Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Activity - Research Paper Example

Running Head: Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Activity Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Activity of the of the Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Activity Introduction ntrprnurship is of primry intrst for orgnistion studis bus it dos not tk th xistn of orgnistions for grntd but llows for th study nd xplntion of how orgnistions om into xistn, ithr s individul nw firms or s nw industris, nd to mphsis tht orgnistions lwys nd to dvlop nw produts nd srvis nd to innovt in ordr to prptut thir xistn (Glbrith, 2002: p121). To dsrib th signifin of th onpt of ntrprnurship for orgnistion studis, it is importnt to indit tht ntrprnurship hs dvlopd into n dmi fild in nd of itslf, Woodwrd (2000) suggsts, implying tht ntrprnurship studis nd orgnistion studis shr n intrf with orgnistionl mrgn t its or. On of th ky problms in ntrprnurship rsrh rlts to th lk of onsnsus rgrding dfinition for ntrprnurship. In ft, mny uthors, suh s Spinos (1997), Knight (2000), nd Hjorth (2004) hv mphsisd th lk of n grd dfinition of ntrprnurship nd wht ntrprnurship onstituts s fild of rsrh. Th ppr disusss th sttmnt by Bridgs (2003: p51) stting tht "ntrpris tivity is dpndnt on ntrprising individuls" nd nlyss th ky thoris tht might hv rlvn with this sttmnt nd to vlut wht mks on prson mor ntrprising thn othr. Thortil pprohs Within th fild of ntrprnurship studis, it is dbtd whthr th rtion of nw ombintions rquirs th rtion of nw orgnistion or if it is lso md possibl through innovtion in xisting orgnistion (;).In omprison, th psyhologil hrtristis shool of ntrprnurship fouss on prsonlity ftors nd numbr of diffrnt spts hv bn xplord in th rsrh. Ths r prsonl vlus suh s honsty, duty, rsponsibility nd thil bhviour, risk-tking propnsity, th nd for hivmnt (Mlllnd, 2000) nd lous of ontrol (Story, 2001: p25). dhrnts to this shool of thought do not bliv tht ntrprnurs n b dvlopd or trind in th lssroom. Th lssil onomi shool is rfltd in th rsrh by uthors suh s ntillon (1992) nd Shumptr (1986). In ft Hjorth (2004) points out tht urop hs long stblishd trdition of ntrprnurship nd tht th trm "ntrprnur" drivs from th Frnh vrb "ntrprndr", mning to undrtk. Ky spts of this shool of thought r innovtion, rtivity nd disovry. In prtiulr, Shumptr (1986) sw th ntrprnur s somon who would disrupt th onomi quilibrium, th Shumptrin ntrprnur would b n innovtor providing th indispnsbl driving for for pitlist onomi growth. Th mngmnt shool of ntrprnurship is bsd on th blif tht ntrprnurship n b tught (Spinos, 1997). s rsult, ntrprnurship is viwd s sris of lrnd tivitis with fous on th ntrl funtions of mnging firm. In omprison, th ldrship shool of ntrprnurship is oftn viwd s th non-thnil sid of th mngmnt shool s fous is upon th ntrprnur s "popl mngr" or s n fftiv ldr/mntor whos mjor rol is in motivting, dirting nd lding popl (ldrih, 1999). Th Frnh trdition ssoitd with th work of ntillon (1992) suggsts tht th ntrprnur is th ky figur who oprts within st of onomi mrkts. H hs th forsight to ssum unrtinty; h rts to profit opportunitis nd brs unrtinty. This ontrsts with th Grmn-ustrin trdition rprsntd by Shumptr (1986) whr th Shumptrin ntrprnur plys disquilibrting rol by innovting, i.. introduing nw goods or mthods of prodution nd th opning of nw mrkts. Th higo trdition is ssoitd with th work of Knight (2000), who suggsts tht ntrprnurs r rsponsibl for thir own tions. ntrprnurs r prprd to tk risks in n unrtin nvironmnt. Knight lso suggstd tht ntrprnurs hv skills nd omptnis tht nbl thm to sussfully o-ordint sr rsours, whih distinguishs thm from othr individuls. Spinos (1997) ss ntrprnurship s th study of th rtion of orgnistions or so-lld nw vntur rtion. Hjorth (2004) onivs ntrprnurship s orgnistionl mrgn nd hn shifts th fous from th individul ntrprnur to th mor omplx pross of how orgnistions r rtd through th intrply of four prsptivs: hrtristis of th individuls