DEFINITION OF ENTREPRENEUR
Entrepreneurs are pioneers to
business success today. They detect opportunities, leading to a new opinion or
innovation and good performance become a standard in the era of free
enterprise. Scaborough and Zimmerer (1988) define the entrepreneur as a person
who creates a new business and facing an uncertain situation in order to gain
profit and growth to identify opportunities and provide the resources to
achieve it. Entrepreneurs usually start with the idea that there is only and
always a simple idea and provide the necessary resources to move those ideas
that are appropriate to the business. Other than that, Kuratko & Hodgetts
(2004), define the entrepreneur as a person who is trying to organize, manage
and take risks in business. Entrepreneurs are also a catalyst for economic
change using search for a particular purpose, careful planning and appropriate
consideration when making any business process. With optimistic and committed
to work with creative entrepreneurs to acquire new resources and renewing old
source to the new capacity, all this is only intended to create a profit.
DEFINITION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The
word 'entrepreneur' comes from the French word "entrepredre" which
means "to undertake". In the Malay language it can be defined as
"to take over". According Histrich and Peter (1988), entrepreneurship
is a dynamic process of wealth creation. Wealth is created by the individual
who bears the risk of the 'equity', time and career commitment or provide value
to a product or service. It is the process of creating something new by taking
into account the time and effort to take into account the risk of financial,
psychological and social. And receive the benefits in terms of financial,
personal satisfaction and freedom. Besides, Kuratko and Hodgetts (2004) define entrepreneurship as a process of
innovation and creation through the four dimensions of the individual,
organization, environment and the
process of collaboration with networks in government, education and
institutional.
EVOLUTION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In the Earliest period, definition of
entrepreneurship began as early as the Marco Polo who comes to the Middle East
for trade. Marco Polo has signed an agreement with the capitalists to sell
their products. In
the contract merchant adventurer took a loan at 22.5% rate including insurance.
Capitalist was the passive risk bearer and merchant adventurer took the active
role in trading, bearing all physical and emotional risks. When the merchant adventurer
successfully sold the goods and completed the trip, the profits were divided
with the capitalist taking most of them up to 75%, while the merchant adventurer
settled for the remaining 25%.
In middle ages, Entrepreneur is
described as someone who is involved in the care and control of a large
production projects. It is possible to control the project using the resources
provided by the government. In this case, the entrepreneur does not bear any
risk. Entrepreneurs in this age, is a have control and authority of
construction works such as public buildings and churches. A typical
entrepreneur in the middle age was the priest.
In 17th century, the
evolution of entrepreneurship can be related with the relationship between risk
and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is the person who signed the contract
agreement with the government to provide a service or supply products that have
been determined. The contract price is fixed. Then, the entrepreneurs are fully
responsible for the gains and losses of the business. John law, a Frenchman was one of the
entrepreneurs in that period. The founder of the royal bank of France and the
Mississippi Company, which had an exclusive franchise to trade between France
and the new world. Monopoly on French trade eventually led to collapse of the
company. Richard Cantillion, an economist
defines entrepreneurs earlier. In his view, the entrepreneur is risk insurers.
Merchants, farmers, craftsmen, and so is an entrepreneurs. They buy things at a
certain price and sell it at a price that is uncertain, with the risks
. In the 18th century, the person
with capital was differentiated from the one who needed capital. The
entrepreneur was distinguished from the capital provider. One reason for this
differentiation was the industrialization occurring throughout the world. Eli
Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This
was one of the key inventions of the industrial Revolution. Thomas Edison, the
inventor of many inventions. He was developing new technologies and was unable
to finance his inventions himself.
Edison was a capital user or an entrepreneur, not a provider or a
venture capitalist.
In 19th and 20th
century, Entrepreneurs are not always associated with the management. According to Merriam-Webster's online
dictionary, an entrepreneur is one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risk
of a business or an enterprise. The
entrepreneur organizes and manages an enterprise for personal gain. The materials consumed in the business,
for the use of the land, for the services he employs, and for the capital he
requires. Andrew Carnegie is one of the best examples of this definition. Carnegie, who descended from a poor Scottish
family, made the American Steel Industry one of the wonders of the industrial
world.
In the middle of the 20th
Century, the function of the entrepreneurs is to recreate or revolutionize the
pattern of production by introducing an invention. Innovation, the act of
introducing some new ideas, is one of the most difficult tasks for the entrepreneur.
For example, Edward Harriman, who reorganized the railroad in the United States
and John Morgan, who developed his large banking house by reorganizing and
financing the nation’s industries. Besides, the Egyptian who designed and built
great pyramids out of stone blocks weighing many tons each, to laser beams,
supersonic planes and space stations.
In 21st century, Entrepreneurs
are known as a hero for Free Enterprise market. Entrepreneur of the century
created many products and services and is willing to face a lot of risks in the
business. According to Kuratko & Hodgetts, most people say entrepreneurs
are pioneers in creating new businesses. In the year 2005 Hisrich, Peter and
Shepherd regarded entrepreneur as an organizer who controls, systematize,
purchases raw materials, arranges infrastructure, throw in his own
inventiveness, expertise, plans and administers the venture.
The Future of entrepreneurship will
be growth with development of technologies. The modern technologies and
internet have improved the ways of conduct business. Entrepreneurs now have the
luxury of putting their business idea into action through the click of button.
