The implications of Opportunity Recognition for entrepreneurs

The implications of Opportunity Recognition for entrepreneurs The Entrepreneur that starts up this business is Mr. Goh Cheng Hoy; he was born in 1959 in Penang. In 1983, Mr. Goh identifies the prospect of setting up a mattress manufacturing factory in Penang. He saw what others dont saw and he is the pioneer in bringing this business up in Penang. Not only did his company made name locally, his brand is also well known in the other part of the world as it is a major exporter of mattress. According to Donald Kuratko and Howard Frederick, entrepreneur is defined as a person who is innovative, recognizes and seizes opportunities; converts those opportunities into workable/marketable ideas; add value through time, effort, money, or skills; and assumes the risks of the competitive marketplace to implement these ideas. Entrepreneurs are often characterized by their ability to recognize opportunities (Bygrave Hofer, 1991) and the most basic entrepreneurial actions involve the pursuit of opportunity (Stevenson Jarillo, 1990). Entrepreneur is a person who can identify and recognise viable business opportunities. Opportunities lie everywhere, yet many people neglected and didnt notice there was one; however, entrepreneurs have the capacity to see what others do not. They are uniquely optimistic, committed, determined, creative and innovative. Although all people are unique by nature, all entrepreneurs have one common objective that is to create wealth from new or existing resources. The purpose of this paper is to review opportunity recognition literature in the entrepreneurial process and to discuss the implications of Opportunity Recognition for entrepreneurs. The opportunity recognition as presented here is only on an individual-level basis. Christensen et al. (1989) defines opportunity recognition consists of either perceiving a possibility to create new business, or significantly improving the position of an existing business. It both will lead to profit potential. Opportunity Recognition for new business is the central and important component of entrepreneurial process, (Christensen et al. 1994; Gaglio 1997; Gaglio and Katz 2001; Gartner et al. 2001; Kirzner 1997; Shane and Venkataraman 2000), and is the first and most vital steps in the entrepreneurial process (Christensen et al. 1994; Hills 1995; Timmons et al. 1987). Before one could proceed to others, they must first identify the opportunity that arise and take further step to make the opportunity into a profit making business. Without opportunity there is no entrepreneurship. This is further strengthen by the cited definition of an entrepreneur as someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it (Bygrave Hofer, 1991:14) Numerous scholars view opportunity recognition as a multi-staged and often complex process. The process perspective of OpR has proved to be a fruitful area of research because it acknowledges that OpR is a multifaceted phenomenon influenced by numerous factors. Long and McMullan (1984), for example, proposed a model of the opportunity recognition process with four stages: Prevision, point of vision, opportunity elaboration, and the decision to proceed. Pre-vision is affected by both uncontrollable and controllable factors, such as environmental and job forces, as well as venture alertness cultivation, moonlight venturing, and job selection. Ardichvili et al. (2003) suggest that the opportunity identification process begins when alert entrepreneurs notice factors in their domain of expertise that result in the recognition and evaluation of potential business opportunities. The issue of opportunity recognition, as opposed to opportunity evaluation, has received far less attention. Yet it is opportunity recognition that often drives deals. Until recently this aspect has been offered very little attention by scholars. However, there has been a growing interest into the process of opportunity recognition over the last few years, resulting in a number of published researches. The specific area of opportunity identification has been particularly enriched with insights through valuable academic in recent years. Namely, it is through the research findings and contributions of scholars like Shane, Lumpkin and Gilad that there are several affecting factors identified and modelled accordingly. Even though the joint efforts of the business practitioners and scholars, they have yet to produce a workable universal model, there are a number of framework variables that are being discussed and elaborated upon. Despite of a growing amount of published research work focusing on entrepreneurial opportunities, there is little empirical research and investigation into this area. The main question that puzzles most of the research relating to opportunity recognition is why, when and how someone generates or sees opportunities whilst others do not (Shane Venkataraman, 2000). Scholars argue that existing entrepreneurs are more likely than others to detect opportunities because of the knowledge they have learned from previous entrepreneurial experiences (McGrath, 1996; Ronstadt, 1998). Recent research on habitual entrepreneurship founds that opportunity recognition may be fuelled by prior entrepreneurial experience resulting in knowledge (Ucbasaran, Howorh, Westhead, 2000; Ucbasaran Westhead, 2002). There are two set of questions and debates surrounding opportunity literature. The first is whether opportunities are the result of serendipity or deliberate search (Chandler, Dahlquist, Davidsson, 2002; Gaglio Katz, 2001). The second is whether they are discovered objectively or created subjectively (Gartner et al., 2003). Existing knowledge is assumed to have the capacity to affect both the ability to search for information and the ability to take advantage of elements of coincidence or luck. Furthermore, both the discovery and creation of opportunities may be supported by the existing knowledge of the discoverer. Despite Shane (2000) states that opportunities are discovered without actively searching for them, he also supports the notion that prior knowledge is a pre-requisite for discovery. The discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities depends on prior knowledge, and people will be more likely to discover opportunities in sectors that they know well. Individuals who have developed particular knowledge through education, personal events, and work experience -idiosyncratic prior knowledge- are better able to discover certain opportunities than others. Therefore, all individuals are not equally likely to recognize a given entrepreneurial opportunity. The prior distribution of knowledge in society influences who discovers these opportunities. In sum, for opportunities to be discovered there must be a fit between an entrepreneurs prior experience and a venture opportunity. Prior experience must overlap with the knowledge domain of the venture opportunity (Fiet Patel, 2006). Shane (2000) takes into consideration the mentioned fit or overlap and proposes to assess the knowledge possessed by the entrepreneurs instead of identifying the knowledge needed to launch a new business. Conclusion An early step along a prospective entrepreneurs path to beginning a new business is the identification of an opportunity to pursue. In essence, the would-be entrepreneur must recognize that society currently deploys resources in a sub-optimal manner, so that a benefit exists to mobilizing and then reconfiguring them for use in a different capacity. In many instances, opportunity recognition results from an entrepreneurs creative insight into a new way to fulfill an unmet need. But even in well-established and highly visible industries, much of the information that serves as a necessary input to the creative process is available only to those with extensive industry experience. In part for this reason, considerable evidence reveals that nascent entrepreneurs most likely develop new ventures in domains in which they have broad work experience (for an early statement of this argument, see Brittain Freeman, 1986).

