Technological Environment Impacting Entrepreneurship

Submitted to:Prof. Brajballav Kar

Prepared By: Shruti Agrawal Vedika Agrawal

Introduction to Entrepreneurship
H.H. Stevenson and J.C. Jarillo, two highly regarded academics, define entrepreneurship as the process by which individuals pursue opportunities without regard to resources they currently control.

Why Become an Entrepreneur?

The three primary reasons that people become entrepreneurs and start their own firms are: Desire to be their own boss Pursue their own ideas Realize financial awards Over a period of time, entrepreneurship has emerged rapidly. But does environment has an impact on entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship is not just an individual desire but is affected by various factors which are external to oneself i.e. environment.

Environment and Entrepreneurship

Major environmental factors affecting entrepreneurship are as follows: 1. Political environment- For any business activity law and order is of high priority. The more complex is the law, the less is the tenacity of entrepreneurship. The government policies must be flexible as well as must be to incentivize entrepreneurs for fostering the growth of entrepreneurship. 2. Legal environment- Various rules and regulations spread differently across industries in terms of registration, licensing, pollution, location, labor laws etc also affect entrepreneurial growth.

3. Technological environment- In a competitive world one has to keep an eye on technology advancement and instill it in their business activity or else the chances to become obsolete is high. Technology has both positive and negative impact on entrepreneurial growth. 4. Economic environment- Capital, labor, raw material are major dimensions of an economy. Any shortage of these would adversely affect the entrepreneurial growth. Market demand also forms an aspect of economic environment and has to be sufficient enough for an entrepreneurial start to sustain and prosper.

Technology and Entrepreneurship

If we could see at the data of entrepreneur growth around the world we see over a period of 1015 years there has been significant rise in entrepreneurship. If we look at India, entrepreneurship is the word everyone is talking about and taking it seriously. The most significant change is seen through educational institutes who are providing training on entrepreneurship to students; so that they do not look for job rather create a job. There are around 500 institutes teaching entrepreneurship. NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) is the leading one. There are 70,000 students in the NEN among which 100 have already begun their startups and many are in the pipeline.

Why so much of entrepreneurship today than it was before?

Technology has made entrepreneurship easier. Technology represents the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. Technological advancement has become a catalytic agent in the promotion of entrepreneurship growth. The rise of internet and increase in accessibility of the same has produced more entrepreneurs than anything. The net was exactly what they needed, a medium that could reach every possible market and conduct business directly. Another aspect in which technology has affected positively is helping the originators of products and services, who in spite of not being businesspeople are easily doing business with the help of net. In economic sense, it creates a market space and income for people who could have been otherwise marginalized in the commercial sphere. Countries with high levels of technological growth have high levels of entrepreneurial growth. Technology helps to exploit commercial benefit. Technology creates resources and brings in cultural changes as well as quality of life. It makes easy for an individual to make resources and double the existing ones in a profitable manner. IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY It is one of the most important driving force post-II world war in shaping up economies of various countries. It improves quality of life in the society. New and improved products and processes are made available in society. Technology is directly linked to level of scientific knowledge, particularly applied sciences.

Technology is both hard and soft-that is machine, as well as, way of thinking Technology is thus level of scientific sophistication and level of knowledge in application of sciences to production processes, be it goods or services (like Heart operations or Aircraft flying, or designing and fabricating a nuclear reactor). The changes in Technology are so rapid now that the Industry has to keep track of same and keep modernizing to remain competitive and in business.

Importance of Technological Environment:

1. It brings new products, processes, and materials. 2. It directly impacts every aspects of our society (transportation, energy, communications, entertainment, health care, food, agriculture, industry). 3. It alters the rules of global trade and competition. Application of knowledge: Intends to solve practical problems consists of the following Applied research with specific objectives Development resulting in workable prototypes Engineering defining the knowledge for commercial exploitation Commercialization including mass production

A Good technological environment includes the following: Accelerating pace of technological change. Unlimited opportunities for innovation. Varying R&D budgets. Increased regulation of technological change.

Thus, Technology enables people to generate, preserve and distribute energy, discover new materials, save lives, introduce machines to do work of human beings, increase living standard, probe deep into seas and space in search of new treasures and much more.

PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IMPACTING TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

Heavy dominance of government in technology department. Condition of stagnation in technology research. Low rate of technology commercialization. Weak intellectual regime.

 Limited import of technology due to restriction Little knowledge on technology assimilation and absorption

Technological impact on the scope of growth for entrepreneurship in India

Adoption of Innovation & Entrepreneurship curricula at leading Indian business schools: Until recently, even the most prestigious higher education institutions in India focused on traditional management disciplines, in the past several years, centers of excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged at schools around the country, These classes not only instill the skills necessary to found and grow a new venture, but also teach students the kind of integrated, interdisciplinary thinking that executives need to provide competitive value in a sophisticated global economy. Rapid spread and growth of mobile networks and mobile platforms for application development: Mobile networks and mobile data services are still growing at record levels in India as service providers extend coverage to rural areas and competition continues to drive down prices. While 3G service may initially be slow to grow beyond affluent urban centers, even 2G data services provide a platform for useful consumer and business applications, including many targeted at lower-income market segments. Carriers such as Reliance Communication, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Telecom are trying to position their networks as delivery platforms for independently developed applications, subsidizing a growing ecosystem of indigenous entrepreneurs who can create the kind of specialized mobile apps that can draw new customers into the mobile systems. Increasing popularity of social networks and online resources for aspiring entrepreneurs and independent professionals: Traditional entrepreneurs had to rely on their personal networks and relationships, cultivated over decades or generations, to reach customers and recruit workers. Now social networks provide shortcuts to gaining the introductions and attention that entrepreneurs need to build their businesses. Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, and other large international networks are extremely popular in India. They are being supplemented by a growing number of specialty sites designed specifically to connect entrepreneurs and professionals, engage with prosperous expatriate communities overseas, and offer services and content in local languages, as well as in English. Arrival in earnest of venture capital and commercial credit for fledgling companies: Even today, most start-ups have to depend on their own resources or informal loans to get their business off the ground. However, the arrival of true venture capital and commercial credit is still a work-in-progress and is slowed by the ongoing credit crunch in U.S. and European financial markets. In the long run, this is a problem India can solve on its own with the growth of an indigenous investment banking segment independent of foreign capital.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that changes in government regulations and tax policy could have a significant impact on tech entrepreneurship in India. The complexities of Indian politics make it unwise to attempt to forecast government policiesor their efficacy. Amid this uncertainty, entrepreneurship continues to thrive on its internal dynamic and by riding the external trends of demographics (lots of young people) and technology (information and communication networks growing better and more accessible every day). Indians are concerned about income inequality, social justice, infrastructure, and the environment. They also recognize that innovation and prosperity can bring them a lot closer to addressing these problems in ways that transcend the traditional zero-sum calculus of ethnic and redistributive politics. Tech entrepreneurship in India, for all its hype and popularity, remains a niche activity, restricted to a few with the talent, ambition, resources, and patience to navigate the complexities.