HONG KONG,CHINA - Media OutReach - 26 June 2020 - If you have ever been called a"jack-of-all-trades," you can rest assured the phrase "master ofnone" isn't far behind. At the very least, it is often implied. But howrelevant is this old saying in today's business world?

Unless you are a jack-of-all-tradeswho works in an organisation that values your broader skill sets, you may feellike your talents are being wasted.

But there is good news! Recentresearch into individuals with diverse skill sets found thatjacks-on-all-trades are more likely to start a business and succeed asentrepreneurs than those who have only a specialised skill. The reason? Theycan see more opportunities and are more resourceful when solving problems in anuncertain situation like setting up a new business. It doesn't stop there.Jacks-of-all-trades who are particularly passionate about developing andnurturing startups are more likely to form highly competent and motivatedteams.

The study was conducted by Kevin Au, AssociateProfessor at the Department of Management, as well as directors for both theCentre for Entrepreneurship and the Centre for Family Business at The ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School. His collaborators included AnnaHsu, his PhD student; Prof. Yingzhao Xiao at Tianjin University; and Prof.Marta Dowejko, Research Assistant Professor of Department of Management at HongKong Baptist University's School of Business.

The researchers were curious aboutwhat lay beyond the past findings of human capital research. Such researchshowed that, as employees, jacks-of-all-trades did not do as good in on-the-jobperformance as those who had specialized skills. Past research also showed thatindividuals who gained a variety of skills through training were more likely tostart their own business. Yet if a jack-of-all-trades is likely to become anentrepreneur, he or she should also be good at launching startups.

Delving Deeper Into Startup Development

Wishing to know more how ajack-of-all-trades does in the initial stage of the startup process, theresearchers designed their study to investigate how having a broad range ofskills contributed to the development of an idea from scratch in an acceleratedsetting.

The study, entitled Jack-of-all-trades' with passion: Keener to pursue startupin a team, was longitudinal and used datacollected from CUHK Business School's Empowering Young Entrepreneurs Program. The programme's goal was to awaken the entrepreneurialspirit of young people in Hong Kong. It provided an opportunity for them toengage in training and entrepreneurial activities. Jointly organised by Google and CUHK in 2013, a total of 902 students, existingentrepreneurs and full-time employees enrolled in the programme. Multiplerounds of questionnaires were sent to the participants during a five-monthperiod, from December 2013 to April 2014. The final results came from ananalysis of a smaller subset of working adults who continued the program afterthe survey. This group was considered the most reliable data set.

The study found evidence thatindividuals with a greater range of skills are more inclined to start abusiness. Particularly, they are statistically more likely to follow up ontheir entrepreneurial intentions and take a more active role of forming a teamin the startup process.

"Having a wide variety ofskills makes it easier for these individuals to explore and exploitopportunities," Prof. Au explains. "It's as if they have moreantennae to detect the problems and find resources that nobody has seen. Seeingthose problems gives them an edge in finding creative solutions. That's wherethe opportunities for new businesses lie."

The Right Type of Passion

Just as interesting as the varietyof skills, passion is a crucial factor that contributes to entrepreneurialsuccess. However, the type of passion matters.

Previous studies have identifiedthree different types of entrepreneurial passion. They are: passion for inventing,which is linked to the initial recognition of opportunities that makeentrepreneurial activities possible; passion for founding, which is related tohow likely a person is to establish a venture to explore an identifiedopportunity; and passion for developing, which is concerned with developing aventure so the original vision is brought to fruition.

"Any given entrepreneur mayexhibit different levels of passion at different stages of the startup process,"says Prof. Au. He notes that having the intention to start a business is notthe same as having the emotional capacity to overcome obstacles that maypresent themselves in abundance during the startup phase of a business venture.

Specifically, the study found thatwhen entrepreneurs possess a strong passion for developing a venture, there isan even stronger positive relationship between skill variety and teamformation. "In other words," says Prof. Au, "entrepreneurs with avariety of skills are more likely to put their skills into use to form a teamif they also possess a strong passion for developing."

How does that actually work? Prof.Au explains that when multi-talented entrepreneurs exhibit a great sense ofpassion to develop a venture, they attract like-minded individuals to formteams to turn their ideas into reality. And when potential investors witnesssolid teamwork and creative synergy within the teams, they are more likely toinject capital into the startups.

"Like attracts like whenpotential team members witness the passion and confidence of thejack-of-all-trades," says Prof. Au.

"By contrast, entrepreneurs whoare lacklustre in developing their ventures are likely to be unmotivated toform teams. This in spite of the fact that they are multi-talented. As such,jack-of-all-trades must possess a high level of passion for developing theirventures to succeed in the long run," says Prof. Au.

Here is a formula forentrepreneurial success: If you are a jack-of-all-trades, and you possess ahigh level of passion for developing a venture, team up with otherjacks-of-all-trades who share the same type of passion. The chance of yourstartup becoming a successful, long-term venture will increase.

Reference:

Yingzhao Xiao, Marta K. Dowejko,Kevin Au & Anna J. C. Hsu (2019) "Jack-of-all-trades" withpassion: Keener to pursue startup in a team?, Journal of Small BusinessManagement, DOI: 10.1080/00472778.2019.1672708

This article was first published in the ChinaBusiness Knowledge (CBK) website by CUHK Business School: https://bit.ly/30UoT7d.

About CUHK Business School

CUHKBusiness School comprises two schools -- Accountancy and Hotel andTourism Management -- and four departments -- Decision Sciences andManagerial Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. Establishedin Hong Kong in 1963, it is the first business school to offer BBA, MBA andExecutive MBA programmes in the region. Today, the Schooloffers 11 undergraduate programmes and 20graduate programmes including MBA, EMBA,Master, MSc, MPhil and Ph.D.

Inthe Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2020,CUHK MBA is ranked 50^th. In FT's 2019 EMBA ranking, CUHK EMBA is ranked 24^thin the world. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (37,000+)among universities/business schools in Hong Kong -- many of whom are keybusiness leaders. The School currently has about 4,800undergraduate and postgraduate students and Professor Lin Zhouis the Dean of CUHK Business School.

More information isavailable at https://www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk or by connecting with CUHK Business Schoolon:

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