Study results — Students | Open Textbooks for Hong Kong

Table 8.3 Summary of student responses in Metaphor Questionnaire Version II Source: Own calculations based on data from studies
Questions from the questionnaire	Compare your company to any vehicle. What does the customer do in this vehicle?
Respondents' answers	% of responses		Sample Answers
	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business
Attitude to the consumer and their importance
The consumer is a component of the vehicle/company	25	48	The consumer sits at the front of a bus on the first seat is my pilot	the consumer is waiting for a solution, trying to offer their own solution, and as a manager I listen to it the consumer is the fuel propelling the vehicle (electricity)
The consumer is outside the vehicle/company	57	38	may enter, receives service, and leaves looks and admires	takes care of their own affairs keeps close to the rocket, may be in some way related to it
There is no consumer	3	0	there is no consumer there are no customers	-
No answer	15	14	-	-
Focus on identification of customer needs
Entrepreneur seeks contact with the customer (proactive)	26	14	rests, my f-16 will take the product to their home is my map and policy; thanks to them I will go further the consumer determines what is expected, what s/he wants and receives from the company what he expected	chooses the route the customer is the fuel propelling the vehicle (electricity) sitting in the back seat and not worrying about anything because they are informed about everything directly and we spare him/her almost all tasks
Entrepreneur is passive, the customer actively seeks contact with him/her	34	62	the customer stands by the road and waits for a suitable entrepreneur - like me :) runs after me	the customer comes for advice, and receives it sitting in the car and waits patiently uses the services of my business
The customer evaluates the entrepreneur	21	24	the customer is satisfied with our services is satisfied with the company	is smiling, talking with us Rides on the back seat, comfortably settled
No answer	19	0
Potential actions taken towards the customer
Cooperation	43	57	sits in my plane as a passenger, gets out after finishing cooperation is my support works with me for our mutual benefit	is a passenger who uses services the customer comes for advice, and receives it
Battle	3	0	is watching me, waiting for an opportunity, is greedy the customer must trust me and believe that I will do everything to keep them happy	-
Rivalry	3	5	talks to me and listens to me there is no consumer	takes care of their own affairs
Tolerance of the customer's presence next to the company	36	38	is waiting for an opportunity wants to drive the Ferrari	sits comfortably in the compartment feeling comfort and safety sits next to me
No answer	15	0

The first element, consisting of a COC in accordance with the adopted approach assigns great importance to the customer. This should be found in the metaphors provided by the respondents. In fact, it was found that only 25% of respondents identify the customer as an element of the vehicle representing the company. The vast majority – 57% – locate the consumer outside the company, and 3% believe that they are not present at all.

The cited responses "the consumer sits in the front of the bus on the first seat" and "is my pilot" are the essence of thinking in terms of orientation towards the customer, who is a major factor in the company's operation on the market. As is evident, most of the respondents do not share this point of view, which is a worrying sign. The result of the group not planning to start their own business is interesting because there the proportions are reversed, as if they were more aware of the importance of the customer. Due to the small number of respondents from this group, they cannot be directly compared, but this is certainly an interesting result to be investigated further.

The next element of COC is the attitude to recognising customer needs. In this case, the diagnostic response is the one showing that the entrepreneur is proactively seeking contact with the customer and how to meet their needs. In the planning group this approach is shown by 26% of respondents, which may coincide with the answers on the importance of the customer. Dominating, however, is the attitude of passivity towards the consumer (34%). In their view, the consumer him/herself takes the initiative to make contact with the entrepreneur. In conjunction with the replies of the categories on simply tolerating the presence of the customer, more than half (55%) of the students obtained a result showing a very low level of COC.

At the same time there are negative signals, demonstrating the fact that students who are planning to start a business have unrealistic expectations and wishful thinking, for example, that the customer will wait or even run after their company. Meanwhile, the realities of today's market are quite different. Using the terminology of cognitive psychology, we can conclude that the cognitive schemata and scripts held by respondents and relating to the client and how to run a company are clearly inappropriate to what is happening in the real world of business.

Slightly less disturbing are the answers concerning the potential actions taken towards the customer. 43% of respondents stated an approach requiring cooperation with the customer. This is not, however, entirely satisfactory, because of the fact that 36% of respondents simply tolerate the presence of the customer, showing no initiative to establish relations with them.

We can thus conclude that even if respondents indicate the importance of the customer in their responses, they feel as if they have no effect on his/her behaviour and do not plan to conduct any informed, purposeful activity addressed to him/her. They do not think they can control the relationship with the customer, as if they were simply stuck with what s/he does. This is particularly visible in the group of respondents not planning to start a business, and perhaps therefore will not take that decision. This is an area for closer examination and potentially targeted educational impact.

Complementing the above considerations are the data obtained in the Incomplete Sentences Questionnaire, whose results are shown in the table below.

