Abstract
Capitalism has required the function of the entrepreneurs, people who use creativity, understood as the ability to solve problems and put innovation into practice. Firms can be social, public, and private; in this last case, the creation of an enterprising company involves new products, new production methods, the opening of new markets, the development of new sources of raw materials and inputs, and the creation of new market structures in the industry. This chapter is a bibliographical review of the theories of entrepreneurship from economics, sociology, psychology, and management aiming to contribute to the construction of a definition of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur that can be accepted by scholars in this field.
TopIntroduction
Capitalism would be different without the adoption of new ideas and their adaptation to companies, a process carried out by the entrepreneurs (Schumpeter, 1947), as these individuals use creativity and innovation to solve business problems. The research field of entrepreneurship shows theoretical developments and breakthroughs in the analysis of its features and functions, though it lacks the construction of a consensus on an accepted definition of entrepreneurship. With several types of entrepreneurs, environments, and conditions, there are diverse ways to be an entrepreneur, so firms vary and can use multivariate models that attempt to capture the complexity of their reality.
Theoretical advances on entrepreneurship allow us to see a general panorama of this field of knowledge, but from separate visions. As a result, entrepreneurship can be grouped in Economics, Psychology, Sociology, and Management (see table 1). Having approached entrepreneurship and startup creation from a systemic view, some factors can be identified that influence a startup process formed by the business project, its launch, and the initial development of the company. The Economic School offers an understanding of the entrepreneurial phenomenon from individual action -homo economicus- that achieve their welfare through profit maximization; the Psychological School includes the influence of the individual within the entrepreneurial model; from the Sociological approach, individuals and their relationships in the pursuit of development are studied from the creation of economic value. Finally, the vision from Management and Strategy shows how the company and the entrepreneur fit to the market conditions.
Table 1. Some current approaches of entrepreneurship
| Economy | Sociology |
• Risk
• Benefit
• Costs
• Innovation
• Leadership
• Maximization of profit | • Context
• Attributes
• Networks
• Values
• Routines
• Competence |
| Psychology | Management |
• Creativity
• Challenges
• Motivation
• Incentives
• Mass media
• Independence need
• Locus of control | • Strategies
• Risk
• Proactivity
• Management
• Innovation
• Advantages |
Source: Author
Key Terms in this Chapter
Pulling Entrepreneur: It is defined when a startup is created by attraction or imitation.
Collective Values: They are composed of benevolence, tradition, and conformity.
Convergent Creativity: A sort of creativity that selects the strengths and weaknesses of each idea.
Necessity-Driven Entrepreneurship: It is defined when business decisions are mainly guided by economic necessity.
Opportunity-Driven Entrepreneurship: It appears when entrepreneurs take advantage of foreseen business opportunities.
Entrepreneurship-Related Psychological Features: They are formed by creativity, desire for independence, leadership, opportunism, individualism, intuition, organization, capacity for rationality, planning, and professionalism.
Pushing Entrepreneur: It is defined by being unsatisfied with his or her current job and decides to start a business.
Returner: Applied to firms and entrepreneurs, this term refers to combining business creation and social wealth.