Entrepreneur

Knowledge Center

What is an Entrepreneur? Meaning.

Entrepreneurs are innovative persons having a low level of risk avoidance. They even have an 'appetite' for risk:

• Entrepreneurs start a new business. This is intrinsically a risky venture.
• They look for opportunities, which are always uncertain.
• A new company normally has a strong focus on being successful from a financial perspective. To be financially successful, risk has to be taken. On the other hand, if too much risk is taken (shareholder) value can also be destroyed.
• Entrepreneurs need to find a trade-off between risk and return.

Three Theories to Characterize Entrepreneurs

1. An entrepreneur is someone who starts and organizes a business or a company (functional theory).

2. Typical attributes or orientation of such an individual are: innovative, initiative, creativity, assuming financial risk, problem solving, visionary / strategic, seeing a Strategic Window, strong belief in their idea, optimism, engaging uncertainty, achiever, hard worker, leadership, accepting responsibility (supply theory).

3. The demand theory holds that entrepreneurs mostly emerge out of the combination of entrepreneurial opportunities and people who are well-positioned to take advantage of them. Thus, anyone who encounters the right conditions might become an entrepreneur, if they find themselves in a position where they find a valuable problem that they alone can solve.

What is an Entrepreneurial Organization? Meaning.

An entrepreneurial organization could therefore be described as a company or agency that:

1. Has recently started. Compare: Business Incubator.

2. Displays the same attributes or orientation as an entrepreneur. Can-do attitude, is proactive, engages heavily in product innovation, is Agile, undertakes risky ventures, keen on achieving First-mover Advantage and short Time to Market, has a Flat Organizational Structure. Compare: Organization Chart.

3. Is in a Competitive Environment offering entrepreneurial opportunities.

Entrepreneurial behavior can be stimulated by Incentives. The philosophy that focuses on stimulating individual employees to act in an entrepreneurial way is referred to as Intrapreneurship.

Forum New Topic Forum about Entrepreneurship. Types of Social Enterprises Models The concept of ‘social enterprise’ is often understood differently by different people, mainly because it is an umbrella (...) 8   1 comments Why it is So Hard to Share with Businessmen? I have been noticing that businessmen will typically not allow others to share with them. Even if someone is offering go (...) 7   1 comments How Entrepreneurs Reason and Make Decisions Sarasvathy (2001) argues effectual reasoning (effectual logic) guides the understanding of how entrepreneurs process inf (...) 6   The 7 Ms of the Entrepreneur An entrepreneur basically manages 7M's, namely; 1. Men 2. Machines 3. Material 4. Money 5. Meth (...) 6   2 comments What Exactly is Entrepreneurial Spirit? After start-up companies have grown and matured, they often lose sight of the original entrepreneurial spirit, essence o (...) 5   Ecopreneurship Challenges What are the challenges for an ecopreneur in 2012? What kind of strategies are needed? Could anyone give me some ideas o (...) 5   Publish your Research in E For those of you that may be academics, please consider submitting your theory-based research on starting a business, en (...) 5   Average Age of Entrepreneurs Most people probably think that most current startups are founded by young entrepreneurs. However, an analysis by Pierre (...) 4   2 comments When should a Firm Engage in Social Business? Businesses are increasingly attempting to participate in social business. In order to create value by using social appro (...) 4   Entrepreneurial Blitzkrieg as Solution to High Unemployment After analyzing the 2008 financial industry meltdown and the resulting jobs decimation, which has left us with an enduri (...) 4   5 comments 🔥 NEW How to Trigger / Ignite E? In my years of practice as a management consultant which is mostly in India, I work with quite a few assignments. One of (...) 4   5 comments Starting a Company Aimed at Young People I always dream to create my own company aimed at young people. But how can I start and what do you think young people ne (...) 3   2 comments What Type of Entrepreneur are You? What type of entrepreneur are you: an entrepreOWNER or an entrepreSLAVE of your business? You probably started your (...) 3   1 comments Common Risks in Entrepreneurial Companies Although every organization has to deal with a set of risks that are specific to the situation the company is working wi (...) 3   Steps to Become Self-Employed? I am an employee of a certain company, and I would like to become self-employed and my own employer. I have an interest (...) 1   5 comments Small Business Mortality Rate State, local and federal government resources are expended each year to encourage E and small business st (...) 1   4 comments Start a new forum topic about Entrepreneurship. More info. Share your opinion, knowledge and experience or ask a question (sign up for free first)

Best Practices Sign up The top-rated topics about Entrepreneurship. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. What is the Contribution Entrepreneurs are Making to the Economy? What are the contributions of entrepreneurs in national economic development? (...) 19   5 comments Typical Traits and Behavior of Entrepreneurs Can anyone give a reference or direction to understand entrepreneurs based on behavioural science or related fields. I a (...) 8   4 comments A Startup Company in Multiple Industries? We have started a company and we are focusing on 5 fields simultaneously viz. software, telecom, construction and traini (...) 7   5 comments