Free Essays - The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

How is one to distinguish between a good and a bad mother? What characteristics sets apart a good mother from a bad one? Amanda's actions in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams were made clear from the beginning. First, she was an extremely domineering person. Especially when it came to her children, constantly putting them down and making them feel as if they were inferior and couldn't do anything right. Secondly, she would make her childrens' decisions for them, allowing them to decide little regarding their own future. Finally, by placing a large part of her responsibilities on Tom demonstrates to the reader that Amanda is irresponsible. Despite any views people may have on it being difficult to differentiate the actions of a bad mother from those of a good mother, it was made obvious that Amanda was a selfish mother, putting her needs ahead of her children's. Amanda ultimately cared for herself more than her children Domineering is one of Amanda's strongest characteristics. She notices her children's weaknesses rather than their strong points, demonstrating this quality. She would constantly downplay her children about what they had become. "Sounds to me like a fairly responsible job you would be in if you just had more get-up." (Act 1, Scene V, pg. 54.) Amanda could never show any recognition for what her children had achieved. After Laura had dropped out of business school, Amanda was very pessimistic about her future, and was sure she would become an "old maid." Amanda did not even think of the possibility that Laura could be successful on her own, she failed to recognize that maybe both Laura and Tom would be happy and successful if they were only given the change to chose what they wanted to do for themselves, rather than their mother always making their decisions for them. It would definitely be difficult, and likely hopeless if someone was not doing something by choice, but was always coerced into doing it. Amanda would be constantly upset by how her children would not stick to something and be happy and successful with it. It was unfortunate that she did not realize that if she would just let her children make their own choices, they would most likely attain happiness. After making Laura go to business college, which she didn't want to do, she of course made it seem as if it was all Laura's fault. "Fifty dollars' tuition, all of our plans-my hopes

