Submitted to:
Ms. Zoofishan Sehghal Department of Business Administration University of the Punjab Gujranwala Campus
Submitted by:
Saba Latif D/O Abdul Latif MBA-3rd semester
University University of Punjab Gujranwala Campus November 4, 2009
Assignment # 01 Q: Explain the differences differences between an Entrepreneur and an Inventor?
Outline of Question: • •
Introduction Definition
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Who is an Inventor? Who is an Entrepreneur?
Differences between an Entrepreneur and an Inventor: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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Dict Dictio iona nary ry Mean Meanin ing g 2. Def Definiti nitio on Comm Commer erci cial aliz izat atio ion n Fina Financ ncia iall risk risk . Fin Finan anci cial al risk risk Idea-cash conversion; so on…
Crux
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The document is not my own creative writing. It has been composed by selecting material from different differ ent websites for purely academic purposes.
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INTRODUCTION: The word “entrepreneur” is one of those that can be easier to recognize than define. If we were to ask a dozen different people on the street, we’d get a dozen different answers about what it means to be an entrepreneur ranging from “anyone who owns a business” to “someone who has started a lot of companies” and lines that begin with “the guy who created …”. It would quickly become apparent that “inventor” is the synonym which regularly crop up in discussions for entrepreneur. But these are weak synonyms at best and it is worth exploring why.
DEFINITION: •
Who is an Inventor?
According to Wikipedia:
"An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a radically new method, form, device or other useful means that does not exist before."
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Who is an Entrepreneur?
“A person, who undertakes to organize, operates, manage and assume the risk for a business venture is called entrepreneur.” According to Wikipedia :
“An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture or venture , and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome”
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ENTREPRENEUR AND AN INVENTOR: How an entrepreneur is different from an inventor is explained in the points below:
Entrepreneur
Inventor
1. Dictionary Meanings The word "entreprene "entrepreneur" ur" is a loanword loanword The word inventor comes form the Latin from French verb "entreprendre" verb “invenire” which means ‘to find’. which means ‘to undertake.’
2. Concept
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The The ter term entr entrep epre rene neur ur appl appliies to The term inventor applies to someone who someone who creates value by offering creates some new product that has not been a product or service, by carving out a existed before. niche in the market that may not exist currently.
3. Commercialization Commercialization An entrepreneur will gather resources, An inve invent ntor or devel develops ops a new prod produc uctt or organize talent, and provide leadership service, but may not bring it to market. to bring a good or service to market and make it a commercial success.
4. Financial risk Entreprene eneur underg ergoes seri erious ous There isn’t a lot of investment required so financial risk as huge amount of money financial risk is low. is invested.
5. Idea-cash conversion Entrepreneurship involves the conversion of ideas into cash. Because entrep entrepren reneur eur makes makes money money from from his ideas by capitalizing them. Ideas Cash
Invent Invention ion is the conversio conversion n of cash cash into into ideas. ideas. Becaus Becausee invent inventor or spends spends money money to create his inventions and may be unable to monetize them. Cash Ideas
6. Expertise He is an ambitious leader who He is an expert in his field. He implements comb combin ines es land, land, labo labor, r, and capi capita tall to his technical knowledge and expertise to often create and market new goods or introduce new products. services.
6. Innovator/ Inventor The entrepreneur is commonly seen as The The inven nventtor is com commonl monly y know known n as a business leader and innovator of new scientist or researcher. ideas and business processes.
7. Driving force/motivation force/motivation
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The entrepreneurs embrace the risk and Prima rimarrily driv driven en by the the are driven by the profitab profitabili ility ty of the potential of his invention product or service.
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8. Responsiveness to feedback An entrepreneur tests the waters, listens An inventor may see this single piece of to feedback, and is not afraid to scrap work as too much of an investment of their an idea in lieu of a new one. time time and mone money, y, and and refu refuse se to list listen en to what the market says.
9. Relationship Most entrepreneurs are innovators, not Not all inventors are entrepreneurs because inventors. not not all all of them hem pur pursue sue ful full bus busines inesss ventures.
10. Connecting solution to its problem An entrepreneur has the determination Although inventors also create new things to connect a solution to its problem. to provide solution to a problem they do not necessarily be able to connect a solution to its problem.
11. Sharing of Ideas Entr Entrep epre rene neur urss are are relu reluct ctant ant to thei their r He freely shared is ideas and technology ideas with others as they may lose their with others others in the hopes that such openness competitive edge over their would advance the science competitors.
12. Focus on financial return Entrepreneurs focus a lot on the ultimate financial return as it is the driving force.
Inventors often make a small fortune out of a big one, as they focus on discovering breakthroughs without regard for their ultimate financial return
13. Control The con control experienced by the If the inventor is not entrepreneur himself, entr entrep epre rene neur ur is unpa unpara rall llel eled ed if he he has has to surr surren ende derr a lot lot of cont contro roll by himself is the inventor. He can make licensing it to some entrepreneurial firm. changes as and when thinks fit.
14. Dependence on Research 6
They rely more on extensive amount of They rely more heavily on "gut" feelings or research they conduct rather than intuition than on past experience. intuition.
15. Locus of Control Acco Accord rdin ing g to rese resear arch cher ers, s, most mostly ly Ext Extrove rovers rsio ion n is one one of the the introverts come out to be good personality traits of inventors. entrepreneurs.
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16. Life Goal An entrepreneur’s life goal is to a substantial business.
An inventor’s life goal is to create something new
17. Preferred Work Mode Most of the entrepreneurs are group oriented. They like to work in teams to make their idea a practical success.
An inventor prefers to work individually.
18. Role of Research Research is a necessary evil for the entrepreneur.
For an inventor research is an enjoyable avocation.
19.Recognition Usually entrepreneurs gain team recognition.
Inventors enjoy personal recognition.
20. Financial Goal Their financial goal is to fund to fund future retirements.
Their financial goal is to fund future fund future inventions.
21. Core Competency Incremental improvements’ is improvements’ is the core ‘ Incremental competency of an entrepreneur.
‘Discontinuous inventions’ is inventions’ is the core competency of an inventor.
22. Preference 7
They work to solve customers’ problems.
Their preference is to solve complex problems.
23. Dogmatism Dogm ogmati atism leve levell entrepreneurs.
is
low
among High leve evel of dogm ogmatism is seen in inventors.
24. Social skills Entrepreneu Entrepreneurs rs possess possess mode moderat ratee extensive social skills.
to
Social skills of an inventor are limited.
CRUX: By looking at the differences of entrepreneur and inventor, it is clear that they are not synonyms at all. An inventor develops a new product or service which does not exist before and may or may not bring it to the market whereas an entrepreneur takes the risk to bring a product to market with the hope of making a profit. It is not necessary for an inventor to be an entrepreneur. Similarly an entrepreneur may or may not be an inventor. The list of fortunate people who are successful in both roles is very short.
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