In late 1950s cardiologists Meyer Friedman and R. H. Rosenman coined the term “Type A” and “Type B” personality types. Meyer and Rosenman said that Type A personalities are prone to heart disease easily because of their nature. They are very hyper and finish work on deadlines always. Comparatively type B people are laid back individuals. They have the aptitude to relax, enjoy small undertakings and they like to enjoy the small things in life. Though, they too get stressed but rarely.

In business organizations “Type A” personality will always be in demand because they are competitive, energetic, impatient, and are always under pressure to finish work in time. To a great extent type ‘A’ personalities are the most sought-for employees. However, a tremendous amount of work has been done by psychologists on the personality types and they have found that type ‘A’ is most prone to heart disease. They work overtime a great deal and rarely take vacations. They are labeled as “workaholics,” “perfectionists,” and “fastidious” people. Do you know A Type individuals are usually insecure? Their insecurity results in an alluring urge to constantly remind themselves and others of their achievements. If you walk into a type A’s office or home you will find many awards, degree and diplomas, and trophies hung on the wall or decorated in a cupboard. These are the common fixtures in their homes and offices. They are always worked up; hence they tend to be very angry individuals, they demonstrate usually cut-throat business tactics. These individuals are quite concerned about numbers, e.g. number of customers, amount of money earned, number of cars and number of homes owned by them. Because of their number game, they are always tensed up. They complain muscle cramps, dry throat, insomnia and they have more adrenalin pumping though their bodies than Type B personalities. The daily caffeine intake of Type A personalities is 50% greater than that of Type B persons. They consume more caffeine to boost their functioning ability.

On the contrast type B individuals have relaxing characteristics. They are not concerned with time or numbers or awards. They cannot work under stress. They are friendlier people. The Type B person finds it easier to express and receive affection because they are hassle free.

“A” type personalities are most suitable for leadership position. They are business owners, managers, sales people, intrapreneurs. They take charge very easily and forge ahead. They are very decisive and constant in getting what they want and need. They always are looking for a better way of working. Their entrepreneurial streak is always exhibited and they are not averse to taking risk. The type “A” personality is usually very independent and to the point. They don’t like routine and often delegate routine chores to someone else.

B” Type personalities are non-judgmental and tolerant people. They usually exhibit higher levels of satisfaction in life. They are aware of their abilities and work progressively for their goals. They enjoy their achievements. They are not too much stressed out to excel. They do get disappointed when they fall short of their goals, but they don’t get overwhelmed like “A” type. “B” type accepts failures more easily. They enjoy outings, games and contests. They participate in competitions and contests not for the sole objective of winning but for the love of the game. They are thoughtful and innovative. They allow themselves to explore and fail, if necessary. Some “B” type people are too relaxed and laid-back that they lack the drive to reach the topmost level of their careers.

A research concluded that in the most progressive country in the world, America has 50% of the individuals who fall into the Type A category, 40% into the Type B category, and 10% are undefined. More importantly, the results of a ten-year long research project on 3,500 men indicated that Type A men have at least three times as much coronary heart disease as Type B’s. The research proved that smoking cigarettes, eating foods rich in cholesterol, taking drinks and little or no exercise made very little difference in stirring the risk of heart disease, if the person has a Type B personality. This study proved that the risk associated with developing heart disease decreased by 31% when the A-B factor was eliminated. People, who can relax, take life easily as it comes, those who can enjoy company of family and friends, who travel for fun, live life for many years. The research found that people who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for fifty years but have enjoyed life are now celebrating their 100 plus years birthdays and mind you they are Type B personalities.

Type ‘A’ people are more visible because they like to take on leadership or managerial positions and to draw attention to their work. You will see them make a fuss at an airport counter, in hotel counter, hospital anywhere. To put it plainly, type As want to spread out in the world and make their presence known. And, please don’t be under wrong impression that Type B doesn’t make it big in life. They too are achievers. They don’t make noise, they are slow but steady. Perhaps that’s the reason they are slow to anger and experience less chronic stress, https://livingwellnessmedicalcenter.com/klonopin-clonazepam/. Anxiety is associated with enhanced outcomes for just about every health complaint, from asthma to depression to Type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Please note that type “B” easily delegate when are in high pressure jobs.

