Entrepreneurship as a Process!!

In the last decade and a half there has been a resurgence of entrepreneurship in higher education. This revival is not from the traditional discipline of economic but from the discipline of business management. The business schools have instituted new courses in entrepreneurship.

While entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business, `Entrepreneurship` is considered as the process or action of setting up of the new venture and the venture so set-up is called the `enterprise`. Entrepreneurship has been considered as the propensity of mind to take a calculated risk with confidence to achieve a predetermined business objective. It is the risk taking ability of an individual coupled with the correct decision-making. Schumpeter described it a process and the entrepreneur as innovators who use the process to shatter the status quo through the combination of resources and new methods of commerce.

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Concept of Entrepreneurship

    From the classical economists to the post-keynesian analysts, The topic of the entrepreneur has been surveyed, and observations, theories and pronouncements advanced. Not only were pure economists involved in the endeavors but also prominent social theorists such as Marx, Weber, Sombard and Veblen.
  In general, contemporary economists agree that the entrepreneur is a business leader and that his role in forecasting economic growth and development is a pivotal one. At present, however, there is no consensus at to what constitutes the issential activity, which makes the entrepreneur a crucial figure. While some economists have identified the basic entrepreneurial function as risk-taking, others have emphasised the coordination of production resources, the provision of capital or the introduction of innovations.

In the words of  A.H Cole, entrepreneurship is the purposeful activity of an individual or a group of associated individuals, undertaken to initiate, maintain or organise a profit-oriented business unit for the production or distribution or economic goods and services.

In other words, entrepreneurship means the function of creating something new, organising and coordinating and undertaking risk and handling economic uncertainty. Higgins define the terms as, entrepreneurship is meant the function of seeing investment and production opportunity. Organinsing an enterprise to undertake a new production process, raising capital, hiring labor  arranging for the supply of raw materials and selecting top managers for the day-to-day operation of the enterprise.

According to Peter F. Drucker, Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice. It has knowledge base. Knowledge in entrepreneurship is a means to end. In deed, what constitute knowledge in practice is largely defined by the ends, that is by the practice "Entrepreneurship is considerably less risky, if the entrepreneur is methodical and does not violate elementary and well known rulers."

Innovation and entrepreneurship are thus needed in society as much as in the economy, in public service institutions as much as in businesses. It is precisely because innovation and entrepreneurship are not "root and branch" but, "one step at a time", a product here, a policy there a public service yonder, because they are not planned but focused on this opportunity and that need; because, in other words, they are pragnostic rather than dogmatic and modest rather than grandiose - that they promise to keep any society, economiy, industry, public service, or business flexible and self-renewing.

Thus, entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon, "some think of entrepreneurs primarily as innovators, some chiefly as managers of enterprise, some as bearers of risks, and others place major emphasis on their function as mobilisers and allocatiors of capital", In the Indian context, however, and entrepreneur may at best be defined as a person (or group of persons) responsible for the existence of a new business enterprise.

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Concept of Entrepreneurship

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Meaning and Definitions of Entrepreneurhip

Meaning:
Entrepreneurship is the propensity to take calculated risks with confidence to achieve a pre-determined business or industrial objective. In substance, it is risk-taking ability of the individual, broadly coupled with correct decision-making. When one witnesses a community, who engage themselves in the industrial or commercial pursuits and appear to take risk and show enterprise, it is acknowledged to be a commercial class. The commercial class is a myth just like that of the so-called martial race.

Definitions:

Entrepreneurship is an elusive concept that cannot be defined precisely. How ever, people having different interests have defined 'Entrepreneurship' in a number of ways:

• Economists focus on "what happens when entrepreneurs act".
• Psychologists and Sociologists are interested in way they act.
• Management experts focus on how the entrepreneurs act, in the characteristics of entrepreneurial managers and the manner in which entrepreneurs achieve their goals.

"An entrepreneur is one who always searches for change, responds to it and exports it as an opportunity. Innovation is an instrument of 'entrepreneurship'."
                                                                                            ---- Peter F. Drucker.

"Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process of creating Inver mental wealth."
                                                                                            ---- Robert Ronstand

"The entrepreneur has a role of an industrialist in Adam Smith`s book, Wealth of nations he described the entrepreneur as an individual who forms an organisations for commercial purpose."

"Entrepreneur is an individual who bears the risk of operating a business in the face of uncertainity about future conditions."
                                                                                             ---- Encylopedia Britannica


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Limitations of Planning

Despite of many advantages of planning there may be some obstacles and limitations in this process. The follow are some of the planning.
1. Lack of Reliable data: Planning is based on various facts and figures supplied to the planners, which are difficult to procure absence of accurate data will upset the plan.
2. Expensive: Planning is an expensive process. The gathering of information and testing of various courses of action, setting up the planning machinery, require huge amount of money. Small companies can not afford to prepare plans.
3. Time consuming exercise: As planning involves a number of steps, a lot of time has to be devoted to plan before actual operations start.
4. Lack of workers initiatives: Under planning exercise worker has to act mechanically. It robs him of his interest in the work.
5. External factors may reduce utility: Besides internal factors, there are external factors is which adversely affect planning. These factors may be economic, social, political, technological or legal.
6. Psychological Hurdle: Human psychology also to an extent, places some hurdles in the success of planning. There is a certain degree of conservation in people which implies resistance to change.
7. Sudden emergencies: In case certain emergencies arise then the need of the hour is quick action and not advance planning. There situations may not be anticipated.