who strt th vntur, th orgnistion tht thy rt, th nvironmnt surrounding th nw vntur, nd th pross by whih th nw vntur is strtd (Glbrith, 2002: p123). Historilly, ntrprnurship hs bn rdud to hrtristis of th ntrprnurs, trying to idntify prsonlity fturs nd ognitiv bilitis to distinguish ntrprnurs from othr popl, suh s mngrs. Howvr, thr is no mpiril support tht n idntify suh disriminting prsonlity hrtristis or ognitiv styls. Grtnr thrfor suggsts studying th bhviours nd tivitis tht ld to th rtion of nw orgnistion (ldrih, 1999: p56). Mlllnd (2000) rfous ntrprnurship byond th rtion of nw orgnistions s thy mphsis opportunity rognition nd xploittion nd s thy lv it opn whthr opportunitis r xploitd through rting nw vntur or through hnging n xisting orgnistion (Bridg, 2003). ntrprnurship is sn s n tivity tht involvs th disovry, vlution, nd xploittion of opportunitis to introdu nw goods, srvis, nd wys of orgnising, s wll s nw mrkts, prosss, nd rw mtrils through orgnising fforts tht prviously hd not xistd. Simultnously, th fous on individuls nd thir tions is rintrodud s ntrprnurship boms xplind through th nxus of ntrprising individuls nd vlubl opportunitis (). Howvr, th mting btwn ntrprnuril bhviour nd orgnistionl bhviour hs not lwys bn slf-vidnt. Historilly, sholrs lik Hjorth (2004) hs shown littl intrst in th pross of ntrprnurship nd nw vntur rtion, s thy fousd mostly on mtur orgnistions nd rossstionl dsigns. This promptd ntrprnurship sholrs to lim tht most thoris of orgnistion r not vlid for th ontxt of strt-ups nd tht ntrprnurship ndd its own thory of orgnistion (Bridg, 2003: p41). Mor nd mor, it hs bom lr tht undrstnding th ntrprnuril pross is quintssn for dvloping orgnistionl onpts nd for thorising orgnistionl prosss. ontribution of ntrprnurship in Undrstnding of Orgnistionl Pross ntrprnurship hs ontributd onsidrbly to th undrstnding of orgnistions with rgrd to how suh ntrl orgnistionl notions s ultur, strutur, nd strtgy hv bn onptulisd. Spinos (1997) hs studid ntrprnuril orgnistions to undrstnd th rtion of orgnistionl ulturs. Shumptr (1986) doumntd how th vlus nd prtis of ntrprnurs nd thir los ollbortors bm onstitutiv for th vlus nd prtis of th ovrll orgnistionl ultur, whil Wortmn (1987) dvlopd longitudinl prossul nlysis of ultur through studying th birth nd dvlopmnt of privt bording shool. With rgrd to th onpt of strutur, Shumptr (1986) hs for his struturl thory of onfigurtions usd th ontxt of smllr nd innovtiv orgnistions to undrstnd how th so-lld simpl strutur nd dhory mrg. Simpl strutur ws hld to rprsnt th trditionl hirrhil strutur of smll firm with on boss, fw lin mngrs, nd brod group of mploys, whil nw struturl forms, suh s dhoris rprsnt mor fluid nd lss hirrhil ntworks of ollbortion through d ho projt groups. Furthrmor, Hjorth (2004) studid ntrprnuril nd innovtiv orgnistions to look t strtgy formtion nd to trnsform th id of strtgy s somthing plnnd into th onpt of strtgy s mrging. Bsids th dvlopmnt of ntrl orgnistionl onpts, th fous on ntrprnurship hs ontributd spilly to th undrstnding of orgnistionl prosss. First, th modls tht ddrss th so-lld growing pins of young orgnistions s thy bom biggr hv bn pturd in stg modls-lif-yl modls nd modls of orgnistionl dvlopmnt (Hjorth, 2004). For instn, Grinr dsribs diffrnt yls of growth tht young ompnis hv to op with during diffrnt riss nd momnts of volution nd rvolution. Sond, volutionry pprohs to pross do not fous on th stgs of dvlopmnt of singl orgnistion but study how orgnistions r foundd nd disbndd by following th movmnts of popultions of orgnistions nd how rtin orgnistions through prosss of sltion-surviv whil othrs disppr from th orgnistionl lndsp (Spinos, 1997). Third, intrprtiv nd soil onstrutionist pprohs to pross hv rphrsd th ntrprnuril pross s "ntrprnuring" nd ontributd to wht Wortmn (1987) hs lld orgnising by fousing on how vrition is ntd nd oms into ply. Nw vntur rtion is sn hr s pross of snsmking whrby nw ids nd possibilitis bom ntd, sltd, nd lgitimtd until thy bom ptd