Type B personalities are often more balanced in social situations; they handle sticky situations more gracefully. They are less competitive, more patient, more mutual and happier to enjoy the moment. They are certainly better people to be around with. While type As brag and try get all the credit for focusing on the goals ahead, type Bs are as skillful at achieving their objectives in the end, but they do not make big noise.

While we give so much importance to achievements it comes with a badge of “being stressed”. It’s not enough that we compete to see who can do the most, but we compete to see who can handle the most stress doing it. The only way to minimize the negative effects of stress is to diminish the stress itself by identifying the reasons of stress in your life; either eliminate them, or rethink them.

The term business cluster, also known as an industry cluster, was introduced and popularized by Michael Porter in his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990). Cluster Development has since become a focus for many government programs. The underlying concept of business cluster which economists have referred to as agglomeration economies dates back to 1890 in the work of economist Alfred Marshall.

Industry clusters are groups of similar and related firms in a defined geographic area that share common markets, technologies, worker skill needs, and which are often linked by buyer-seller relationships. A cluster can be formed when at least 100 enterprises exist in it and the cluster’s turnover is over 100 million. Units in these clusters function with hired workers. These clusters include a mix of micro, small, medium and a few large firms.

Firms and workers in an industry cluster draw competitive advantage from their proximity to competitors, skilled workforce, specialized suppliers and a shared base of sophisticated knowledge about an industry. At present in India the estimated figure of business clusters is about 400 for modern Small Scale Enterprises and 2000 rural and artisan based clusters in India. As far as export is concerned, these contribute up to 60 percent of India’s manufactured exports. Although location remains fundamental to competition, its role today differs vastly compared to past. Besides location advantage the competition is driven heavily by input costs, locations with some important endowment—a natural harbor for example, or a supply of cheap labor, nearness to port/railway station/airport — these factors add to the comparative advantages while forming clusters.

Silicon Valley: In the mid- to late 1990s several successful computer technology related companies emerged in Silicon Valley in California. This led anyone who wished to create a startup company to do so in Silicon Valley. The surge in the number of Silicon Valley startups led to a number of venture capital firms relocating to or expanding their Valley offices. This in turn encouraged more entrepreneurs to locate their startups there.

In other words venture capitalists (sellers of finance) and the buyers of finance (IT startup firms) “clustered” in and around California.

The cluster effect in the capital market also led to a cluster effect in the labor market. As an increasing number of companies started up in Silicon Valley, programmers, engineers etc. realized that they would find greater job opportunities by moving to Silicon Valley. This concentration of technically skilled people in the valley meant that startups around the country knew that their chances of finding job candidates with the proper skill-sets were higher in the valley, hence giving them added incentive to move there. This in turn led to more high-tech workers moving there. Similar effects have also been found in the Cambridge IT Cluster (UK).

Competition in today’s economy is far more dynamic. Companies can mitigate many input-cost disadvantages through global sourcing, rendering the old notion of comparative advantage less relevant. Instead, competitive advantage rests on making more productive use of inputs, which requires continual innovation

Porter describes the following benefits of doing business in clusters:

Better access to suppliers and flexibility.

•  Access to specialized information through personal relationships.
•  Joint marketing.
•  Local rivalry and peer pressure.
•  Innovation through having information on new markets and technological advances.
•  Complementary products (e.g. tourist attractions).
•  Reputation of an area.
•  Pool of experienced labor.
• Access to institutions and public goods.
• Conducive to new businesses.