Expert Tips Sign up Advanced insights about Entrepreneurship. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Classes of Innovation | Sources of Innovation Innovation, Creativity, Organizational Innovativeness, Lateral Thinking, Out of the Box Thinking, Blue Ocean Strategy TWO CLASSES OF INNOVATION Innovation can be triggered or enabled by two broad classes: KNOWLEDGE PUSH: Innovation trig (...) How to Deliver a Business Pitch? Storytelling, Corporate Pitch, Pitching an Idea, E, Assessing Pitches, Showrunners, Artists, Neophytes How do you deliver a very good pitch for some business idea or venture you want to sell? Kimberly D. Elsbach, who has a (...) Entrepreneurial Strategies in Emerging Markets Emergent Strategy, E, Strategic Innovation Chanvatipsakul and Wongsurawat (2013) examined the reasons why SMEs are successful in entering emerging markets while bi (...)

Information Sources Sign up Various sources of information regarding Entrepreneurship. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Sources and Methods of Financing a Start-up Company or Small Business Finance, Start-up Financing, Small Business, SME, Bootstrapping, Equity Capital, Debt Capital, Venture Capital This presentation elaborates on the methods to finance a start-up company. The presentation includes the following secti (...) The Influence of Emotions and Moods on Decision-Making and E Decision Making, Emotional Intelligence, E, Cognitive Bias This presentation is about emotions in decision-making, thereby paying specific attention to Emotional Intelligence 1. (...) E: Characteristics and Success Factors E, Intrapreneurship, Characteristics of an Entrepreneur, Startup Business Presentation about E and Intrapreneurship that includes the following sections: 1. Overview 2. Entrepre (...) Techniques for Entrepreneurial Thinking E, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Lateral Thinking, Entrepreneurial Thinking This presentation elaborates on the different types of thinking for successful E. The presentation includ (...) Establishing an Innovative Social Enterprise Social E, Entrepreneurial Organization This presentation elaborates on social E and innovation. It includes the following sections: 1. Workshop (...) Preparing a Feasibility Study Feasibility Analysis This presentation gives an introduction into the concept of idea/business feasibility studies. The presentation consists (...) Tools for Social Entrepreneurs Social Business Idea Generation, Business Development, Funding, Marketing and Partnerships, Social Business Toolkit This nice toolkit provides many useful tools for social entrepreneurs wanting to establish a social business. It include (...) Entrepreneurial Finance: Sources Of Funding Financing New Ventures, Start-up Financing, Equity Financing, Debt Financing, Venture Capital, E Interesting presentation about the financing of new companies, including the following sections: 1. What makes entrepre (...) Design Thinking for Innovation Innovation, E, Design Thinking, CSR, Social E, Social Innovation This presentation is about design thinking and the connection to social E. The presentation includes the (...) Introduction to Social E Social E, Innovation Presentation that is a workshop about E in the social sector. The presentation includes the following sec (...) Interview with Richard Branson on E E, Starting a Business, Workshops, Trainings Richard Branson on Business: E is all about painting a picture, creating something really special and ma (...) Social Enterprises: an EU Political Perspective Social E, Entrepreneurial Organization, Social Economy Presentation about the social enterprise from a political perspective. The presentation includes the following sections: (...) Social E for Sustainable Community Development Social E, Entrepreneurial Organization Presentation that elaborates on the ways social enterprises can contribute to sustainable community development. The pre (...) Managing New, Dynamic Workplaces through Employee Engagement Workplace Management, Employee Engagement, Organizational Commitment, Burnout This presentation elaborates on the characteristics of the newer type of workplace, possible reactions of employees and (...) Writing a Business Plan for a Social Enterprise Social Enterprise, Innovation, E, Corporate Social Responsibility This presentation provides information about the business planning involved in E. It includes the followi (...)

Research Links Sign up Automatically jump to further useful sources regarding Entrepreneurship. News Videos Presentations Books More

Compare with: Organizational Configurations  |  Virtual Business  |  First-mover Advantage  |  Second-mover Strategy  |  Feasibility Study  |  Blue Ocean Strategy  |  Competitive Environment  |  Competitive Position  |  Illusion of Control Bias  |  Loss Aversion Bias  |  Disruptive Innovation  |  Innovation Adoption Curve  |  Flat Organizational Structure  |  Entrepreneurial Government  |  PAEI  model  |  Stretch Goals

Return to Management Hub: Change & Organization  |  Communication & Skills  |  Decision-making & Valuation  |  Finance & Investing  |  Human Resources  |  Leadership

More on Management  |  Return to Management Dictionary

This ends our Entrepreneurial Organization summary and forum.