The concept of entrepreneurship

Citation

Jones, O. (2007), "The concept of entrepreneurship", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr.2007.16013aaa.001

The concept of entrepreneurship

Recently, the literature has given a considerable amount of attention to the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities. In his paper, Goss develops an interactionist approach to entrepreneurship based on the Schumpeterian concept of opportunity. Deploying constructs drawn from Randall Collins’s “interaction ritual chain theory”, the paper provides a model of the entrepreneurial process that specifies the social conditions necessary for innovative ideas to be translated into effective business activity. Goss’s sociological approach to entrepreneurial behaviour at the micro-level uses a qualitative case study to highlight the role of emotion as a key variable in entrepreneurial ventures. In particular, development of the personal computer industry is used to illustrate this argument. It is concluded that “interaction rituals” can contribute to an understanding of the ability of individuals and groups to overcome the barriers of social inertia, scepticism and hostility that frequently confront attempts to establish genuine commercial innovations.

The concept of entrepreneurship covers a wide range of activities beyond starting new business ventures. The focus is no longer exclusively on efficiency, survival and financial viability; rather social, cultural and even sector-related factors need to be taken into account. This understanding of entrepreneurship, as having social implications above and beyond that of a profit motive is highlighted by Zampetakis and Mostakis’s examination of entrepreneurial behaviour in the Greek public sector. They are appreciative of the dual role of public entrepreneurship in achieving innovative and efficient management of resources while also considering the importance of social capital (and other non-financial factors such as personal advancement and political considerations). Their research, based on a quantitative approach, used a short questionnaire that was completed by 237 mid-level administrators. The results indicate that entrepreneurial behaviour is not only enhanced by a supportive environment but is also positively associated with seniority of position in an organisation. However, there were no statistically significant differences with respect to gender, education or tenure.

Finally, in her paper, Kirkwood extends the importance of social factors in entrepreneurial ventures by examining the role of the family in promoting entrepreneurship. In particular, she focuses on the way in which both mothers and fathers influence their children’s approach to starting their own businesses. Kirkwood adopts a qualitative research approach, using in-depth interviews to gain information from 25 male and 25 female entrepreneurs. Research findings reveal that over 50 per cent of the respondents were strongly influenced by their parents when starting new ventures, more so if the parents had also owned businesses. However, Kirkwood argues that there seems to be a significant gender difference in the role of parents with fathers identified as the primary influence in starting new businesses and mothers being assigned the traditional care-giving role. More interestingly, Kirkwood also identifies gender differences in the respondents’ perception of the role of family, with the female participants more likely to consider the family as a source of inspiration and support while on the other hand, some of the male participants attested to feelings of competition and independence.

Oswald Jones