Numerous studies show that on an average, a business located in a cluster has a stronger growth and survival rate than those located outside it. This is partly because the physical proximity of the companies facilitates exchanges of information and talent among the competing firms. Clusters normally include highly specialized vendors, service providers, investors, analysts, students, university faculty and staff, trade association members, consultants, and other useful specialists. In addition, industry-specific equipment is often more readily available within a cluster. The clusters draw their strengths from the private sector. Government agencies, both federal and local which offer industry-friendly incentives and regulatory policies to companies that locate in clusters. The government’s motivation is not purely altruistic. Clusters help the economic growth of a region by increasing job creation and increased tax revenues.

The development and upgrading of clusters is an important agenda for governments of developing nations. Cluster development initiatives are an important new direction in economic policy, building on earlier efforts in macroeconomic stabilization, privatization, and market opening, and reducing the costs of doing business.

Example: Panchgani near Pune, Maharashtra is a thriving hub of food processing units today. Pune/Panchgani is surrounded by vast tracts of arable, agricultural land and is known for its agriculture and agro-business. Panchagani’s proximity to urbanized markets such as Mumbai, Nasik, Nagpur, Aurangabad etc, changing food habits and dependence on ready to eat food, cosmopolitan nature of the city, connectivity to JNPT port has made the processed food cluster of Panchagani very famous. It exports jams, jellies, toffees, pickles, chtanis to many foreign countries. Panchagani cluster is developing very fast and is home to about 3000 plus small and micro entrepreneurs. The cluster produces a range of products comprising semi-processed ready mix products, pickles, jams, jellies, squashes & syrups, Ready to Eat/Ready to Cook products ground & processed spices and papad.

Business clusters work on the logic of nature’s basic goodness such as: grapevines that are planted just close enough together are forced to compete for nutrients in the soil. Stress causes the plants to put more energy into their reproductive processes, increasing the quantity and quality of the grapes. The same logic is applied while forming clusters. When businesses are located together in clusters, they strive to get maximum benefits offered in the cluster and hence show better results. Michael Porter claims that clusters have the potential to affect competition in three ways: by increasing the productivity of the companies in the cluster, by driving innovation in the field, and by stimulating new businesses in the field. According to Porter, in the modern global economy, certain locations have special inheritance such as harbor, cheap labor, packaging units in the vicinity to overcome heavy input costs.

With a contribution of 40% to the country’s industrial output and 35% to direct exports, the Small-Scale Industry (SSI) sector has achieved significant milestones for the industrial development of India. Within the SSI sector, an important role is played by the numerous clusters that have been in existence for decades and sometimes even for centuries. According to a UNIDO survey of Indian SSI clusters undertaken in 1996 (later updated in 1998), there are 350 SSI clusters. Also, there are approximately 2000 rural and artisan based clusters in India. It is estimated that these clusters contribute 60% of the manufactured exports from India. The SSI clusters in India are estimated to have a significantly high share in employment generation.

One key factor for the cluster success is the specialization of small firms in same or complementary areas of the production process. Each firm can use its limited resources in its core competency and its operation is complemented by other specializing firms in the supply chain within the cluster. This not only helps individual firms to excel, but also the cluster to flourish. The other important success factor in a cluster is cooperation. When firms help each other together they facilitate (a) sub-contracting: when a firm receives big orders it can sub-contract the order for processing to other firms, (b) flexibility:  when diversity of order types can be achieved involving multiple firms a lot of elasticity can be enjoyed and (c) presence of a good local governance or support institutes encourage inter-firm co-ordination which in turn lowers the entry barrier for new start-ups.

Some Indian SME clusters are so big that they account for 90 per cent of India’s total production output in selected product category. As for example, the knitwear clusters of Ludhiana. Almost the entire Gems and Jewelers exports are from the clusters of Surat and Mumbai. Similarly, the clusters of Chennai, Agra, Kanpur and Kolkata are well known for leather and leather products.

