essay about creativity in entrepreneurship

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Importance of Creativity & Innovation in Entrepreneurship 2024

If entrepreneurs all did business in the same way, in the same industries, in the same marketplace, and with the same products and services, nobody would stand out with a competitive advantage and many businesses would not be in business for very long.

Carving out a niche for yourself as an entrepreneur, or making sure that your Unique Selling Proposition (USPs) helps differentiate your business to make it stand out from the clutter, you need to implement high levels of creativity and innovation into all of your entrepreneurial practices. Innovation and entrepreneurship, and more specifically, cultivating creativity in entrepreneurship is an important process which helps entrepreneurs generate value, useful unique products, services, ideas, procedures, or new business processes. 

Role Of Creativity and Innovation In Entrepreneurship

According to Atlantis Press , creativity and innovation helps develop new ways of improving an existing product or service to optimize the business. Successful innovation is the driving force that allows entrepreneurs to think outside the box and beyond the traditional solutions. Through this opportunity new, interesting, potential yet versatile ideas come up.

Overall, creativity and innovation are integral to entrepreneurial success. They empower entrepreneurs to discover opportunities, solve problems, differentiate themselves, adapt to change, continuously improve, and drive business growth. By embracing creativity and fostering an innovative mindset, entrepreneurs can build successful ventures in an ever-evolving business landscape.

Entrepreneurs and creativity

Creativity is an indispensable trait for entrepreneurs. It drives idea generation, opportunity recognition, problem-solving, innovation, and differentiation. Creative entrepreneurs embrace risk, communicate effectively, and continually learn and adapt. By harnessing their creativity, entrepreneurs can navigate challenges, seize opportunities, create new solutions and build successful and impactful ventures.

But creativity does not only assist entrepreneurs in the initial stages of coming up with a business idea. Creativity will also be a driving force and also highly valuable in terms of:

Coming up with branding and marketing ideas

Creative ideas for blogs, other SEO-related content

Finding creative solutions to everyday business problems

Fun and exciting social media strategies

A good balance of linear and lateral thinking

Entrepreneurs and Innovation

Entrepreneurs and innovation go hand in hand. Innovation is a key driver of entrepreneurial success, and entrepreneurs play a critical role in bringing innovative ideas to life. They adapt to change, solve problems, and fuel business growth through innovation. By embracing innovation, entrepreneurs can create disruptive solutions, differentiate themselves in the market, and ultimately achieve entrepreneurial success.

Having a good hold on innovation and as a net result, innovative ideas, is very important for entrepreneurs. Not only will an innovative mindset be advantageous in coming up with products, services, and business ideas, it will also be exceptionally helpful when it comes to adapting to change and finding new and improved ways of doing things in your business structure.

Do you have the skills to be a successful entrepreneur?

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Benefits of using creativity for innovation

For decades, advertising and marketing companies have used creativity to differentiate innovative products and services being advertised against other like products in the marketplace. Using creativity for innovation can lead you to be a better entrepreneur and infusing creativity into your business makes you an innovative leader within your industry. Without creativity, businesses run the risk of slipping into the clutter that may exist in an industry.

To improve your chances of successful entrepreneurship, here are some of the benefits of being a creative and innovative entrepreneur:

You will be able to create new products or services that solve problems for people

You will be able to improve processes and make them more efficient

You will be able to find new markets for existing products or services

You will be able to create new jobs

You will be able to make a positive impact on society

You will be able to have a lot of fun and satisfaction in what you do

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And if you're interested in pursuing entrepreneurship further, here at Nexford University , why not consider our excellent selection of BBA , MBA and MS degrees , including our BBA in Entrepreneurship and our MS in Entrepreneurship .

Examples of Entrepreneurial Creativity and Innovation

Apple (steve jobs).

He may have passed away on the 5th of October 2011, but the creative entrepreneurial legacy that Steve Jobs left behind will have a marked impact on all other intrepid tech entrepreneurs that come after him. 

Steve Jobs had a never say die attitude and an incredible flair when it came to producing products that were leagues ahead of the competition and so creative that they stood head and shoulders above the competition. 

Apple Computer, Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who brought to the new company a vision of changing the way people viewed computers. Jobs and Wozniak wanted to make computers small enough for people to have them in their homes or offices. And they succeeded beyond their wildest imagination.

Entrepreneur magazine says that Steve Jobs systematically cultivated his creativity and so can others. While there's no doubt that Jobs had a naturally creative brain, thanks to modern research, we can see that Jobs' artistry was also due to practices every entrepreneur can adopt to enhance creative thinking.

Jobs' meditation practice helped him develop creativity. Meditative practices, such as "open-monitoring training," encourage divergent thinking, a process of allowing the generation of many new ideas, which is a key part of creative innovation.

Other forces of creative entrepreneurial thinking

Steve Jobs most certainly did not have the monopoly when it came to creative entrepreneurial thinking. Far from it. Many other top creative entrepreneurs came before him, and right now the next wave of creative entrepreneurs are starting to make their mark. Household names such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk have set the bar very high when it comes to creative thinking, allowing them to build multi-billion dollar empires.

Now whilst they may have had one thing in common which was having a knack for creative thinking, the one thing that leading entrepreneurs and innovators like Bill Gates and J.K. Rowling all have one thing in common and that is that they were all domain experts before launching their businesses. Bill Gates, spent nearly 10 years in school programming in different computer systems before starting Microsoft, whilst J.K. Rowling began writing at the age of six, and spent over seven years refining and perfecting her idea before it became a global sensation and boosted her net worth to over $1 billion.

Conclusion  

Whilst people maintain that you are born with creativity and an entrepreneurial flair, others maintain that it can be taught. You may have a great idea, but you’ll need business acumen to turn your idea into a successful, sustainable enterprise. Business degrees give you the space and time to hone these critical skills in a safe environment. A good one will give you opportunities to work on real-life projects or go on placements with industry leaders before launching out on your own. And once you're ready to go solo, you'll have already built an important network of connections and highly creative ways of thinking in an effective way.

If you are looking to up your understanding of business, improve your levels of creativity and promote entrepreneurship when it comes to the branding and running of a business, you might want to consider a university that offers  business degrees that involve learning how to be creative and effective in business using real life case studies. 

Nexford is just such a university. Expand your entrepreneurial skill set with an online BBA , MBA and MS degrees , including our BBA in Entrepreneurship and our MS in Entrepreneurship .

For a more in-depth analysis  download our free report .

Is innovation and creativity key to entrepreneurial success?

Yes, innovation and creativity are key to entrepreneurial success. They are essential elements that drive the growth and sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures. Innovation and creativity are vital for entrepreneurial success. They enable entrepreneurs to differentiate themselves, respond to market changes, solve problems, drive growth, take risks, attract stakeholders, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. 

Now whilst there have been many business ideas that were a stroke of genius, or people being in the right place at the right time, it is undeniable that the difference between business success and abject failure is the use of creativity in coming up with a concept and getting it noticed. Not always is it a case of 'if you build it they will come.' It's all about being innovative and never taking no for an answer.

Applied to business, innovation comprises several key elements, including a challenge   (to provoke it), creativity   (to spark it), contemplation   (to come up with an idea), focus on the customers (to sharpen the idea), and communication and cooperation   to facilitate the whole process.

How does creativity and innovation work together? 

Creativity provides the foundation of new and unique ideas, while innovation is the process of transforming those ideas into tangible outcomes. They work together to generate solutions, improve offerings, take risks, and differentiate in the market. By leveraging both creativity and innovation, entrepreneurs can foster a culture of continuous improvement and drive entrepreneurial success.

Whilst experts say that you are born with an innate sense of creativity and innovation, many others say that there are ways to encourage creativity and innovation. Don't be afraid to take risks and always maintain an open mind.

What is the purpose of innovation in business? 

The purpose of innovation in business is to differentiate, meet customer needs, gain a competitive advantage, drive growth, improve operational efficiency, adapt to change, and promote sustainable development. By embracing innovation, businesses can remain relevant, creative, thrive in a dynamic marketplace, and create long-term value for customers and stakeholders.

Creativity and innovation in organizations allows for adaptability, separates a business from its competitors, and fosters growth.  

How can you encourage innovation and creativity in the workplace?

Encouraging innovation and creativity in the workplace is crucial for fostering a culture of continuous improvement and driving business success. Here are some ways you can promote an innovative environment in your business with a proven methodology that combines theory and practice:

1. Make innovation a core value

2. Hire people with different perspectives

3. Give employees time and space to innovate

4. Encourage collaboration

5. Have a feedback process

6. Reward employees for great ideas

What strategies can leadership use to enhance creativity and innovation for employees

The importance of creativity and innovation can't be stressed enough and both play a major role in entrepreneurship. The link between creativity and successful businesses is proven. Kelly Personnel maintains that there are four strategies to enhance your team's creativity and improve organizational productivity.

1. Cultivate open communication 

Cultivating open communication in the workplace is essential for creating an environment where ideas can freely flow, collaboration can thrive, and innovation can flourish. There are many strategies to cultivate open communication which include; establishing a foundation of trust, encourage active listening, promoting two-way communication, fostering an open-door policy, embracing diverse perspectives, using clear and transparent communication channels, providing communication skills training, and leading by example.

2. Facilitate diverse ways of working

Facilitating diverse ways of working can greatly enhance creativity and innovation within an organization. By embracing diverse ways of working, organizations can tap into the collective creativity and innovation potential of their workforce. It encourages fresh perspectives, drives collaboration, and opens up new possibilities for problem-solving and growth.

3. Intentionally change things up

Intentionally changing things up in the workplace can have a positive impact on creativity and innovation. By intentionally changing things up, organizations can stimulate creativity and foster a culture of innovation. Embracing variety, providing opportunities for cross-pollination, and encouraging experimentation all contribute to an environment where new ideas can flourish, leading to breakthrough innovations and improved problem-solving.

4. Hold guided brainstorm sessions

Holding guided brainstorming sessions can be an effective way to enhance creativity and innovation in the workplace. By conducting guided brainstorming sessions, organizations can tap into the collective creativity and generate innovative ideas. These sessions provide a structured framework for idea generation, encourage collaboration, and inspire employees to think outside the box.

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Mark is a college graduate with Honours in Copywriting. He is the Content Marketing Manager at Nexford, creating engaging, thought-provoking, and action-oriented content.

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6 Creativity and Innovation in Entrepreneurship

Task Summary:

Lesson 2.3.1: Entrepreneurial Creativity and Innovation

Lesson 2.3.2: Design Thinking

Activity 2.3.1: Read/Watch/Listen – Reflect

Activity 2.3.2: Journal Entry

• Unit 2 Assignment: The Makings of a Successful Entrepreneur

Learning Outcomes:

• Define creativity and innovation in an entrepreneurial context
• Reflect on various perspectives on creativity and innovation in an entrepreneurial context
• Assess the potential of design thinking
• Identify the characteristics that resonate with you as being critical to entrepreneurial success

Creativity and innovation are what make the world go around and continue to improve and evolve! There have been lots of great ideas and thoughts around the creative and innovative process for entrepreneurs, as this is a key part of the problem identification process. Have a look at what some resident experts have said about creativity and innovation from an entrepreneurial lens.

Systematic innovation involves “monitoring seven sources for an innovative opportunity” (Drucker, 1985). The first four are internally focused within the business or industry, in that they may be visible to those involved in that organization or sector. The last three involve changes outside the business or industry.

• The unexpected (unexpected success, failure, or outside events)
• The incongruity between reality as it actually is and reality as it is assumed to be or as it ought to be
• Innovation based on process need
• Changes in industry structure or market structure that catch everyone unawares
• Demographics (population changes)
• Changes in perception, mood, and meaning
• New knowledge, both scientific and nonscientific

One of the components of Mitchell’s (2000) New Venture Template asks whether the venture being examined represents a new combination. To determine this, he suggests considering two categories of entrepreneurial discovery: scientific discovery  and  circumstance .

• Physical/technological insight
• A new and valuable way
• Specific knowledge of time, place, or circumstance
• When and what you know

The second set of variables to consider are the market imperfections that can create profit opportunities:  excess demand  and  excess supply . This gives rise to the following four types of entrepreneurial discovery.

• Uses science to exploit excess demand (a market imperfection)
• Becomes an opportunity to discover and apply the laws of nature to satisfy excess demand
• Inventions in one industry have ripple effects in others
• Example: the invention of the airplane
• Circumstances reveal an opportunity to exploit excess demand (a market imperfection)
• Not necessarily science-oriented
• Example: airline industry = need for food service for passengers
• Uses science to exploit excess supply (a market imperfection)
• Example: Second most abundant element on earth after oxygen = silicon microchips
• Circumstances reveal an opportunity to exploit excess supply (a market imperfection)
• Example: Producer’s capacities to lower prices = Wal-Mart

Schumpeter’s (1934) five kinds of new combinations can occur within each of the four kinds of entrepreneurial discovery (Mitchell, 2000):

• The distinction between true advances and promotional differences
• Example: assembly line method to automobile production, robotics, agricultural processing
• Global context: Culture, laws, local buyer preferences, business practices, customs, communication, transportation all set up new distribution channels
• Example: Honda created a new market for smaller modestly powered motorbikes
• Enhance availability of products by providing at lower cost
• Enhance availability by making more available without compromising quality
• Reorganization of an industry

Murphy (2011) claimed that there was a single-dimensional logic that oversimplified the approach taken to understand entrepreneurial discovery. He was bothered by the notion that entrepreneurs either deliberately searched for entrepreneurial opportunities or they serendipitously discovered them. Murphy’s (2011) multidimensional model of entrepreneurial discovery suggests that opportunities may be identified (a) through a purposeful search; (b) because others provide the opportunity to the entrepreneur; (c) through prior knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, and means other than a purposeful search; and, (d) through a combination of lucky happenstance and deliberate searching for opportunities.

According to experimentation research, entrepreneurial creativity is not correlated with IQ (people with high IQs can be unsuccessful in business and those with lower IQs can be successful as an entrepreneur). Research has also shown that those who practice idea generation techniques can become more creative. The best ideas sometimes come later in the idea-generation process—often in the days and weeks following the application of the idea-generating processes (Vesper, 1996).

Vesper (1996) identified several ways in which entrepreneurs found ideas:

• Chance event
• Answering discovery questions

Although would-be entrepreneurs usually don’t discover ideas by a deliberate searching strategy (except when pursuing acquisitions of ongoing firms), it is nevertheless possible to impute to their discoveries some implicit searching patterns. (Vesper, 1996)

Vesper (1996) categorized discovery questions as follows:

• What is bothering me and what might relieve that bother?
• How could this be made or done differently than it is now?
• What else might I like to have?
• How can I fall the family tradition?
• Can I play some role in providing this product or service to a broader market?
• Could there be a way to do this better for the customer?
• Could I do this job on my own instead of as an employee?
• If people elsewhere went for this idea, might they want it here too?

Vesper (1996) also highlighted several  mental blocks to departure . He suggested that generating innovative ideas involved two tasks: to depart from what is usual or customary and to apply an effective way to direct this departure. The mental blocks in the way of departure include the following:

• difficulty viewing things from different perspectives
• seeing only what you expect to see or think what others expect you to see
• intolerance of ambiguity
• preference for judging rather than seeking ideas
• tunnel vision
• insufficient patience
• a belief that reason and logic are superior to feeling, intuition, and other such approaches
• thinking that tradition is preferable to change
• disdain for fantasy, reflection, idea playfulness, humor
• fear of subconscious thinking
• inhibition about some areas of imagination
• distrust of others who might be able to help
• distractions
• discouraging responses from other people
• lack of information
• incorrect information
• weak technical skills in areas such as financial analysis
• poor writing skills
• inability to construct prototypes

Understanding these mental blocks to departure is a first step in figuring out how to cope with them. Some tactics for departure include the following (Vesper, 1996):

• Trying different ways of looking at and thinking about venture opportunities
• Trying to continually generate ideas about opportunities and how to exploit them
• Seeking clues from business and personal contacts, trade shows, technology licensing offices, and other sources
• Not being discouraged by others’ negative views because many successful innovations were first thought to be impossible to make
• Generating possible solutions to obstacles before stating negative views about them
• Brainstorming
• Considering multiple consequences of possible future events or changes
• Rearranging, reversing, expanding, shrinking, combining, or altering ideas
• Developing scenarios

The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University called the d.school ( http://dschool.stanford.edu/ ), is an acknowledged leader at promoting design thinking. You can download the  Bootcamp Bootleg  manual from the d.school website at  https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/the-bootcamp-bootleg . The following description of design thinking is from the IDEO website:

Design thinking is a deeply human process that taps into abilities we all have but get overlooked by more conventional problem-solving practices. It relies on our ability to be intuitive, to recognize patterns, to construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional, and to express ourselves through means beyond words or symbols. Nobody wants to run an organization on feeling, intuition, and inspiration, but an over-reliance on the rational and the analytical can be just as risky. Design thinking provides an integrated third way.

The design thinking process is best thought of as a system of overlapping spaces rather than a sequence of orderly steps. There are three spaces to keep in mind:  inspiration ,  ideation , and  implementation . Inspiration is the problem or opportunity that motivates the search for solutions. Ideation is the process of generating, developing, and testing ideas. Implementation is the path that leads from the project stage into people’s lives (IDEO, 2015).

Today is all about taking some time to sit the value of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship. Similar to previous activities, this is all done with the intent to develop your own understanding of the characteristics needed for success in entrepreneurship. Pay close attention to characteristics and leanings that resonate with you, and are particularly appealing. Remember, at the end of this module you will be developing either a 250-word document, infographic, or a three-minute presentation on the characteristics that make an entrepreneurial thinker and leader successful.

The key steps are:

• Choose five (5) videos from this Innovation Playlist to watch
• Building on what you have learned throughout this unit, identify the characteristics that resonate with you as being critical to success and appealing to you personally
• Reflect on why these characteristics are critical and appealing
• Reflect on how these characteristics, or lack thereof, could impact your own success as an entrepreneur
• Reflect on how you can strengthen these characteristics to support your own entrepreneurial success over the next 18 months

As a reminder, journaling can be a really powerful way to learn because it gets us to pause and reflect not only on what we have learned but also on what it means to us. Journaling makes meaning of material in a way that is personal and powerful. Similar to your unit end reflection in Unit 1, we are going to take a slightly different approach for this journal, which focuses on developing an action plan given your previous two journal reflections. Here, you will develop a plan of action for immediate learning challenges, such as the unit assignments featured in this course. Recall in the past two journals you reflected on key learning (not content) aspects you found challenging. You will reconsider your strengths, weaknesses, and key learnings and determine specific steps to prepare and complete the oncoming learning challenge of designing the entrepreneurial process for yourself. Your reflection entries should be either 300 to 500 written words or a video that is approximately 5 minutes.

