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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................3
Background of the entrepreneur:................................................................................................................3
Entrepreneurial trait/characteristics:..........................................................................................................4
Opportunity recognition and idea development process............................................................................4
Competitive advantage:..............................................................................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference....................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
Entrepreneurship has been viewed as a catalyst for change and renewal in society and
significantly impacts the economy of the country (Antoncic et al., 2018). The term
“Entrepreneur” is used for the person who brings factors of production together to create
additional values, exhibit change, and innovation. A psychologist viewed the entrepreneur as a
person who has the desire for achievement and wants to achieve his goals to avoid the authority
of others. A successful entrepreneur is the one who makes a significant contribution to the
economy and an important role in the development of the country (PİR, 2019). This effort has
been done to shed light on one of the successful Entrepreneur of Canada. It is helpful to
understand the factors that contribute to being a successful entrepreneur along with the
entrepreneurial skills and traits. The report also covers the initial stage of development which
reveals how opportunities were recognized by the company along with its competitive analysis.
The report ends with a brief recommendation for the firm to sustain competitiveness. In this
report, Mike Lazaridis who is the founder of blackberry will be studied.

Background of the entrepreneur:

Mike Lazaridis is a Greek-Canadian entrepreneur who was born on March 14, 1960, in
Istanbul. He is widely known as a CEO of blackberry and a founder of research in motion.
Lazaridis was a son of turkey to Greek parents, Nick who was a salesman and a factory worker,
and Dorothy who was a seamstress (Hornsey, 2003). Mike Lazaridis sifted to Canada when he
was 5 years old and raised in Windsor. He loved to read science books and won an award from
the Windsor library for reading all the science books in the library. In high school, he balanced
his studies with science classes and shop work to practice hands-on projects. He recognized the
value of learning through its implementation. He learned a lot while working in Herman shop
and believes that Herman changes his life (Bonikowsky, Neilson & Yusufali, 2013). Rather than
wasting his time watching TV or playing games, he was more interested in developing rockets,
chemical bombs, radios, and machines at his house’s basement. He was the first who discovered
the concept of email and networking (“Mike Lazaridis,” 2009). It has been found that Lazaridis
was very intelligent and enjoyed learning, reading, and experiments. An electric train gifted to
him increases his interest in science, machines, and chemical experiments ("Jim Balsillie and
Mike Lazaridis Biography", 2006). After schooling, he entered the University of Waterloo and

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paid his first installment with the profit he earned from a buzzer system. He left the University of
Waterloo a month before his graduation (Livingston, 2008). In 1984, he found Research in
Motion (RIM) with a friend, and their first contract was with general motors in the year 1986. In
2007, RIM was promoted from 10 Person Company to an international company (Hornsey,
2003).

Entrepreneurial trait/characteristics:
The trait theory of entrepreneurship explains that entrepreneurs who are involved in the
process of entrepreneurship possess certain traits/characteristics which leads them towards
initiating their venture by generating new ideas (Kerr et al., 2017). Further, the theory
differentiates successful entrepreneurs from business managers or unsuccessful entrepreneurs
based on certain personality traits. The entrepreneurial traits vary from study to study. Some of
the significant traits in the process of entrepreneurship are creativeness and innovativeness (Kerr
et al., 2017), risk-taking propensity (Antoncic et al., 2018), desire for achievement (Antoncic et
al., 2015), internal locus of control (Asante and Affum-Osei, 2019) and entrepreneurial self-
efficacy (Alam et al., 2015). It has been evident from the life of Mike Lazaridis that the
entrepreneurs have certain traits since childhood which has an impact on their intention to be an
entrepreneur. It has been observed from the history of Mike Lazaridis that he was a very creative
and visionary innovator also known as the father of smartphones. His effort and knowledge of
science improve the world. He changes the world of communication with the advancement of
wireless technology (Elia and Margherita, 2016). Further, it has been found from the early life of
Mike Lazaridis, he was very curious and also experiment with new things to explore how things
work. As discussed earlier, rather than wasting his time watching TV or playing games, he was
more interested in developing rockets, chemical bombs, radios, and machines at his house’s
basement. Further, he also has the propensity to take a risk as he dropped the university a month
before his graduation and start pursuing his dreams. Further, he belongs to a poor family which
increases his desire for achievement. He won many awards during study for technological
innovation which increases his self efficacy. Since childhood, he was engaged in experiments
which increases his knowledge, interest as well as his internal locus of control (“Mike
Lazaridis,” 2009).