In Indian context clusters have played a significant role in product/service diversification. The clusters in India have been classified as (1) industrial (SME), (2) handloom, (3) handicraft, (4) micro-enterprise (rural and urban) and (5) service-oriented. However, only in recent years with the liberalization of economies, there is a concentrated effort in cluster-growth by Indian government and different support institutions like United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for promoting the growth of SMEs. Cluster development initiatives include up-gradation of technology, forging of strong intra-cluster network, and networking with external associations.

Paithani Sarees – Paithan: This handicraft sector is very small with not more than hundred workers; they are so specialized that no other places in the world matches their skills and the quality of their output. This is the case of the Paithani sarees cluster in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. It is said that Paithan at one time, was visited by Greek traders, between 400 and 200 BC, during the Satavahana era, for the Paithani weaves. This exquisite Paithani silk soon came to be exported to many countries and was traded for gold and precious stones in barter. Such was its value! According to some sources, this technique possibly came to India from Central Asia and was developed into a fine art in the Deccan region and slowly evolved into the contemporary version you see today. The Peshwa rulers were big patrons of this art and even today among the Maharashtrians women prefer wearing Paithani sarees in marriages and special functions. The classy fabric stands out and is considered as an propitious fabric.

Chanderi Sarees:  Chanderi is a town in Ashok nagar District, Madhya Pradesh. The town of Chanderi has a rich history that was shared between Pratihara kings, Delhi sultans, Mandu sultans, Bundela kings and Scindias of Gwalior. Located on the borders of the cultural regions of Malwa and Bundelkhand, Chanderi fell on an important arterial route to the ancient ports of Gujarat as well as to Malwa, Mewar, Central India and Deccan. Chanderi’s setting made it into a natural fortress. The living tradition of weaving has been prevalent since the past six hundred years and continues to sustain almost half of the population of Chanderi.

The town of Chanderi is divided into mohallas or residential neighborhoods. The mohallas of the different communities of the weavers are important part of the urban morphology. The 13th century Moroccan visitor Ibn Batuta remarked: “it is a big city with thronged market places” like Sadar bazaar. The sadar bazaar of the city is today stocked with shops of delicate and artistic Chanderi sarees. The three storied shops, projecting one over other, originally planned to be on the level with riders on elephants, on horses and on foot, give a unique profile to the street.

The spacious weaver houses were integral to the production of the cloth and its quality. Chanderi houses weavers from Rajasthan, Marwar and Gujrat who are skilled particularly to weave the delicate, silky, colorful Chanderi sarees. The weavers have a unique weaving techniques and requirements. Platforms built outside the houses provide additional work areas and for stretching yarns. Architecture also serves as an inspiration to the craftsmen. The patterns on sarees are largely inspired by ornamentation on buildings.

]]> https://drvidyahattangadi.com/business-clusters-offer-competitive-advantage/feed/ 0 https://drvidyahattangadi.com/social-entrepreneurs-turning-small-ideas-into-big/ https://drvidyahattangadi.com/social-entrepreneurs-turning-small-ideas-into-big/#respond Mon, 04 Aug 2014 03:23:55 +0000 http://drvidyahattangadi.com/?p=1160 Social Entrepreneurs turning small ideas into big 

Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems by inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industry, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale. The new breed of social entrepreneurs are focused on their enterprise, they have workable solutions for dormant and rigid social problems.

Contemporary economists and management writers like Baptist Say, Joseph Schumpeter, Peter Drucker and Howard Stevenson have defined entrepreneurship with slight variance but the same perspective that entrepreneurs are individuals who create value, those who are innovators, those who are change agents in society etc. Social entrepreneurs are close to all these definitions created by various economists. The only difference being that of social entrepreneur is entrepreneurs with a ‘social mission’, for a social entrepreneur social mission if explicit and central theme.  This affects how they perceive and assess opportunities.  The criterion of the social entrepreneur definition is mission-related enterprise; not merely wealth creation. Social entrepreneurship has gathered a momentum because of large numbers of NGOs and organizations working for a social cause. The description of social entrepreneur can thus be put as follows:

1. Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector by adopting a mission to create and sustain social values.