History †MapQuest Chapters Essay

WebQuest Chapter 19: The Pullman Strike 1. ) George Pullman explained that the benefits of having his workers living in his company town was that he believed that the surroundings would remove the workers from the â€Å"Feeling of discontent† which â€Å"Characterized the American Workman†. This would protect his company from the economic loss that the discontented worker would suffer if he was living under bad conditions. He also took the rent that was due directly out of the paychecks of his employees. 2. ) The readings do not state a dollar amount for the hourly wage. The Parable of Pullman states that the workers wages were close to subsistence level. The amount of the pay cut averaged 25% 3. ) Eugene Deb was a Locomotive Fireman. It was under him that the American Railway Union was organized in June of 1893. He was the president of the ARU. It was a single organization that represented all types of railroad employees. In August of 1893 they had had success over the Great Northern Railway in a wage cut dispute. The Pullman workers also joined the ARU. When they went on strike in May of 1894, the ARU supported the strike and it became a nationwide strike between railroads and the American Railway Union. After the strike was broken by federal intervention, Debs was jailed for six months for his role in the strike,, specifically for violating a federal injunction and interfering with the mail. 4. ) The strike ended because the ARU members had refused to work any train that had Pullman’s cars included in it. The companies purposefully attached Pullman cars to mail trains. This caused the mail to be delayed. The result was the Federal Government issuing an injunction and President Cleveland sending Federal troops to enforce it, in order to stop the mail delay. A â€Å"yellow dog† contract is a contract that a worker signs promising not to join a labor union while he is an employee of the company who holds the contract. 5. ) The appellants had been refused employment, had no viable way to leave the Town of Pullman, and their families were starving. Instead of employing these individuals, Pullman had brought in substitute workers. Governor Altgeld wrote Pullman a letter basically stating that he should bear some responsibility for the plight of those in his town. He also stated that he was going to conduct a personal investigation. He made good on his word for the investigation. 6. ) The investigations found that the letter of complaint was indeed valid. There were 1600 families that were without the basic necessities of life, such as food. The investigators also found that there were 600 new workers but 1600 old workers that were still unemployed. HISTORY PAGE 2 of 3 7. ) Pullman blamed the workers for their plight, stating that if they had not gone on strike, they would not be suffering. WebQuest Chapter 20: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 1. ) The workforce was mainly made up of young immigrant women. There were also men employed, and boys as elevator attendants. There were other boys and girls present during the fire. 2. ) There were a total of 146 people who died in the fire. Most of these were young women. The readings do not break out the deaths by gender. There were also men and boys who died in the fire. About a third jumped from the ledges to avoid burning to death. The rest died of burns, some at their sewing machines. 3. ) The exit doors on the ninth floor were locked, ostensibly to prevent employee theft. The one fire exit that was available was inadequate for the number of workers. The conditions existed because fire inspections and precautions were inadequate. The workers feared that if they spoke out about the conditions, that they would lose their job. Economics also played a role in why the conditions were not corrected. 4. ) The citizens of New York, from every physical and economic part of the City, demanded justice. Workers offered testimony and support. There were protests in the streets. They demanded a safer work environment. 5. ) The unions became strong after this tragedy. Many workers saw the benefit in having an organization speak on their behalf. The other legacy is the building codes and worker safety legislation that was passed after the fire. WebQuest Chapter 22: The Platt Amendment 1. ) The Platt Amendment was attached to the Cuban Constitution. The Cuban Government, with reluctance, included the amendment in their constitution. The United States was already occupying Cuba. The United States was not going to relinquish any control without the amendment in place. 2. ) The Platt Amendment was drafted by Secretary of War Elihu Root, and presented by Senator Orville Platt. It was attached as a rider to the Army Appropriations Bill of 1901. The intent was to protect Cuba from foreign intervention and allow the United States to exercise authority in Cuba if the situation warranted it. It was passed by the Senate HISTORY PAGE 3 of 3 3. ) The Platt Amendment barred Cuba from going into debt, making treaties with other nations that gave those nations any power over Cuban affairs, or stopping the US from creating a sanitation system. It restricted Cuban Sovereignty by giving the United States broad latitude of power over the domestic and foreign relations of Cuba. 4. ) The Platt Amendment was used by the United States as an excuse for intervention in Cuba in 1906, 1912, 1917, and 1920. The Platt Amendment was also used for the creation of the base at Guantanamo Bay. 5. ) The Cubans were reluctant to attach it to their Constitution. They feared rampant US intervention. Widespread criticism of the amendment and rising nationalism in Cuba resulted in President Franklin Roosevelt’s repeal of the Amendment in 1934, except for the lease of Guantanamo Bay. 6. ) Whereas the Platt Amendment specifically provided causes for the intervention in Cuba by the United States, the Teller Amendment stated that the United States disclaims sovereign claims to Cuba, and will leave control of the island to the Cubans, and will not claim jurisdiction. The two documents are in sharp contrast to one another.

