The significance of the concept of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a process that involves identifying and pursuing a business opportunity to capitalize it.

Entrepreneurship began to be recognized during the French monarch Louis XIV who used to say that “bourgeois and craftsmen will become the artisans of wealth.” Over time, several national and international institutions having as their main activity the study of the environment and entrepreneurial behavior have defined the entrepreneur as ”a person who, on the basis of clauses and contractual conditions, undertakes to provide, for other persons and organizations, various works (industrial, construction, etc.) in return for a pre-established reward. Usually, these works are parts of a project.“ Also: “The entrepreneur  who contracted with subcontractors parts of the work for which he was engaged by the beneficiary is called the main entrepreneur . Responsibility for the whole project belongs to the main entrepreneur . The contract by which the entrepreneur undertakes to the beneficiary to execute a particular project is called an entrepreneurial contract.“ The second definition is less comprehensive but introduces new concepts on the activity of an entrepreneur

The term “entrepreneur” has a French etymology and focuses on the entrepreneur’s primary function: entrepreneur is a person who runs a business – from the French term entrepreneur.

In the modern sense of a market economy, an entrepreneur is an economic agent who adopts an active and innovative behavior that deliberately accepts financial risks to develop new projects. In this sense, a significant number of companies pays great attention and recognition to the entrepreneurs in large part due to the contribution they bring to changing business environment and the influence they have on macroeconomic indicators.

Recognizing the value of entrepreneurs – by entrepreneur understanding a concept very similar to what we know today – dates from the eighteenth century in France, when economist Richard Cantillona associated the risk-taking in the economy with entrepreneurship. In England, around the same time, the Industrial Revolution made its presence felt, and entrepreneurs were given the first opportunity to play an increasingly prominent role in transforming and capitalizing on resources; the first influences on macroeconomic indicators are recorded.

Joseph Schumpeter (1934), considered by some a genius in the economy of twentieth century, said that in entrepreneurship there is an understanding that we do in relation to a certain type of behavior that includes: initiative, organization and reorganization of the socioeconomic mechanisms and risk and failure acceptance. Entrepreneurship as a subject of discussion and analysis was introduced by economists in the eighteenth century and continued to attract the interest of economists in the nineteenth century.

To complete the list of information about the activity and the qualities that boost the results of the entrepreneurs, numerous studies have been undertaken. Their common conclusion was that all successful entrepreneurs had the following skills: internal control, planning ability, risk taking, innovation, feedback, decision-making, independence. This list is a continuous improvement process by adding new features.

In the view of behaviorist school representatives, who attaches the utmost attention to the elements that characterize the entrepreneurs, the main aspects that are specific are those of: innovation, leadership, risk–assuming , independence, creativity, tenacious, energetic, original, optimistic, result–oriented, flexible, materialistic, but a remarkable breakthrough in addressing the content of work and the characteristics of the entrepreneur is achieved by Jacques Fillon. In one of his latest studies, he pursues a particularly interesting and useful integrative approach to entrepreneurial activities and characteristics.

References

• Schumpeter, Joseph Alois (1976). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-10762-4.
• Schumpeter, Joseph Alois (1934). The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry Into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87855-698-4.