IJED- Editorial Focus

The idea behind development of entrepreneurship is sound. Entrepreneurship is the single most important factor for the development of a nation's economy and perhaps more importantly in creating a wider wealth distribution. Peter Drucker has argued it very convincingly in his book "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" and contends that the savior of the American economy in the seventies during the time of the oil shock, the near-collapse of the "smokestack" industries and of two sizable recessions has been entrepreneurship.

Over the last four years or so, entrepreneurial development has gained importance in India also, and has gone up in the list of priorities. It has achieved a critical mass with more and more young people showing an interest in the entrepreneurial career and consequently many Graduate and Post Graduate institutions have started offering courses in entrepreneurship and also incubation facilities. The government too has been proactive in encouraging entrepreneurship and has several departments facilitating development of entrepreneurship in the country.

However, the actual action on the ground still lags behind. The vital decision to become an entrepreneur, though individualistic is influenced by a lot of extraneous environmental factors.

What makes a person choose the entrepreneurial path? What are the entrepreneurial motivations? This is the theme of our first issue of the ICFAI Journal of Entrepreneurship Development.

The first article "Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mindset" recognizes that the individual has emerged as the greatest source of capital and goes on to hypothesize that once people discover their uniqueness, they only move to realize their true essence of being. The process of discovery begins with being conscious about one-self.

"If Not Entrepreneurship, Can Psychological Characteristics Predict Entrepreneurial Orientation?" is a research article that seeks to find a relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and five selected dependent variables:

• Achievement Motivation
• Affiliation Needs
• Locus of Control
• Risk Taking Propensity
• Tolerance for Ambiguity

Entrepreneurial Orientation is a complex topic, and it can be argued that it has more than five dependent variables as analyzed in this pilot study, but it does give insights into the EO construct.

The next article, "Modification of Entrepreneurial Behavior by Cultural Factors in Emerging Economy" contends that The final decision to start a new business venture is the outcome of interplay of the 3C's - Capabilities (of the entrepreneur), Cultural factors and the Context (external structure and support). This proposition is tested using a case based approach.

The fourth article "Am I an Entrepreneur? The Opportunity Mindset", is close to earth and asserts that we are all self-employed. However it takes something extra to be an entrepreneur; and that is to develop the opportunity mindset. The article provides a brief look at recognizing opportunities and judging its business potential.

Broadly speaking, entrepreneurs usually take their final leap of faith either due to necessity or based on certain opportunities. The latter is higher on the entrepreneurial evolutionary ladder and the final article "Evolution of Entrepreneurial Motivation: The Transition From Economic Necessity To Entrepreneurship" traces this journey. Five short cases are discussed and it is seen that necessity based enterprise lacks the important entrepreneurial qualities, but only in the beginning. Once the entrepreneur stabilizes his personal life, he/she begins searching pro-actively for growth and develops useful entrepreneurial traits.

There is also a book summary and a research summary in this issue. Other useful content as regular feature of this journal is expected to add value to the students and practitioners of entrepreneurship alike. Do let us have your feedback to make this journal more focused to your needs.

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