Free Essays on Data Encryption

The electronic age has brought forth many technological advances. With these advances came the need for security and tighter control on how we send information electronically over the Internet or through a network. Date encryption is, in its simplest terms, the translation of data into a secret code. In order to read an encrypted file, the receiver of the file must obtain a secret key that will enable him to decrypt the file. A deeper look into cryptography, cryptanalysis, and the Data Encryption Standard (DES) will provide a better understanding of date encryption. Cryptographic Methods There are two standard methods of cryptography, asymmetric encryption and symmetric encryption. Data that is in its original form (unscrambled) is called plaintext. Once the data is scrambled and in its encrypted form it is called ciphertext. The ciphertext, which should be unintelligible to anyone not holding the encryption key, is what is stored in the database or transmitted down the communication line. Asymmetric encryption (also know as public key encryption) uses two separate keys, a public key and a private key. The private key is available only to the individual receiving the encrypted message. The public key is available to anyone who wishes to send data or communicate to the holder of the private key. Asymmetric encryption is considered very safe but is susceptible to private key theft or breaking of the private key (this is virtually impossible and would constitute trying billions of possible key combinations) (4). Types of public key algorithms include Riverst-Shamir-Adelman (RSA), Diffie-Hellman, Digital Signature Standard (DSS), EIGamal, and LUC (5). Symmetric encryption uses only one key (a secret key) to encrypt and decrypt the message. No public exchange of the key is required. This method is vulnerable if the key is stolen or if the ciphertext is broken (4). Types of symmetric algorithms include DES, Blowfish, International Data Encryp... Free Essays on Data Encryption Free Essays on Data Encryption The electronic age has brought forth many technological advances. With these advances came the need for security and tighter control on how we send information electronically over the Internet or through a network. Date encryption is, in its simplest terms, the translation of data into a secret code. In order to read an encrypted file, the receiver of the file must obtain a secret key that will enable him to decrypt the file. A deeper look into cryptography, cryptanalysis, and the Data Encryption Standard (DES) will provide a better understanding of date encryption. Cryptographic Methods There are two standard methods of cryptography, asymmetric encryption and symmetric encryption. Data that is in its original form (unscrambled) is called plaintext. Once the data is scrambled and in its encrypted form it is called ciphertext. The ciphertext, which should be unintelligible to anyone not holding the encryption key, is what is stored in the database or transmitted down the communication line. Asymmetric encryption (also know as public key encryption) uses two separate keys, a public key and a private key. The private key is available only to the individual receiving the encrypted message. The public key is available to anyone who wishes to send data or communicate to the holder of the private key. Asymmetric encryption is considered very safe but is susceptible to private key theft or breaking of the private key (this is virtually impossible and would constitute trying billions of possible key combinations) (4). Types of public key algorithms include Riverst-Shamir-Adelman (RSA), Diffie-Hellman, Digital Signature Standard (DSS), EIGamal, and LUC (5). Symmetric encryption uses only one key (a secret key) to encrypt and decrypt the message. No public exchange of the key is required. This method is vulnerable if the key is stolen or if the ciphertext is broken (4). Types of symmetric algorithms include DES, Blowfish, International Data Encryp...

Definition Essay Essays - Measurement, Confidence, Emotions

Definition Essay Essays - Measurement, Confidence, Emotions Definition Essay Most of life's situations are learning experiences. People can learn what activities are right or wrong for them by experiencing these emotions in different situations. These learning experiences can take place at home, school, the office or anywhere else. The experiences that have given me confidence in my ability to learn takes place at the activities I do daily. Confidence has helped me perform better at school as well. I believe that a person who gains confidence will succeed more in life than a person who does not. Because confidence is believing that you can succeed and as long as you believe that you can do it. You can. Although it is true that confidence is in each and everyone of us, some people disagree because of their lack of trust in themselves. the meaning of confidence dates back from Rome in the 15th century, stems from the latin words confidentia and confidentem. At that time it meant " firmly trusting, bold". The definition of confidence has changed since then, websters dictionary defines confidence as " a feeling or belief that you can do something well"; a belief that someone or something is good or has the ability to succeed at something". Obviously this meaning is accurate and understandable but there are other meanings people give to explain what real confidence for them is, like this one quote I read on google says that " confidence is appreciating how awesome you are". Just like confidence, self confidence is esssential to have because having this emotion will boost up your self esteem. Because once your confident you will realize your self worth and value yourself more. Though it is good to have confidence some people who gain confidence tend to take it a too far. As dictated by Melanie moushigian Koulouris, "Be humble in your confidence yet courageous in your character". Meaning never loose your sense of character , as confidence can sometimes over power you and make you look brash and arrogant. Every one needs confidence, because real confidence comes from you and no one else. No one can make you have confidence. It is only when you believe in yourself will you realize that you had confidence in you all along. For instance, in the business world, a good business man shows confidence in his meetings and business lunch's by using large gesticulations, projecting his voice and speaking slower. Gaining confidence will also improve your oral communication skills by making you feel sure about your feedback to the sender. Confidence is like writing a long essay and submitting it to your professor without looking it over or checking for any error. And most of all, confidence is being comfortable with what you're doing.