Using your past two journal reflections and your learning experience in Unit 2, Module 3, reflect on the following:

• If there was not a particular concept that was easy to understand, reflect on why this was the case
• If there was not a particular concept that was difficult to understand, reflect on why this was the case
• Develop a meaningful plan with clear and specific actions you need to take, how you will take them, and when you will take them, to address any challenges or weaknesses before you complete your Unit 2 Assignment: The Makings of a Successful Entrepreneur.

Media Attributions

• Photo of Innovation by Michal Jarmoluk  on Pixabay .

Text Attributions

• The content related to the Ways of Identifying Opportunities was taken from “ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Toolkit, 3rd Edition ” by L. Swanson (2017) CC BY-SA

Drucker, P. F. (1985). Innovation and entrepreneurship: Practice and principles . p. 35. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

IDEO. (2015). About IDEO. para. 7-8. Retrieved from http://www.ideo.com/about/

Mitchell, R. K. (2000). Introduction to the Venture Analysis Standards 2000: New Venture Template Workbook . Victoria, B.C., Canada: International Centre for Venture Expertise

Murphy, P. J. (2011). A 2 x 2 conceptual foundation for entrepreneurial discovery theory. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35 (2), 359-374. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00368.x

Schumpeter, J. A. (1934). The theory of economic development : An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycl e (R. Opie, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vesper, K. H. (1996). New venture experience (revised ed.). p. 60. Seattle, WA: Vector Books

Introduction to Entrepreneurship Copyright © 2021 by Katherine Carpenter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Role of Creativity in Entrepreneurship

Andrew Herkert

April 28th, 2022

Creativity in Business

Creativity is a necessity in a thriving business, but how often do we consider the role of creative thinking in the formation of a business?  Creativity is just as crucial for entrepreneurs as it is for those looking to maintain an advantage over the competition in well-established organizations.  Let’s see just how creativity can benefit the successful entrepreneur.

Innovation, Risk Taking, and Thinking the Unthinkable

Anastasia Belyh gives us a good place to start by helping us see where creativity naturally fits into this role .  Innovation, the first characteristic of the role that Belyh lists, entails creative ideation. As she puts it, “There is a continuous and conscious effort required to look for niches and undertake the risks in entering them,” and there’s a constant need to improve on existing business workflows.

Risk taking is another area where creativity is necessary—in fact, Belyh argues that “The whole essence of entrepreneurship revolves around the courage and ability to take new risks.”  Those risks involve more than innovative business workflows.  Entrepreneurs strive to develop new and inventive products, and meet customer needs while pleasantly surprising them.  They work to earn and maintain a competitive edge. They work with investors to meet financial needs while the business becomes profitable. 

Thinking creatively allows an entrepreneur to come up with the ideas worth bringing to bear on their business.  Belyh calls this “thinking the unthinkable” and describes the ability of entrepreneurs to “think beyond the traditional solutions, come up with something new, interesting, versatile, and yet have success potential.”

Adaptation and Success as a Continuum

Of course, there’s more to creativity than ideation , as Nicolas Susco contends—it’s not “just about coming up with ideas.  It’s about being able to adapt to new circumstances, navigate uncertainty, and find solutions as problems arise.”

Success depends on the ability to pivot, even when this means pivoting away from a good thing.  “Sometimes entrepreneurs get caught up in the success of their initial idea.  They feel it’s so amazing that they never have to be creative again.”  The entrepreneurs who succeed over time are the ones who don’t become complacent, but “use their creativity over and over” and reevaluate even what’s worked in the past.

A creative entrepreneur is also one who doesn’t see success as an endpoint—or, rather, one sees success as a moving target.  “Just because your business is doing fine, that doesn’t mean it can’t do better ,” Susco points out, and reinforces the importance of creativity in surviving complacency: “Sometimes sitting back allows a competitor to innovate and put you out of business with a more creative solution.”

This is something that bears a moment of serious thought: whether or not you are committed to creativity, you have competitors that are.  If you don’t fight fire with fire, you will be burned out by other firms working to develop next-level solutions and offerings.

Increasing Your Creativity: Going Analog

Now, let’s shift gears.  Creativity matters to the entrepreneur, their products, their ability to contend with change, their chances to compete, and their ability to stave off complacency—so how can an entrepreneur become (and remain) creative?

John Boitnott of entrepreneur.com suggests first “free[ing] your mind to take those flights of fancy that result in heightened creativity” in his tips to help entrepreneurs unlock the creativity inside them.  Boitnott’s suggestion for freeing the mind is to use your hands instead of your phone.  Find an ‘analog’ activity (“anything that requires repetitive movements and little intellectual analysis”) and let your mind drift through a far more creative thought process.

Expanding Your Horizons

It’s also important to take stock of, and value, the creativity of others as you work to cultivate it in yourself.  Boitnott suggests pursuing creative expression that you might not typically look into, like a movie or museum exhibit that you might otherwise skip.

Why should you go see art that would normally not match your interests?  It can certainly give you ideas, but more than that, it can remind you of the scope of creativity.  You might love movies, say, but this experiment might show you an art film or unconventional work that you hardly knew was possible.  And beyond others’ creative output, try to “look for other people’s creative decision-making skills.”

This second part of appreciating others might be even more useful to the entrepreneur interested in increasing their creativity.  Watching successful, innovative problem-solving, conflict resolution, or other decision-making situations involving others can create inspirational lightbulb moments.  When you find yourself thinking “It never occurred to me to try this approach—look how well it works,” take a note.

The last of Boitnott’s suggestions for open-minded ideation is also a great final piece of advice for the creativity-interested entrepreneur: meditate often.  Meditation serves many purposes, but in this context, its primary purpose is to quiet the mind and “power down.” 

As in the analog activity advice, this freeing of the mind allows creative thinking to come much more easily.  Open-monitoring meditation, “where you simply sit quietly and observe without judging whatever is going on around and within you,” is Boitnott’s suggestion for the greatest benefit.

Creativity is Indispensable

Creative thinking is crucial to an entrepreneur’s ability to gain traction with their business and maintain forward momentum.  It promotes divergent, innovative thought in business processes, product design, and more, and encourages continuous reevaluation of circumstances. 

Creativity is often the key differentiator between startups that do well for a time before becoming complacent and folding, and startups who enjoy lasting success.  How will you become a more creative business leader—even if your ‘entrepreneur days’ are behind you?

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The Importance of Creativity in Business

• 25 Jan 2022

When you think of creativity, job titles such as graphic designer or marketer may come to mind. Yet, creativity and innovation are important across all industries because business challenges require inventive solutions.

Here’s an overview of creativity’s importance in business, how it pairs with design thinking, and how to encourage it in the workplace.

Access your free e-book today.

Why Is Creativity Important?

Creativity serves several purposes. It not only combats stagnation but facilitates growth and innovation. Here's why creativity is important in business.

1. It Accompanies Innovation

For something to be innovative, there are two requirements: It must be novel and useful. While creativity is crucial to generate ideas that are both unique and original, they’re not always inherently useful. Innovative solutions can’t exist, however, without a component of creativity.

2. It Increases Productivity

Creativity gives you the space to work smarter instead of harder, which can increase productivity and combat stagnation in the workplace. Routine and structure are incredibly important but shouldn’t be implemented at the expense of improvement and growth. When a creative and innovative environment is established, a business’s productivity level can spike upward.

3. It Allows for Adaptability

Sometimes events—both internal and external—can disrupt an organization’s structure. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how the present-day business world functions . In such instances, imaginative thinking and innovation are critical to maintaining business operations.

Creatively approaching challenges requires adaptability but doesn’t always necessitate significantly adjusting your business model. For example, you might develop a new product or service or slightly modify the structure of your operations to improve efficiency. Big problems don’t always require big solutions, so don’t reject an idea because it doesn’t match a problem’s scale.

Change is inevitable in the business world, and creative solutions are vital to adapting to it.

4. It’s Necessary for Growth

One of the main hindrances to a business’s growth is cognitive fixedness, or the idea that there’s only one way to interpret or approach a situation or challenge.

Cognitive fixedness is an easy trap to fall into, as it can be tempting to approach every situation similar to how you have in the past. But every situation is different.

If a business’s leaders don’t take the time to clearly understand the circumstances they face, encourage creative thinking, and act on findings, their company can stagnate—one of the biggest barriers to growth.

5. It’s an In-Demand Skill

Creativity and innovation are skills commonly sought after in top industries, including health care and manufacturing. This is largely because every industry has complex challenges that require creative solutions.

Learning skills such as design thinking and creative problem-solving can help job seekers set themselves apart when applying to roles.

Creativity and Design Thinking

While creativity is highly important in business, it’s an abstract process that works best with a concrete structure. This is where design thinking comes into play.

Design thinking —a concept gaining popularity in the business world—is a solutions-based process that ventures between the concrete and abstract. Creativity and innovation are key to the design thinking process.

In Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar’s course Design Thinking and Innovation , the process is broken down into four iterative stages:

• Clarify: In this stage, observation and empathy are critical. Observations can be either concrete and based on metrics and facts or abstract and gleaned from understanding and empathy. The goal during this stage is to gain an understanding of the situation and individuals impacted.
• Ideate: The ideation stage is abstract and involves creativity and idea generation. Creativity is a major focus, as the ideation phase provides the freedom to brainstorm and think through solutions.
• Develop: The development phase is a concrete stage that involves experimentation and trial and error. Critiquing and prototyping are important because the ideas generated from the ideation stage are formed into testable solutions.
• Implement: The fourth stage is solution implementation. This involves communicating the solution’s value and overcoming preexisting biases.

The value of design thinking is that it connects creativity and routine structure by encouraging using both the operational and innovation worlds. But what are these worlds, and how do they interact?

The Operational World

The operational world is the concrete, structured side of business. This world focuses on improving key metrics and achieving results. Those results are typically achieved through routine, structure, and decision-making.

The operational world has many analytical tools needed for the functional side of business, but not the innovative side. Furthermore, creativity and curiosity are typically valued less than in the innovation world. Employees who initiate unsuccessful, risky endeavors are more likely to be reprimanded than promoted.

The Innovation World

The innovation world requires curiosity, speculation, creativity, and experimentation. This world is important for a company’s growth and can bring about the aforementioned benefits of creativity in business.

This world focuses more on open-ended thinking and exploration rather than a company’s functional side. Although risky endeavors are encouraged, there’s little structure to ensure a business runs efficiently and successfully.

Connecting the Two Worlds

Although the operational world and innovation world are equally important to a business’s success, they’re separate . Business leaders must be ambidextrous when navigating between them and provide environments for each to flourish.

Creativity should be encouraged and innovation fostered, but never at the expense of a business’s functionality. The design thinking process is an excellent way to leverage both worlds and provides an environment for each to succeed.

Since the design thinking process moves between the concrete and abstract, it navigates the tension between operations and innovation. Remember: The operational world is the implementation of the innovative world, and innovation can often be inspired by observations from the operational world.

How to Encourage Creativity and Innovation

If you want to facilitate an innovative workplace, here are seven tips for encouraging creativity.

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks

Creativity often entails moving past your comfort zone. While you don't want to take risks that could potentially cripple your business, risk-taking is a necessary ingredient of innovation and growth. Therefore, providing an environment where it’s encouraged can be highly beneficial.

2. Don’t Punish Failure

Provide your team with the freedom to innovate without fear of reprisal if their ideas don’t work. Some of the best innovations in history were the product of many failures. View failure as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future rather than defeat.

3. Provide the Resources Necessary to Innovate

While it can be tempting to simply tell your team to innovate, creativity is more than just a state of mind. If your colleagues have the opportunity to be creative, you need to provide the resources to promote innovation. Whether that entails a financial investment, tools, or training materials, it’s in your best interest to invest in your team to produce innovative results.

4. Don’t Try to Measure Results Too Quickly

If an innovative idea doesn’t produce desirable results within a few months, you may consider discarding it entirely. Doing so could result in a lost opportunity because some ideas take longer to yield positive outcomes.

Patience is an important element of creativity, so don't try to measure results too quickly. Give your team the freedom to improve and experiment without the pressure of strict time constraints.

5. Maintain an Open Mind

One of the most important components of an environment that fosters creativity and innovation is keeping an open mind. Innovation requires constantly working against your biases. Continually ask questions, be open to the answers you receive, and don't require fully conceptualized ideas before proceeding with innovation.

6. Foster Collaboration

Collaborative environments are vital for innovation. When teams work together in pursuit of a common goal, innovation flourishes. To achieve this, ensure everyone has a voice. One way to do so is by hosting brainstorming sessions where each member contributes and shares ideas.

7. Encourage Diversity

Diversity fosters creativity and combats groupthink, as each individual brings a unique outlook to the table. Consider forming teams with members from different cultural backgrounds who haven’t previously worked together. Getting people to step outside their comfort zones is an effective way to encourage innovation.

Learning to Be Creative in Business

Creativity and innovation are immensely important skills whether you’re a job seeker, employer, or aspiring entrepreneur.

Want to learn more about design thinking? Start by finding fellow professionals willing to discuss and debate solutions using its framework. Take advantage of these interactions to consider how you can best leverage design thinking and devise different approaches to business challenges.

This exposure to real-world scenarios is crucial to deciding whether learning about design thinking is right for you. Another option is to take an online course to learn about design thinking with like-minded peers.

If you’re ready to take your innovation skills to the next level, explore our online course Design Thinking and Innovation , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

About the Author

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How to be creative as an entrepreneur.

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You might think that creativity requires the antithesis of rules and regulation. Even the thought of being creative conjures up images of disorder. Messy rooms, paint everywhere, scraps of paper with ideas scrawled across them. The frantic creative genius works away, oblivious to the world around them. Chaos. Method in madness. Flashes of brilliance among a cluttered existence.

How to be creative as an entrepreneur

The best entrepreneurs are creative. They need to find ways of solving old and new problems. They picture a world that doesn’t yet exist, they bring products to life using only their imagination. They think of ways to move forward, grow bigger and stand out. Doing more with the same tools doesn’t happen by accident, it’s intentional and it requires ideas.

Consistency and creativity

Although at a glance they seem to conflict, the secret to creativity is consistency. It’s a myth that creativity has to come from chaos. Creativity rarely exists without routine and order of some sort.

Consistency creates the framework from which genius can emerge. It underpins it. Inventors conjure up thousands of ideas before discovering the one that changes everything. Van Gogh made art daily, cycling various techniques until he found his calling, and even then it wasn’t appreciated until after his death. Business leaders follow repeatable routines of daily actions, trusting that they will one day reap what they sow.

Keishawn Blackstone is an entrepreneur in the entertainment industry, running tak3-One-Productions. He’s 24 and was born in Los Angeles. He didn’t go to college; educated instead by experiences and books. With three director credits on his IMDB, Blackstone’s early success has stemmed from his healthy habits. He meticulously plans his day and ensures consistency throughout his week. Blackstone stands by the mantra, “no rules”, and “set[s] no boundaries about how far or high the ultimate goal can be,” yet boundaries that keep him sharp and progressing define his day. It seems contradictory, but it works.

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‘oppenheimer’ does not break record for most oscar wins, academy awards 2024: how many oscars did ‘oppenheimer’ win, decision fatigue.

Limitless achievement requires limits. Unwavering confidence requires humility. Brilliant creativity requires routine. It’s an arena of paradoxes. Business coach Melitta Campbell said, “It's hard to be creative when your parameters are too broad, so the first step is to narrow your focus. Go back to your purpose and your clients’ needs, for example, and ask yourself, ‘could this work if..?’ Once you set yourself some limits, your creativity kicks in.”

Decision fatigue is real. Waking up only to spend time deciding what to wear and eat and where to work is a waste of mental energy that could be better spent elsewhere. Removing mundane decisions by setting and sticking to rules reduces physical and mental clutter. It makes space for experimentation within safe confines and helps creativity thrive.

Remove daily decision-making on things that don’t matter by planning your week ahead of time; meal prepping on a Sunday or planning the first thing you’ll do each day. Remove yourself as a bottleneck to decisions by training and trusting a team member to make them. Set personal policies on what you do and don’t do after or before certain times. They might include not checking email until 10am, not responding to friends’ messages until lunch, not doing admin of any sort until you have created something, whatever that might be.

Morning routines

The morning is a glorious time because your head is fresh from resting and everyone else is still asleep. There are fewer vies for your attention.

You can read about the morning routines of world class performers online, and it’s a common question in media interviews with successful entrepreneurs. Whilst reading you’ll notice that there is no commonality in the specific actions. The commonality is that a routine exists. It matters less what you do, it matters more that you do it the same every day.

The opposite of having a morning routine is meandering through your day paying attention to anything that tries to grab it. It will likely lead to having a day on someone else’s agenda; fulfilling their goals and being at the mercy of their needs. Mindlessly scrolling the news waiting for something to react to, seeing what has hit your inbox since yesterday, checking social media platforms or bank accounts or status reports; it all can wait.

New stimulus

Find inspiration from areas outside of your field. Jewellery designer Lucille Whiting knows that tunnel vision doesn’t aid her creative work. “Never stop learning” she advised, “seek out new ideas and talk to new people online or otherwise. Read, take photographs, journal, keep a hundred notebooks to draw, doodle and scribble down midnight ideas. Collect, take screen shots, add webpages to favourites and keep them in organised files.”

Content strategist Kirsty Bartholomew encourages cross-sector learning on the hunt for new ideas, “Get curious about how other people in different markets and niches build their business. It really opens your eyes to different opportunities and can shake up your ideas.” Founder of Coven Girl Gang, Sapphire Bates, knows that rest is as vital as work, “Ensure you make time for things that aren't work. My best ideas come when I'm not working. I can be doing literally anything else; cooking, walking, phoning a friend, doing a puzzle, anything that allows my brain some space from my business to step back and think creatively.”

Be creative as an entrepreneur by being open to absorbing and processing new information. Let novel points of view sit in the back of your mind until the inspiration you seek comes forward of its own accord. Let yourself be inspired.

Being creative as an entrepreneur

Clearing the way for creativity requires incorporating consistency and operating within a framework. It requires removing pointless decisions and creating routines and habits that will continue to serve you. It means being intentional with every second of your day, especially the morning. It means being open to learning outside your industry, scope and office.

Laying the foundations clears space for creativity to emerge. It makes room for ideas, experimentation and lets inspiration strike.

