Evolution of the Concept of Entrepreneurship

As any other thing, entrepreneurship has history too. Entrepreneurship is like human who started from a simple organism and then after so many years, evolved as a complex living. Entrepreneurship back then is just a word. No one really know the concept behind it.
In 1600, the French word “entreprende” which means go between was coined. This word is the root word of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur. In 1700, the concept of entrepreneurship was related to risk. In order to gain profit, you should first invest in risks. 
Many books said that the words entrepreneur and entrepreneurship were first used by Richard Cantillon, an Irish-French economist in 1755 and Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist and businessman in 1803. (Cherukara and Manalel, 2011) In this period, Cantillon also cleared that risk taker are different from capital suppliers. Capital suppliers are people who take risks in order to not miss out an opportunity of success. In 1803, Say develop the process of shifting economic resources out from an area of lower to higher productivity and greater yields. It is the concept of value addition. 
Neoclassical economists correlated entrepreneurship to market economy where demand-supply and rational thinking were the deciding factors of entrepreneurship. In early 20th century economists like, Willis C. Hawley(1907) and Frank Knight (1921), shared this neo-classical view. (Cherukara and Manalel, 2011) Another economist, Joseph Schumpeter develop the concept of trying the untried, innovated and developed technology in product production in 1934. It is the concept of productivity and innovation. 
In lined with the economists, other psychologists and sociologists engaged in the idea of entrepreneurship. Sociologists like Max Weber and Stephen Cole studied the history of entrepreneurship.  Some psychologists like David McClelland, develop trait theories about entrepreneurs in 1961. He theorized that a person who is highly motivated, risk taker and energetic helps them to become successful in entrepreneurship. This concept id the need for achievement.
In 1964, Peter Drucker, Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation, developed the concept of opportunity focused. This concept proposed that entrepreneurs searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunity. The idea that the entrepreneurs are opportunity seeker came from him. Karl Vesper, an American scholar and Professor emeritus of Management, Mechanical Engineering and Marine Studies at the University of Washington pioneered the entrepreneurship research and education in 1980. His studies were more on behaviour perceptions of economists, psychologists, businessman and politicians towards the entrepreneurial environment. After three years, the concept of intrapreneur was proposed by George Pinchot, an American forester and politician. He emphasized the differences of an intrapreneur and entrepreneur. In 1985, Robert Hisrich, former Director of the Walker Center of Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management, proposed FPS and Leadership & Vision, the ideas that entrepreneurship is creating something different with value, devoting time and effort, assuming the risks, rewards and satisfaction.

References:
  • Singh, R. (2007). Entrepreneurship Management Version1. Mumbai, India: Jamnalal Bajaj Institue of Management Studies
  • Cherukara, J. and Manalel, J. (2011). Evolution of entrepreneurship theories through different schools of thought. Kerala, India: Cochin University of Science and Technology

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