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Significance of Planning

1. Minimizes uncertainty: Planning certainly minimizes future uncertainties by basing its decisions on past experiences and present situations.
2. Better utilisation of resources: All the resources are first identified and then operations are planned. All resources are put to best possible uses.
3. Economy in operation: The operations selected being among possible alternatives, there is an economy in operations.
4. Better co-ordination: Planning will lead to better co-ordination in the organisation which will ultimately lead to better results.
5. Encourage innovation: Planning helps innovative and creative thinking among managers because they will think of many new things while planning.
6. Planning makes control possible: Control cannot be exercised without planning. With the help of planning the actual output can be compared the desired one, difference is acquired and reasons are located to get necessary action towards unfavorable differences.
7. Planning helps motivation: The manager cannot only verify but can encourage workers to attain the targets. When tangible goals are insight it is easier to encourage the workers to reach those levels.
8. Planning ensures against failures and setbacks: Planning is based on estimates. It is an effort to visualise the future and attain goals through present action.
9. Management by exception possible: Planning fixes objectives of the organisation and all efforts should be made to achieve these objectives. Management should interfere in other aspects only when things are not going well. Thus by the introduction of management by exception, managers are given more time for planning. The objectives rather than wasting their time in directing day-to-day work.

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Techniques of Planning

Planning will be useful only when it is effectively implemented. The following techniques makes the planning effective.
1. Consciousness for Planning: Planning will be effective only when there is proper climate for it.
The superiors should try to set objectives, review various goals and redraft them as is required for their effective implantation. The hurdles in the ways of planning should be removed. Every body should extend willing and co-operation for making the plans successful.
2. Initiative at top level: The initiative and support of top level management is essential for making the plans effective. The involvement of lower level management is also essential because execution will be more at these levels.
3. Proper communication: Communication among different levels in the organisation is very essential. If plans are not properly understood by those who are to implement them then these may not accheive the desired results. Communication provides a channel for the exchange of information among various persons without a proper communications system planning is bound to fail.
4. Participation in planning: The method and extent of participation will depend upon the type of organisation participating of persons at different levels may help in proper implementation of plans.
5. Emphasis on planning: Both long terms and short term plans should get proper emphasis. For effective implementation of planning both long-term and short-term plans should be given on equal weight-age.
6. Timing: Since the planning process is complex of any major and derivative plans and since plans are necessarily related to one another, it is important that they fit together, not only in terms of content and action, but also in terms of timing.

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Planning Process

   Planning can be accomplished in a series of steps, it is called as planning process. It starts from perception of opportunities to realisation of opportunities. it determines the future course of action for utilizing resources in the best possible manner to get optimum possible results. The various steps in planning process are described below.

Steps in Planning process:

i) Awareness of opportunities: While planning basically managers are needed to know the availability of opportunities to the organisation. Opportunities are available from environment. These are new project can be had from changing needs of customers, technological changes, competitors weaknesses and innovative patterns of the organisation. Awareness of opportunities involves preliminary understanding and estimation of opportunities and analysing them in the light of strengths and weakness of the organisation for the purpose of assuming them. When the managers are utilising the opportunities, it is to be observed they should be free from threats.

ii) Establishing Objectives: The second steps in planning is to setup objectives for the enterprise as a whole, and for the departments and individuals. Objectives are to be set for the long run as well as for the short run. These are the end points for managerial course of action and they are the destination for all the activities. Objectives specify the expected results and show how the destination is to be achieved and where emphasis is to be placed. 

Objectives of enterprise are to be translated into departmental objectives, and departmental objectives are to be converted into individual goals. Then only overall objectives for which the organisation is established can be achieved  Enterprise objectives give direction to major plans, in turn they are used to setup objectives for lower levels. Objectives appear in different forms, they are mission, overall objectives, divisional objectives and individual objectives etc.

iii)Planning Premises: Once the objectives are determined the next step is establishing the planning premises. Planning premises refer to the environmental conditions or surrounding circumstances in which plans work. Plans will operate in future, hence it is appropriate to expect future conditions and should plan accordingly.

iv) Identifying the Alternatives: In order to achieve the objectives under expected conditions managers first must identify various alternative courses of action. For instance, to achieve the objectives of securing desired profits, necessary plant and machinery should be established in the organisation. The machinery can be of different types like-

Manual plant,

Semi automatic plant,

Complete automatic plant.

These are known as alternatives. While developing the alternatives, organisational frame work like constraint of capital, manpower and philosophies may be taken into account.

v) Evaluating the Alternatives: After identifying the alternatives, the following stage is to evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. Their evaluation should be done in the light of the enterprise objectives.

vi) Selecting a course of Action: Choice of a particular alternative is the next step after evolution. Evolution explains the merits and demerits. Selection is the real point of decision making. At many times, it is confirmed  that selection of two or more alternatives is better than choosing only one alternative. Hence, managers should plan in such a manner to select right combination.

vii) Formulating Derivative Plans: The developmental plans are know as Derivative Plans. For instance, in order to generate desired profits for the organisation, production department should have production plan regarding number and quality of units to be produced.

viii) Budgeting: A budget is forecasted statement of revenue and expenditure, it is a numberised plan. It allovates the various resources to the required activities keeping in view of objectives. The organisation and each department working in it can have their own budget. Hence, budgeting is the last stage of planning which puts the plan into action.

                                  The planning sequence discussed above, is almost similar to all the managers but may differ according to the complexity and time duration of plans like some steps may be prolonged and some stages may be shortened. Future, plans must be cost-effective. Thus, proper planning should be done keeping in view the circumstance, the need, the magnitude and level of commitment.

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