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Attitudes To Risk And Entrepreneurship Contents Abstract .. 2 Chapter 1 ...

Attitudes to risk and entrepreneurship

Contents

Abstract .. 2

Chapter 1 Introduction .. 3

Chapter 2 Attitude . 5

Chapter 3 - Risk . 9

Chapter 4 Entrepreneurship ..... 15

Chapter 5 Survey ... 29

Chapter 6 Conclusion ... 34

Appendices ... 38

Bibliography ..... 43
Abstract
Entrepreneurship, as defined by Stevenson (1983) is the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you currently control. Stevenson and Gumpert (1985, pp. 85-94) advise that the preceding definition represents both the individual as well as the society that he or she is embedded in as he or she identifies an opportunity they desire to pursue, and as an entrepreneur they thus must seek the resources from the broader society. The approach to entrepreneurship as voiced by Stevenson and Gumpert (1985, pp. 85-94) builds upon earlier scholars such as Schumpeter (1934) who identified the context of the interaction of the individual and wider society. The title of Schumpeter's (1934) work The Theory of Economic Development could almost be suited to a title for entrepreneurship, as Harper (2003, p. 1) advises that one of the prominent features of a competitive enterprise economy is the ability of people continually to seek out and seize opportunities for profitable new activities in local and world markets. That statement mirrors the definition of entrepreneurship as put forth by Stevenson and Gumpert (1985, pp. 85-94).
French economist Say, around 1800 stated that the entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield (Drucker, 1985, p. 21). However, starting a new venture does not necessarily constitute entrepreneurship, and is not limited to new and or small businesses. Drucker (1985, p. 22) advises that entrepreneurship is indeed being practiced by all sizes of companies and corporations, and said activity represents the creation of something new, or different, and or the change / transmutation of value. As such, Drucker (1985, pp. 21) cites McDonald's, which is an example of entrepreneurship. And while its product did not represent anything new, the management concepts, techniques, standardization of the product, the process of designing systems and tools, the understanding of the work that needed to be done, and devising working and training techniques to transmit this to others is what defines it as being entrepreneurial (Drucker, 1985, p. 21). He also uses General Electric as an example in that the company's long history of starting new entrepreneurial businesses from scratch, and raising them into sizable industries is another example of this process (Drucker, 1985, p. 23), as well as Marks and Spencer of the United Kingdom.
Shiller (2006) advises that Entrepreneurship is a delicate organism, continuing that It needs the right environment to flourish. Welsch (2003, p. 4) elaborates on Shiller's (2006) view by stating:
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