Prebral: Exploring Entrepreneurship

Exploring Entrepreneurship by Richard Blundel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars





Richard blundel, locket siegel. Exploring entrepreneurship: practice and perspective. New York: oxford university press inc. 2011

pg. 3- the carrying out of new combinations we call 'enterprise'; the individuals whose function it is to carry them out we call 'entrepreneurs'. (Joseph a. Schumpeter)

Pg. 3- i'm encouraging young people to become social business entrepreneurs and contribute to the world, rather than just making money. Making money is no fun. Contributing to and changing the world is a lot more fun. (Muhammad Yunus)

pg. 4- it reflects the belief that entrepreneurship is something that can be learnt, from direct personal experience and through the experience of others.

Pg. 4- many years ago the economist Edith Penrose commented that, 'enterprise', or 'entrepreneurship' as it is sometimes called, is a slippery concept, not easy to work or personal qualities of individuals' (Penrose 1995 [1959]: 33; emphasis added).

Pg. 31- one of the skills of successful entrepreneurs is being able to identify relevant drivers and to recognize the entrepreneurial opportunities that they make possible (also in Kathleen R. Allen. launching new ventures: an entrepreneurship approach. Pg. 1)

pg. 109-marketing is a fundamental issue for any enterprise, but for new ventures it can be particularly challenging. ... Entrepreneurial marketing involves distinctive set of techniques and practical competencies than you need to develop, both within your entrepreneurial team and through your network relationship, in order for a new venture to thrive.

Pg. 127- people in entrepreneurial settings, including entrepreneurs attempting to market a new venture, face a number of distinct challenges including lack of resources, lack of legitimacy, and powerful incumbents. However, they are also well-placed to exploit opportunities, due to their inherent flexibility, closeness to customers, and capacity to form new networks. ... Entrepreneurial marketing comprises a number of techniques and practices based on an opportunity-oriented approach to marketing.

Pg. 284- research has indicated that increased levels of entrepreneurial activity are associated with positive economics outcomes, including more employment opportunities, less unemployment, lower prices, more rapid technological innovation, and increased rates of economic growth. ... entrepreneurial activity can become dysfunctional and inflict damage on the world's economic system. The global financial crisis of 2007-10 was a recent dramatic example, with serious repercussions for individuals, businesses, and communities around the world (Stiglitz 2010). ... (Baumol 1990) while destructiv entrepreneurship (e.g. organized crime) can undermine an entire economy.

Pg. 303- research on human cognition is concerned with the way individuals think and its effects on their behaviour. As Mitchel et al. (2002: 96) explain, 'cognitive psychology emerged to help explain the mental processes that occur within individuals as they interact with other people and the environment around them.' So, while the focus remains at the individual level, there is also a social dimensio.

Pg. 304- however, a high level of perceived self-efficacy can also be problematic since it, 'carries the risk of over-optimism, and of escalating commitments to failing courses of action.' (Wadeson 2008: 99).

Pg. 306- clearly, humans have the capacity to move beyond what currently exists to generate and implement new ideas. It is also clear, however, that people's attempts at creativity often reveal unnecessarily limited thinking. (Ward 2004:175)

pg. 306- are there some practical lessons that we can draw to enhance our creative thinking? Ward (2004) highlights one potentially useful approach. He points out that creative ideas tend to arise when people retrieve their examples at a more abstract level. Chia (2008) makes a related point, arguing that entrepreneurial creativity can be a product of 'peripheral vision', where people look beyond the immediate and obvious, avoid jumping to quickly conclusions, and allow themselves to attend to less obvious ideas.

Pg. 308- you might be able to learn many of the practice that we associate with successful entrepreneurship, but how do you convert this learning into practice? As a starting point, we need to recognize that learning can be particularly difficult when you are actually engaged in an entrepreneurial venture. ... We have formal and informal learning and we have relatively neglected yet vital topic of how entrepreneurs learn from their own challenges, mistakes, setbacks and failures.

Pg. 310- anyone who wants to run their own business has to get comfortable with the reality that they are going to make mistakes and even, at times, to experience failure. I learn as much from failure as success. (Anne Heraty, quoted in Flannery 2008: 74-5)

pg. 314- how paying attention to the ways that people think, and to the content of their thoughts, can help overcome potential biases that might lead to poor decision-making.




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