2. They recognizing and relentlessly pursue new opportunities to serve a mission.

3. They engage themselves in a process of continuous innovation, adoption and learning.

4. Once they accept a mission, they act boldly without being limited by resources in hand.

5. Thus they exhibit heightened accountability for a cause.  They are fewer in numbers.

I give here below account of two young Indians who have turned small ideas into big production.  We are living in a world which is constantly looking for solutions to small and big problems we face every day in our lives. And, let us accept this fact that public administrations cannot work alone and they are more and more looking for innovative solutions coming from civil society. People like Rikin and Anshu are a rare breed of youngsters who have guts to give up their comfortable, prospering careers and bring in some stunning solutions to some societal problems.

Let’s look at Rikin Gandhi’s Digital Green enterprise to understand while he works locally, his innovation has global applicability.

RIKIN GANDHI – CEO of DIGITAL GREEN

Rikin’s story is awesome. He’s an aerospace engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a licensed private pilot, who could make a coveted career in the US Air Force as he was chosen by them. It seems so many people who travelled to space, saw earth from up above and wondered why there was poverty and war on this beautiful planet. Many of them after coming back to earth went on to become public school teachers or farmers in the Midwest, this was their way of connecting with people. Stories like these inspired Rikin. He learned through a friend of his who was working on biodiesel project in Maharashtra, about pathetic conditions of farmers. So many of them commit suicides due to mounting debts which they cannot service; their dependability of monsoon and poor quality of infrastructure are unsolvable problems.  Rikin decided to do something for the farmers.

Digital Green is Rikin’s brainchild. He decided to use his handy cam as a tool for social networking with the farmers. The method was simple: the farmers recorded their problems, solutions and success stories; this information is recorded and edited. Further, it is reached via videos to those who need the advice that too from the horse’s mouth – the notional truth from the practical source itself. This gave birth to Digital Green a social enterprise.

Microsoft Research has set up a lab in Bangalore to look at technologies for emerging countries in sectors such as microfinance, education, agriculture and study about how technology can be used to improve the lives of people. Digital Green was initially incubated in the Microsoft Research India lab.

The idea of Digital Green is to use relevant videos to educate the farmers on scientific methods of farming which in turn will help them increase their yield resulting in prosperity. The videos are localized in terms of language and socio –economic background of the audience. Producing and distributing locally relevant videos involving the local community. The videos consists information on farming by farmers, of farmers, and for farmers. The company works with NGOs which play an important role in identifying “resource persons” from the community who can produce the videos and to have the subject-matter expertise for ensuring the quality of the videos. They identify topics of interest and make short videos of local farmers. Distribution also happens through community; some of the community members go back to their respective villages by using Pico projectors which are the size of mobile phone which are used for smaller groups. These groups come together on a regular basis. It could be about sowing, soil standards, nursery raising or weeding based on the season.

Digital Green wants to expand in India and reach out to many farmers in developing nations like Africa. It has built a technology platform with IVR (Interactive Voice Response) so that farmers will be able to interact with each other and ask questions to the experts; thus, scaling up this platform. Digital Green, which received a $3-million grant for three years from the Gates Foundation, has so far covered more than 300 villages and aided over 17,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. India needs many more Rikins today.

The social entrepreneurs seek to create systematic change in the society for a cause.  While doing so though they act locally, their actions have the potential to stimulate global improvement.  The cause can be education, health, economic development, environment, racism, socially weak people, and arts, anti corruption, old age, prostitution etc.

Ian Macmillan, Director of the Wharton’s Entrepreneurs research Centre defines social entrepreneurship as a process whereby creation of new business enterprise leads to social wealth enhancement so that both society and the entrepreneur benefit.   These benefits according to Macmillan can be creation of jobs, increased productivity, enhanced national competitiveness, contribution of the cause to the GDP of the nation, enhanced image of the cause in the globe etc. The social entrepreneur has enlarged vision and heart of gold.

