1.

ENTREPRENUAL CONCEPTS POSTULATED BY:

i.

Joseph A. Schumpeter
Joseph Alois Scumpeter is regarded as one of the greatest economist of
the first half of the 20th century at that time he took part in most
important economic debates. He was the first scholar to theorize about
entrepreneurship. His fundamental theories are often referred to at
Mark I and Mark II. He first argued that the innovation and
technological change of a nation come from the entrepreneurs. Many
social economist and popular authors of the day argued that large
businesses had a negative effect on the standard of living of ordinary
people. Contrary to this prevailing opinion, Schumpeter in his Mark II
argued that the agents that drive innovation and the economy are
large companies which have the capital to invest in research and
development of new products and services and deliver them to
customers cheaper thus raising the standards of living

ii.

David Mcelleland
He pioneered workplace motivational thinking, developing
achievement based motivational theory and models and promoted
achievements in employee assessment methods, advocating
competency based assessments and tests arguing them to be better
than the traditional IQ and personality based tests. David came up with
the n-arch that reviews the major theoretical constructs devised for
explaining the source of dynamic entrepreneurial performance in
developing countries, discusses the roles in terms of theories of
entrepreneurial supply and provides comparative evaluations of
theoretical formulations in terms of variables employed and the
methodology approaches used. He concludes that various activities
required of the industrial entrepreneur are hindered or reinforced by
prior technological traditions and social structure factors.

iii.

Peter Kilby
It is believed that the best definition of entrepreneurship comes from
Peter Kilby. He says that the entrepreneur has a lot in common with th
Heffalump,a fictional animal in AA. The heffalump is a large and
important animal. He has been hunted by many individuals using
various trapping devices but no one so far has succeeded in capturing
him. Unlike the others kilby accepts the mystic of the entrepreneur as
primary to its definition and that its value is actually found in this
ambiguity because it enables each individual to find meaning and
aspiration to match their expectations.

2. CONTEXTUAL APPROACHES OF ENTREPRENEURAL THEORIES

a. Economic theory

Entrepreneurship and economic growth take place when the economic conditions
are favorable. Economic incentives are the main motivators for entrepreneurial
activities. Economic incentives include taxation policy, industrial policy, sources
of finance and raw materials, infrastructure availability. Investment and
marketing opportunities, access to information about market conditions
technology etc.
b. Psychological theory
Entrepreneurship gets a boost when society has sufficient supply of
individuals with necessary psychological characteristics. These
characteristics include: need for high achievement, a vision or
foresight, ability to face opposition. These characteristics are formed
during the individuals upbringing which stress on standards of
excellence, self-reliance and low father dominance.
c. Sociology thoery
Entrepreneurship is likely to get a boost in a particular social culture.
Societys value, religious believes, customs, taboos influence the
behavior of individuals in a society. The entrepreneur is a role
performer according to the role expectations by the society.
d. Cultural theory
Hoselitzs theory: He explains that the supply of Entrepreneurship is
governed by
cultural factors & culturally minority groups
are the spark plugs of entrepreneurial
economic development.
Marginal men- Reservoir of entrepreneurial development. Ambiguous
positions from a cultural or social statement make them creative.
Emphasis on skills- Who possess extra-ordinary skills. Function of
managerial additional personal traits & leadership skills. Additional
personal traits. Exportation of profit ability to lend.
Contribution of social classes- Socio-economic economic background
of specific classes make them entrepreneurs.
3. Techniques of increasing creativity
a) Brainstorming
Brainstorming is the process by which a group of people interact
with very little structure with the goal of producing a large
quantity of novel and Imaginative ideas. The goal is to create an
open uninhibited atmosphere that allows members of the group
to freewheel ideas. There are several steps to be followed for
brainstorming to be successful: keep the group small, make the
group as diverse as possible, encourage members to take part in
aerobic exercise, encourage all ideas, appoint someone as the
recorder and dare to imagine the unreasonable are just but a
few examples.
b) Rapid prototyping

Rapid prototyping is the process of creating a model of an idea

enabling an entrepreneur to discover flaws in the idea and to
make improvements in the design.
c)

Force Field Analysis

This is a useful technique for evaluating the forces that support
and oppose a proposed change. It allows entrepreneurs to weigh
both the advantages and the disadvantages of a particular
decision and to maximize the variables that support it and
minimize those that work against it. The process works well with
a group of people. It is a process that begins with making three
columns and listing the problem to be addressed in the middle
column. In the column on the left, the group should list driving
forces, those that support the issue and move it forward. In the
column on the right the group should list the restraining forces.
The group should analyze the strength of their ideas and
commence working.
d)
Mind mapping
This is a graphical technique that encourages thinking on both
sides of the brain, visually displays the various relationships
among ideas and improves the ability to view a problem from
many sides. One strength of mind mapping is that it reflects the
way the brain actually works. The brain jumps from one idea to
the next.

4.
i)
Difference between creativity and innovation
Creativity is dreaming of new ideas while innovation means making those
dreams come true
The thinking up of new ideas and concepts can be termed as creativity
whereas innovation is the process of converting these thoughts into practical
usage.
If something new thing has been brought into existence it can be said that
you have createdit while if you have made improvements to something that
already exists then you have made an innovation.
Creativity is related to experience whereas innovation is related to
observation.
ii)

Inputs of innovation process

Identifying the goals or problems to be solved
The first step in the innovation process is to clarify what your business
innovation goals are and why you need to engage in this kind of innovation.
Analysis
The second step involve some real world discovery of the current situation,
customers, their needs, challenges etc. It is also vital to look into what the
competition is doing, any trends which will impact on your business and any
new innovations taking place that you can learn from.

 Development and design

Based on the information and thoughts gained during analysis, it is advisable
to develop ideas portfolio that includes ways you could innovate to meet
these goals and problems.
Conversion
The next requirement is to translate the ideas into practical innovation
products that coukd be tagged towards the identified market place. The idea
here is to fully launch the innovative products but to test your ideas within a
limited scope to test whether customers like the innovation.
Commercialization
The final step is where you take tested innovations and develop them to full
scale operations. This will require access to production facilities, routes to
markets, logistics etc. Innovation requires the careful balancing of risks and
reward at all stages.

5. An entrepreneur is like a distance runner who try to better his time

over distance. Discuss the statement.
An entrepreneur always has goals in mind. Before any innovation is done, there is
always a target that has to be met at all costs. This also applies to an athlete.
During the in novation process, goals are sets and steps of achieving them are
made.
Strategic plan is made. From the time the innovation begins, the process,
requirements, emergencies and the final outcome already exists. He or she already
knows what to expect and is prepared for anything. Prior planning enables
entrepreneurs be systematic in coming up with the new idea and nurture it till it is
commercialized.
An entrepreneur just like a distance runner uses creativity to create competitive
advantages for themselves. They will always think and come up with new ideas that
have never existed in the market in order to be a step ahead of their competitors.
They will also try improve on already invented ideas.
The moment an entrepreneur realizes that his or her method of running business is
being outdone or whenever competition stiffens, they will always change their
techniques and come up with new techniques. This helps then stay in the market
and cope with the growing competition.
Improving training methods is another way entrepreneurs and athletes use. With
time, entrepreneurs tend to improve on their ways of operation. They will boost
their creativity and come up with better innovations. More researches are done and
better ideas come up.