PowerPoint_Entrepreneur
9233 Chapter 3 p61-90
18/10/04
9:09 am
Page 61
3
What do entrepreneurs do?
Learning outcomes
If you study this chapter carefully, it may help you to understand:
◆
the personal and cognitive qualities that can help an entrepreneur to succeed in business
◆
why the entrepreneur has a rather limited role in mainstream economics ◆
what is meant by ‘X-inefficiency’, and the role of the entrepreneur in combating it by getting staff to work harder or smarter
◆
why some economists see entrepreneurs as people who help steer the economy towards equilibrium, while other economists see entrepreneurs as disruptive agents of change
◆
the kinds of mental connections that successful entrepreneurs are particularly skilled at making.
To the extent that you develop such understanding, you should be better able to develop a more complete picture of the nature and role of entrepreneurship than the populist understanding by drawing together the different theories discussed here.
9233 Chapter 3 p61-90
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18/10/04
9:09 am
Page 62
CHAPTER 3 WHAT DO ENTREPRENEURS DO?
Woolworths, the pyramids and the Internet have one thing in common: they started out as nothing but an idea.
Guy Claxton (2001)
3.1 Introduction
Without doubt the entrepreneur holds a special place in the collective consciousness of society; indeed some entrepreneurs have achieved fame or notoriety that is on a par with Hollywood superstars. The business exploits of a number of high profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson (Virgin), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop),
James Dyson (Dyson) and Stelios Haji-Ioannu (EasyJet) are reported regularly in the media. These people, and others like them, are famous because they are successful in business.
But what does an entrepreneur do? In this chapter we look beyond the populist conception of the entrepreneur and introduce a more rigorous analysis of this key actor on the economic stage. In
18/10/04
9:09 am
Page 61
3
What do entrepreneurs do?
Learning outcomes
If you study this chapter carefully, it may help you to understand:
◆
the personal and cognitive qualities that can help an entrepreneur to succeed in business
◆
why the entrepreneur has a rather limited role in mainstream economics ◆
what is meant by ‘X-inefficiency’, and the role of the entrepreneur in combating it by getting staff to work harder or smarter
◆
why some economists see entrepreneurs as people who help steer the economy towards equilibrium, while other economists see entrepreneurs as disruptive agents of change
◆
the kinds of mental connections that successful entrepreneurs are particularly skilled at making.
To the extent that you develop such understanding, you should be better able to develop a more complete picture of the nature and role of entrepreneurship than the populist understanding by drawing together the different theories discussed here.
9233 Chapter 3 p61-90
62
18/10/04
9:09 am
Page 62
CHAPTER 3 WHAT DO ENTREPRENEURS DO?
Woolworths, the pyramids and the Internet have one thing in common: they started out as nothing but an idea.
Guy Claxton (2001)
3.1 Introduction
Without doubt the entrepreneur holds a special place in the collective consciousness of society; indeed some entrepreneurs have achieved fame or notoriety that is on a par with Hollywood superstars. The business exploits of a number of high profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson (Virgin), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop),
James Dyson (Dyson) and Stelios Haji-Ioannu (EasyJet) are reported regularly in the media. These people, and others like them, are famous because they are successful in business.
But what does an entrepreneur do? In this chapter we look beyond the populist conception of the entrepreneur and introduce a more rigorous analysis of this key actor on the economic stage. In