There are limitations to define social entrepreneurship because a wide range of opinions exists on this topic.  There are many scholars who are still researching this topic in various universities in the world. This subject is being discussed for past two decades, though social entrepreneurs existed for ages.

I cannot resist from giving the example of Goonj.

GOONJ of ANSHU GUPTA

Anshu Gupta is popularly known as the Clothing Man. He started his career as a freelance journalist. He left his flourishing career in 1998 to start GOONJ. Anshu’s mission in Goonj is to make clothing a matter of concern.

GOONJ works on the basic issue of clothing. Usually one talks of ‘roti, kapda aur makaan’ meaning food, clothing and shelter. It’s a matter of disgrace – the women in economically weak households who don’t have enough clothes to wear, have a big problem during their menstruations; they don’t have a piece of cloth for using. In the absence of a clean piece of cloth, menstruation is a disaster for a woman, which goes on for 30 to 35 years in her life. This subject is taboo. For your information – in the Sunderban Delta of West Bengal even today women use the same piece of cloth for over a year. Even if it is almost like stone, they still use it, because there is no access to a piece of cloth.  That is the height of poverty – the non-accessibility to basic necessities. Visualize how many clothes we discard without a thought.  In the village surveys conducted by our health facilitators as part of their training, it came out strongly that menstrual hygiene and sanitation were a major concern leading to vaginal and reproductive tract infections. Most of the women were using cloth, which was not being washed and dried properly, resulting in poor hygiene.

In 2004, when Anshu and his associates started talking about the issue, they discovered how even urban women feel uncomfortable talking about it. So when Anshu and his group googled ‘sanitary pad’ or ‘sanitary napkin,’ there was hardly any research or work happening on this topic. They could only find information about fancy disposable products from different countries. The group realized that they need to work in this direction. No cloth is ever wasted. The most vital of all products that Goonj makes are sanitary napkins of its own design. Each set has three parts: a waist-string, a small absorbent pad and a palm wide strip to hold the padding in place while its ends are tucked under the waist-string. Ten sets are packed with care into a drawstring pouch for women to receive without embarrassment.

The left over clothes are converted to school bags, tote bags, quilts, and mats. A great quantity is converted into narrow tapes to be used as drawstrings for petticoats. The ultimate, unusable waste is chopped up and stuffed into pillows and quilts.

GOONJ has emerged as the largest non -monetary resource agency while people also call it one of the largest civic participation movements!! It runs is a unique resource mobilization initiative that provides clothes, sanitary napkins, and other basic amenities to millions in rural villages. With an emphasis on mindful giving and dignified receiving, Goonj also provides a constructive channel for the growing quantities of waste from urban households.

Goonj does it all on a shoestring budget. In exchange for clothes, Goonj requires its beneficiaries, the rural people to take on community development projects. So far, thousands of people have undertaken more than 900 community projects, from building bridges to repairing roads etc. Rather than receiving bad, ill-fitting donated clothes for nothing, because of Goonj’s mission, community members receive well-suited, often-tailored, second-hand clothes.

Goonj’s passion is to encourage graceful giving and graceful receiving. Goonj wants people to give mindfully; the clothes they donate are of great value by recipients. Goonj is quietly creating magic with other’s waste. On an average every year this NGO recycles 1 million kilogrammes of textiles that urban Indians no longer want or need and they make 2 million sanitary napkins for rural areas. The next time you want to throw your used clothes, think for a moment about Goonj. This NGO has earned many national and international awards.

I salute Rikin and Anshu for their untiring and pioneering work!!!

Are entrepreneurs made or born?

This question has been raised on various platforms. Are they a special breed, do they have some special persona that others lack?  It is generally said that entrepreneurs come from entrepreneurial families; they continue running the enterprise created by their parents or forefathers. Some say, entrepreneurs are people born to do their own business – they will not work for somebody.  In the past five years, multiple studies have indicated that there may be an “entrepreneur gene” or at least that people with certain genetic characteristics and personality traits are more likely to be successful entrepreneurs than others.

