Institute of Business Administration

Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Assignment 1

Submitted by: Sunaira Feroz Malik Submitted to: Mr. Sultan Raza Class: BBA VI Submitted on: 3/6/2012

Definitions

Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................... 3 Definitions ...................................................................................... 4 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 7 Bibliography ................................................................................... 8

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Introduction
Entrepreneurship is derived from a French word, Entreprendre which means to undertake. As with many concepts, it has been defined in every discipline with slight variations. The core concept however, remains the same; entrepreneurs embrace risk and avail opportunities. Entrepreneurship has itself emerged as a discipline. Research has been conducted and definitions and opinions have been formed, yet it remains a concept elusive to many. With a number of definitions emerging, every philosopher has his own interpretation of entrepreneurship. In recent years many related concepts of entrepreneurship have emerged, including intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Intrapreneurship refers to the display of characteristics of an entrepreneur within an organization. Examples of intrapreneurs include Arthur Fry who while working at 3M invented Post-it Notes. Social entrepreneurship talks about the benefits a business provides to the society rather than the profits it reaps. Example of a social entrepreneur is the owner of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yusuf. Entrepreneurship has been defined in various ways by various people. The assignment discusses some of the definitions by different authors, and attempts to find the common characteristics of entrepreneurs discussed in those definitions.

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Definitions
1. A manager may also be an entrepreneur. This is the person who comes up with the ideas and takes the risks that are necessary to start a successful business. (Microeconomics, Roger N. Waud) 2. One of the key tasks of economic development is the fostering of an entrepreneurial spirit. A country cannot thrive without a group of owners or managers willing to undertake risks, open new plants, adopt new technologies, confront strife, and import new ways of doing business. (Macroeconomics, Samuelson and Nordhaus) 3. Entrepreneurship may be defined in simplest terms as the utilization of one productive factor of the other productive factors for the creation of economic goods. (Cole, Journal of Economic History)

4. Entrepreneurship is the process of initiating a new venture, organizing the resources it requires and assuming the risk it entails. Entrepreneur (is) someone who takes the initiative to start an entrepreneurial venture, organizes the resources it requires and assumes the risk it entails.(Courtland, Management) 5. Entrepreneurship is the process of initiating a business venture, organizing the necessary resources, and assuming the associated risks and rewards. An entrepreneur is someone who engages in entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur recognizes a viable idea for a business product or service and carries it out. This means finding and assembling the necessary resources money, people, machinery, location to undertake the business venture. The entrepreneur also assumes the risks and reaps the rewards of the business. He or she assumes the financial and legal risks of ownership and receives the businesss profits. (Richard Daft, Management) 6. Most of what you hear about entrepreneurship is all wrong. It's not magic; it's not mysterious; and it has nothing to do with genes. It's a discipline and, like any discipline, it can be learned. (Peter Drucker, 1986)

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

7. Entrepreneur is someone who makes something commercial happen, or one who makes something sold which benefits others and which provides a profit of sufficient magnitude to justify the risk inherent in providing the funding for the entrepreneur.(Dr. S.M. Naqi, Entrepreneurship) 8. Social psychology has shown us how our lives are affected by others, but personality psychology explains why some people are much more likely than others to affect our lives. Entrepreneurship is just another process by which this influence occurs; it is (like leadership) the natural consequence of differences in personality and yet another proof that the personality of some is much more influential than others'. (Psychology Today, 2010) 9. Entrepreneurship is more than simply starting a business. The definition of

entrepreneurship is a process through which individuals identify opportunities, allocate resources, and create value. This creation of value is often through the identification of unmet needs or through the identification of opportunities for change. Entrepreneurs see problems as opportunities, then take action to identify the solutions to those problems and the customers who will pay to have those problems solved. Entrepreneurial success is simply a function of the ability of an entrepreneur to see these opportunities in the marketplace, initiate change (or take advantage of change) and create value through solutions. 10. Someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of

an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced. An entrepreneur supplies risk capital as a risk taker, and monitors and controls the business activities. The entrepreneur is usually a sole proprietor, a partner, or the one who owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture. According to economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for measuring achievement or success. Schumpeter discovered that they (1) greatly value self-reliance, (2) strive for distinction through excellence, (3) are highly optimistic (otherwise nothing

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

would be undertaken), and (4) always favor challenges of medium risk (neither too easy, nor ruinous). 11. The entrepreneur is the agent who unites all means of production and who finds in the value of
the products...the reestablishment of the entire capital he employs, and the value of the wages, the interest, and rent which he pays, as well as profits belonging to himself. (Jean Baptiste Say , 1816)

12. Entrepreneurs attempt to predict and act upon change within markets. Knight emphasized the
entrepreneur's role in bearing the uncertainty of market dynamics. Entrepreneurs are required to perform such fundamental managerial functions as direction and control. (Frank Knight, 1921)

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Conclusion
Some of the common characteristics of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship given in the definitions are: Take calculated risk Bearers of uncertainty Introduce creativity and innovation Add value to the society Exploit opportunities

From the above given definitions, we can conclude that the definition of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship can be as follows: An entrepreneur is an individual who takes calculated risk to venture into an innovative new business concept, adding value to the society and creating opportunities.

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Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship; Defined

Bibliography
Bovee, C. L. (1993). Management. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc. Business Dictionary. (n.d.). What is entrepreneur? Retrieved February 8, 2012, from businessdictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/entrepreneur.html Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2010, October 6). Personality and Entrepreneurship: Why are some people more entrepreneurial than others, and why should you care? Psychology Today . Cole, A. (1953). Journal of Economic History. Chicago. Daft, R. L., & Samson, D. (2003). Management. Melbourne: Thomson Nelson. Drucker, P. (1986). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Chicago. Naqi, D. S. (2002). Entrepreneurship; A Recipe for Economic Development. Lahore: Newfine Printing Press. Sameulson, P. A., & Nordhaus, W. D. (1995). MacroEconomics. New York: McGraw Hill. Watson, G. (2011-12). Definition of Entrepreneurship. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from gregwatson.com: http://www.gregwatson.com/entrepreneurship-definition/ Waud, R. N. Microeconomics. New York: Harper & Row Publishers.

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