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• 4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ
• Introduction
• 1.1 Entrepreneurship Today
• 1.2 Entrepreneurial Vision and Goals
• 1.3 The Entrepreneurial Mindset
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Case Questions
• Suggested Resources
• 2.1 Overview of the Entrepreneurial Journey
• 2.2 The Process of Becoming an Entrepreneur
• 2.3 Entrepreneurial Pathways
• 2.4 Frameworks to Inform Your Entrepreneurial Path
• 3.1 Ethical and Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship
• 3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship
• 3.3 Developing a Workplace Culture of Ethical Excellence and Accountability
• 4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation
• 4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions
• 5.1 Entrepreneurial Opportunity
• 5.2 Researching Potential Business Opportunities
• 5.3 Competitive Analysis
• 6.1 Problem Solving to Find Entrepreneurial Solutions
• 6.2 Creative Problem-Solving Process
• 6.3 Design Thinking
• 6.4 Lean Processes
• 7.1 Clarifying Your Vision, Mission, and Goals
• 7.2 Sharing Your Entrepreneurial Story
• 7.3 Developing Pitches for Various Audiences and Goals
• 7.4 Protecting Your Idea and Polishing the Pitch through Feedback
• 7.5 Reality Check: Contests and Competitions
• 8.1 Entrepreneurial Marketing and the Marketing Mix
• 8.2 Market Research, Market Opportunity Recognition, and Target Market
• 8.3 Marketing Techniques and Tools for Entrepreneurs
• 8.4 Entrepreneurial Branding
• 8.5 Marketing Strategy and the Marketing Plan
• 8.6 Sales and Customer Service
• 9.1 Overview of Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting Strategies
• 9.2 Special Funding Strategies
• 9.3 Accounting Basics for Entrepreneurs
• 9.4 Developing Startup Financial Statements and Projections
• 10.1 Launching the Imperfect Business: Lean Startup
• 10.2 Why Early Failure Can Lead to Success Later
• 10.3 The Challenging Truth about Business Ownership
• 10.4 Managing, Following, and Adjusting the Initial Plan
• 10.5 Growth: Signs, Pains, and Cautions
• 11.1 Avoiding the “Field of Dreams” Approach
• 11.2 Designing the Business Model
• 11.3 Conducting a Feasibility Analysis
• 11.4 The Business Plan
• 12.1 Building and Connecting to Networks
• 12.2 Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team
• 12.3 Designing a Startup Operational Plan
• 13.1 Business Structures: Overview of Legal and Tax Considerations
• 13.2 Corporations
• 13.3 Partnerships and Joint Ventures
• 13.4 Limited Liability Companies
• 13.5 Sole Proprietorships
• 13.6 Additional Considerations: Capital Acquisition, Business Domicile, and Technology
• 13.7 Mitigating and Managing Risks
• 14.1 Types of Resources
• 14.2 Using the PEST Framework to Assess Resource Needs
• 14.3 Managing Resources over the Venture Life Cycle
• 15.1 Launching Your Venture
• 15.2 Making Difficult Business Decisions in Response to Challenges
• 15.3 Seeking Help or Support
• 15.4 Now What? Serving as a Mentor, Consultant, or Champion
• 15.5 Reflections: Documenting the Journey
• A | Suggested Resources

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Distinguish between creativity, innovation, and invention
• Explain the difference between pioneering and incremental innovation, and which processes are best suited to each

One of the key requirements for entrepreneurial success is your ability to develop and offer something unique to the marketplace. Over time, entrepreneurship has become associated with creativity , the ability to develop something original, particularly an idea or a representation of an idea. Innovation requires creativity, but innovation is more specifically the application of creativity. Innovation is the manifestation of creativity into a usable product or service. In the entrepreneurial context, innovation is any new idea, process, or product, or a change to an existing product or process that adds value to that existing product or service.

How is an invention different from an innovation? All inventions contain innovations, but not every innovation rises to the level of a unique invention. For our purposes, an invention is a truly novel product, service, or process. It will be based on previous ideas and products, but it is such a leap that it is not considered an addition to or a variant of an existing product but something unique. Table 4.2 highlights the differences between these three concepts.

One way we can consider these three concepts is to relate them to design thinking. Design thinking is a method to focus the design and development decisions of a product on the needs of the customer, typically involving an empathy-driven process to define complex problems and create solutions that address those problems. Complexity is key to design thinking. Straightforward problems that can be solved with enough money and force do not require much design thinking. Creative design thinking and planning are about finding new solutions for problems with several tricky variables in play. Designing products for human beings, who are complex and sometimes unpredictable, requires design thinking.

Airbnb has become a widely used service all over the world. That has not always been the case, however. In 2009, the company was near failure. The founders were struggling to find a reason for the lack of interest in their properties until they realized that their listings needed professional, high-quality photographs rather than simple cell-phone photos. Using a design thinking approach, the founders traveled to the properties with a rented camera to take some new photographs. As a result of this experiment, weekly revenue doubled. This approach could not be sustainable in the long term, but it generated the outcome the founders needed to better understand the problem. This creative approach to solving a complex problem proved to be a major turning point for the company. 7

People who are adept at design thinking are creative, innovative, and inventive as they strive to tackle different types of problems. Consider Divya Nag , a millennial biotech and medical device innovation leader, who launched a business after she discovered a creative way to prolong the life of human cells in Petri dishes. Nag’s stem-cell research background and her entrepreneurial experience with her medical investment firm made her a popular choice when Apple hired her to run two programs dedicated to developing health-related apps, a position she reached before turning twenty-four years old. 8

Creativity, innovation, inventiveness, and entrepreneurship can be tightly linked. It is possible for one person to model all these traits to some degree. Additionally, you can develop your creativity skills, sense of innovation, and inventiveness in a variety of ways. In this section, we’ll discuss each of the key terms and how they relate to the entrepreneurial spirit.

Entrepreneurial creativity and artistic creativity are not so different. You can find inspiration in your favorite books, songs, and paintings, and you also can take inspiration from existing products and services. You can find creative inspiration in nature, in conversations with other creative minds, and through formal ideation exercises, for example, brainstorming. Ideation is the purposeful process of opening up your mind to new trains of thought that branch out in all directions from a stated purpose or problem. Brainstorming , the generation of ideas in an environment free of judgment or dissension with the goal of creating solutions, is just one of dozens of methods for coming up with new ideas. 9

You can benefit from setting aside time for ideation. Reserving time to let your mind roam freely as you think about an issue or problem from multiple directions is a necessary component of the process. Ideation takes time and a deliberate effort to move beyond your habitual thought patterns. If you consciously set aside time for creativity, you will broaden your mental horizons and allow yourself to change and grow. 10

Entrepreneurs work with two types of thinking. Linear thinking —sometimes called vertical thinking —involves a logical, step-by-step process. In contrast, creative thinking is more often lateral thinking , free and open thinking in which established patterns of logical thought are purposefully ignored or even challenged. You can ignore logic; anything becomes possible. Linear thinking is crucial in turning your idea into a business. Lateral thinking will allow you to use your creativity to solve problems that arise. Figure 4.5 summarizes linear and lateral thinking.

It is certainly possible for you to be an entrepreneur and focus on linear thinking. Many viable business ventures flow logically and directly from existing products and services. However, for various reasons, creativity and lateral thinking are emphasized in many contemporary contexts in the study of entrepreneurship. Some reasons for this are increased global competition, the speed of technological change, and the complexity of trade and communication systems. 11 These factors help explain not just why creativity is emphasized in entrepreneurial circles but also why creativity should be emphasized. Product developers of the twenty-first century are expected to do more than simply push products and innovations a step further down a planned path. Newer generations of entrepreneurs are expected to be path breakers in new products, services, and processes.

Examples of creativity are all around us. They come in the forms of fine art and writing, or in graffiti and viral videos, or in new products, services, ideas, and processes. In practice, creativity is incredibly broad. It is all around us whenever or wherever people strive to solve a problem, large or small, practical or impractical.

We previously defined innovation as a change that adds value to an existing product or service. According to the management thinker and author Peter Drucker , the key point about innovation is that it is a response to both changes within markets and changes from outside markets. For Drucker, classical entrepreneurship psychology highlights the purposeful nature of innovation. 12 Business firms and other organizations can plan to innovate by applying either lateral or linear thinking methods, or both. In other words, not all innovation is purely creative. If a firm wishes to innovate a current product, what will likely matter more to that firm is the success of the innovation rather than the level of creativity involved. Drucker summarized the sources of innovation into seven categories, as outlined in Table 4.3 . Firms and individuals can innovate by seeking out and developing changes within markets or by focusing on and cultivating creativity. Firms and individuals should be on the lookout for opportunities to innovate. 13

One innovation that demonstrates several of Drucker’s sources is the use of cashier kiosks in fast-food restaurants. McDonald’s was one of the first to launch these self-serve kiosks. Historically, the company has focused on operational efficiencies (doing more/better with less). In response to changes in the market, changes in demographics, and process need, McDonald’s incorporated self-serve cashier stations into their stores. These kiosks address the need of younger generations to interact more with technology and gives customers faster service in most cases. 15

Another leading expert on innovation, Tony Ulwick , focuses on understanding how the customer will judge or evaluate the quality and value of the product. The product development process should be based on the metrics that customers use to judge products, so that innovation can address those metrics and develop the best product for meeting customers’ needs when it hits the market. This process is very similar to Drucker’s contention that innovation comes as a response to changes within and outside of the market. Ulwick insists that focusing on the customer should begin early in the development process. 16

Disruptive innovation is a process that significantly affects the market by making a product or service more affordable and/or accessible, so that it will be available to a much larger audience. Clay Christensen of Harvard University coined this term in the 1990s to emphasize the process nature of innovation. For Christensen, the innovative component is not the actual product or service, but the process that makes that product more available to a larger population of users. He has since published a good deal on the topic of disruptive innovation, focusing on small players in a market. Christensen theorizes that a disruptive innovation from a smaller company can threaten an existing larger business by offering the market new and improved solutions. The smaller company causes the disruption when it captures some of the market share from the larger organization. 17 , 18 One example of a disruptive innovation is Uber and its impact on the taxicab industry. Uber’s innovative service, which targets customers who might otherwise take a cab, has shaped the industry as whole by offering an alternative that some deem superior to the typical cab ride.

One key to innovation within a given market space is to look for pain points, particularly in existing products that fail to work as well as users expect them to. A pain point is a problem that people have with a product or service that might be addressed by creating a modified version that solves the problem more efficiently. 19 For example, you might be interested in whether a local retail store carries a specific item without actually going there to check. Most retailers now have a feature on their websites that allows you to determine whether the product (and often how many units) is available at a specific store. This eliminates the need to go to the location only to find that they are out of your favorite product. Once a pain point is identified in a firm’s own product or in a competitor’s product, the firm can bring creativity to bear in finding and testing solutions that sidestep or eliminate the pain, making the innovation marketable. This is one example of an incremental innovation , an innovation that modifies an existing product or service. 20

In contrast, a pioneering innovation is one based on a new technology, a new advancement in the field, and/or an advancement in a related field that leads to the development of a new product. 21 Firms offering similar products and services can undertake pioneering innovations, but pioneering the new product requires opening up new market space and taking major risks.

Entrepreneur In Action

Pioneering innovation in the personal care industry.

In his ninth-grade biology class, Benjamin Stern came up with an idea to change the personal care industry. He envisioned personal cleaning products (soap, shampoo, etc.) that would contain no harsh chemicals or sulfates, and would also produce no plastic waste from empty bottles. He developed Nohbo Drops , single-use personal cleansing products with water-soluble packaging. Stern was able to borrow money from family and friends, and use some of his college fund to hire a chemist to develop the product. He then appeared on Shark Tank with his innovation in 2016 and secured the backing of investor Mark Cuban . Stern assembled a research team to perfect the product and obtained a patent ( Figure 4.6 ). The products are now available via the company website.

Is a pioneering innovation an invention? A firm makes a pioneering innovation when it creates a product or service arising from what it has done before. Pokémon GO is a great example of pioneering innovation. Nintendo was struggling to keep pace with other gaming-related companies. The company, in keeping with its core business of video games, came up with a new direction for the gaming industry. Pokémon GO is known worldwide and is one of the most successful mobile games launched. 22 It takes creativity to explore a new direction, but not every pioneering innovation creates a distinctly new product or capability for consumers and clients.

Entrepreneurs in the process of developing an innovation usually examine the current products and services their firm offers, investigate new technologies and techniques being introduced in the marketplace or in related marketplaces, watch research and development in universities and in other companies, and pursue new developments that are likely to fit one of two conditions: an innovation that likely fits an existing market better than other products or services being offered; or an innovation that fits a market that so far has been underserved.

An example of an incremental innovation is the trash receptacle you find at fast-food restaurants. For many years, trash cans in fast-food locations were placed in boxes behind swinging doors. The trash cans did one job well: They hid the garbage from sight. But they created other problems: Often, the swinging doors would get ketchup and other waste on them, surely a pain point. Newer trash receptacles in fast-food restaurants have open fronts or open tops that enable people to dispose of their trash more neatly. The downside for restaurants is that users can see and possibly smell the food waste, but if the restaurants change the trash bags frequently, as is a good practice anyway, this innovation works relatively well. You might not think twice about this everyday example of an innovation when you eat at a fast-food restaurant, but even small improvements can matter a lot, particularly if the market they serve is vast.

An invention is a leap in capability beyond innovation. Some inventions combine several innovations into something new. Invention certainly requires creativity, but it goes beyond coming up with new ideas, combinations of thought, or variations on a theme. Inventors build. Developing something users and customers view as an invention could be important to some entrepreneurs, because when a new product or service is viewed as unique, it can create new markets. True inventiveness is often recognized in the marketplace, and it can help build a valuable reputation and help establish market position if the company can build a future-oriented corporate narrative around the invention. 23

Besides establishing a new market position, a true invention can have a social and cultural impact. At the social level, a new invention can influence the ways institutions work. For example, the invention of desktop computing put accounting and word processing into the hands of nearly every office worker. The ripple effects spread to the school systems that educate and train the corporate workforce. Not long after the spread of desktop computing, workers were expected to draft reports, run financial projections, and make appealing presentations. Specializations or aspects of specialized jobs—such as typist, bookkeeper, corporate copywriter—became necessary for almost everyone headed for corporate work. Colleges and eventually high schools saw software training as essential for students of almost all skill levels. These additional capabilities added profitability and efficiencies, but they also have increased job requirements for the average professional.

Some of the most successful inventions contain a mix of familiarity and innovation that is difficult to achieve. With this mix, the rate of adoption can be accelerated because of the familiarity with the concept or certain aspects of the product or service. As an example, the “videophone” was a concept that began to be explored as early as the late 1800s. AT&T began extensive work on videophones during the 1920s. However, the invention was not adopted because of a lack of familiarity with the idea of seeing someone on a screen and communicating back and forth. Other factors included societal norms, size of the machine, and cost. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the invention started to take hold in the marketplace. 24 The concept of a black box is that activities are performed in a somewhat mysterious and ambiguous manner, with a serendipitous set of actions connecting that result in a surprisingly beneficial manner. An example is Febreeze, a chemical combination that binds molecules to eliminate odors. From a black box perspective, the chemical engineers did not intend to create this product, but as they were working on creating another product, someone noticed that the product they were working on removed odors, thus inadvertently creating a successful new product marketed as Febreeze.

What Can You Do?

Did henry ford invent the assembly line.

Very few products or procedures are actually brand-new ideas. Most new products are alterations or new applications of existing products, with some type of twist in design, function, portability, or use. Henry Ford is usually credited with inventing the moving assembly line Figure 4.7 (a) in 1913. However, some 800 years before Henry Ford, wooden ships were mass produced in the northern Italian city of Venice in a system that anticipated the modern assembly line.

Various components (ropes, sails, and so on) were prefabricated in different parts of the Venetian Arsenal, a huge, complex construction site along one of Venice’s canals. The parts were then delivered to specific assembly points Figure 4.7 (b) . After each stage of construction, the ships were floated down the canal to the next assembly area, where the next sets of workers and parts were waiting. Moving the ships down the waterway and assembling them in stages increased speed and efficiency to the point that long before the Industrial Revolution, the Arsenal could produce one fully functional and completely equipped ship per day . The system was so successful that it was used from the thirteenth century to about 1800.

Henry Ford did not invent anything new—he only applied the 800-year-old process of building wooden ships by hand along a moving waterway to making metal cars by hand on a moving conveyor ( Figure 4.7 ).

Opportunities to bring new products and processes to market are in front of us every day. The key is having the ability to recognize them and implement them. Likewise, the people you need to help you be successful may be right in front of you on a regular basis. The key is having the ability to recognize who they are and making connections to them. Just as those ships and cars moved down an assembly line until they were ready to be put into service, start thinking about moving down the “who I know” line so that you will eventually have a successful business in place.

The process of invention is difficult to codify because not all inventions or inventors follow the same path. Often the path can take multiple directions, involve many people besides the inventor, and encompass many restarts. Inventors and their teams develop their own processes along with their own products, and the field in which an inventor works will greatly influence the modes and pace of invention. Elon Musk is famous for founding four different billion-dollar companies. The development processes for PayPal , Solar City , SpaceX , and Tesla differed widely; however, Musk does outline a six-step decision-making process ( Figure 4.8 ):

• Ask a question.
• Gather as much evidence as possible about it.
• Develop axioms based on the evidence and try to assign a probability of truth to each one.
• Draw a conclusion in order to determine: Are these axioms correct, are they relevant, do they necessarily lead to this conclusion, and with what probability?
• Attempt to disprove the conclusion. Seek refutation from others to further help break your conclusion.
• If nobody can invalidate your conclusion, then you’re probably right, but you’re not certainly right.

In other words, the constant underlying Musk’s decision process is the scientific method. 25 The scientific method , most often associated with the natural sciences, outlines the process of discovering an answer to a question or a problem. “The scientific method is a logical organization of steps that scientists use to make deductions about the world around us.” 26 The steps in the scientific method line up quite nicely with Musk’s decision-making process. Applying the scientific method to invention and innovation makes sense. The scientific method involves becoming aware of a problem, collecting data about it by observing and experimenting, and coming up with suggestions on how to solve it.

Economists argue that processes of invention can be explained by economic forces. But this hasn’t always been the case. Prior to 1940, economic theory focused very little on inventions. After World War II, much of the global economy in the developed world needed to be rebuilt. New technologies were developing rapidly, and research and development investment increased. Inventors and economists alike became aware of consumer demand and realized that demand can influence which inventions take off at a given time. 27 However, inventors are always up against an adoption curve. 28

The Rogers Adoption Curve was popularized through the research and publications of the author and scientist Everett Rogers . 29 He first used it to describe how agricultural innovations diffused (or failed to) in a society. It was later applied to all inventions and innovations. This curve illustrates diffusion of an innovation and when certain people will adopt it. First is the question of who adopts inventions and innovations in society: The main groups are innovators, early adopters, early and late-majority adopters, and “laggards” (Rogers’s own term). 30 The innovators are the ones willing to take a risk on a new product, the consumers who want to try it first. The early adopters are consumers who will adopt new inventions with little to no information. Majority adopters will adopt products after being accepted by the majority. And finally, laggards are often not willing to readily adopt change and are the hardest to convince to try a new invention. 31

Rogers’s second way of looking at the concept is from the point of view of the invention itself. A given population partially or completely adopts an invention or rejects it. If an invention is targeted at the wrong population or the wrong population segment, this can dramatically inhibit its chances of being adopted widely. The most critical point of adoption often occurs at the end of the early adoption phase, before the early majority steps in and truly confirms (or not) the diffusion of an invention. This is called the diffusion chasm (though this process is usually called the diffusion of innovations , for our purposes, it applies quite well to new inventions as we define them here).

