Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Answer

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

            Businesses operate within a particular context, which cannot be ignored. According to Courvisanos & Mackenzie (2013), Contextual factors are different environmental features, which affect the operation and success of an entity. Entrepreneurship involves proposing an idea and taking steps to actualize that idea. Amini (2012) posits that Innovation is about injecting new ideas to improve on profitability and ensure business sustainability. Without change, business is bound to fail. In the business for the provision of drivers to drunk people, customers can apply innovation and entrepreneurship to attract more customers and create more platforms for access to the drivers. This paper is intended to provide an overview of the contextual factors of innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, ways in which the two elements can be utilized in the business practices of a company providing drivers to drunk people will be discussed. Finally, an assessment will be done on whether the contextual factors will be useful in the particular business.

            Innovation is the creation of new business ideas and practices and ways of exploiting change. Coulson-Thomas (2017) asserts that entrepreneurs use the tool of change to exploit new opportunities for either a different business or service. Entrepreneurs have the role of searching for different sources of innovation as well as any changes, which provide opportunities for successful innovation. Innovation provides new capacities for entrepreneurs to create wealth and resources (Courvisanos & Mackenzie, 2013). Most successful innovations exploit change hence the contextual factor of innovation involves a systemic examination of areas of change, which provide entrepreneurial opportunities. One of the areas for creatttivity is the unexpected. In this source area, entrepreneurs should search for unexpected success, failures, and outside events. In the search area of incongruity, entrepreneurs should exploit the difference between what reality is and what it is assumed to be by many people. Exploitations can also be made based on process need as well as any changes in the structure of the industry and market (Coulson-Thomas, 2017). Innovation should also focus on demographics of the customers, any variations in the tastes and preferences including perception and moods, as well as new knowledge. The diffusion of innovation theory presupposes that an idea once starts; it gains momentum and spreads across a particular population. This theory, which is the foundation of innovation, shows how new products and services can spread over a large group of people (Amini, 2012). Change results in the development of customer value as solutions are provided which address the unmet and new needs or any unarticulated needs. Additionally, for businesses, innovation promotes sustainability as it provides meaningful differentiation and increases competitive advantage. Innovative entrepreneurs are more motivated and involved in the operations of a business entity, as people feel empowered and satisfied (Onetti et al., 2012). As such, innovation is a critical part of business success and sustainability.

            Entrepreneurship is the willingness coupled with the capability to not only develop but also manage and organize a business entity together with any arising risks and challenges. In the view of Coulson-Thomas (2017), Entrepreneurs can shift resources from an area that yields less to an area with higher productivity and profitability. Entrepreneurs create something new and different based on their values. Entrepreneurship is pegged on the theory of economy and society. In this theory, change is essential and healthy. As such, according to Courvisanos & Mackenzie (2013), the society has the role of doing something different as opposed to doing what has already been done and its efficiency established. According to the theory of economy and society, an entrepreneur has the task of creative destruction. Entrepreneurs look for change, responds to the change, and exploits it as a business opportunity (Edwards-Schachter et al., 2015). Most people believe that entrepreneurship is enormously risky as the chances of success and survival in the high tech industry are low. However, if entrepreneurs are successful, the returns are high and can be used in offsetting any risks, which might arise. Optimizing resources in areas where innovation is the proper and profitable course is quite risky. However, various benefits have been shown to stem from the practice of entrepreneurship. One of those is that individuals get the freedom to use their own ideas in a manner they deem fit. As such, they become more creative and innovative so that their business can move ahead. Additionally, Amini (2012) states that any profits realized from the firm goes into their accounts and, therefore, makes them be in control of their finances. The independence of entrepreneurs can be seen when they make decisions and set goals. Moreover, entrepreneurship is a way of providing personal satisfaction and self-employment (Onetti et al., 2012). Such advantages make entrepreneurship an important contextual factor in business.

            The business for the provision of drivers to drunk people can utilize the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship is various ways. In the case of innovation, the managers can incorporate technology into the operations of the business to capture as many people as possible. For instance, they can devise a mobile phone application, which will offer customers an opportunity to order for the services irrespective of their location (Amini, 2012). More specifically, the application should have a GPRS so that clients can know which driver is around and hence call for the driving services. The use of technology and especially mobile phone app will create an opportunity for the business to attract more customers considering that some of the taxis do not have GPR location and hence some can be in far distances and keep customers waiting. Additionally, the business should find ways in which they can use minimum time to pick customers after they order for the services. There is much competition in this industry because of companies offering similar services. For instance, Uber will provide intense competition. As such, it is critical that new innovative methods are devised so that the competitive advantage of the new business increases. Coulson-Thomas (2017) suggests that the business practices of the new entity should not focus on what has already been done, but rather concentrate on any opportunities for exploitation. The business practice of the new organization can be enhanced by ensuring that new mobile applications are devised from where customers can access the driving services. Additionally, methods of payment should be electronic to avoid inconveniencing the customers. Such innovative techniques will ensure that the organization makes more profits by exploiting new opportunities and providing quality services.

            Entrepreneurship will have massive effects on the strategy as well as the decision making of the business organization. The entity will use an approach that relies on doing what has not been done. In this regard, the business idea of offering driving services will focus solely on the drunk as opposed to the general population. Various advantages will arise from this strategy. Firstly, the reputation of the business organization will be in the fact that it caters to the needs of the drunk. Additionally, many profits will be realized, as energies will be focused towards that particular sector (Amini, 2012). In making critical decisions in the business organization, consideration will be made as to the value that the decisions will add to the firm. Entrepreneurs have the role of finding new opportunities to exploit. As such, future decisions should be based on how new markets will be explored to increase the number of clients and hence profitability. The business manager should be ready to respond to any new changes in the market and exploit them for the benefit of the company (Edwards-Schachter et al., 2015). From the preceding, the contextual concept of entrepreneurship will affect not only the strategy of the business but also decision-making.

            In conclusion, innovation and entrepreneurship will be applied to the business for the provision of driving services to drunk people to attract more customers and provide more platforms from where their services can be accessed. Innovation involves recognizing change and exploiting it for the benefit of business. Entrepreneurship means advancing resources towards the implementation of a business idea. Such contextual factors are crucial to business success and sustainability. Without innovation, a business cannot grow as they will rely on what has already been done and hence the probability of failure. The company for the provision of driving services to drunk people can utilize these two contextual aspects in its strategy and decision-making. Specifically, in its operations, the entity should always seek to new opportunities for development and exploit them for business profitability, success, and sustainability.