by potntil usrs. ntrprnurship is hn bout sing rk or flw in th prviling soil onstrution of rlity nd intrprting it s n opportunity to tulis nw ids of wht th world ould nd should look lik. Th onpt of ntrprnuring fouss on th ongoing onstrution of rlity, whih is ngotitd through onnting th disourss of svrl prtiipnts into ommon pross of snsmking. Shumptr (1986) uss th onpt of txtur to xplin tht ntrprnuring onsists of intrwving volving tsks nd orgnistionl rols tht bom trid out, prtid, md sns of, nd ngotitd within th ntrprnuril tm nd th xpnding group of tors (ldrih, 1999). Txtur rfrs to qusi-stbl nd provisionl olltiv frm of disourss nd prtis tht guid nd nt th intrtion prosss. Ths intrtion prosss oftn onsist of improvistion nd briolg, s Spinos (1997) hs pointd out. ntrprnurs work with improvisd prtis nd dsigns nd rt somthing from nothing by onstruting thir own rsours from wht is t hnd. fourth nd rltd pproh fouss on th nrrtiv prosss tht onstrut rlity nd th rol of storis usd for slf-prsnttion, lgitimtion, nd snsmking. Nrrtiv is sn s ontologil, s lif itslf is storid. s n ontologil ondition of soil lif, nrrtiv prsptiv of ntrprnurship lims tht nw orgnistions bom onstrutd through myrid storis tht prptully rpt, ontrdit, nd xtnd h othr (Hjorth, 2004). ntrprnurship is pross of storytlling through whih popl bom implid in n ongoing mploymnt whr tors nd ntworks bom onntd nd disonntd. Storis r not individul xprssions of ntrprnurs but r shot through with publi nrrtivs of wht ntrprnurs do nd don't do, nd with ulturl nrrtivs of wht it mns to tk risks or wht it mns to fil businss (ntillon, 1992). In tht sns, nrrtiv prsptiv onivs th ntrprnuril pross in rltionship to th onstrution of tim, lgitimy, morlity, nd vrydy survivl. Th qustion of whih ulturl or publi nrrtivs or disourss r drwn on is rltd to th issu of powr, s fousd on in ritil (disursiv) prsptivs, whih th nxt stion ddrsss. onlusions s th ritil prsptiv gthrd momntum within orgnistion studis, n intrst ws tkn in ntrprnurship xmining ritilly how ntrprnuril disours hs tkn ntr stg in ll spts of working lif (Bridg, 2003: p43). n ntrpris ultur is prvding ll orgnistions in whih popl r xptd to prform thir jobs s ntrprnuril slvs, turning vry mploy into potntil ntrprnur nd into somon who hs no hoi but to b rtiv, rsponsibl, nd flxibl (ldrih, 1999). ntrprnurship studis r hn onstrud s supporting hgmoni idology of ntrprising tht fits rtin (onomilly dominnt) prts of th world, nd tht forms th ltst vrsion of govrnmntlity through whih popl bom subjt to rtin sripts of bhving tivly, rsponsibly, nd full of inititiv. Th ntrprnuril pross is strtd by snsing tht rtin prtis form n nomly nd n thus b don diffrntly. ruil is how on n hold onto this nomly nd rvl how th ommonsns wy of ting somhow fils nd is doomd to prish s nw prti is slowly dvlopd nd boms visibl. Rfrns ldrih, H. (1999). Orgnistions volving. London: Sg. Bridg S., O'Nill K., nd romi S., (2003) Undrstnding ntrpris, ntrprnurship nd Smll Businss, 2nd dition, Nw York & London: Plgrv Mmilln, pp 41-52 ntillon, R. (1992), "Th irultion nd xhng of goods nd mrhndis", in Higgs, H. (ds),ssi sur l Ntur du ommr n Gnrl, London: Mmilln, pp 37-45, 48 Glbrith, K.H. (2002), Th Nw Industril Stt, , London: Hmish Hmilton pp 121-129 Hjorth, D., & Styrt, . (2004). Nrrtiv nd disursiv pprohs in ntrprnurship. hltnhm, UK: dwrd lgr. pp 85-104 Knight, F.H. (2000), Risk Unrtinty nd Profit, Klly, Nw York, NY, (1st d. 1921) pp 19-23 Mlllnd, D. (2000), Th hiving Soity, Vn Nostrnd, Nw York, NY, pp 56-63 Shumptr, J. (1986), Th Thory of onomi Dvlopmnt, Hrvrd Univrsity, mbridg, M, pp 89-96 Spinos, ., Flors, F., & Dryfus, H. L. (1997). Dislosing nw worlds. mbridg, M: MIT Prss. Story, D.J. (2001), Undrstnding th Smll Businss Stor, London: Routldg, pp 23-25 Woodwrd, J. (2001), Industril Orgnistion, Oxford: Oxford Univrsity Prss, pp 214-218 Wortmn, M.S. (1987), "ntrprnurship: n intgrting typology nd vlution of th mpiril rsrh in th fild", Journl of Mngmnt, Vol. 13 No.2, pp.259-79. Read More