The diffusion curve depicts a social process in which the value of an invention is perceived (or not) to be worth the cost ( Figure 4.9 ). Early adopters generally pay more than those who wait, but if the invention gives them a perceived practical, social, or cultural advantage, members of the population, the popularity of the invention itself, and marketing can all drive the invention over the diffusion chasm. Once the early majority adopts an innovation (in very large numbers), we can expect the rest of the majority to adopt it. By the time the late majority and the laggards adopt an innovation, the novelty has worn off, but the practical benefits of the innovation can still be felt.

Inventors are constantly trying to cross the diffusion chasm, often with many products at a time. Crossing the diffusion chasm is a nearly constant concern for business-focused or outcomes-focused inventors. Inventors put many of their resources into an invention during the innovation and early adoption stages. Inventions may not turn a profit for investors or the inventors themselves until they are well into the early majority stage of adoption. Some inventors are pleased to work toward general discovery, but most in today’s social and cultural context are working to develop products and services for markets.

One shortcoming of the diffusion of innovations model is that it treats inventions and innovations as though they are finished and complete, though many are not. Not all inventions are finished products ready for market. Iterative development is more common, particularly in fields with high levels of complexity and in service-oriented ventures. In the iterative development process, inventors and innovators continuously engage with potential customers in order to develop their products and their consumer bases at the same time. This model of business learning, also known as the science of customer development, is essential. 32 Business learning involves testing product-market fit and making changes to an innovation or invention many times over until either investment funding runs out or the product succeeds. Perhaps the most accurate way to summarize this process is to note that many inventions are hit-or-miss prospects that get only a few chances to cross the diffusion chasm. When innovators follow the build-measure-learn model (discussed in detail in Launch for Growth to Success ), they try to work their way across the diffusion chasm rather than making a leap of faith.

Work It Out

The safety razor was an innovation over the straight razor. Safety razor blades are small enough to fit inside a capsule, and the location and type of handle was altered to suit the new orientation of handle to blade ( Figure 4.10 ). Most contemporary razors are themselves innovations on the safety razor, whether they have two, three, four, or more blades. The method of changing razor blades has evolved with each innovation on the safety razor, but the designs are functionally similar.

The electric razor is a related invention. It still uses blades to shave hair off the face or body, but the blades are hidden beneath a foil or foils. Hairs poke through the foils when the razor is pressed against the skin, and blades moving in various directions cut the hairs. Although electric razors use blades as do mechanical razors, the new design and the added technology qualified the electric razor as an invention that offered something new in the shaving industry when Jacob Schick won the patent for a shaving machine in 1930. 33 Still other innovations in the shaving genre include gender-specific razors, beard trimmers, and, more recently, online clubs such as Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s Shave Club .

Think about the conceptual difference between innovation and invention. Is the safety razor a pioneering innovation or an incremental one? What makes the electric razor an invention, as we define it here? What makes it stand out as a leap from previous types of razors? Do you think the electric razor is a “sure thing”? Why or why not? Consider the availability of electricity at the time the first electric razors were being made. Why do you think the electric razor made it over the diffusion chasm between early adopters and early majority adopters? Do you think the electric razor was invented iteratively with small changes to the same product in response to customer preferences? Or did it develop in a series of black box inventions, with each one either diffusing or not?

• 7 “How Design Thinking Transformed Airbnb from Failing Startup to Billion Dollar Business.” First Round Review . n.d. https://firstround.com/review/How-design-thinking-transformed-Airbnb-from-failing-startup-to-billion-dollar-business/
• 8 “Divya Nag, 26.” Fortune . n.d. http://fortune.com/40-under-40/2017/divya-nag-27/
• 9 Rikke Dam and Teo Siang. “Introduction to the Essential Ideation Techniques Which Are the Heart of Design Thinking.” Interaction Design Foundation . April 2019. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/introduction-to-the-essential-ideation-techniques-which-are-the-heart-of-design-thinking
• 10 Dawn Kelly and Terry L. Amburgey. “Organizational Inertia and Momentum: A Dynamic Model of Strategic Change.” Academy of Management Journal 34, no. 3 (1991): 591–612.
• 11 Ian Fillis and Ruth Rentschler. “The Role of Creativity in Entrepreneurship.”  Journal of Enterprising Culture  18, no. 1 (2010): 49–81.
• 12 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles . New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.
• 13 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles . (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986), 35.
• 14 P. F. Drucker. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practices and Principles . New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1986.
• 15 Blake Morgan. “5 Fresh Examples of Customer Service Innovation.” Forbes . July 17, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2017/07/17/5-fresh-examples-of-customer-experience-innovation/#3ae5a46e5c18
• 16 Tony Ulwick. “Reinventing Innovation for 25 Years.” Strategyn . n.d. https://strategyn.com/tony-ulwick/?network=g&matchtype=p&keyword=tony%20ulwick&creative=268244402567&device=c&devicemodel=&placement=&position=1t1&campaignid=1394486829&adgroupid=57939305027&loc_physical_ms=9015694&loc_interest_ms=&gclid=CjwKCAjw29vsBRAuEiwA9s-0B2jD3BYbm-BEiPWHKfd6R6mnW4XCHuhXbX_JhUof76IdXh6joIzlWRoCqJAQAvD_BwE
• 17 Chris Larson. “Disruptive Innovation Theory: What It Is & 4 Key Concepts.” Harvard Business School . November 15, 2016. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/4-keys-to-understanding-clayton-christensens-theory-of-disruptive-innovation
• 18 Rosamond Hutt. “What Is Disruptive Innovation?” World Economic Forum . June 25, 2016. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/what-is-disruptive-innovation/
• 19 Lloyd Waldo. “What’s a Pain Point? A Guide for Startups.” StartupYard Seed Accelerator . December 1, 2016. https://startupyard.com/whats-pain-point/
• 20 Abdul Ali, Manohar U. Kalwani, and Dan Kovenock. “Selecting Product Development Projects: Pioneering versus Incremental Innovation Strategies.”  Management Science  39, no. 3 (1993): 255–274.
• 21 Abdul Ali. “Pioneering versus Incremental Innovation: Review and Research Propositions.”  Journal of Product Innovation Management  11, no. 1 (1994): 46–61.
• 22 JV Chamary. “Why ‘Pokémon GO’ Is the World’s Most Important Game.” Forbes . February 10, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2018/02/10/pokemon-go-science-health-benefits/#2b6f07fd3ab0
• 23 Morten Thanning Vendelø. “Narrating Corporate Reputation: Becoming Legitimate through Storytelling.”  International Studies of Management & Organization  28, no. 3 (1998): 120–137.
• 24 Thomas J. Fitzgerald. “For the Deaf: Communication without the Wait.” The New York Times . December 18, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/technology/for-the-deaf-communication-without-the-wait.html
• 25 Abby Jackson. “Elon Musk Uses This 6-Step Process to Make Decisions.” Business Insider . November 16, 2017. https://www.inc.com/business-insider/how-elon-musk-makes-decisions-rolling-stone.html
• 26 Joan Whetzel. “Formula for Using the Scientific Method.” Owlcation . February 11, 2017. https://owlcation.com/academia/FormulaForUsingScientificMethod
• 27 N. Rosenberg. “Science, Invention and Economic Growth.”  The Economic Journal  84, no. 333 (1974): 90–108.
• 28 Everett M. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations , 5th ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.
• 29 John-Pierre Maeli. “The Rogers Adoption Curve & How You Spread New Ideas Throughout Culture.” The Political Informer . May 6, 2016. https://medium.com/the-political-informer/the-rogers-adoption-curve-how-you-spread-new-ideas-throughout-culture-d848462fcd24
• 30 Everett M. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations , 5th ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.
• 31 Wayne W. LaMorte. “Diffusion of Innovation Theory.” September 9, 2019. http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html
• 32 Eric Ries. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses . Largo, Maryland: Crown Books, 2011.
• 33 “Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor.” Connecticut History . May 13, 2017. https://connecticuthistory.org/jacob-schick-invents-the-electric-razor/

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• Authors: Michael Laverty, Chris Littel
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Entrepreneurship
• Publication date: Jan 16, 2020
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/1-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/4-2-creativity-innovation-and-invention-how-they-differ

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Impact of entrepreneurial education, mindset, and creativity on entrepreneurial intention: mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

• 1 College of International Business, Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages, Shaoxing, China
• 2 School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
• 3 School of Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China
• 4 Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan
• 5 University of Management and Technology, Sialkot, Pakistan

This study aimed to investigate the direct influence of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity on the entrepreneurial intention with the indirect role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This study applied the structural equation model technique using AMOS software to verify the hypothesis relationships. This study collected self-administered survey data from 365 university students of Jiangsu and Zhejiang province of China. The findings indicated that entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity have a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, results revealed that entrepreneurial self-efficacy partially mediates in the relationship between entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity on entrepreneurial intention. Further implications and limitations are also discussed in this article.

Introduction

The topic of entrepreneurship has received extensive attention among researchers over the past decades ( Wadhwani et al., 2020 ). Entrepreneurship has become a dominant issue in developed and under-developed nations as well because it develops efforts in improving the economic welfare of the nation ( Värlander et al., 2020 ; Yi, 2020 ). Entrepreneurship improves the economic and social growth of nations ( Li et al., 2020a ; Neneh, 2020 ). Previous studies have remarked that entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity cultivate young talents and develop entrepreneurial intention among individuals to become entrepreneurs ( Westhead and Solesvik, 2016 ; Hu et al., 2018 ; Pan et al., 2018 ; Jena, 2020 ) and argued that with an increasing number of university graduates, appropriate job searching has become a serious concern in the higher education system in China. According to Hu and Ye (2017) in developed countries, the success rate of entrepreneurship is more than 25% as compared to Chinese university graduates, who achieve only a 10% success rate due to a lack of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity. Most of the students prefer to start a job in a company rather than start their businesses. Therefore, the Chinese government has developed measures to alleviate the pressure of unemployment and provide suitable entrepreneurial platforms for students to become entrepreneurs.

Kalyoncuoǧlu et al. (2017 ) defined entrepreneurship education as associated with nurturing creative skills that can be applied in real life. Moreover, the entrepreneurial mindset has been recognized in providing success and failure among entrepreneurs in entrepreneurship research ( Moore et al., 2021 ). Jena (2020) argued that entrepreneurial mindset is associated with the profound cognitive phenomena that reflect the inimitable commitment of entrepreneurial activities ( Saptono et al., 2020 ). The term creativity is defined as the creation of new and useful ideas ( Entrialgo and Iglesias, 2020 ). Previous scholars indicated that there are several supportive dimensions such as entrepreneurial education ( Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2018 ), entrepreneurial passion ( Karimi, 2020 ), entrepreneurial orientation ( Cho and Lee, 2018 ), entrepreneurial self-efficacy ( Schmutzler et al., 2019 ), and entrepreneurial mindset ( Cui et al., 2019 ) and creativity are associated with the development of an entrepreneurial intention for new business startups. Therefore, the direct relationship of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity are less studied in the context of Chinese student entrepreneurial intention. Consequently, the objective of this study is to identify the influence of these factors on entrepreneurial intention among Chinese students.

The social cognitive theory proposed by Bandura (1992) outlines that entrepreneurial education improves an individual's self-efficacy. It allows individual to have an opportunity in entrepreneurship tasks such as identifying an opportunity, making business feasibility, and implementing a business plan. In line with the entrepreneurship research in the context of developed nations, the role of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity in entrepreneurship have been discussed by several researchers ( Shi et al., 2020 ; Anjum et al., 2021 ). Some studies have outlined that individuals with a high level of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity are more prone to start their businesses ( Hu and Ye, 2017 ; Handayati et al., 2020 ). Additionally, scholars believed that the understanding of entrepreneurial self-efficacy is essential, especially on how to start, manage and develop a new business ( Chien-Chi et al., 2020 ; Lingappa et al., 2020 ). Thus, individuals that perceived a high level of self-efficacy will lead to greater cognitive minds. Neneh (2020) pointed out that self-efficacy is a social-cognitive process that elaborates the cognitive mindset of individuals in the shape of entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behavior.

This study provides four main contributions to literature on entrepreneurship. First, existing studies have been focused on entrepreneurial traits such as family business ( Douglas et al., 2021 ), big five personality traits ( Bazkiaei et al., 2020 ), the dark side of personality traits ( Cai et al., 2021 ), entrepreneurial self-efficacy ( Ceresia and Mendola, 2020 ), and entrepreneurial alertness ( Urban, 2020 ) to determine the entrepreneurial intention of the student. Second, Wardana et al. (2020) argued that there is a lack of study into an entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial mindset on entrepreneurial intention; most of the previous studies have been investigated on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial mindset in the context of Europe ( Boldureanu et al., 2020 ), America ( Barnard et al., 2019 ), Africa ( Puni et al., 2018 ), Malaysia ( Shamsudin et al., 2017 ), and India ( Jena, 2020 ), while little attention has been paid by scholars to the context of China.

Third, a recent study by Handayati et al. (2020) examined entrepreneurship education to assess the entrepreneurial mindset of the vocational student in Indonesia. This study provides an extension to the model by Handayati et al. (2020) and Jena (2020) using entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity as independent variables and taking entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediator to predict the entrepreneurial intention in Chinese students. Fourth, this study contributes to the social cognitive theory by Bandura (1985) that helps explain the individual self-efficacy, which helps entrepreneurs develop. Numerous researchers have discussed the positive influence of self-efficacy in social psychological research ( Alonso et al., 2020 ; Mozahem and Adlouni, 2021 ). Meanwhile, many researchers discuss the positive mediating influence of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention ( Fernando and Nishantha, 2019 ; Burnette et al., 2020 ). Thus, this study attempts to identify the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in explaining entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity, which ultimately influence an individual when starting a new business.

Based on the above-mentioned research impetus, this study aims to address these research gaps in the conceptualization of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention. Thus, within the developed research model the study addresses the following questions:

RQ1 . What is the influence of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity on entrepreneurial intention among Chinese students?

RQ2 . Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity in entrepreneurial intention among Chinese students?

The present study discusses the development of theory and the hypothesis, before describing the methods used, before moving onto the the results and discussion, implications and limitations, and conclusions.

Theory and Hypothesis Development

Social cognitive theory refers to a learning theory that focuses on observational learning of the individual, modeling, and self-efficacy ( Beauchamp et al., 2019 ). This theory remarked that individuals are inclined to pursue their objectives if they consider their skills and abilities are capable of accomplishing the desired outcomes ( Lim et al., 2020 ; Wu et al., 2020 ). Entrepreneurial education helps individuals to enhance their social cognition, continually regulate their thoughts and make their entrepreneurial actions more directional, logical, and significant. This study employs the social cognitive theory to assess how students with a high level of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity improve their ability to develop entrepreneurial self-efficacy which in turn affects entrepreneurial intention ( Yuan et al., 2020 ).

Furthermore, previous research believed that general education emphasizes the overall progress of individuals and the entrepreneurial program lays the foundation for the overall growth of the skills of an individual ( Liguori et al., 2018 ). From the perspective of social learning theory, individuals are encouraged to learn through different multi-level channels and enhance their skills and knowledge to become entrepreneurs ( Oo et al., 2018 ). Thus, entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity improve the learning environment of individuals and enhance their confidence level that will be able to solve new and unexpected issues regarding the new business development ( Chia and Liang, 2016 ).

Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurial Mindset

Prior studies argued that entrepreneurial education has a positive relationship with the entrepreneurial mindset ( Pfeifer et al., 2016 ; Karyaningsih et al., 2020 ). Entrepreneurial education defied as a learning activity that is associated with the improvement of knowledge, abilities, skills, and personal character regarding entrepreneurship education ( Cui et al., 2019 ; Yuan and Wu, 2020 ). Moreover, an entrepreneurial mindset is defined as a feeling or propensity to provide a creative and innovative thinking ability ( Günzel-Jensen et al., 2017 ). Prior studies discussed the idea of entrepreneurial mindset in the field of psychology, especially in personality psychology research, and found that entrepreneurial mindset is positively related to self-capability ( Zupan et al., 2018 ; Morris and Tucker, 2021 ). Furthermore, numerous researchers focused on the entrepreneurial mindset and its factors such as knowledge, skills, abilities, creative ideas, and attitude toward entrepreneurship ( Green et al., 2020 ; Rodriguez and Lieber, 2020 ; Saptono et al., 2020 ) believed that the entrepreneurial mindset is associated with individual attitude and entrepreneurial action.

Wardana et al. (2020) discuss how entrepreneurial education enables people to have capability, providing them with understating about how to identify opportunities and develop their attitude toward entrepreneurship. Handayati et al. (2020) remarked that entrepreneurship education promotes the entrepreneurial mindset of individuals from two perspectives. First, entrepreneurial education assists individuals to develop a culture and intensely understand entrepreneurship. Second, entrepreneurial education creates awareness among individuals to get more experience to start a new business ( Barnard et al., 2019 ). Therefore, we believed that individuals with a high level of entrepreneurial education are more likely to have an entrepreneurial mindset, which enables them to become entrepreneurs and propose the following hypothesis:

H1: Entrepreneurial education is positively related to the entrepreneurial mindset.

Entrepreneurial Education and Entrepreneurial Intention

Entrepreneurship education is related to the ability of actions of the individual in favor of knowledge and abilities ( Liu et al., 2019 ). Previous research believed that entrepreneurial education has an important role in improving the skills of the individual that stimulates business activities ( Sun et al., 2017 ). Yang (2014) remarked that entrepreneurial education has two key features. First, through entrepreneurial learning actions, it facilitates individuals to transfer knowledge, skills, and share experience of entrepreneurship. Second, entrepreneurial education through field studies motivates individuals to be successful person in the future. Moreover, a study argued that entrepreneurial education provides help to individuals in achieving entrepreneurial intention through social networks and the experience of successful entrepreneurs ( Vodǎ and Florea, 2019 ).

Entrepreneurial education assists individuals to obtain minimal resources through appropriate knowledge sharing and information transfer. Therefore, individuals who show interest in entrepreneurial learning are more likely to engage with peers and fellows and promote the entrepreneurial image ( Nowiński et al., 2019 ). The role of entrepreneurial education for entrepreneurial intentions can be demonstrated by understanding business education ( Turner and Gianiodis, 2018 ). Entrepreneurship education allows individuals to improve their mindfulness and entrepreneurship intention for a career path to work ( Kalyoncuoǧlu et al., 2017 ). The basic function of entrepreneurial education focuses on the enrichment of knowledge, skill, and attitude toward entrepreneurship. Thus, based on the existing studies we argued that individuals who perceived a high level of entrepreneurial education are more likely to pursue a career in entrepreneurship. Hence, we hypothesized that:

H2: Entrepreneurial education is positively related to entrepreneurial intention.

