Meaning of Entrepreneurship, Statement of Entrepreneurial Goals and Expectations - Research Paper Example

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION Meaning of Entrepreneurship, ment of entrepreneurial goals and expectations and its relation to the career experiences Your name : ………………………………………… College : ……………………………………….. Date : ……………………………………….. Introduction Entrepreneurship is economic as well as holistic function as it represents the combination of innovatory processes and risk bearing function within the organization. Entrepreneurship and innovation have acquired much attention and more academic importance in the last few years especially in the modern diverse and complex business contexts. This research work is an attempt to define and describe the entrepreneurship based on the literatures available. This paper presents an analysis of the goals and expectations from a learning entrepreneurship and it figures out how it relates to our career experiences. Entrepreneurship Joseph A Schumpeter, who has been considered to be the father of entrepreneurship, has defined entrepreneurs as those who carry out new combination. For him, entrepreneurship is innovation (Carsrud and Brannback , 2007, p. 7). Schumpeter identified that entrepreneur is sociologically distinct individual “who perceives an opportunity to seize it and to create new product or changes a production process or create a new marketable contribution to the economy (McDaniel, 2002, p. 57). Cunningham and Lischeron (1991) hold that Schumpeter’s definition of entrepreneurship excluded majority of entrepreneurs, because, he viewed that entrepreneurship is the creative activity of the innovator. Many researchers have identified that entrepreneurship is the exploitation of an opportunity. Those who form and establish niche marketing are as well called entrepreneurs (p.45). Brockhaus (1987) considered direction, supervision, control and risk bearing as the fundamental functions of an entrepreneur as described by British writer J.S Mill (p. 1). Both managerial and entrepreneurial activities are different. Identifying and making use of the opportunities for the expansion of enterprises is the very basic task of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur is the owner of the business and he behaves with much responsibility than a manager does (Brockhaus, 1987, p. 2) An individual seems to risk financial well being, career opportunities, family relations and psychic well being when he starts a journey to become an entrepreneur (Brockhaus (1980, p. 511). An entrepreneur is thus a person who is highly devoted and determined to bear any sorts of risks associated with business ownership and related risks. In the current changing business contexts, many have considered that an entrepreneur must have both managerial and innovative skills because, once the business environment become more complex and the markets are very vulnerable to fierce competition, entrepreneurs must be able to take strategic steps as well as to bring innovative ideas. Cunningham and Lischeron (1991) argued that entrepreneurship falls within six schools of thoughts which describe various qualities of the individuals and managers as entrepreneurs. These are 1) the great person school of entrepreneurship, 2) psychological characteristics school, 3) classical school of entrepreneurship, 4) the management school of thought, 5) the leadership school of entrepreneurship and 6) the intrapreneurship school of entrepreneurship. (p. 46). Entrepreneurs possess great personalities and personal traits that make him a great person. His qualities cannot be fully transferred from one to another. Psychologically, entrepreneurs have unique values and attitudes towards their work and life. According to classical school, entrepreneur is one who has an element of risk bearing and he requires some creativity for innovations. The management school of entrepreneurship holds that entrepreneur is one who manages a business firm bearing the risks for the sake of earning profit. Entrepreneur is a leader as well who relies on others to accomplish the tasks. The entrepreneurship school holds that entrepreneurs possess discretionary freedom for actions and they are able to act as entrepreneurs and to implement their ideas but still they are not the owners (Cunningham and Lischeron, 1991, p. 46- 53). From my personal experiences, entrepreneurship comprises of both innovation and management, because, it can be seen that present leading companies compete each other and they make use managers to uncover a hidden market opportunity and then they turn the opportunity in to a real market niche. Canon Inc uncovered a hidden market for personal copier when Xerox was leading the market and later Canon was able to dominate the entire market. Creativity Journal Entrepreneurial Goals and expectations Drucker (2007) emphasized that innovation is the specific tool for entrepreneurs and with this tool they exploit changes as opportunities for different business or a different service. Entrepreneurs have to seek for opportunities intentionally for the sake of innovation (p. 17). The fundamental goal of the entrepreneur is, as it can be summarized from all the