The laboratory diagnosis, monitoring and management of the diabetic Essay

The laboratory diagnosis, monitoring and management of the diabetic patient - Essay Example This disorder is known as hyperglycemia. Many other metabolic abnormalities occur, notably an increase in ketone bodies in the blood when there is severe lack of insulin (Jacobs, 1996). Glucose measurement in an accredited laboratory should be the rationale of ant diagnosis of diabetes. In the laboratory, glucose tolerance test is not norm ally required in regular clinical practice. It can only be carried out if uncertainty exists in younger patients, or to find out an exact diagnosis in pregnancy. For, results that can be counted on, glucose tolerance tests should be carried out in the morning after an overnight fast, with the patient being required to sit calmly and not smoking. In addition, the patient should have normal meals for the previous three days and should not have been dieting. Inaccurate results may be achieved if the patient has been ill recently or has had prolonged bed rest (Fine, 2008). During glucose tolerance test, blood glucose concentrations are determined and are measured fasting and then one and two hours after a drink of 75g of glucose in a volume of waster, approximately 250-350ml. it is recommended that the water be flavored, for example, with pure lemon juice. Further, urine tests should be carried out before the glucose drink and at one and two hours. According to WHO, ADA, and diabetes UK, the criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes states that: symptoms of diabetes plus casual venous plasma glucose11.1mmol/1. They define casual as any time of the day without regard to time since the last meal was taken. Some of the classic symptoms include polyuria, polydipsia, and unexplained weight loss. Secondly, fasting plasma glucose should be or whole blood. Fasting is defined as no calorie intake for at least eight hours. Another criterion for diagnosis is: 2 hour plasma glucose during oral glucose tolerance test using 75g

HIgh Risk Families Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HIgh Risk Families - Essay Example (2011), pregnancy can develop problem behaviours and increased substance use in teen around 14years of age. This is because of the confounding effect of variables, such as maternal socio-demographic status, mental health and substance use during pregnancy (p.200). During pregnancy, a female undergoes many psychological changes or mood changes. Even matured females are sometimes face problems in adjusting with such mood changes. In the case of teenagers, such mood changes may cause huge damage to their mental health. Depression, anxiety, hallucinations etc are some of the behavioural problems associated with teen pregnancy. It should be noted that the society and family may not welcome teen pregnancy. Under such circumstances, pregnant teenagers may face some kind of isolation both from the family and from the society. Apart from psychological problems, lot of physical problems may occur to pregnant teenagers. Body undergoes huge physiological changes during pregnancy. The immature bo dy of the teenagers may not be able to adjust properly with such changes and subsequently physical problems may arise. Adeyinka, et al. ... Moreover, â€Å"nearly half of all STIs (48%) occur in youth 15 to 24 years of age. In 2008, 17% of new HIV diagnoses were among adolescents aged 13 to 24† (Morbidity and Mortality among Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States, 2011, p.5). The following table provides a rough idea about the sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers. Sexually Transmitted Infection Number of Cases Human Papillomavirus 4.6 million Trichomoniasis 1.9 million Chlamydia 1.5 million Genital Herpes 640,000 Gonorrhea 431,000 HIV 15,000 Syphilis 8,200 Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010 (Morbidity and Mortality among Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States, 2011, p.5) Assessment considerations Teen mothers face lot of social and emotional, psychological and physical problems. Because of pregnancy, teen mothers might not be able to complete their school education. It should be noted that the complications before birth and after the birth of the child may not h elp teen mothers to concentrate on their studies. Lack of education prevents them from securing a decent job. Lack of job will create financial problems to them. Moreover, the children of teenage mothers may not perform well in their studies. The intellectual abilities of such children could be inferior to that of the children of normal mothers. Drop out cases are reported more in the case of children of teenage mothers. Along with these social problems, teen mothers may face lot of psychological and physical problems which were explained earlier in this paper. Family theory related to teen pregnancy Family Stress and Coping Theory seems to be relevant while dealing with teen