CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
Chapter is concerned with literatures related to the research.
It gives overall researches that have been done on the impact of women
entrepreneurs on the economic development of Rwanda and enable the researcher
to analyze and expand knowledge on the topic. This will help the researcher to
draw conclusions and analyze based on other researches done on the topic.
2.2 Definitions of the
concepts
2.2.1 Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the process of creating something new with
value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying
financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving the resulting rewards of
monetary and personal satisfaction and independence (Hisrich 2005).
Entrepreneurship is more than the mere creation of a business.
Seeking opportunity, taking risks, and having the tenacity to push ideas into
reality are special characteristics that permeate individuals. Entrepreneurship
is a integrated concept that has revolutionized the way business is conducted
(Kuratko 2004).
2.2.2 Entrepreneur
In its broadest sense an entrepreneur may be described as a
person who has the ability to explore the environment, identify opportunities
for improvement, mobilize resources and implement actions to maximize those
opportunities. He is the catalyst of change able to carry out new combinations,
instrumental in discovering new opportunities (volsee 1994).However for
Schumpeter (1934) the entrepreneur is not a risk bearer, unless he or she owned
the resources as well, but rather was the driving or key agent of change.
2.2.3 Historical background of
Entrepreneurship
According to Bygrave and Hofer (1991), entrepreneurship
researchers are hampered by the lack of a common conceptual framework for the
concept entrepreneurship. The lack of consensus on the meaning of this term
makes it imperative that researchers provide a clear statement of their meaning
when they use it. Bygrave and Hofer offer such a meaning by considering the
process of entrepreneurship rather than defining the term "entrepreneur." In
their work, the entrepreneurial process "involves all the functions,
activities, and action associated with the perceiving of opportunities and the
creation of organizations to pursue them" (Bygrave & Hofer 1991). Bygrave
and Hofer's hesitancy to offer a single definition of entrepreneurship is
perhaps caused by an embarrassment of riches. The concept of entrepreneurship
has such a complex tradition within economic theory that formulating a succinct
definition is extremely difficult, and any attempt to do so will inevitably
exclude a valuable element of this history. An outline of the development of
the term entrepreneurship will illustrate this point.
Like Bygrave and Hofer, Long (1983) notes that it is important
to come to a common definition of entrepreneurship. To this end, long provides
an historical account of the development and uses of the term. The root of the
word can be traced as far back as 800 years, to the French verb entreprendre,
or "to do something." Three hundred years later, a noun form of the term
appeared, and soon thereafter both verb and noun entered the English language.
In 1730, Richard Cantillon used entrepreneur to mean a self-employed person
with a tolerance for the risk he believed was inherent in providing for one's
own economic well being. Toward the beginning of the Industrial Revolution
(1830), Jean-Baptiste Say further expanded the definition of a successful
entrepreneur to include the possession of managerial skills.
Today Entrepreneurship is the dynamic process of creating
incremental wealth. The wealth is created by individuals who assume the major
risks in terms of equity, time and/or career commitment or provide value for
some product or service. The product or service may or may not be new or
unique, but value must somehow be infused by the entrepreneur by receiving and
locating the necessary skills and resources (Hisrich 2005).
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