Entrepreneurial Mindset and Entrepreneurial Intention

According to Hsu et al. (2019) entrepreneurship intention is defined as a self-acknowledged belief to start a new career. Moreover, studies have asserted that entrepreneurial intention is associated with the identification, evaluation, and exploitation of new opportunities with the help of planning, organizing, processes, and raw materials ( Miranda et al., 2017 ; Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2018 ). Previous studies revealed that entrepreneurial mindset is positively related to entrepreneurial intention ( Cui et al., 2019 ; Handayati et al., 2020 ). Entrepreneurial mindset refers to an individual commitment toward entrepreneurial activities ( Kuratko et al., 2020 ). An entrepreneurial mindset contains an inclination of the individual with the combination of risk-taking, need for achievement, and passion to start a new business as well as develop, plan, and organize projects to achieve entrepreneurial goals ( Bosman and Fernhaber, 2019 ).

Handayati et al. (2020) conducted a study on the entrepreneurial minds of vocational students in Indonesia and found that entrepreneurial mindset had a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, Wardana et al. (2020) examined a study on the entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial intention using a 390 university student sample and found that entrepreneurial mindset positively related to entrepreneurial intention. Meanwhile, Jung and Lee (2020) investigated a study on entrepreneurial minds of college students to predict their entrepreneurial intention in South Korea, and results show that entrepreneurial traits such as innovativeness, autonomy, and pro-activeness were positively developed the entrepreneurial mindset of students to become entrepreneurs.

The entrepreneurial mindset develops over time and needs to be used regularly ( Aima et al., 2020 ). Therefore, individuals must make their minds more efficient during daily life and pay more attention to opportunities ( Kaffka and Krueger, 2018 ). Based upon these past studies, we believe that individuals with entrepreneurial mindsets more actively participate in entrepreneurial activities than other individuals. Consequently, we hypothesized that:

H3: Entrepreneurial mindset is positively related to entrepreneurial intention.

Creativity and Entrepreneurial Intention

Creativity is an essential feature of individual cognitive processing and can produce new and useful ideas through appropriate information and knowledge ( Zampetakis and Moustakis, 2006 ). According to Rodrigues et al. (2019) , creativity is defined as the ability and skill that people hold. Prior researchers discussed that creativity is particularly essential for entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurship itself is a creative activity ( Kumar and Shukla, 2019 ; Shi et al., 2020 ). Similarly, Hu et al. (2018) conducted a study using creativity and entrepreneurial alertness and found significant results in the context of university students in China. Furthermore, a recent study investigated a sample of 390 university students in Pakistan and found the significant impact of creativity in the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention ( Murad et al., 2021 ).

Zampetakis et al. (2011) studied the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention using undergraduate business students and found that individuals with a higher level of creativity are more likely to become entrepreneurs. Chia and Liang (2016) conducted a study to examine the impact of creativity on the entrepreneurial intention of university tourism students in Taiwan and remarked that students who perceived high creativity are more prone to start a new business. Shi et al. (2020) studied the relationship between creativity and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on entrepreneurial intention using a survey of 523 university students in China and found that individuals with a high level of creativity can obtain a positive attitude and high self-belief in entrepreneurial activities.

Additionally, Miranda et al. (2017) used a 1,178 Spanish university student sample to identify the influence of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on creativity and entrepreneurial intention and found that individuals with high creative minds are more likely to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Based on the above literature, most of the previous studies found a positive correlation between creativity and entrepreneurial intention. Thus, we believed that creativity will positively lead toward entrepreneurial intention.

H4: Creativity is positively related to entrepreneurial intention.

The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is defined as individual self-belief to attain goal-oriented tasks ( Barbaranelli et al., 2019 ). Self-efficacy is also associated with the inclination of individuals to achieve their personal goals ( Newman et al., 2019 ). The concept of self-efficacy is derived from social cognitive theory. This theory was proposed by Bandura (1985) which demonstrated that individual behavior is developed by numerous activities such as interpersonal, involvement, and circumstance. The relationship between these activities can form confidence in an individual in encompassing the ability to manage certain behaviors and their expectations of behavioral results ( Nowiński et al., 2019 ).

A prior study discussed that self-efficacy is an influential factor in explaining individual entrepreneurial intention and behavior ( Schmutzler et al., 2019 ). Moreover, an increasing number of researches in entrepreneurial intention/behavioral models found the significant mediating role of self-efficacy as a direct and indirect variable in the field of entrepreneurship and social psychology ( Newman et al., 2019 ; Li et al., 2020b ). McGee and Peterson (2019) revealed that self-efficacy is the essential factor that affects the behavior of an individual through the cognitive process, objective setting, and result expectations. Furthermore, scholars argued that entrepreneurs with extraordinary self-efficacy for a particular task are more likely prone to entrepreneurial activities rather than other entrepreneurs who have less self-efficacy ( Şahin et al., 2019 ; Urban, 2020 ).

Burnette et al. (2020) believed that self-efficacy explains the cognition process, develops creative thinking, and helps individuals in the decision-making process to start a new business. In the cognitive process, previous scholars paid much attention to individual creative thinking toward new business startups ( Schmitt et al., 2018 ; Hsu et al., 2019 ). Kumar and Shukla (2019) examined the direct influence of creativity and proactive personality with the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy to measure entrepreneurial intention among university students in India and found that creativity positively leads toward entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. Thus, individuals with a higher level of entrepreneurial self-efficacy are more likely to perceive higher entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity. Hence, we proposed the following hypotheses:

H5: Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is positively related to entrepreneurial intention.

H5a: The relationship between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention will be mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

H5b: The relationship between entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial intention will be mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

H5c: The relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention will be mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

The conceptual model depicting the relationships and hypothesis is given in Figure 1 .

Figure 1 . Conceptual model.

Pilot Survey and Sampling Technique

A pilot test was applied by distributing 100 questionnaires to business students at Jiangsu and Zhejiang universities in China. We received 75 effective responses with a participation rate of 75%. Based on the pilot survey feedback, the reliability and validity of the measurement constructs were acceptable. The target population of this study includes all enrolled university students of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in China. This study focused on the entrepreneurial intention of the business student because there is a growing trend in the field of entrepreneurship that university students were more involved in business startups ( Li et al., 2020b ; Neneh, 2020 ). Moreover, this study applied a convenience sampling technique and a survey was conducted from February 05, 2021, to April 30, 2021. The original draft of the questionnaires was in English language and translation was checked by using the translation and back-translation process through the two language experts who have a good command of Chinese and English language. Furthermore, we distributed 450 paper and pencil questionnaires among respondents, and 380 received with a participation rate of 84%. We discarded 15 questionnaires due to incomplete forms of responses, thus, the final response size included 365 valid questionnaires. The participation of the respondents was voluntary and students who engaged in this survey were announced for their anonymity.

Among the valid responses (55.1%) were male and (44.9%) were female. In terms of age groups were 18–25 (44.1%), 26–35 (32.9%), 36–45 (17.5%), and 45–above (5.5%). In terms of major distribution school of management accounted for (43%), the school of finance accounted for (34.2%), the school of public administration accounted for (20%), and the school of economics accounted for (2.7%). There were (47.7%) undergraduate students (29.6%), masters students (20%), diploma and other, and (2.7%) PhD students. Also, (60.3%) came from a family with an entrepreneurial background, and (39.7%) were not belonging to the entrepreneurial family background.

Additionally, Harman single factor test was performed on the data. According to Harman methodology, all the factors are merged in the factor analysis and the first factor explained more than 50% of the total variance that means there is an issue of common method bias in the data. The results from factor analysis show that the first factor explained 30.43% of the total variance. Therefore, there is no issue of common method bias in this study ( Podsakoff, 2003 ).

This study adopted measurement scales that had been tested and validated by the previous researchers. We used a 5-point Likert scale rating from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree and evaluated the responses of students.

Entrepreneurial Education

To assess entrepreneurial education, we used six items from the prior study by Wardana et al. (2020) . This scale was used by previous researchers to predict the entrepreneurial education of students ( Handayati et al., 2020 ). A sample item “I believe that entrepreneurial education in school drives business students to be entrepreneurs.” The Cronbach's α for entrepreneurial education was 0.936.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

To measure the entrepreneurial mindset, we used six measurement constructs from the previous study by Wardana et al. (2020) . A sample item “I have seen time allocation for entrepreneurial matters.” The Cronbach's α for entrepreneurial mindset was 0.905.

Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

To evaluate entrepreneurial self-efficacy, we used four items from the study by Zhao et al. (2005) . This scale was widely used by prior scholars to assess entrepreneurial self-efficacy ( Li et al., 2020b ). A sample item “I am convinced that I can successfully create new products.” The Cronbach's α for entrepreneurial self-efficacy was 0.918.

Entrepreneurial Intention

To measure the entrepreneurial intention of business students, we used six items from the study by Liñán et al. (2011 ). This scale was applied by several researchers to evaluate the student entrepreneurial intention ( Mahmood et al., 2019 ; Neneh, 2019 ). A sample item “I am determined to start a new business in the future.” The Cronbach's α for the entrepreneurial intention was 0.939.

To evaluate creativity, we used six measurement constructs from the study by Biraglia and Kadile (2017) . This scale was also used by previous researchers ( Kumar and Shukla, 2019 ; Murad et al., 2021 ). A sample item “I often have new and innovative ideas.” The Cronbach's α for creativity was 0.922.

Measurement Model

The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed by utilization of the AMOS software and findings were presented in Table 1 and Figure 2 ). Moreover, Table 2 results show that five measurement constructs have satisfactory reliability results because all the values of Cronbach's α surpassed 0.70 and the composite reliability ranged from 0.908 to 0.941 exceeded the recommended benchmark of 0.60 ( Bagozzi et al., 1991 ). Also, about the validity test, all the measured items factor loadings ranged from 0.725 to 0.915 (all p < 0.001). The values of the average variance extracted were satisfactory and ranged from 0.613 to 0.738 (as shown in Table 2 ).

Table 1 . Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Figure 2 . Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results.

Table 2 . Reliability and validity analysis.

Furthermore, to assess the discriminant validity, we used criteria given by Fornell and Larcker (1981) . Table 2 shows that the measurement model has satisfactory results because the square roots of AVE were greater than the values of its corresponding rows and columns. For the goodness-of-fit index, the results were presented as follow: X 2 = 804.565, X 2 /df = 2.36, GFI = 0.870, CFI = 0.941, NFI = 0.903, RMSEA = 0.060, and SRMR = 0.048. Thus, all the values of measurement model constructs were acceptable and allowed the analysis of the structural model.

Structural Model

The structural model was assessed through the 5,000 bootstrapping method using the Amos software package. The findings of the structural model are expressed in Figure 3 which presented that all the results are satisfactory. Moreover, we tested the proposed hypotheses and the findings are shown in Table 3 and Figure 3 . We found that entrepreneurial education had a direct positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial mindset ( β = 0.177, critical ratio = 3.113, p < 0.002). Therefore, H1 was accepted. Furthermore, results indicate that entrepreneurial education had a direct positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention ( β = 0.185, critical ratio = 3.671, p < 0.001). Thus, H2 was supported.

Figure 3 . Structural model.

Table 3 . Direct effects.

Meanwhile, results show that entrepreneurial mindset had a direct positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial intention ( β = 0.276, critical ratio = 5.240, p < 0.001). Consequently, H3 was accepted. Additionally, findings illustrate that creativity had a direct positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention ( β = 0.116, critical ratio = 2.300, p < 0.021). Moreover, H4 was supported. Lastly, we found that entrepreneurial self-efficacy had a direct positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.302, critical ratio = 5.665, p < 0.001). Hence, H5 was accepted.

To test the indirect effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in the relationship between entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity, the bootstrap test was applied at a 95% confidence interval with 5,000 bootstrap samples. We followed the recommendations by Preacher and Hayes (2008) to calculate the confidence interval of the lower and upper bounds of bias-corrected percentile and percentile method to analyze whether the indirect effect was significant or not. Table 4 presents the results which indicate that entrepreneurial self-efficacy had a positive and significant indirect effect in the relationship between entrepreneurial education ( β = 0.107, p < 0.001), entrepreneurial mindset ( β = 0.035, p < 0.001) and creativity ( β = 0.069, p < 0.001) on entrepreneurial intention. Thus, H5a, H5b, and H5c were also accepted.

Table 4 . Indirect effects.

Concerning H1, the result indicates that entrepreneurial education positively impacts the entrepreneurial mindset of students. The result of this study is in line with prior researchers ( Cui et al., 2019 ; Handayati et al., 2020 ) who found that entrepreneurial education provides basic knowledge of entrepreneurship that makes students capable and experts in the new business startup process. The results provide new insights into Chinese entrepreneurial education which helps business students to get knowledge and experience on how to start and manage a new business. Entrepreneurial education enables students that how to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities in the market. It stimulates students to have greater information, knowledge, skills, and encouragement in supporting their entrepreneurial mindset to become entrepreneurs ( Yuan et al., 2021 ). Entrepreneurial education enables the entrepreneurial mindset of the student to have a better perception of numerous results that are crucial for entrepreneurial startups. Moreover, this study suggested that entrepreneurial education affects the entrepreneurial mindset of the student to gain knowledge regarding entrepreneurship and guide them into a good career choice. Furthermore, this study finding is also in agreement with existing literature by Western scholars ( Nowiński et al., 2019 ; Saptono et al., 2020 ) who believed that entrepreneurial education significantly influenced the entrepreneurial mindset of the student to manage valuable assets and resources for a new venture.

Regarding H2, the findings present that entrepreneurial education had a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention. This finding is similar to previous scholars in the context of Western studies ( Westhead and Solesvik, 2016 ; Sun et al., 2017 ) who argued that entrepreneurial education effectively drives the entrepreneurial intention of students to become entrepreneurs. Moreover, in the context of the entrepreneurial culture of China, universities allow students to interact with successful entrepreneurs to get some innovative ideas regarding the new business startups. Entrepreneurial motivation from teachers and peers is essential for students in shaping their entrepreneurial intention ( Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2018 ).

Concerning H3, the results illustrate that entrepreneurial mindset had a positive and significant impact on the entrepreneurial intention of students. This result is similar to prior researchers and noted that students with a higher level of entrepreneurial mindset are more likely to have knowledge, skills, and experience on how to initiate and run a new business ( Benchrifa et al., 2017 ; Burnette et al., 2020 ). This finding also supports the theoretical contribution of social cognitive theory ( Bandura, 1985 ) which argued that the relationship between cognition factors such as mindset and environmental are positively associated with the entrepreneurial intentions of the student. Social cognitive theory developing an entrepreneurial mindset among students and stimulates their cognitive factors that ultimately lead toward entrepreneurial action ( Yuan et al., 2020 ). The entrepreneurial mindset is shaped by entrepreneurial education and its activities in the school which in turn affects student behavior to become an entrepreneur.

Regarding H4, we found that creativity had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. This finding is in line with several previous studies ( Hu et al., 2018 ; Anjum et al., 2021 ), which remarked that individuals with a high level of creative minds are more likely to peruse a career in entrepreneurship. Creativity is all about something new and innovative and individuals who have creative minds are more capable to articulate innovative ideas into a reality that ultimately leads toward the entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, creativity can be regarded as a valuable factor possessed by individuals, which can stimulate the development of entrepreneurial intention among Chinese students by enhancing the awareness and abilities regarding entrepreneurship, such as opportunity, identification, and exploitation.

Concerning H5, H5a, H5b, and H5c, the results reveal that entrepreneurial self-efficacy positively mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity on entrepreneurial intention. This finding is in agreement with prior researchers ( Yang, 2014 ; Wardana et al., 2020 ). The results suggest that university management facilitates students regarding entrepreneurship education and makes them skillful in handling business activities as well as developing an entrepreneurial atmosphere that ultimately leads to entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Therefore, individuals who perceived a higher level of entrepreneurial self-efficacy are easily identified an opportunity, making an entrepreneurial mindset and think more creatively to commercialize new ideas in the form of product development.

This study examined the influence of entrepreneurial factors such as education, mindset, and creativity on entrepreneurial intention. This study provides new insights into the context of the Chinese student sample and examined their entrepreneurial intention. This study used SPSS and AMOS software to measure the proposed structural equation model based on 365 valid responses from business students in China. The findings of this study indicated that entrepreneurial mindset has a stronger influence on entrepreneurial intention than entrepreneurial education and creativity. These results show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy positively mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, and creativity toward entrepreneurial intention.

Implications and Limitations

Based on the study findings, we offered some practical suggestions for educators and policymakers. First, educators improve their ability and competence particularly regarding entrepreneurship courses, such as in-house training, attend webinars on entrepreneurship, and offer an entrepreneurship certification program. Second, university top leadership develops an entrepreneurial mindset among educators and boosts their confidence to continue their higher studies for a greater outcome. Moreover, for the enhancement of entrepreneurship, university management needs to change the syllabus of entrepreneurship courses through field expertise rather than focus on classroom teaching. Third, the university provides basic facilities to students for entrepreneurial startups, including business incubation centers and other financial supports.

Universities need to support students in developing an entrepreneurial mindset to become entrepreneurs. Fourth, the university could continue to enhance the quality of entrepreneurial education by expanding the teaching materials used on entrepreneurship courses to cultivate the creativity of the student. This would promote a wide range of different learning experiences, not only focused on classroom teaching methods but also developing extra entrepreneurship curriculum activities, which are particularly successful in forming the entrepreneurial intention in the mindsets of students in the Chinese context. Finally, the government should create a better entrepreneurial environment for university students such as setting up a social entrepreneurship support program, providing business capital, and providing free business places where they can easily start their new businesses.

This study provides some limitations that would be considered for future research opportunities. First, data were gathered from Jiangsu and Zhejiang province university students of China, representing a small sample size. The target population was focused only on business department university students. Future research might consider other provinces of China or other students of the country such as vocational schools, IT, and engineering students, and enlarge the sample size to generalize the results. Second, the nature of this study was a cross-sectional design, and data was gathered through a self-administered questionnaire. Future research could conduct on the impact of entrepreneurship education and creativity using entrepreneurial alertness as a mediator among university students with the help of longitudinal research design to add more contribution in the field of entrepreneurship. Further studies also needs to examine the influence of entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial mindset using creativity and TPB as mediators and extend this entrepreneurial intention model to measure actual entrepreneurial behavior.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the Jiangsu University China. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants. Written informed consent for participation was not required for this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Author Contributions

WJ and MM proposed the research, analyzed the experimental results, and wrote the manuscript. FB and FM designed, carried out the experiments. MT and MR extensively edited and revised the manuscript. All the authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

A Study on the Type Preference, Influencing Factors and School-based Policies of Academic Entrepreneurship of University Teachers (No. 21QNYC20ZD) the Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Leading Talent Cultivation Project.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention, creativity, China

Citation: Jiatong W, Murad M, Bajun F, Tufail MS, Mirza F and Rafiq M (2021) Impact of Entrepreneurial Education, Mindset, and Creativity on Entrepreneurial Intention: Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy. Front. Psychol. 12:724440. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.724440

Received: 13 June 2021; Accepted: 16 July 2021; Published: 23 August 2021.

