Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Essay - 1

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the project constructs a feasibility study on a new venture creation. The emphasis is on the role of the entrepreneur and the process of applying relevant theories and concepts. â€Å"According to intellectuals and business experts, the definition of entrepreneurship is simply the combining of ideas; hard work and adjustment to the changing business market†. Entrepreneurs use personal initiative and engage in calculated risk-taking, to create new business ventures. This can be achieved by raising resources to apply innovative new ideas that solve problems, meet challenges and satisfy the needs of a clearly defined market. Understanding the importance of how entrepreneurs develop, the circumstances that can encourage or induce entrepreneurship and the beliefs of entrepreneurs could prove helpful both in supporting the existing class of entrepreneurs along with boosting economic growth. The selected business entrepreneur is Steve Jobs, the founder and Chief executive officer of Apple since 1976. By 1980, Apple had released three improved versions of personal computers whose success made this founder a multi-millionaire.   An innovative computer pioneer who helped found Apple Computer and returned to the company to bring it the second period of success in the industry. The characteristic that is going to be tested and discussed is the innovation theory. The context will explore innovative entrepreneurship which looks at the development process of an idea into an application.  pplication. Innovation can be defined as â€Å"Transformation of a new idea into a new product or service, or an improvement in organization or process† (Heye 2006). The paper is set to describe the entrepreneurial and innovativeness of Steve Jobs while at the same time providing a detailed literature review of the development of small business and the role of innovation in the process. In addition, the paper takes a closer lo ok at the ways employed by Steve Jobs in making Apple a top company in the US and the world in general. Literature Review Innovation and creativity is a concept that enables the entrepreneur to exploit new ideas from concept to completion. This entrepreneurial characteristic implies the discovery, assessment and exploitation of opportunities. In perspective this leads to new products, services or production processes; new strategies and new markets for products and inputs that did not previously exist (Shane and Venkataraman 2000). Similarly product innovation could be a new model in the existing product range or a new product outside the existing range but in a similar field of technology. â€Å"Moving the focus to product innovation leads to very different conclusions on how alternative institutional set-ups affect economic performance† (Bengt-Ã…ke Lundvall and Vinding 2004). This demonstrates the advantage of product innovation as it can lead to an increase in profitability for organisation that implements the support of product innovation in their corporate strategy. To thrive in the globa l economy, entrepreneurs must rise to the challenge of achieving prosperity through increasing innovation. For instance, NESTA’s Innovation Index shows that companies that introduced a new product from 2002 to 2004 saw an average employment growth of 4.4% during the subsequent 3 years compared to 2% for non-innovative businesses (Design Council 2011). Research overtime has developed and shown that since the early work of Schumpeter (1950) the role of an entrepreneur has been linked with innovation. Amabile et al. (1996) define creativity as â€Å"the production of novel and useful ideas† (p. 1155), while Heye (2006) refer to innovation refers as â€Å"the implementation or transformation of a new idea into a new product or service, or an improvement in organization or process† (p. 253). Stevenson and Gumpert (1985) further indicate that innovation is the â€Å"heart of entrepreneurship† (p. 85). Therefore, entrepreneurship is viewed as a prime source