Entrepreneurship mix and classifying emerging sub-fields

ABSTRACTThis paper reviewed the field of entrepreneurship and proposed four criteria for classifying entrepreneurship sub-fields; the classification criteria include the entrepreneur's work environs wherein the entrepreneur is embedded, the motivation behind the venture, the nature of the opportunity being exploited, and the location of the opportunity. We then strive to advance the concept of the Entrepreneurship Mix by linking these classification criteria to the 4W's which make up the Entrepreneurship Mix (Who, Why, What and Where).Washington State University-Pullman and Institute for the Advancement of Developing EconomiesMargaret M. McCarty, Washington State University-PullmanJessica Davis, Washington State University-PullmanJohn Emile Osiri, University of LiverpoolHISTORY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIPWhat is an entrepreneur? Like virtually all culturally constructed concepts, the term has been defined incongruently in different contexts and time periods. The word entered English as a cognate from French (Hebert & Link, 2009). Throughout history its significance shifted greatly between concepts as varied as a cleric in charge of public architecture projects during the Middle Ages to referring to governmental contractors throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Hebert & Link, 2009). Such wide variations continued until Cantillon, a French businessman and financer, articulated a definition of entrepreneur in the early eighteenth century (Hebert & Link, 2009). His work outlined how the interdependency of array of agents, including entrepreneurs who take risks in order to make exchanges for a profit, forms the basics of a market economy (Hebert & Link, 2009). This influential work effectively launched the modem concept of an entrepreneur.Since this time the defining attributes of an entrepreneur have continued to evolve. Is it a risk-taking profit-seeker, an innovator, or an exploiter of opportunity? The answer has been routinely debated by individuals from various disciplines such as marketing, psychology, management and other social sciences. However, the creation of an academic discipline to study and teach entrepreneurship, the act of being an entrepreneur, in 1947 spurred an array of work to define an entrepreneur and the acts which constitute entrepreneurship (Volkmann, 2004).BRIEF REVIEW ON DEFINITIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIPIndividuals have developed different approaches to the challenge of defining entrepreneurship. Some merely highlight key characteristics of entrepreneurs while others focus on what are perceived as their primary actions, such as venture creation. For example, Gartner (1988) has explored traits and behavioral approaches to entrepreneurship, linking the act of entrepreneurship to the individual - or entrepreneur. In his opinion, the defining phenomenon of entrepreneurship is the creation of organizations and the process by which organizations come into existence. He believes that organization creation separates entrepreneurship from other disciplines because:studies of psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs, sociological explanations of entrepreneurial cultures, economic and demographic explanations of entrepreneurial locations, etc., all such investigations in the entrepreneurship field actually begin with the creation of organizations.To Gartner (1988) entrepreneurship is a narrowly defined role which individuals undertake to create organizations; frameworks like Gartner's which are specific and accurate are also exclusive, failing to provide a sufficient description of all acts of entrepreneurship. To capture the entrepreneur's work environs; vis a vis, a startup company start-up or an existing company, Easton (1977) defined entrepreneurship as including, new venture initiation, acquisitions, and major developments by either large or small firms. He further noted that 'enterprise' development is intended to emphasize the development, revitalization, and growth of the smaller enterprise, rather than just 'management' of such firm (Easton, 1977, p. …