Notes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP & SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - MNE2601

STUDY UNIT 1
Chapter 1: The Nature and Development of Entrepreneurship

The Economic impetus of Entrepreneurship
Economic development can be directly attributed to the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. A combination of all types of businesses from Small, Medium, and Micro enterprises (SMME’s), to large National and International organisations (Private and Public owned) collectively determines the overall state of the economy.
GDP – real Gross Domestic Product – is the value of all production within a country’s geographical boundaries, and it is used to measure the growth (or decline) activity within our economy.

Employment is also closely linked to the state of the economy. During periods of poor economic growth, less job opportunities are available. The importance of entrepreneurs is crucial for the improvement of the South African economy and is also regarded as the best opportunity that exists.

The Development of Entrepreneurship Theory (entreprenology)
Can be divided into five periods according to Fillion (1991).
|Period                                               |Topic                                               |Authors & researchers                               |
|What entrepreneurs do 1950                           |Economic perspective                                 |Cantillon, Say, Schumpter                           |
|Who entrepreneurs are 1960 - 1980                   |Behavioural perspective                             |Weber, McClelland, Rotter, De Vries                 |
|What entrepreneurs do 1980 - 1985                   |Management science perspective                       |Drucker, Mintzberg                                   |
|What support is needed by entrepreneurs 1985 - 1990 |Social perspective (economists, geographers and     |Gartner, Welsh, Bygrave, Reynold                     |
|                                                     |sociologists)...