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Copyright © 2021 Jiatong, Murad, Bajun, Tufail, Mirza and Rafiq. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Majid Murad, majidmurad1@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Here’s why creativity is so crucial for entrepreneurship?

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Entrepreneurship is something that is of high importance in driving economic development. It is because of this phenomenon that immense opportunities are create and more and more employment options are generated, which in turn has a positive effect on various aspects including revenue generation, per capita income, lifestyle, and so on. Entrepreneurship is same as doing any other business venture, but has some of the characteristics that distinguishes it from a traditional approach .

• Innovation  is one such characteristic which involves critical examination of current business scenarios and devising new ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Resource optimization  also features in the list, whereby an entrepreneur makes full use of resources to generate efficient business processes.
• Risk taking  is at the root of entrepreneurship and revolves around the ability and courage to take new risks.
• New niches and enterprises are created, providing exciting  job opportunities  for people.
• And on top of all is  creativity,  which is a must have skill and characteristic of an entrepreneur.

Fig1 : Entrepreneurship Phenomenon

The role of creativity in entrepreneurship

Creativity is a crucial skill for an entrepreneur, and helps in devising interesting processes and products. Now the question is what makes creativity so crucial and impactful for an entrepreneur. Let’s have a look and try to understand the importance of creativity:-

• Optimal utilization of employee potential:  An entrepreneur utilizes full employee potential by encouraging creativity in workplace. There might be an ocean of ideas which are being dormant and ready to be utilized. By tapping on such creativities, an entrepreneur can reap results in the form of profitability, financial strength, and effective decision making.
• Competitive advantage:  Creativity leads to generation of novel and innovative ways of doing business. Exploring new niches and generating new ideas lead to efficiency and eventually give an entrepreneur the required edge over the competition.
• Product development:  Creativity encourages new ways of developing an existing product or service, thereby optimizing business activities in the organization. A creative entrepreneur knows how to make improvements in the deliverables of an enterprise.
• Changing the status quo:  Creativity enables an entrepreneur to get new perspectives towards business processes or financial/operational problems. It is creativity that helps an entrepreneur to abandon status quo and follow a path of immense discoveries. Creativity ignores ‘’usual’’ or ‘’normal’’, and lets an entrepreneur think outside of the box. Traditional solutions are shut and new, interesting, & versatile options are explored. It leads to ‘’Thinking the Unthinkable’’.
• Developing new niches:  It is also very important for an entrepreneur to analyze the traditional business approach and come up with new aspects of doing business activities. This can lead to a change in the methods of manufacturing or service delivery or supply chain, and so on. This all generates new niches for a potential business and leads to success.

It should also be noted here that creative thinking is not the only attribute needed for successful entrepreneurship. Some of other areas pointed out by researches include Interpersonal skills, personal traits, practical skills, critical thinking, and so on. Nevertheless, creativity is a must have skill in an entrepreneur. If simply put – creativity involves thinking freely but focusing on the major question to be answered, the product to be developed, or the areas to be improved.

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Home > Books > Entrepreneurship - Practice-Oriented Perspectives

Entrepreneurial Creativity and Growth

Submitted: 30 March 2016 Reviewed: 31 August 2016 Published: 09 November 2016

DOI: 10.5772/65453

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The concept of creativity is multidimensional, helping to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities and favoring in this way economic growth. Next to this basic argument of neoclassical theory, which ignores the role of entrepreneurship in growth, the present chapter states that entrepreneurship should be included as a contributing factor of growth. Through this key argument, this chapter attempts to clarify the importance of creativity to entrepreneurial activity, concentrating on the factors that influence entrepreneurial creativity that in turn lead to economic growth, as well as to capture the way in which entrepreneurial creativity is affected by this procedure. These factors are knowledge and education, the management of disrupting technologies, spill-over creativity, the role of cultural background and personal characteristics of individuals, the motives and incentives of individuals, the existence of—and access to—resources, and the institutions that delineate the environment of action of the entrepreneur.

• entrepreneurship
• institutions
• cultural background
• technologies

Author Information

Panagiotis e. petrakis *.

• Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Kyriaki I. Kafka

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

One of the major challenges for the economies is to determine which specific factors can lead to economic growth. The basic argument of “Neoclassical Theory” is that economic growth is determined by labor, capital, and the level of technology [ 1 ], ignoring any direct effect that entrepreneurship may have.

Entrepreneurship causes economic growth, mainly due to the fact that the entrepreneur is a potential factor of production. Similarly, a country’s economic growth promotes entrepreneurship, since it increases total demand and generates needs that create a fertile ground for the development of entrepreneurship.

• Maybe the key to business success is a combination of all above factors or even more factors. However, in this chapter, we focus on the role of entrepreneurial creativity.

Creativity is considered a concept that is inherent in entrepreneurship [ 9 – 12 ]. Creativity—not the same with innovation [ 13 ], as we could say that innovation is applied creativity—is regarded as putting all brilliant ideas together and thinking of ways to make it happen. It interfaces with psychological factors; when the person feels euphoria and is in a good mood, he/she tends to increase his/her creativity [ 14 ]. Creativity is deemed an event of artistic expression, although its impact on the real economy is not exactly determined [ 15 ].

The new observed conditions that result from the ever-changing environment, globalization, the changing economic and political structures, new technologies, specialized customer demands, and the emphasis on the quality of products and services have led the economies to appreciate the factors shaping business development and creativity in the increasingly competitive world markets. Thus, in times—such as the recent ones—dominated by conditions of glaring uncertainty and low nominal rates of return, creative cognition plays an important role as it searches for the limited business opportunities and contributes to their successful realization [ 16 ]. The firms and the organizations that appear to have a high-level long-term performance are those that are more creative and innovative. Those firms and organizations use innovative ideas from others in order to create something unique, thus avoiding copying their ideas.

Through this general framework, the scope of the chapter is to highlight the way in which entrepreneurship contributes to economic growth through the effects of entrepreneurial creativity and, especially, through the factors affecting entrepreneurial creativity. The concept of creativity is multidimensional, helping to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities and favoring in this way economic growth. This is why the present chapter gets a bird’s eye view of the most influential factors that determine entrepreneurial creativity.

The present chapter contributes to the relevant literature on the theory of creativity, clarifying creativity’s importance to entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the contribution of the chapter to the literature lies in the fact that it attempts to shed light on the relationship between entrepreneurship and growth, highlighting entrepreneurial creativity as a key factor for the promotion of entrepreneurship. We have the impression that there is no other respective research essay in the literature, grouping together and analyzing the impact of such a multitude of factors on entrepreneurial creativity—as most theoretical essays usually focus separately on a single factor and on how it affects creativity—while also illustrating a more integrated causal relationship between creativity (by researching the factors that affect it), entrepreneurship, and economic growth.

The structure of the chapter is as follows: Part 2 contains a literature review, highlighting the interconnection between entrepreneurship and economic growth. In parallel, great emphasis is given to the role of entrepreneurial creativity and how it is linked to entrepreneurship and, more broadly, to growth. Then, in Part 3, there is extensive reference to the factors that shape entrepreneurial creativity, which in turn is expected to lead to growth, thereby formulating a model of economic development. The last section, Part 4, presents the conclusions.

2. Entrepreneurship and creativity as growth accelerators

In the literature, conflicting views have been recorded on the role of entrepreneurship in growth. The lack of entrepreneurship in both the thinking and the models of growth is associated with the dominance of neoclassical economics as a mainstream school of thought. Traditional neoclassical theory holds that economic growth is determined by the supply of both labor and capital and the level of technology [ 1 ], ignoring, however, the direct effects of entrepreneurship on economic growth [ 17 ]. The absence of entrepreneurship in macroeconomic models has created intense concerns among economic theorists in recent decades [ 18 ].

Nevertheless, the contribution of entrepreneurship to economic growth is particularly important as it holds a position of causality [ 19 ]. The contribution at the microlevel lies in the fact that the entrepreneur is a key factor of production and contributes to any change and economic progress while, at the same time, it is the driving force for the production of innovation [ 9 ]. As a result, entrepreneurship causes economic growth. Respectively, at the macrolevel, the economic development of a country promotes entrepreneurship, as it increases demand and generates needs that create a fertile ground in the development of entrepreneurship. Audretsch [ 20 ] introduces the notion of “entrepreneurship capital” that refers to the institutions, culture, and historical context that is conducive to the creation of new firms. He points out that these factors, on the one hand, formulate the knowledge filter that stands between investments in knowledge, science and ideas and, on the other hand, formulate commercialization, ultimately driving economic growth [ 21 ].

Entrepreneurship is considered a major contributor to economic growth but understanding how creativity impacts on the process is also crucial [ 22 ]. Schumpeter’s theory [ 9 ] of economic development was a very important step for the establishment of the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurship. He proposed that creativity is an important driver for the entrepreneur to discover new business opportunities leading to economic growth. This is why Schumpeter’s theory could be considered not only a theory of economic growth but also a theory of creativity.

In recent decades, creativity and entrepreneurship have become increasingly interconnected in the relevant literature [ 10 , 11 , 23 ] even though in the past they were considered separate concepts [ 24 ]. Creativity and innovation are at the heart of the spirit of enterprise and provide a gateway for astute entrepreneurship [ 25 ]. Lee et al. [ 23 ] note that entrepreneurial activity, apart from the existence of an appropriate business climate, requires an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish. Pretorius et al. [ 26 ] state that creativity constitutes one of the most important entrepreneurial skills that are required for the successful start of the business process, while its significance is crucial not only during the launch of a new company but also during the decisions that are taken throughout the entire business creation process [ 8 , 27 ]. A productive change in a system is brought about by creative people [ 19 ].

Creativity constitutes the basic source of innovation and can lead to the creation of new firms and the improvement of existing products so that companies become more efficient and competitive [ 8 ]. A successful incorporation of creativity and technology in entrepreneurial activity can lead to the commercialization of the idea, the product or the service, thereby strengthening entrepreneurship [ 28 ]. Moreover, creative thinking is a particularly significant tool that allows the leader of a firm to form a business strategy and motivate the employees [ 29 , 30 ].

3. How is entrepreneurial creativity shaped?

What are, however, the factors that shape entrepreneurial creativity, which in turn is expected to promote entrepreneurship and lead to economic growth? Below, we attempt to present a literature review of the most important factors that shape and influence entrepreneurial creativity, as they are presented in the literature. These factors are not necessarily related to one another, but their common feature is that they constitute factors that affect entrepreneurial creativity, positively or negatively. In this way, a model of economic development through entrepreneurial creativity—and its effects on entrepreneurship—is formed.

These factors—their contribution to entrepreneurial creativity is analyzed below—are as follows: (a) knowledge and education, (b) managing disrupting technologies, (c) spill-over creativity, (d) the role of the cultural background and the personal characteristics of individuals, (e) the motives and incentives, (f) managing resources, and (g) the institutional background.

3.1. The role of education and knowledge

Knowledge is considered a valuable commodity and concepts such as the exchange of knowledge and lifelong learning have become more and more prevalent in business practices and, hence, in innovation activities. The greater the knowledge base of an individual, the more the ideas and combinations of ideas that he can achieve, which in turn lead to the creation of new and innovative products and services.

However, the existence of the knowledge base by itself cannot guarantee the creation of new trends, as creativity includes the following three stages: (a) discovery, (b) invention, and (c) creation [ 31 ]. The way in which the education level affects creativity varies among individuals. Of particular importance is the role of the general environment of each person relative to the knowledge level, such as the level of uncertainty, the existence of information asymmetry, the existence of high transaction costs, etc. [ 21 ], resulting in the occurrence of differences among individuals in connection with their perceptions vis-à-vis discovery, invention and the production of new innovations [ 32 , 33 ].

The concept and management of knowledge are subjects of systematic research in the attempt to find the causes of business development [ 34 – 37 ]. Proper knowledge management leads, in turn, to the achievement of a competitive advantage, as a company or organization becomes more creative and innovative and, thus, more competitive and sustainable. Besides, through working practices, management systems and human resources, businesses, and organizations maintain an integrated wealth of knowledge that they, however, have to manage properly [ 38 ]. At the same time, the right management of knowledge leads to conditions under which knowledge spill-over to other companies and organizations is facilitated [ 39 ].

High levels of creativity and innovation are associated with high levels of education and positive attitudes toward science [ 40 ]. The importance of education lies in the fact that it encourages the individual to think—from an early age—in a certain way, by equipping him/her with the necessary tools that he/she will be able to use in the future so that he/she becomes creative and develops innovative ideas. If knowledge is used and utilized properly, it constitutes a competitive advantage for companies so that they become more sustainable, competitive and innovative. The challenge for companies is to be able to capture that knowledge and leverage it through their operation. Businesses have a built-in wealth of knowledge that is established in working practices, operating systems and human resources.

Finally, it is worth noting that the cognitive skills that a person has affect the level of his/her creativity and the search for business opportunities. The contribution of these skills is particularly critical as far as the utilization of available information and the highlighting of opportunities are concerned. They constitute key intellectual models that people use in order to organize and process the information that they receive [ 41 ]. The business process of growth requires a set of mental and cognitive abilities that allow the entrepreneur to search for and implement the opportunities that are presented to him/her. The use of cognitive structures is what might differentiate persons undertaking a business activity from the rest of the population. A number of studies have focused on this issue, examining the way in which traders use mental structures in order to make value judgments and identify market imbalances [ 42 – 44 ].

3.2. Managing disrupting technologies

Technology and innovation are key sources of growth in economic activity [ 45 ] and living standards. New technologies, which constitute a sharp change in capabilities or price/performance terms compared with substitute and competing products, or concern developments that drive accelerated rates of change or discontinuous capability improvements, are commonly characterized as “disrupting technologies” [ 46 ].

As new technologies now play a significant role in people's lives, it is considered necessary to find constructive ways to use them in a creative direction. New business opportunities, new potential customers, new products, and new investment options are some of the potential benefits of new technologies. A number of empirical studies [ 47 – 49 ] have led to the conclusion that there is a strong correlation between the implementation of scientific and technological creative outputs and entrepreneurial creativity [ 19 ]. So, there are optimistic scientists [ 50 ], also labeled as new technologists, who assume that the global economy is entering a fourth phase of industrial revolution and believe that new technologies will induce a significant increase in productivity [ 16 ].

However, some concerns have been expressed about the fact that the very “smart” and advanced technology kills creativity, even though the development of science and technology has pushed towards the facilitation of economic production and the daily needs of individuals. These critics argue that technological developments are likely to increase significantly and continuously the accumulation of knowledge, affecting the level of innovativeness of people given that the future generations wishing to innovate will face educational and knowledge burdens [ 51 ].

3.3. Spill-over creativity

The creativity diffusion level can vary substantially among countries or regions [ 52 – 57 ]. For example, it seems that areas and societies characterized by high levels of creativity achieve a higher level of new firm formation [ 23 ], due to a higher level of creativity spillover. Other recent studies have shown that creative activities are more concentrated in the metropolitan areas [ 58 ], while others have demonstrated that an artistic community can create conditions of greater creativity spillover [ 59 – 61 ].

Whether the creativity that has been created (creative capital) will be diffused in society or not has significant effects on the level of economic growth [ 62 ]. Thus, higher rates of economic growth are achieved by societies that display a greater tendency toward the diffusion of creative capital, have a social and economic environment that supports the exchange of ideas, and are characterized by a business environment that allows for the commercialization of new ideas [ 62 ].

3.4. The cultural background and personal characteristics

Constantly, an individual creates a knowledge background that reflects the cultural and institutional environment in which he/she lives but also his/her personal frame of mind, on the basis of which he/she rushes to understand and specify his/her practical needs and desires. When the needs and desires are fixed for a period of time, decisions have to be taken and actions have to be carried out, aiming at their satisfaction.

This procedure is based on the reasoning ability of each person, which is also a subjective capacity as the intellect of each individual presents a different ability to understand in depth all information available in his/her knowledge background, while at the same time he/she has to take this information into account and process it in order to take decisions and proceed with action [ 63 – 67 ]. At this stage, the cultural background offers a range of habits and rules that the person can use either as such, or as a guide in order to find the best solution, or which of the solutions that he/she has found is the best according to the criteria offered by his/her cultural and institutional background, so that he/she then proceeds with action [ 65 , 66 , 68 ]. Additionally, the personal creativity and personal emotional world of every human being come to diversify the reasoning behavior among people over what needs they choose to have and how they intend to go about satisfying them [ 69 – 71 ].

The dimensions of the cultural background comprise the social stereotypes that prevail in a society. The composition of social stereotypes in a society shapes the prevailing portfolio of social behavior. It is extremely important to determine whether the prevailing portfolio of a society or a population group favors conditions of growth or not.

A society or, more specifically, a company or an organization whose members are characterized by a variety of cultural traits, is more likely to be driven towards the production of innovation [ 72 ] and encourage creativity. The reason is that groups with different cultural characteristics adopt new ways of perception, a feature that promotes creativity. Also, in groups where creativity and orientation to individual achievements are encouraged, higher rates of innovative activity are observed. Additionally, the greater the freedom of individuals to express their views, the greater the likelihood for the formulation of new ideas and creative effects [ 73 ]. In societies with greater emphasis on individualism, a greater diffusion of creativity and innovation is observed, as opposed to in-group collectivistic societies in which diffusion is restricted in the context of the group alone [ 33 ].

Thus, the personal creativity of every human being and his/her personal emotional world come to diversify the reasoning behavior among people over what needs they choose to have and how they intend to go about satisfying them [ 69 – 71 , 68 ].

Additionally, one of the major factors affecting the level of creativity is the frame of mind of the individual. The following factors affect negatively the frame of mind of individuals with regard to the creativity that they display [ 74 ]: (a) The standardization of thought and the absolute dominance of reason. The way in which our productive mental abilities operate is affected by our previous experiences, while the human mind has logical analysis and imagination. During the first years of a person’s life, mental activity is dominated by imagination. Critical-rational thinking begins to grow later. However, as the requirements of social adjustment and adaptation to the way the school functions force the person to use logical thinking more, creativity is inhibited and becomes inactive. (b) The lack of confidence and self-esteem in creative skills, under the escort of fear of errors and ridicule. The result is that, gradually, any creative powers of the individual go idle. (c) The social pressure to conform to social norms that fight against the person’s predisposition for creative production. (d) The psychological insecurity toward the new and the unknown. This fear, increased excessively in some cases of individuals, makes these people highly insecure to explore new ideas.

3.5. The role of motives and incentives

An “incentive” is something that motivates, rouses, or encourages (when stopped being given, the individual stops being motivated), while a “motive” is an engine inside the individual; an incentive to act; a reason for doing something; anything that prompts a choice of action. Incentives and motives are a key source of stimulation of individual creativity [ 75 , 76 ]. The lack of incentives, motivation, and rewards is a basic obstacle for the development of creativity [ 75 , 76 ]. Human needs and objectives are related in the context of a logical sequence that starts from the needs and passes through incentives (remunerative, financial, moral, coercive, or natural) to organize goals and finally have human activity activated [ 33 ]. Translating creativity into innovation is a function of multiple incentives [ 77 ]. McCraw [ 78 ] supports that business incentives are generally equivalent to the incentives for creation.