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Opportunity recognition and idea development process
The theory of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition has been viewed as a threefold
concept. It begins by connected the exiting demand with known products to make use of an
existing recognized opportunity. The second category includes discovering opportunity by
connecting the existing supply to fulfill the unknown demand or vice versa, the third is based on
a new demand and a new supply. Where an initiator (entrepreneur) explores the demand and
explore the products to fulfill those demands. All of these conditions are useful to recognize the
opportunity for an innovative business venture (Dyer et al., 2008). According to the study
conducted by Dyer and others, it has been found that innovative entrepreneurs are one who
comes up with a new idea in the market. To develop a diverse idea, the idea development process
is needed. The author was of the view that the traits, background, education, and experience of a
person have an impact on his idea development process. Moreover, when he has a diverse circle
and network of diverse people, it crosses his industry and geographical boundary which gives
them the advantage to think differently (Dyer et al., 2008; Walling, 2009). The idea development
process is the creation, development, and communication of the business idea. Following the
process of Idea development for a business which also varies from study to study. This has been
taken from the study of (Hofstrand, 2006).

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 According to the theory of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, it has been found that
Mike Lazaridis initiate RIM by exploring the demand for smart communication and initiate the
products (Blackberry phone) to fulfill that demand. According to the study conducted by Dyer
and others, it has been found that innovative entrepreneurs are one who comes up with a new
idea in the market. Therefore, Mike Lazaridis has been considered as an innovator who explores
new means of communication. Further, the traits, background, education, and experience of a
Mike Lazaridis have an impact on his idea development process which was discussed in the
previous section. (Dyer et al., 2008). Mike and his friend present the idea while studying at the
university of waterloo. Which was refined by getting the award for innovation. After that, he left
the university to start working for RIM. In 1984, he found Research in Motion (RIM) with a
friend, and their first contract was with general motors in the year 1986. In 2007, RIM was
promoted from 10 Person Company to an international company (Hofstrand, 2006).

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Competitive advantage:
He found Research in Motion (RIM) with a friend in 1984 and their first contract was
with general motors in the year 1986. In 2007, RIM was promoted from 10 Person Company to
an international company. After the development of blackberry, Mike Lazaridis became the top
innovator in the tech market by introducing a screen solution. Blackberry offers almost
everything which cannot be imitated by its rivals. From starting, Lazaridis and Balsillie know
that they produced an addictive device. Further, they only emphasized the sunny side of the
device by motivating the government officials and businessmen to have their job in their hands
and to be more addicted to it. They provide a unique solution in terms of brand, usage, and
security. The company, later on, moves from hardware to provide software services. Which was
an edge for the company at that time. Some of the competitive advantages were usability and
design of the product, market power, security, and credibility. The addictive properties of the
phone challenge the whole world. But every rise has its fall (Sweeny, 2009). The focus of the
company was only on the corporate world rather focusing on the consumer world. The overall
focus was on making the interface easy for the user and to provide the security to the business
holder. The company lost his interest in the changing demand of the consumer which was taken
into consideration by other companies such as Apple Inc. The graph shows the rise and fall of the
company (Moussi and van Amsterdam, 2017).

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Recommendations
 It is suggested to the business owner to merge their business with other new entrants in
the market.
 As their market knowledge aware the RIM about the consumer perceptive.
 Further, the company needs to provide its software services to other companies and
should sell their product manufacturing planets which will be helpful to invest in new
research and technology.

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Polzin, P., Borges, J.L., Coelho, A., Kakkonen, M.-L., 2018. Risk-Taking Propensity and
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