Cultural Entrepreneurship

The word entrepreneur depicts a variety of connotations, but largely we think about someone financially motivated, ruthless and profit orientated; Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump. In fact Bolton and Thompson’s research illustrated that profit orientation was the second strongest trait amongst entrepreneurs. It therefore seems something of an oxymoron when we use the title ‘Cultural Entrepreneur’, for someone working within the cultural industries couldn’t possibly carry such traits- or could they?

Of course the cultural industries is not a typical area identified for high profits, rather the emphasis is put upon creating jobs, regenerating cities and/or encouraging social cohesion (Leadbeater & Oakley: 1999, p15-17). So why would someone aspire to become a cultural entrepreneur? Whilst economic opportunities may be a motivating factor, it is far less important to the cultural entrepreneur.

When looking at Bob Geldof and his achievements, we can see that he is not primarily motivated by self-profit, he is instead stimulated by world issues such as poverty. However, this does not mean that he lacks entrepreneurial traits, Bob Geldof has shown highly innovative and creative thinking, and shown his ability to implement such ideas to create enormous changes, which is a integral characteristic of an entrepreneur.

In fact, when we look at what drives a cultural entrepreneur and identify the traits they possess; there is very little difference between an entrepreneur and cultural entrepreneur.

Lindh de Montoya suggests that all entrepreneurs share this desire to aid economic development in terms of social sciences, “The entrepreneur… is a special person with a particular talent, who does a special thing, creating products, employment, and prosperity… entrepreneurship as a specific tool to be implemented against poverty” (Monica Lindh de Montoya cit. Swedberg: 2000, p334). Although one may argue that whilst business entrepreneurs create such positive outcomes, they are likely to be more concerned on the outcomes beneficial to themselves rather than for those around them.

Others suggest that achievement motivation is the key to entrepreneurial behaviour, the need to achieve, excel and fulfil a goal in relation to a set of standards which results in the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, (McClelland cit. Chell, Haworth and Brearley: 1991, p37). Aspiration and the desire to achieve is clearly a key factor to the success of any entrepreneur; having a goal allows the entrepreneur to focus, which leads to their ability to successfully implement tasks to a professional level. But for a cultural entrepreneur, this is a far more influential motivation than profit.

In his autobiography, James Dyson talks about how he learned to dream and illustrates the importance of striving to achieve by drawing upon the man he had aspired to:

“I have tried, in my own way, to draw on Brunel’s dream of applying emerging technology in ways as yet unimagined. He was never afraid to be different or shocking. He never shirked the battles with the money men, and he had to overcome the most incredible resistance to his ideas.” (Dyson: 2001p39).

This persistence, dedication and focus is an imperative trait for an entrepreneur; the ability to learn from mistakes rather than be destroyed by them allows the entrepreneur to grow and strengthen their weaknesses.

All these factors are equally influential to the success of an entrepreneur and Bolton & Thompson suggest that the most successful entrepreneurs will have a combination of such traits, “Creativity, profit orientation and focus come together in the entrepreneur so that the best ideas are generated, identified and targeted effectively” (Bolton & Thompson: 2004, p40). Whilst the extent to which profit may or may not effect the motivation of an entrepreneur, we can agree that creativity, focus and aspirations are shared characteristics and motivations for both the cultural and business entrepreneur.

With the countless number of business adventures Richard Branson has embarked upon, we can see another definitive trait in entrepreneurs; the vast amount of ideas and the need to be constantly stimulated by new challenges. “The entrepreneur has ideas all the time… The entrepreneur sees opportunities all around and knows which are the best to go for” (Bolton & Thompson: 2004, p291).

Richard Branson’s pioneering and ambitious ideas have come from the most unsystematic and random situations, be it through a flight cancellation or a family holiday. Although there is no set formula for coming up with ideas, there may be ways of stimulating them (mind maps, brainstorming). But a true entrepreneur is born with the ability to think creatively and are stimulated by every aspect of their life, their needs, niche spotting, hobbies, inventions, the application of technology, (Bolton & Thompson: 2004, p292-p296).

Having identified the similarities of the cultural entrepreneur with the traditional sense of the word, it is important that we further examine the differences between the two to illustrate just how important the cultural entrepreneur is to our economy.

Arguably, the most important difference between a cultural entrepreneur and business entrepreneur is their differing levels of independence. According to research carried out by Leadbeater & Oakley very few entrepreneurs have ever gone to the bank or outside investors to raise money and they suggest that this is largely due to the impact it may have on their freedom of action. “Most are proud that they have funded their companies entirely from their own growth” (Leadbeater & Oakley: 1999, p22).

Leadbeater & Oakley suggest that this sense of financial independence amongst cultural entrepreneurs is what makes them most distinctive and that whilst many business entrepreneurs do go through periods of self-employment, it is mostly a ‘stepping stone’ to employment in a larger organisation whereas the cultural entrepreneur often aims to stay this way.

Such research further emphasises the differing levels of profit orientation. One may ask then, if the cultural entrepreneur is not profit orientated, then how do they contribute to our economy?

There is no one answer to this question as the cultural entrepreneur can contribute to our economy in so many ways. With their high levels of creative collaboration and networked models of production, cultural entrepreneurs illustrate how other industries can be organised (Leadbeater & Oakley: 1999).

Whilst profit is not the key objective of the cultural industries, culture is becoming increasingly recognised as profitable amongst banks and as a result, there are more investments being made into small and medium sized cultural businesses (Hesmondhalgh: 2002 p150). With small and medium sized enterprises accounting for over 95% of business and creating roughly 50% of total value added worldwide and in many countries generating between 60% and 90% of all new jobs (OECD: 1997, United Nations: 1993, cit. Knight: 2001, p.156) we can see how the rise in cultural entrepreneurs can be extremely influential on our nation’s economy.

The greatest contribution a cultural entrepreneur can make to the economy is the ‘added value’ they can inject into a region and country. It is this added value that will attract the greatest, most innovative minds and with the growing importance and economic value of intellectual property, alongside the rapid increase of the knowledge economy, it is the accomplishments of the cultural entrepreneurs that will have the greatest impact on a region and nation’s economy.

To conclude, it is the aspirations, focus and persistence of entrepreneurs along with their confidence that allows them to gain self-direction and successfully implement their ideas to create significant changes in our society, be it for profitable, social or cultural reasons.



References
Bolton, B., Thompson, J., 2004 (Second Edition). Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann

Bower, T., 2000: Branson. London: Fourth Estate

Chell, E., Haworth, J., Brearley, S., 1991: The Entrepreneurial Personality. London: Routledge

Dyson, J., 1997: Against the Odds. UK: Orien Business

Hesmondhalgh, D., 2002: The Cultural Industries. London: Sage Publications

Knight, G., 2001: Entrepreneurship and strategy in the international SME. Journal of International Management, Issue 7. Available from: http://ans.hsh.no/Home/mzs/bilder/Articles/SME/Aquacultura/!international%20SME.pdf [cited 4 January 2007]

Leadbeater, C., Oakley, K., 1999: The Independents: Britain’s New Cultural Entrepreneurs. London: Demos

Southon, M., West, C., 2005 (Second Edition): The Beermat Entrepreneur. Edinburgh: Pearson Education

Swedberg, R., 2000: Entrepreneurship: The Social Science View. Oxford: Oxford University Press