Motives can be divided into two types, intrinsic and extrinsic, and both kinds of motivations appear to play roles as determinants of creative behavior. Intrinsic motives depend on internal sources of the entrepreneur such as the need for self-actualization or simply the pleasure that one gains from being creative and producing creativity, wellness, and spontaneity. Conversely, extrinsic motives are the result of pressure and low self-esteem. This is a creative behavior that can become the response to external circumstances and the external environment of the entrepreneur, for example, an experimental requirement or environmental needs. Entrepreneurial creativity requires a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which arises when there is a combination of personal interest and the promise to receive a reward, confirming competence, supporting skill development, and enabling future achievement [ 79 ].

Motives arise from the needs of the individual [ 80 ], guide people to behave accordingly, form the attempt to achieve goals [ 81 ] that are set, and depend on the external environment. In this way, they influence the primary startup of human action—the direction, extent, and systematic appearance of free behavior. Simultaneously, goal-setting activates behavior and directs choices and, thus, people get to differ as to the objectives set and how to reach them. Moreover, the motives behind business activity vary widely and define its objectives. These motives are related to the profit potential for livelihood purposes, the identification and utilization of business opportunities, and reasons directly related to creativity and innovation.

In the literature, there is a plenty of discussion concerning the degree to which the effect of rewards on creativity can be positive or negative, making it clear that the motives define to a great extent the creative performance of entrepreneurs. On the one hand, [ 82 – 84 ] state that rewards are appropriate and desirable for creative performance. Nickerson [ 85 ] claim that given that an important factor for creative accomplishment is establishing purpose and intention to be creative, rewards can encourage such a creative orientation. On the other hand, Kohn [ 86 ] argues that it is not possible to bribe people to be creative and [ 87 ] conclude that working for reward can be damaging to both intrinsic interest and creativity.

3.6. Managing resources

The availability of resources is a particularly critical element in order to form creative capital in a company, an organization or a society. For this reason, apart from the existence of the necessary resources, proper management is particularly significant.

In literature, there are differentiations as to what is considered a resource, the proper management of which could lead to creative processes, as some claim that a resource comprises fixed entities [ 88 , 89 ], while others consider it anything that arises from malleable objects shaped by individuals [ 90 – 92 ]. However, perhaps more correctly, a resource could be defined as an object that is used in a way that renders it useful [ 90 , 92 , 93 ].

The connection of resources with the achievement of creative results [ 93 ] is also ambiguous in the literature, as there are researchers who argue that the existence of abundant resources is a key component for the development of creativity [ 89 ], while others claim that the limited resources also promote creativity as the difficulty (due to limited resources) in resolving the various processes requires a higher level of creativity [ 94 , 95 ].

3.7. The institutional background

A key factor influencing the level of entrepreneurial creativity is the institutional environment, which may be economic, political, cultural, and social [ 96 , 19 ]. The “general national framework conditions”—such as economic, social, political, and cultural factors—create the variety of established business conditions, and “entrepreneurial business conditions”—such as the interventionist policies of governments—create the variety of entrepreneurial activity [ 97 ].

The different types of institutional background are interconnected. Originally, the cultural background affects the social institutional environment, which in turn affects the quality and operation of political institutions. Then, the political institutions shape the system of economic institutions, which in turn create structures and incentives for action on individuals. The prevailing economic institutions ultimately determine the distribution of wealth and the degree of economic growth.

In particular, the economic environment is associated with creativity mainly through wealth, economic stability, and the existence of capital and taxation [ 98 – 100 ]. Accordingly, the political environment is related with creativity through political freedom and the degree of the centralization of power [ 101 , 102 ]. Furthermore, the protection of property rights seems to be fundamental in economic growth [ 103 – 106 ] and then in creativity and, hence, in entrepreneurship, as entrepreneurship thrives through secured property rights that can be used in voluntary exchanges based on contracts. In addition, as pointed out earlier, the cultural environment factors are general attitudes and beliefs about entrepreneurial activity and the presence of entrepreneurial role models [ 107 , 68 ]. Finally, regarding the influence of the social institutional environment on creativity, we should note that creative thinking is inherent in all people, but the manner and intensity of its cultivation varies from one to the other, as the broader social environment affects decisively whether and how the creative ability of individuals is created.

4. Concluding remarks

The present chapter analyzed the most significant factors that affect entrepreneurial creativity, with entrepreneurial creativity being one of the decisive factors of the concept of entrepreneurship that, in turn, constitutes one of the factors that form the notion of economic growth. Thus, it is an attempt to contribute to the study of the role of entrepreneurship on economic growth, through the study of the effects of entrepreneurial creativity and the factors affecting it, in an effort to register entrepreneurship as a contributing factor of growth, beyond the basic argument of Neoclassical Theory, which ignores its role.

The factors that were analyzed as the primary shapers of entrepreneurial creativity were selected on the basis of the relevant literature on creativity theory. These factors are not necessarily interdependent and do not affect solely creativity, but also other factors of economic activity. Throughout the analysis, these factors are as follows: (a) knowledge and education, which are regarded as valuable concepts, increasingly prevalent in business practices and innovation activities and hence in creativity, (b) managing disrupting technologies, given that the development of technology, particularly in the last century, is in a position to change the consumption model, create new needs, produce new goods and services, disrupt the status quo, and change the way in which people live, think and work, etc., and so their management is regarded as particularly important, (c) spill-over creativity, given that whether the creativity that has been created will be diffused in society or not has significant effects on the level of economic growth, (d) the role of the cultural background and the personal characteristics of individuals, as it is extremely important to determine whether the prevailing portfolio of cultural stereotypes favors -through creativity—the conditions for growth or not, (e) the motives and incentives, which are the key to the activation of an individual’s creativity and the lack of incentives, motivation, and rewards are basic obstacles for the development of creativity, (f) the availability of, and access to, resources that will lead to creativity, and (g) the institutional background that describes the operational environment of the entrepreneur.

The aforementioned factors and the way in which they affect creativity and, thus, entrepreneurship and economic growth can be summarized in Figure 1 .

Factors shaping entrepreneurial creativity.

Thus, the sequence of relations is as follows: the key factors analyzed here form entrepreneurial creativity, which in turn shapes entrepreneurial activity. Now, entrepreneurial activity is in turn considered one of the most significant factors of economic growth.

Apart from the existence of an appropriate business climate, successful entrepreneurial activity requires an environment where creativity can flourish. The notion of entrepreneurial creativity is perceived as one of the most important entrepreneurial skills, during both the start and the operation of an entrepreneurial activity, as well as a factor that leads to greater levels of efficiency and competitiveness, shaping the business strategy and the motives of the employees. The firms and organizations that appear to have a high-level long-term performance are those that are more creative and innovative.

At the same time, the entrepreneurial growth literature is extensive. Entrepreneurship is the engine of growth of the economy and society, as it utilizes the available resources, employs the labor force, secures revenue for the entrepreneurs and the state, and thus improves social welfare and the position of an economy in the global economic environment.

In terms of policy implications, the analysis of the present chapter can be a notable spark for entrepreneurs, business leaders and economic policy-makers, as several factors are presented that, if managed, can lead to the achievement of greater levels of entrepreneurship and, thus, economic growth. So, for example, entrepreneurs, business leaders and economic policy-makers should—through investment in human capital (education, training, and specialization)—try to expand the knowledge base of the employees, in order to lead to more ideas and combinations of ideas, while they should also manage knowledge appropriately through, for instance, the development of proper knowledge management systems. At the same time, in this way, individuals will be better prepared to manage the available resources in a more effective way. Additionally, they must be in a position to provide individuals with the appropriate motives and incentives, given that entrepreneurial creativity requires a combination of personal interest and the promise for the receipt of a reward, thereby confirming competence, supporting skill development, and enabling future achievement. In addition, they must be ready to confront the challenge of the emergence of disrupting technologies and prepare their workforce appropriately for this change, in order to gain a competitive advantage relative to other companies. Furthermore, economic and social policy-makers should be able to create an institutional background that will promote creativity (e.g., conditions of economic stability, existence of capital and effective taxation, political freedom, protection of property rights) that in combination with an appropriate cultural background (e.g., formation of groups with different cultural characteristics or groups characterized by an emphasis on achievements, freedom of individuals to express their views, greater emphasis on individualism) will lead to a greater tendency toward the diffusion of creative capital. Such an environment has to support the exchange of ideas and allow for the commercialization of new ideas.

As mentioned throughout the chapter, entrepreneurial creativity constitutes a driving force of entrepreneurial activity. Other aforementioned characteristics that shape it are registered in the literature, such as the entrepreneur’s passion, leadership, vision, work ethic, resilience, and positive attitude. Therefore, perhaps it would have been necessary to take into account the impact of the rest of the characteristics—that lead to business success—on entrepreneurship. This point might be considered a shortcoming, even though the goal of the present study was to highlight the special role of entrepreneurial creativity—through the factors that affect it—in entrepreneurship and, more broadly, in the key issue of economic growth. Moreover, a shortcoming is that the impact of the factors analyzed in entrepreneurial creativity, the impact of entrepreneurial creativity on entrepreneurship and, thus, the impact of the latter on economic growth are not verified empirically by the analysis of the present chapter.

Future research could try to eliminate the shortcomings of the present chapter by concentrating on an empirical verification of the way entrepreneurial creativity is formed as well as on how it then affects entrepreneurship, which then shapes economic growth. Further topics to be investigated could involve more factors other than entrepreneurial creativity, such as entrepreneur’s passion, leadership, vision, work ethic, resilience and positive attitude, thereby achieving a more integrated approach to the shaping of entrepreneurial activity and its impact on economic growth.

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The Oxford Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Christina Shalley is a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management in the College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Michael Hitt is currently a Distinguished Professor of Management at Texas A&M University and holds the Joe B. Foster Chair in Business Leadership. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. A recent article noted that he was one of the top ten most cited authors in the management field over a 25-year period. He has served as an editor of the Academy of Management Journal and is currently co-editor of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. He is a Fellow in the Academy of Management and in the Strategic Management Society, and received an honorary doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa) from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He is a former President of the Academy of Management and is the current Past President of the Strategic Management Society. He has received awards for the best article published in the Academy of Management Executive, Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of Management. He has received the Irwin Outstanding Educator Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Academy of Management.

Jing Zhou is Houston Endowment Professor of Management, and Director for Asian Management Research and Education at the Jones Graduate School of Business of Rice University.

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Creativity can be viewed as the first stage of the overall innovation process, an important dimension of the entrepreneurship and new venture creation processes, and as such, it is considered to be a cornerstone of organizational competitiveness in this global, knowledge-based economy. Research on creativity has increasingly become multilevel, with most work conducted at the individual or team level of analysis. At the same time, there is a large body of research being conducted at the organizational level of analysis on innovation, and there has been a significant amount of entrepreneurship research at the individual level, with an increasing focus on organizational entrepreneurship. However, these three research streams have developed independently, and there has been very little knowledge transfer between the three areas. Because entrepreneurship is often said to be a process that is required to convert innovation into business ventures that will deliver benefits to stakeholders, it is typically driven by an individual or small group of individuals. Creativity research, innovation research, and entrepreneurship research have the potential to inform each other, enriching our knowledge of each area, particularly with regard to the cognitive processes and behaviors that are most effective. This Handbook includes contributions from the leading scholars in these three research areas, who integrate contemporary research findings on organizational creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and provide fruitful new research directions.

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Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation Essay

Schumpeter (1934, p. 160) was among the first economists to study the broad subject of innovation. He went ahead to make a clear distinction between innovation and invention, where he defined invention as the discovery of a new idea or a previously unknown fact.

Innovation, according to him, is the ability to successfully apply a new idea or previously known fact into practice (Schumpeter 1934, p.162). Therefore, innovation may be defined as “a change in the thought process for doing something, or the useful application of new inventions or discoveries” (McKeown 2008, p. 74).

Drucker (2007) elucidates that innovation is a vital tool of all entrepreneurs. This is because innovation acts as a means by which entrepreneurs exploit changes in the market, which provides the opportunity for different businesses or different services.

Drucker (2007, p. 56) postulated that entrepreneurship and innovation were the main activities that lead to the creation of wealth. According to him, innovation is a resource and entrepreneurship is a catalyst through which the much-needed change in the society can be achieved.

Drucker (2007, p. 229) asserts that innovation is indispensable for all growing and evolving businesses that invest in any type of capital such as machinery, plant, human resource, equipment, and processes or brands.

He emphasizes that creative destruction was the key to achieving a competitive advantage in business through transformation of ideas and dreams into creation and development of new goods. This is achieved by the introduction of new consumer goods and application of new production methods.

According to Drucker an entrepreneur will always be on the look for changes, act on them, and utilize them as an opportunity (2007, p.121).

According to Freeman (1981), the national system of innovation is defined as, “The network of institutions in the public- and private-sectors whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify and diffuse new technologies” (Freeman 1987, p.42).

Novelty and technology advancement are due to a set of associations among actors in the organization that include national research institutions, universities, and ventures.

A better indulgent of the government innovation organizations by legislators can aid in pointing out proficiencies therefore upholding groundbreaking execution and competitiveness. This can also aide in highlighting shortcomings within the system, both in institutions and in relation to government policies, which can obstruct innovation and technological development.

Schumpeter (1934, p.84) agrees with the argument of many development scholars that a successful industrial and economic development has always been linked to a nation’s ability to develop or acquire, absorb and disseminate advanced technologies. He continues to say that innovation systems serve the purpose of improving or maintaining already established level of competitiveness and growth in developed economies.

In the context of innovation systems, policies that encourage networking among the stakeholders in the system, focused at promoting innovative abilities of organizations specifically their ability to select and acquire technologies are the most vital (OECD 1997, p. 28).

According to the OECD (1997, p. 28), the national innovation systems can be analyzed using many approaches, some of which include firm-level innovation surveys that questions organizations on their sources of knowledge, which are relevant to innovation.

The other approach is the cluster analysis. This advance underscores the relations between specific variety of subdivisions and firms that can perhaps be clustered depending on to their networking and technical distinctiveness. OECD (1997, p. 28), continues to assert that innovation systems may also be analyzed at different levels with sub-regional, pan-regional, national, and international being examples.

For example, the national innovations system facilitated the growth of the Taiwanese pharmaceutical biotechnology and agricultural biotechnology company, as a result of the support by government and partnerships with other local and international Chinese biotech firms, thereby increasing the numbers of expertise used to manufacture transfers and raising capital.

The partnerships also promoted disruptive innovations where the partner firms were able to come up with new ideas and put them into action and rendering existing practices obsolete.

Through this, simpler, affordable, and more convenient approach, products and services were availed. Improved healthcare, increased food production, advanced treatment and diagnosis of diseases, as well as improved environmental management was also achieved (Bessant & Tidd 2007, p. 226).

Bessant and Tidd (2007, p. 230) argue that bio entrepreneurs found in the pharmaceutical companies usually operate in both a knowledge-based and science based industries.

Here, competitive advantage is a vital component and is achieved through efficient and effective management of intellectual property that originates from good science.

The bio entrepreneurs at the Taiwanese pharmaceutical biotechnology and agricultural biotechnology company for example, were researchers and scientist-turned entrepreneurs who wanted to see their research successes being adopted through commercialization thereby making the company to undergo significant development and advancement in the first half year.

However, most of its successes were attributed to the government policy support. Bessant and Tidd (2007, p. 235) emphasize that it is important to understand innovation as this shapes the way in which we may try to manage it.

This theory identified two approaches to innovation, which are technology push and demand pull. The technology push model approaches innovation as being solemnly driven by advances in the world of science, while the demand pull model refers to innovation as a positive response to demand for new products and processes.

According to Mensch (1979, p. 69) and Myer and Marquis (1969, p.133), these models could not stand empirical scrutiny and therefore were later replaced by other models. As a critic, Mensch (1979) used computers that were being produced in the UK during the 1960s as an example to explain why the traditional models did not hold any water.

He found out that the lifecycle of the computers created a foundation for preceding technological change. This is to say that there are a few feedback effects in the innovation process, which the linear representations of innovation processes did not capture.

Due to the failure to capture feedback, Kline and Rosenberg (1986, p. 57) developed the chain-linked innovation model. This model captured all the technical activities that take place during innovation process, market place external forces, and the complex interactions between the various stages of innovation.

This model also allowed for the visualizing of the different possible stages of the innovation process, their determinants and their interrelationship. Novelty and technology advancement are due to a set of associations among actors in the organization that include national research institutions, universities, and ventures

Chain-linked Innovation Model

Source: Kline and Rosenberg 1986, p. 5

As shown above in this model, Kline and Rosenberg identified five main paths that the innovation process follows. The first being the central chain of innovation C where invention/ production of a design begins, based on market signals or technological advances D, which will be developed, produced and then marketed.

“F, f in the process represents feedback loops iterating the steps and controls for perceived market signals and users’ needs, and also the linkages between science and innovation” (Kline and Rosenberg 1986, p. 128). K represents the recourses to various knowledge stocks accompanying the whole process.

The innovator seeks knowledge to try and solve a problem 1, then returns back with the knowledge and proceeds along the innovation chain if the required knowledge is available (2) or opts to research (3) if it is not. The results of the research activities are then applied in the innovation chain (4).

In the end, innovation results in feedback fed into the scientific arena (S). This model highlights the interdependence between the market pull and technology push aspects of innovation (Kline and Rosenberg 1986, p. 128).

In conclusion, the national system of innovation focuses on national mobilization of efforts through cooperation and co-ordinates policy efforts so as to enhance learning abilities that are required in order to achieve new dynamics in countries. In order to achieve this, the national system of innovation needs to bring up activities that will mobilize all the regions or sectors of the economy.

However, the national innovation systems faces a misinterpretation risk were it may be assumed to be promoting particular science-based institutions and activities that may yield very limited socio-economic impact (Hine & Kapeleri 2006, p. 51).

Therefore, there is need to concentrate more resources in promotion of the learning capabilities that will focus on educating people on the importance of the national systems of innovation.

In addition, more research into innovation systems should be administered so as to better understand how to construct in the current environment of global competition and networking, a more complete innovation and competence building systems (OECD 1997, p.43).

Freeman (1981) agrees that the national innovation system facilitated a major shift that constituted ‘international competitiveness’ as far as economists and policy maker’s views were concerned.

Freeman (1981, p.42) asserts that the shift also facilitated the focus of attention towards national policy strategies that created simpler, affordable, and more convenient products and services to both the international and domestic markets.

He postulates that the ‘system’ dimension in the term national systems of innovation has facilitated the shift of attention of the policy makers who are in charge of research, innovation and industrial development, from the traditional linear which had its limitations as stated earlier to interactive thinking of innovation which emphasis on destructive innovation.

As far as Lundvall and Borras (2004, p.98) are concerned, this shift in thinking may be referred to as a shift from ‘Science Policy’ and ‘Technology Policy’ to ‘Innovation policy’.