Table 8.4 Student responses in the Incomplete Sentences Questionnaire. *The most serious risk in running your own business...* Source: Own calculations based on data from studies
Question from the questionnaire	The most serious risk in running your own business...
Respondents' answers	% of responses		Sample Answers
	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business
No customers, demand, sales	17	22	There are no customers lack of customer interest decreasing demand for a given good that we want to sell	failure to accept a given good or service by the market poor adaptation of the goods on offer to market needs
Competition	28	26	Competition Competition and the market you're in high risk from aggressive competition	competition, which could "finish" my company
Financial problems	21	22	bankruptcy incurring debts lack of funding for various projects, services or goods	bankruptcy and debts, loans lack of liquidity and customers who do not pay
Lack of knowledge and experience	5	4	lack of "business" skills incompetence and lack of experience	inability to take control over workers and the quality of selection
Psychological problems	12	9	fear lack of motivation greed for excessive profits	coping with stress
Others	13	17	Political parties that approve "strange" laws hostile to companies environmental variables	economic crisis

Respondents were able to indicate any possible risks occurring to them that may arise in the course of business and, therefore, their answers do not add up to 100%.

The diagnostic response for COC – that the most serious threat in running your own business is the lack of customers, etc. – was given by only 17% of those planning to start a company and was in third place. First place was taken by competition (28%) and second financial problems (21%).

In combination with the fact that they are passive in meeting customer needs, it can be assumed that the respondents do not fully understand the rules of company operation. For example, that the customer should be the main objective of combating competition and providing funds.

It is also interesting that the percentage distribution of responses in both groups is similar, that is, plans to start your own business are not intrinsically linked to an understanding of the rules of functioning on the market. This is another indication that a properly conducted process of entrepreneurial learning may be very important. It is also worth noting that 12% of respondents identified psychological problems as a threat to running a company.

Table 8.5 Student responses in the Incomplete Sentences Questionnaire *Factors hampering running of the company...* Source: Own calculations based on data from studies
Question from the questionnaire	Factors hampering running of the company ...
Respondents' answers	% of responses		Sample Answers
	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business
Customer	7	0	stress; crisis; lack of customers or interest on the market high costs; crowded markets; difficulties in reaching the customer
Idea	4	23	big responsibility; necessary start-up capital; a lot of competition (the concept must be unique) competition; capital (too low); lack of ideas for your company	Lack of capital to start a business; lack of ideas; lack of competence and skills bureaucracy; lack of ideas for an effective enterprise
Competition	21	23	a lot of competition competition; time-consuming; responsibility	high responsibility; possible strong competition; a significant risk that we will fail dishonest employees, competition, etc.; our final decisions may prove to be inaccurate; bureaucracy
Market	16	0	high costs; crowded markets; difficulties in reaching the customer constantly changing market conditions; the need for continuous modernisation
other	53	23	high cost of living; a lot of responsibilities; lack of funds Full responsibility for the business; risk; stress, a lot of work and responsibilities	Responsibility, risk, lack of stability Too low capital; many formalities; fear of risk

In the case of the factors hampering running the company, respondents could also indicate several factors and therefore the responses do not add up to one hundred percent. Only 7% of respondents explicitly point to the customer as a source of difficulty. Competition was indicated by 21%, and the market by 16%. Over half (53%) of the respondents focused on factors not directly related to the customer and the market.

The complement of this information is investigation of what they need to conduct business. In addition to COC diagnosis, this may also be an indication for entrepreneurship education.

The need for awareness of the customer, the market, concept and knowledge is indicated by only 5% of respondents, which should be a clearly worrying signal for education. The more so that most of both those planning (22%) and not planning (24%) to start a business indicated that consultancy would help them, most often understood as support from someone experienced in conducting business. Among those planning to start a company, the second need was for financial support (20%), followed by emotional support (17%), and a lack of experience 16%. Consultancy is actually a type of substantive support, but also psychological. Perhaps those respondents focused on their own needs have difficulty focusing on the customer.

Table 8.6 Student responses in the Incomplete Sentences Questionnaire *In running a business what would help me...* Source: Own calculations based on data from studies
Question from the questionnaire	In running a business what would help me ...
Respondents' answers	% of responses		Sample Answer
	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business	Expecting to start their own business	Not expecting to start their own business
Knowledge of the customer, market etc., idea	5	5	thorough analysis of the environment and the market in which I want to work prior knowledge of potential customers	knowledge of the market and competition
Financial support	20	14	having unlimited capital lots of money	good financial security
Emotional Support	17	19	belief in my own abilities and greater self-confidence family support having people who would share the responsibility with me and help me decide	support of brothers, and especially parents, and numerous training courses trusted friends
Experience	16	10	experience acquired in previous jobs and experienced staff the assistance of an experienced businessperson	experience gained in a company with a similar business
Knowledge	5	19	training courses on how to run your own business	acquiring knowledge of how to run a business
Consultancy	22	24	expert support	Help from someone with experience transfer of knowledge from other entrepreneurs
Others	15	24	skilled worked	obtaining good and trusted employees

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Study results — Students