GET 219 Entrepreneurship for Engineers I Lecture Notes PDF

NILE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA Dr. Ali Nyangwarimam Obadiah Department of Computer Engineering [email protected]  NILE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA Lecture 1 Origin & Concepts of Entrepreneurship Lecture Outline ❑ Entrepreneur...

NILE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA Dr. Ali Nyangwarimam Obadiah Department of Computer Engineering [email protected]  NILE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA Lecture 1 Origin & Concepts of Entrepreneurship Lecture Outline ❑ Entrepreneurship – Origin ❑ What is entrepreneurship ❑ Who is an entrepreneur ❑ Types of entrepreneur ❑ Characteristics of an entrepreneur Entrepreneurship for Engineers 1 I. Entrepreneurship – Origin ❖Entrepreneur is derived from the French concept “entreprendre” which literarily is equivalent to the English concept “to undertake”. From the business point of view, to undertake simply means to start a business. GET 219 II. & III. Definitions of Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship refers to all the processes and activities involved in establishing, nurturing, and sustaining a business enterprise. [CONCISELY] Entrepreneurship: is Self-employment of any sort; the activity that involves identifying opportunities within the economic system; the creation of new organizations; the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities in an environment & be able to establish and run an enterprise successfully based on the identifiable opportunities. [EXPLICITLY] GET 219 II. & III. Definitions of Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneur Thus, from the definitions above we can see that while defining the concept ‘entrepreneurship’, laid emphasis on a wide spectrum of activities such as: ❖ Self-employment of any sort. ❖ Creation of organizations. ❖ Innovation applied to a business context. ❖ The combination of resources. ❖ Identification and exploitation of opportunities within the economic system or market. ❖ The bringing together of factors of production under uncertainty. GET 219 II. & III. Definitions of Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneur We can therefore conclude that whatever activity that involves any or all of the above activities can be regarded as entrepreneurship. It should also be noted that though most entrepreneurial businesses start small, entrepreneurs are not only small business owners; they can also be big business owners. GET 219 II. & III. Definitions of Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneur Intrapreneurs: in situations where an entrepreneur is not able to establish his or her own business and as such has to work in an organization. So, an Intrapreneur is an entrepreneur work within an existing organization to pursue the exploitation of business opportunities. These individuals are entrepreneurs in their own right because they pursue the exploitation of business opportunities as they emerge and are also visionaries within a given organization. Thus, once identified, these individuals should be encouraged to manifest their entrepreneurial abilities to the benefit of the organization otherwise they will be frustrated and may leave the organization or start their own businesses. II. & III. Definitions of Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneur Technopreneur: is an individual whose business is in the realm of high technology, who has the spirit of an entrepreneur - a technological innovator and a business man all combined in one individual IV. Types of entrepreneur Innovative, Imitating, Fabian and Drone. Innovative: they introduce something new into the market. They are interested in innovations and invest substantially in research and development. Imitating: a. k. a. ‘copy cats’ : They observe an existing system and replicate it in a better manner. They could improve on an existing product, production process, technology and through their vision create something similar but better. This is the case of the student becoming better than the master! IV. Types of entrepreneur Innovative, Imitating, Fabian and Drone. Fabian: they are very careful and cautious in adopting any changes. Apart from this, they are lazy and shy away from innovations. Drone: they are resistant to change. They are considered as ‘old school’. They prefer to stick to their traditional or orthodox methods of production and systems. IV. Types of entrepreneur Innovative, Imitating, Fabian and Drone. V. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur Entrepreneurs are motivated to become entrepreneur due to certain factors or circumstances. Creativity: Entrepreneurship entails innovations. It deals with product innovation, production techniques innovation while bearing in mind the market; Dynamic: Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process that has to bear in mind the dynamic business environment. V. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur -Purposeful: Entrepreneurship is an activity embarked upon for a specific purpose. This could be for profit making purposes, for humanitarian purposes or to bring a difference to the market. Technical Knowledge: Depending on the kind of venture created, the entrepreneur must have technical expertise about production techniques and marketing. V. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur -Risk-Taker: The business environment is dynamic and filled with uncertainties and risk. Successful entrepreneurs take calculated risks and in some cases shift the risks to others. -Total Commitment: creating a new business is a serious exercise that requires a lot of commitment and hard work. -Calm: They have to remain calm even when exposed to stress, emergency or crisis situations. -Focused: pay attention to a lot of details. V. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur -Confidence in the Face of Difficulties and Discouraging Circumstances: The entrepreneur must be steadfast and resolute and be ready to move on even in the face of adversity. -Innovative skills: The entrepreneur may not necessarily be an 'inventor' but the one that can make a difference. -Results-Orientated: know how to get results under any circumstances. The entrepreneur does this by setting goals and ensuring that such goals are doggedly pursued by all concerned. V. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur -Tolerance: relate with people. People vary in terms of their perceptions, personality, motivations and attitudes. The entrepreneur needs to be tolerant while not being weak. -Balance: entrepreneur has to be able to balance all emotions and characteristics and remain focused and objective while having emotional or mental strength and resilience. -Versatility: The entrepreneur has to be versatile and be ready to learn and use information technology and other technology to the best advantage.  SUMMARY *What is entrepreneurship *Types of entrepreneur *Characteristics of an entrepreneur