The national innovation systemic approach is also arguably better suited for policy-makers and all other stakeholders as it offers a more realistic picture of development processes.

This is because the NIS views innovation efforts as being closely linked to wider policies, both macroeconomic and educational therefore facilitating innovation and destructive innovation to be specific.

List of References

Bessant, J & Tidd, J 2007, Innovation and Entrepreneurship , John Wiley and Sons Ltd, London.

Drucker, F 2007, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Economic Cooperation and Development , Elsevier Publication, New York.

Freeman, C 1981, Technological Innovation and National Economic Performance , Aalborg, Paris.

Hine, D & Kapeleri, J 2006, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology: An international perspective , Pinter Publishers, London.

Kline, S & Rosenberg, N 1986, The Positive Sum Strategy: Harnessing Technology for Economic Growth , National Academies Press, Washington.

Lundvall, B & Borras, S 2005, National systems of innovation: Towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning , Pinter Publishers, London.

McKeown, M 2008, The truth about innovation , John Wiley and Sons Ltd, London.

Mensch, J 1979, Successful industrial innovation, National Science Foundation, Washington.

OECD 1997, The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities, third edition, Paris

Schumpeter, JA 1934, Capitalism, socialism, and democracy, Harper & Brothers, New York.

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IvyPanda. (2019, April 15). Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation. https://ivypanda.com/essays/entrepreneurship-creativity-and-innovation/

"Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation." IvyPanda , 15 Apr. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/entrepreneurship-creativity-and-innovation/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation'. 15 April.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation." April 15, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/entrepreneurship-creativity-and-innovation/.

1. IvyPanda . "Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation." April 15, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/entrepreneurship-creativity-and-innovation/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation." April 15, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/entrepreneurship-creativity-and-innovation/.

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Essay on Entrepreneurship

Introduction

Entrepreneurship is a term that is widely applicable in the world of business. There are different definitions of the term entrepreneurship. The first definition identifies entrepreneurship as the process of creating a new business, with a view of making profits while bearing in mind all the risks that are involved. Different scholars have had their opinions about the description of the term entrepreneurship, including Stevenson, a renown expert in the topic. He defined entrepreneurship as the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources controlled. His definition is still widely applied by many in the world of business (Venkataraman, 2019). The second definition is linked to one Frank Knight, who defined it as the bearing of uncertainty and responsibility for risks within the financial market. Joseph Schumpeter also contributed significantly by defining entrepreneurship as the creation of new things in search of profits. Schumpeter also asserts that the role of creating new things is not only left to companies and other businesses but also individuals who make efforts in the area. The researcher introduced the concept of creative destruction to mean creation and invention of a new idea in the market that calls for the demise of the existing competitor. For instance, the emergence of Smartphones killed use traditional means of communication, such as telephone boots and regular use of letters. As such, Joseph Schumpeter contributed significantly as the term creative destruction is universal in the marketing. Marketing is a lucrative field that requires creativity for one to make an impact in the market. Fourth is Israel Kirzner who defined entrepreneurship as the process that led to discovery. It is important to note that most of the definitions by various scholars share a familiar concept, risk-taking and opportunity exploration.

A venture is considered as a small business that is started by one individual or groups with a view of gaining financially. The profits from the investment benefit all the backers of that particular project or business. There are many different ventures that an individual can offer to invest in. An enterprise should aim to make a financial gain to the individual or group that invested. The risk-taking tendency by entrepreneurs and the idea of profit making coincides with the typology of entrepreneurship. Examples of entrepreneurship ventures that many can get into include gazelle, microenterprise, small/lifestyle and medium enterprises.

A gazelle enterprise is a business venture that experiences rapid growth annually for period of over four years. Revenues of such an enterprise increase yearly by over 20% and must have a base capital of at least $100,000. Such companies experience high sales growth rates regardless of their size. However, most of such business ventures operate on the lower end of the scale. Company growth can be measured by the turnover or the number of employees working for the enterprise.

The second entrepreneurial venture is a microenterprise that employs a small number of people, usually less than 10. Microenterprises are started by small amounts of capital and they specialize in providing goods and services within its locality. All microenterprises venture into simple product lines and operate on small scale. Microenterprises contribute largely to the economy as they create employment. Business owners in such ventures enjoy small profits, which they use to improve their standards of living. As such, microenterprises agree to the typology of entrepreneurship by making profits for those who invest.

Small or lifestyle enterprises are business ventures started with aim of sustaining or maintaining a certain level of income. Such enterprises aim at sustaining a certain level of lifestyle for the entrepreneur. They employ a small number of people and maintain certain level of assets for owners. Lifestyle enterprises play a key role in employing people at the same time maintains a particular lifestyle for the owner, thereby, complying with the typology of entrepreneurship.

Medium size enterprises employ between 50 and 500 employees depending on the legislation in that specific nation. Such enterprises have a specified value of assets and in the UK, they have less than 250 employees. In the year 2013, there were over 5.2 million medium sized businesses, which comprised of over 99% of enterprises in the country. The aim of medium business enterprises is to make profit like any other entrepreneurial venture. As such, medium sized business enterprises agree to the typology of entrepreneurship.

According to Wennekers and Thurik (1999), a Schumpeterian entrepreneur is one who aims at capitalizing on the existing entrepreneurial abilities to make profits. In other words, a Schumpeterian entrepreneur will assess the current businesses that are operating and think of better services to people. The Schumpeter concept is Austrian. Existing product and service lines in the market require improvements for better service delivery (Wennekers & Thurik, 1999). A Schumpeter entrepreneur is an individual who capitalizes on such opportunities with a view of providing better services while making profits. An intrepreneur is a person who works for a particular organization and identifies better ways to improve quality and service delivery to customers. Innovative product development and marketing is the role of a manager working for that specific organization. As such, the manager is referred to as an entrepreneur. Managerial business owner is an individual who invests in a venture and entirely owns the business. Administrative business owners are not responsible for innovation and creative destruction in the market as these remains the work of managerial entrepreneurs. The main difference between the three terms described is that an administrative business owner is responsible for financing the venture while the rest work for the owner to ensure innovation and product development. A similarity known among the three types of entrepreneurs is the fact that they all aim to make profits for the owner of the business.

Miles & Snow (2009) classified organizations into four types, including prospector, defender, analytical and follower businesses. A prospector implies an organization that has difficulties in locating and exploiting a new product in the market. Such ventures require constant examination of the continually changing business world to succeed. The element of unpredictability makes a continuous check-up of the market a necessity to establish strategic production. According to the two researchers, prospector organizations have comprehensive product and service lines. Production in such cases prefers to promote creativity to efficiency. Defender organizations are defined as those entities that cannot survive in unstable environments (Miles, Miles, Snow, Blomqvist & Rocha, 2009). Their worry is how to maintain their current market share hence the need for them to operate in a relatively stable business environment. Cost leadership and specialization in a specific product line can well help solve the problem. Analyzer organizations refer to those that have both prospector and defender organization characteristics. They face a challenge of establishing in new markets and at the same have a problem of maintaining their current market share. Follower organizations refer to organizations that do not make long-term plans for business but instead ensure that managers study the dynamic world fast enough to cope with the changes.

Steve Blank in 2010 asserts that there are four types of entrepreneurs, namely small business owners, scalable, large business owners and large entrepreneurs. Small business owners face known risks in the market as they venture into product lines and services that are already known. A scalable business idea digs into the existing opportunity and turns it into a larger business through the expansion of its business activities. The aim of setting up such business entities is to take over the existing market and turn it out to make huge profits. On the other hand, a large business is an entity that has over 5000 employees or has a high financial turnover of over 1.5 billion Euros in a year (Blank, 2010). Any venture that does not feature any of the two characteristics or both of them cannot be termed as a large business. Social entrepreneurship involves start-up companies raising funds to solve cultural, social and environmental problems.

The data presented is indicative of the importance of having small businesses and startups within the economy. The data is extracted from the office of national statistics in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the data presented include information regarding micro-businesses and small businesses contribution to the economy of the region that they operate. For instance, from the year 2010 to 2017, the country has been registering an increasing trend indicating that such businesses play a crucial role. On employment, micro-business ventures employed over 4,618,315 people in 2010, and by 2017 (“Employment – ONS”, 2019), the number of those depending on such businesses rose to 5,491,009. On the other hand, small businesses employed over 3,785, 801 people in the year 2010 to a whopping 4,450, 716 by 2017. As such, micro and small businesses within the economy play a key role in ensuring increased employment opportunities as indicated by statistics from the national office in the UK.

Another vital aspect presented in the data provided is the turnover involved annually in the event of operating such businesses. Like the data on employment, the turnover for both micro and small businesses has been fluctuating from the year 2010. It is also critical to note from the data that in some years, the turnover reduced instead of increasing. For instance, in 2010 the turnover for both micro and small businesses was 589,871,148 and 549,139,326 billions of Euros, respectively. In the following year 2011, the turnover reduced to 552,345,550 and 508,579,840, respectively. However, the figures have increased as of 2017 to 791,771,342 and 616,807,735 respectively. The growth in the turnover of micro and small businesses is a clear indication that they contribute positively to the growth of the economy in the United Kingdom.

In terms of inventory and general count, micro and other small businesses have significantly contributed and have seen an expansion. This is indicated by the data provided as the numbers have changed from 2010 to 2017. In the year 2010, micro-businesses had a count of 1,861,590, which increased to 2,386, 740 by 2017. Additionally, small businesses increased their count from 196, 520 in the year 2010 to a whopping 231, 715 in the year 2017. The graphs provided indicates the trend that has been experienced in the economy in regards to micro and other small businesses. Such ventures are contributing positively to the economy of the United Kingdom.

Small businesses and start-ups play a crucial role in the growth of the social economy. Social economy comprises a diversity of enterprises and organizations sharing common values and features. Such may include cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations, paritarian institutions and social enterprises who value social objectives over capital. The first and most important role that the businesses play is the creation of employment (Burns, 2016). For instance, in the United States in the year 2015, small businesses and startups created over 1.9 million jobs. There are over 30.2 million small businesses in the United States who employ approximately 58 million people. As such, small businesses contribute primarily to the growth of the economy by creating jobs.

Second, small scale businesses and start-ups contribute by ensuring that the GDP of the country grows. Social economy contributes to the overall GDP sum and its growth projects more taxes to be paid. A small business thriving locally will have more to give as taxes to the local government and hence a contribution to the GDP. Such money can be used locally to develop infrastructure within the community. As such, small businesses play a vital role in ensuring that the well-being of the community improves in the long run.

Small businesses quickly adjust to changes in the economic environment and act as a cushion to the local economy in cases where large businesses have failed. This is because in cases of unpredictability in the market, small business owners are customer-oriented and can flex quickly to suit the needs of the market. Large businesses have few options in case of a similar predicament and may not help the local economy as anticipated. As such, all small businesses around the world contribute positively to the growth of the social economy as their interest is not capital-driven.

Blank, S. (2010). What’s A Startup? First Principles.  Steve Blank .

Burns, P. (2016).  Entrepreneurship and small business . Palgrave Macmillan Limited.

Employment – ONS. (2019). Retrieved 23 July 2019, from https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105164129/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Employment

Miles, R. E., Miles, G., Snow, C. C., Blomqvist, K., & Rocha, H. (2009). The I-form organization.  California Management Review ,  51 (4), 61-76.

Venkataraman, S. (2019). The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research. In  Seminal Ideas for the Next Twenty-Five Years of Advances  (pp. 5-20). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Wennekers, S., & Thurik, R. (1999). Linking entrepreneurship and economic growth.  Small business economics ,  13 (1), 27-56.

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Spring Budget 2024

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The Chancellor of the Exchequer presented his Spring Budget to Parliament on Wednesday 6 March 2024.

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A Grainy Photo and a Dilemma: How U.K. Papers Are Covering Princess Catherine

In a country where the health struggles of even public figures are generally viewed as out of bounds, journalists are trying to balance the right to privacy with a thirst for royal stories.

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By Mark Landler

Reporting from London

After a week of often hysterical speculation about her well-being, there were suddenly two plausible pieces of evidence that Catherine, Princess of Wales, was on the mend : a photo of her in a car driven by her mother and a confirmation by the British Army that she would attend a military ceremony in June.

But as with almost everything surrounding the health of Prince William’s 42-year-old wife in recent weeks, any sense of certainty quickly melted away.

A palace official said on Tuesday that the army had jumped the gun in announcing Catherine’s participation in Trooping the Color, an annual ritual that celebrates the birthday of the sovereign. And while British newspapers reported the existence of paparazzi shots, purportedly of Catherine, that were posted on social media on Monday, none of them published the images.

At the end of another hothouse news cycle, consumers of royal news were back where they started: in the dark about the princess, who had abdominal surgery in January and has not been seen during her lengthy convalescence.

The only certainty in the saga of Catherine is the appearance of her freewheeling, unfiltered uncle, Gary Goldsmith , on a British reality-TV show, “Celebrity Big Brother,” which aired on Monday evening. At any other time, Mr. Goldsmith’s appearance might have been an embarrassment for Catherine, who has tried to cultivate a dignified, disciplined image as a senior member of the royal family.

In the vacuum of news about her, however, experts say Mr. Goldsmith’s reality-TV antics may provide a welcome distraction for Britain’s tabloid papers. Their editors have struggled to balance their zeal for covering the royals — an almost boundless enthusiasm, in the case of a future queen once known as Kate Middleton — with a recognition that even most public figures in Britain are generally entitled to privacy in matters of health.

“The media is, unusually, lagging behind,” said Sarah Sands, a former senior editor at the BBC and former editor of The Sunday Telegraph. “They are left scratching their heads. Did they love her too much and pile too much pressure on her? Is the new role of the media to provide reassurance?

“Coming to the aid of the tabloids is the friendly pantomime figure of Kate’s wicked uncle, Gary Goldsmith,” Ms. Sands continued. Mr. Goldsmith, she said, “is likely to be the only inside commentary we are going to get for the next few weeks.”

If that’s true, it could spare the papers and broadcasters from having to make decisions like the one they faced on Monday, when the American celebrity gossip site TMZ posted what it claimed were the first images of Catherine since before she was hospitalized. The long-lens photos, which are grainy and show a woman in sunglasses who resembles Catherine, were taken near Windsor Castle, according to the site.

The Daily Mail said the pictures were not published in Britain because Kensington Palace, where William and Catherine have their offices, “appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private.” But The Mail went on to speculate that they were taken on Monday morning shortly after Catherine dropped off her children at school, helped by her mother, Carole Middleton.

Chris Ship, the royal editor of ITV News, referred to the images on social media but said, “We are not running them out of respect for her privacy whilst she recovers from her operation on the time scale we were given.”

Kensington Palace has said Catherine will not go back to her royal duties until after Easter. Last week, caught up in a swirl of conjecture and conspiracy theories after William abruptly pulled out of a function, it reiterated that statement and said it would provide only “significant updates.” The princess, an official said, was still doing well.

On Tuesday, the palace refused to comment on the photos, saying it did not want to give TMZ publicity. British newspapers have treated paparazzi photos gingerly since the death of Princess Diana, William’s mother, in a car crash in Paris in 1997, after a high-speed pursuit by photographers.

“The memory for the British press is still sharp,” said Ms. Sands, who was deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph at the time of Diana’s death. “It was full of dry-mouth remorse. Rules on privacy and duty of care changed profoundly.”

British courts have ruled that the right to privacy extends to members of the royal family, and the Editors’ Code of Practice , under which much of the British press operates, protects all individuals against unjustified intrusion into matters of physical and mental health.

Some critics were less generous about the media’s motives, particularly given that the images are easily accessible to anyone with a few swipes on an iPhone.

“What’s fascinating is how the nonsense on social media about Kate gives the papers a chance to write about something that there’s nothing to write about, while being judgmental about what’s out there on the web,” said Peter Hunt, a former royal correspondent for the BBC.

This is the second time in four months that the British media has declined to publish details about the royal family even after they had circulated on social media. In November, papers did not print the names of Catherine and King Charles III after they were identified, in the Dutch edition of a new book, as family members who had allegedly asked about the skin color of the unborn child of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.

The floodgates broke only after Piers Morgan, a prominent TV host, disclosed the names on his program. Buckingham Palace said at the time it would contemplate legal action, but it did not act.

The mixed messages over Catherine’s attendance at Trooping the Color may end up being a simple case of bureaucratic bungling. The army said on its website that Catherine, in her capacity as colonel of the Irish guards, would review soldiers who are to parade in the ceremony on June 8.

But a Kensington Palace official said it was the palace’s job to confirm the schedule of the princess, and it has not yet done so. It has also not commented on the decision of Mr. Goldsmith, who is Carole Middleton’s younger brother, to join the cast of “Celebrity Big Brother.”

Mr. Goldsmith, 58, a former technology entrepreneur, pleaded guilty in 2017 to assaulting his wife, Julie-Ann Goldsmith.

In a promotional video for the show, a gleeful Mr. Goldsmith said: “Winding people up is probably my favorite hobby. Every part of me is just riddled with mischief and danger.”

Then he added, “I’m an absolute nightmare to live with. There’s a reason why I’ve had four wives.”

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades. More about Mark Landler

2024 AAP Medical Student Essay Contest

Medical Student Education Mar 12, 2024

The Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP) wants to see your entry for its 2024 Medical Student Essay Contest. The 2024 theme is "The Art of Communication in Psychiatry: Connecting with the Patient."

Complete and submit your essay by June 1. The winner will attend the 2024 AAP Annual Meeting in September in Washington, D.C. and present their essay, which will also be prominently displayed.

• Complimentary 2024 AAP Annual Meeting Registration
• Up to $1,000 reimbursement for meeting-related travel, hotel, and meal expenses
• Essay presented as a poster at Annual Meeting 

Deadline for Submission: June 1, 2024

Submission Requirements:

The contest is open to any student who is both currently enrolled in an accredited medical school in the United States, Canada or around the world and will be enrolled at the time of the Annual Meeting September 11-14, 2024. The work must be an original unpublished essay of 1,000 words or less. Only one submission per student will be accepted.   The top essay may be considered for publication in the Academic Psychiatry Journal in "The Learners' Voice" section. Essay winner does not guarantee publication in the Academic Psychiatry Journal. Please review the publication criteria when writing your essay, including MANUSCRIPT TYPE & GUIDELINES #8 The Learners' Voice.   Students: Apply Online Here   Essays should be submitted electronically and request the following information:

• Student’s Name
• Name of Medical School where enrolled, year in school
• Mailing Address, Phone Number, Email Address

Selection Criteria:

• Judges will be blinded to the participant and affiliated medical school. Judging will be based on originality, uniqueness, flow of thought, and appropriateness to the theme.

For questions only, contact James Haliburton, MD , Medical Student Essay Subcommittee Chair. All essay submissions must be made through the Award portal.

If you have questions or comments concerning this email contact Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP) at [email protected] .

Medical Student Education

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