraprenuerially, and these small enterprises must be encouraged to think globally. Scotland
has seen massive success worldwide, particularly in regards to small enterprises and
individual entrepreneurs. Japan, a country with one of the largest economies are failing
when it comes to small businesses and entrepreneurs, with the prime-minister of the country
attempting to improve the situation Japan will be able to move up the ratings and potentially
become one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries. The country as a whole will then
be able to think more innovatively and take on the important leadership and entrepreneurial
skills.

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