好友L先生的作品終於登場了!! 雖然L先生仍在berkeley讀書, 但他跟Simon一樣, 都是很想創業的! 跟Simon不同的是, L先生常硏究entrepreneur這科. 作為一個有創業志向+entrepreneur知識的美國留學生, 他如何看中美文化差異呢? p.s. 有幾點Simon也很認同! 寫得不錯啊~
This semester I am taking a class about entrepreneurship. Throughout the course, I keep asking myself why entrepreneurship is so common in the U.S. while I merely heard of the term ‘entrepreneur’ in the past 20 years in Hong Kong. It is interesting to see that the word ‘entrepreneur’ is always associated with some positive characteristics, e.g, Creative & innovative; Risk taker; high achievers; power. However, if it is such a fascinating role, why didn’t I see many entrepreneurs in Hong Kong?
When I looked closer at entrepreneurship, I realized there are some key cultural differences which explains why entrepreneurship is less common in Hong Kong.
1. People are generally more risk-averse in Hong Kong.
It is more common to see people take a safer career path in Hong Kong. When I ask my friends what they want to do after graduation, almost all of my friends are planning to get a job in a big company. It shows that we are still in a generation that everyone is hoping to get into big company where our jobs are secured and so there will be less changes in our lives. Another situation that shows people in Hong Kong are more risk averse is the high saving rate among the world. The average saving ratio in Hong Kong is much higher than the U.S.. With a more conservative investment strategy, people in Hong Kong is less likely to pour out all their savings to build a business that is uncertain of profit and prosperity. Of course, it makes sense that there is a higher opportunity cost for people with more saving to bet on a business than those who have less saving. But with that said, we can understand why some people are in pursuit of risk while some security & stability.
2. There are less role models of entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.
I remember the first question about entrepreneurs in my first class. Is entrepreneur born or it is shaped by the environment. There is a huge debate about this question as some people believe that certain entrepreneurial traits make you an entrepreneur while some others think that entrepreneurial skills are learned. Personally, I tend to believe that most entrepreneurial traits are shaped by the environment. When we are exposed to an entrepreneurial environment, it is more likely for us to think in an entrepreneur way. Believe it or not, many people are willing to pay a high cost to be around the entrepreneurial type of people. Silicon Valley in California is a great example. Silicon Valley is a place known for its success in technology, but more importantly, it is a place where a lot of entrepreneurs are cultivated through meeting, learning and mingling with other successful entrepreneurs.
3. Conforming to the norms vs. Challenging the status quo
This ties in to the above cultural differences. In Hong Kong, we are always reminded to fit in the norms. People are afraid of being outstanding among others which leads to the resistance to change and the killing of innovation & creativity. It is hard to think outside the box when you are trying your very best to fit yourself into a box. Do we have a vision and the confidence to change our society?
Here is a video I find inspiring. I do enjoy talking about entrepreneurship because I believe only when we have more entrepreneurs, we can create more jobs to the labor market and we can bring a bigger vision to our society.
For those who want to know more about entrepreneurship, check out this article:
http://www.inc.com/eric-schurenberg/the-best-definition-of-entepreneurship.html
if you like those attribute test, here is a resource to assess your entrepreneurial characteristics.
http://www.mvp.cfee.org/en/selfassesscharacter.html
笑談美國文化LOL 