definitions and description given by researchers and experts, to innovate and bear the risk. While entrepreneurs creatively involved in innovation, it is natural that ‘risk bearing’ will be an inevitable part of the work they do. Basically, entrepreneurs have to innovate, bear the risks, seek opportunities for further development of the business and thus bring new ideas of different product or services or new marketing strategies etc. Entrepreneur is expected to be responsible for innovation by seeking opportunity and exploiting the chances for the business process Successful entrepreneurs are expected to be independent as they try to do something from their own and to enjoy working Entrepreneurs have to be self confident in almost all actions and especially in taking decisions Entrepreneurs are very creative because they always think to explore new ideas and ways to create their own market and to market their business with greater achievements Entrepreneurs are personally and professionally responsible to set and achieve high standards for themselves (Greene, 2008, p. 11). Entrepreneurship and Innovation in relation to career experiences To become a successful entrepreneur is a great pathway of my career. Learning entrepreneurship and innovation can help us start new organization or improve an organization. Anyone can start a business if he has access to sufficient fund for it, but, to be successful in the business, he needs to have a number of skills that are to be acquired, learned and experienced from others. Cunningham and Lischeron (1991), becoming an entrepreneur is the way to achieve ‘great person’ peculiarity in relation to business excellence. They will have intuitive ability to identify the opportunity and accordingly to take wise decisions (p. 48). An entrepreneur must have strong drives for independence and success in the business. All these show that everybody cannot become a successful entrepreneur, but, it is really possible that the required knowledge, skills, experience and ideas can be either acquired or earned from different ways. Seeking a learning course of Entrepreneurship and Innovation can helps us learn how to become successful entrepreneur. I have come across a number of business owners who are highly successful in their business journey. Michael Dell is always an illuminating example. He started his lucrative business from door to door selling of small electronic items that he collected from shops. He was highly successful in perceiving the market from computers even when Apple has dominated the entire market. Just within few years, Dell was able to convert this ‘market opportunity’ in to a real niche marketing of world class Computer Company. Entrepreneurial and Innovation experienced to get results Entrepreneurship is a goal oriented activity. The fundamental task is to achieve their set goal that is the ‘result’. According to Stevenson (1990), entrepreneurship is the process by which the economic system moves forward. Entrepreneurship helps make the market stable (p. 18). Entrepreneur’s very basic natural role in the business is to bear the risk by buying at certain prices and selling at certain prices. This enhances buying and selling processes in the market and thus the economy will function well. So, entrepreneur can be considered to be the ‘protagonist’ of the entire economic activities. Entrepreneurship is both management and leadership and innovation and creativity and therefore, it comprises of all the functions of management and leadership. The results have greater scope in the business contexts. While looking at the outcomes of entrepreneurship, it is obvious that improving business performance and establishing well settled market for the business are the other two results of the entrepreneurship. Conclusion This research paper presents an analysis on the meaning and features entrepreneurship and identifies six different schools of thoughts of entrepreneurship. How the entrepreneurship and innovation are related to the career experience and what are the goals and expectation from learning entrepreneurship are explained in detail in this work. References Brockhaus R. H (1980), Risk Taking Propensity of Entrepreneurs, Academy of Management Journal, Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com Brockhaus R H. (1987), Entrepreneurial Folklore, Journal of Small Business Management, Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com Carsrud A.L and Brannback M.E (2007), Entrepreneurship, Illustrated Edition, Greenwood Publishing Group Cunningham, J. B., and J. Lishceron (January 1991), Defining Entrepreneurship, Journal of Small Business Management, Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com Drucker P.F (2007), Innovation and entrepreneurship: practice and principles, Second and revised edition, Elsevier Greene (2008), Entrepreneurship: Ideas in Action, fourth edition, Cengage Learning McDaniel B.A (2002), Entrepreneurship and innovation: an economic approach, Illustrated Edition, M.E. Sharpe Stevenson H and Jarillo, J (1990), A Paradigm of Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Management." Strategic Management Journal, Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com Read More