CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the symbol of business tenacity

and achievement; it is a vital source of change in all

facets of society1. In entrepreneurship, we must be able to

have a strong determination to do business and aim for

achievements. That is why business minded people entertains

changes and make these changes an opportunity for their

business. This is what Pahuja means with his definition of

entrepreneurship.

There are also different scholars who had given their

own definition of the word Entrepreneurship. Some of them

are as follows;

"Entrepreneurship is the process of creating or

seizing an opportunity and pursuing it regardless of the

resources currently controlled"2. Timmons means that

entrepreneurship is a process of continuously seeking

opportunity for the business regardless of the resources an

entrepreneur already.

1Anurag P. Entrepreneurship, Learning and Implementation,

“Introduction to Entrepreneurship”. (p.2, 7-9, 11). 2015 March. CEGR
New Delhi. August 1, 2017. Web/book.
2
Ibid.
 17

Entrepreneurship is the dynamic process of creating in

ceremonial wealth. The wealth is created by individuals who

assume the major risks in terms of equity, time and/ or

career commitment or provide value for some product or

services. The product or services may or may not be new

unique, but value must somehow be infused by the

entrepreneur by receiving and locating necessary skills

and resources3.

From the above definitions, Entrepreneurship can be

summed up as nothing but the process of creating something

new with a value, particularly responding to the

opportunities available. It involves time, efforts and

assumption of risk, with the expectation of receiving the

rewards at the end. The rewards can take any form- monetary

or non-monetary (personal contentment)4.

When we talk about entrepreneurship we will be able to

encounter the word Entrepreneur. The word entrepreneur

finds its origin in a French word “entreprendre”, which

means "to undertake." During early 16th century, the term

was used for the persons engaged in military expeditions.

In the 17th century, it was extended to cover construction

4
Ibid
 18

and civil engineering works. The term was used in context

of business and economic activities only in the 18th

century. Richard Cantillon, a French Banker, is credited

for the use of the word ‘Entrepreneur’ for the first time

to mean a person who bears uncertainty and risk5. According

to Richard Cantillon, “An agent who buys factors of

production at certain prices in order to combine them into

a product with a view to selling it at an uncertain price

in future”. It only shows that an entrepreneur must be

creative and innovative to be able to innovate and make the

already made products a new one. They must be able also to

accept and welcome change/s and make this an opportunity to

build up or come up with a new product.

Several research studies have been carried out to

identify the characteristics/traits of a true entrepreneur.

Although there are no specific, universally accepted

characteristics that have been found to be possessed by all

entrepreneurs, yet there are few traits that most

successful entrepreneurs possess. These include:

Motivation

Entrepreneurs must be passionate, confident and highly

self-motivated. One must be willing to take initiatives.

5
Ibid
 19

They must be business minded which means thinking about

their business and how will they innovate the processes,

services and products they have to increase their profit.

Risk Tolerance

It is said that an entrepreneur must always ready to

take risk. Establishing any entrepreneurial venture is very

risky. You’ll going to take risk not only money but also

time and effort. But through this risk, we may possibly

gain rewards or fruits of our hard works. In order to grow,

because rewards and risk are truly inseparable, an

entrepreneur should have a large appetite for taking and

accepting risk.

Vision

One of the major responsibilities of an entrepreneur,

as founder and head of the company, is deciding where the

business should go. That requires a strong vision on the

part of an entrepreneur.

Mental Ability and Creativity

The entrepreneur should anticipate changes and must be

able to study the various situations under which decisions

have to be made. Successful entrepreneurs have the creative

ability to recognize and pursue opportunities. They are

always on a look out for new ways of doing things,

launching new products, providing new services etc.

 20

There are also several factors that influence

individuals to become entrepreneurs. The following are the

identified factors which influences students or individuals

to become entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial Intention may be defined as a position to

owning a business or becoming self-employed.

Entrepreneurial intentions are also considered as personal

orientations which might lead to venture creation6. The

intention of an individual to take risk and accept changes

and transform these to opportunities is what

entrepreneurial intention means.

Perceived Behavioural Control refers to people's

perceptions of their ability to perform a given behaviour.

This factor means that a person is aware or understands

their ability before performing a given behaviour7. In lined

with the first factor, this also affects an individual with

his entrepreneurial intention.

Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship are affected by a

variety of factors, not just those directly related to

business but also those that relate to the acceptability of

6 Disseminator of Knowledge, IGI Global 1988-2017

7 http://people.umass.edu/aizen/pbc.html
 21

various actions and the values attached to them8. This means

that there are a lot of possible factors that may affect

our attitude towards entrepreneurship.

According to the study of Teresa Gomes da Costa

entitled, “Factors Affecting Students’ Entrepreneurial

Intentions of Polytechnic Institute of Setubal: A Cognitive

Approach,” her findings shows that male students have a

higher entrepreneurial intention than females. In lined

with her study, previous researchers are in accordance with

the findings of prior studies (KOLVEREID, 1996b; MAZZAROL;

VOLERY; DOSS; THEIN, 1999; REYNOLDS et al., 2002)9.

Furthermore, the results of her study revealed that age was

significantly related to entrepreneurial intentions and

older students have higher entrepreneurial intention than

younger students. This can be explained by the fact that

younger students are less likely to engage in enterprising

behaviour10. This finding is also proven by several studies

(e.g. BOYD, 1990; BATES, 1995; LÉVESQUE; MINNITI, 2006).

8
https://www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/content/attitudes-
towards-entrepreneurship
9
Teresa G. D. C & Pedro M. “Factors Affecting students’
Entrepreneurial Intentions of Polytechnic Institute of Setubal: A
Cognitive Approach,”
10
Ibid.
 22

According also to Da Costa’s findings(2016),there were

no support was found for the effects of the labour and

self- employment experience on entrepreneurial intentions.

On the research study entitled; “Entrepreneurial

Intentions and Its Influencing Factors: A Survey of the

University Students in Xi’an China,” made by Zhengxia Peng

et. Al.(2012), they found out that the intervening

variables (entrepreneurial attitude, subjective norm,

entrepreneurial self-efficacy), did not affect the

entrepreneurial intention of the University students. They

also find out that the family background of the students

does not affect the intervening variables that are given11.

There is also a finding in the research study of Dr

Mumtaz Begam Bt Abdul Kadir et. Al.(2012)entitled; “Factors

Affecting Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Mara

Professional College Students,” with 87 male respondents

and 170 female respondents of three programmes of the said

college, that there is no significant relationship between

behavioural factors (creativity and risk taking) with the

intention of the students to become entrepreneurs. This

was different from the research findings of Da Costa(2016)

11 Zhengxia Peng(2012) “Entrepreneurial Intentions and Its

Influencing Factors: A Survey of the University Students in Xi’an

China,”
 23

in her study12. She found out that perceived behavioural

control with respect to entrepreneurship, are positively

related to ESCE students’ entrepreneurial intentions, which

means that our perceived behavioral intention has an effect

with intentions to become entrepreneurs.

With regards to the variable, Attitudes toward

entrepreneurship, Da Costa’s findings said that the

attitudes towards entrepreneurship are positively related

to ESCE students’ entrepreneurial intentions (2016). It

only means that our attitude towards entrepreneurship

affects our intention to become entrepreneurs.

Dr Mumtaz Begam Bt Abdul Kadir et. Al.(2012).Factors Affecting

12

Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Mara Professional College Students,”