The Nature and Dynamics of Entrepreneurship and Its Interplay with Imagination
Entrepreneurs, their networks and entrepreneurial imagination come in a myriad of forms, types and sizes as well as exhibits many dimensions. As a field of study, entrepreneurial research, education and practice have reached a nearly fifty-year pinnacle. Leading research suggests that a comprehensive perspective of entrepreneurial activities and players is emerging anew. No longer is entrepreneurship seen as one individual pursuing a unique and promising idea, perhaps sprung from his or her imagination, for profits and wealth maximization.
Today, family and community networks supportive of entrepreneurial ideas and activities are seen as vital to nascent, startups, storefronts, and web-based enterprises as well as fundamental to business strategies, growth, performance and exits. Entrepreneurship theories now suggest that imagination is a vital resource input into the process of creating, growing or exiting a business. Imagination is a human and social resource as well as an expansive dimension of the processes fundamental to businesses, their owners, and their communities.
Surely imagination is one of the drivers of entrepreneurial phenomenon; however, little mention occurs in the literature and communication within the field. In fact, many entrepreneurial startups can be one of three ideas/strategies: new market, new technology, or new benefit. Most entrepreneurial ventures, almost half, are developed and operationalized from existing ideas within an industry. In other words, people learn about a skill or trade or industry and then see what new markets, new technology or new benefits might be created and they seek to implement their imaginations within their entrepreneurial network. Entrepreneurship is not a singular domain of individual wealth creation but also includes lifestyle, artistry, not-for-profit, social responsibility as well as the general notion of sustainability for all parties involved, from families to our environmental infrastructure.
Indeed, entrepreneurial imagination is an engine of our economy, society and nation as well as a resource for all worldwide.
Selected References
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