Mr. James V. Koch of Old Dominion University, who has conducted an insightful research on risk taking ability of Corporate CEOs (research was funded by Kaufmann Foundation) published a book titled as “Born, not made.” The book is co-authored by James L Fisher.  Mr. Koch says that some personalities are much more favorable for entrepreneurship. The ability to take risks is inborn and this is very important factor for entrepreneurship. Koch does feel that experience and knowledge and observation and environment count a lot. But, he’s not sure if risk-taking ability can be taught in schools. The ability of taking risks is simply hard-wired in the individual.

So is entrepreneurship ingrained in genes? Well, we cannot give credit just to the genes. An individual’s nature and the way he is nurtured right from childhood matters. The early education from the school level itself can do a lot in creating more entrepreneurs in society. The priorities in our education should be to educate students to be more creative and allow them to unleash their talent so that they can create jobs.

Former President of India A.P.J Abdul Kalam has always maintained that we need to encourage students to become entrepreneurs and not make them job seekers. To apply the preparedness he has listed a three-pronged strategy that will make education more attractive, skill imparting and simultaneously create employment potential.

Firstly, the education system should prepare students to get oriented towards setting up enterprises, which will provide them creativity, freedom and ability to generate wealth, he said. Secondly, the banking system should provide venture capital to the graduates who have aptitude and keenness to create their own new enterprises. Thirdly, entrepreneurs have to produce competitive products for becoming successful in their missions. Kalam said this in his address on the 54^th Foundation Day at IIT – Bombay.

A lot of research is being conducted in different parts of world on whether entrepreneurial instinct can be found in early life and whether such person can be trained to become one. In the next few decades, people will really drill down into what makes some people actively driven to entrepreneurship and whether some basic biological evidences can prove this.

Julian Lange, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College at Massachusetts is of opinion that entrepreneurship can be taught. He says that maybe, simply put, you can’t teach someone to be passionate about entrepreneurship. But, the teachers in the class room can definitely discover the innate passion for entrepreneurship in some of their students. And in terms of general skills, if these students are trained, mentored and counseled they will go in for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship coaching can enhance the ability of students who are interested. Lange says that there is a certain element of entrepreneurs which comes with birth itself. But, certainly some entrepreneurs are born, while some are made. At Babson, researchers have found that entrepreneurial education has a lasting influence on students.

There are benefits teaching entrepreneurship in classroom; students learn the fundamental theory behind why, how and where to start up a business. Such programs need to invite many guest speakers who are entrepreneurs themselves. During such sessions students are exposed to real current issues; they get to understand how to tackle initial blues in ventures, how to fight them back, and how to go about the growth.

The B Schools must offer an “experiential element” to the course. I have always felt this – B Schools can to do so much for entrepreneurship. Each B School must have a business incubation centre. Students should be given sessions to pitch the ideas and making business plans. Not only one idea, every semester they must make a business plan; so that by the time they pass out they have minimum 4-5 ideas and business plans. Practical ideas and plans must be supported by mentoring the students. We must appreciate and support students running a start-up while studying for their degree. It is being a student entrepreneur. Can we go the extra mile to support such students? Yes we can.

We need to expose students to recognize opportunities. Some people may go through life and don’t quite see the opportunities. Education helps people to change at different points in their business and personal lives. It helps them become more receptive and interested to live life with dignity, truth and coping with effort.

 Entrepreneurial opportunities exist in all walks of life. There is no sure short answer to any problem in starting and running a venture. No two businesses are alike, no two strategies are alike, and similarly no two entrepreneurs are alike. Every entrepreneur’s style of running his business is different. The world is full of opportunities and chances; we need to show this to our students. In my opinion, all graduate programs should have a compulsory internship; if possible the internship should be given with a start-up company; because entrepreneurship training requires observations and practice which a start-up can provide the best. Exposure to entrepreneurship can trigger the spirit of venturing out on own. Burning desire to create one’s own venture is the key.

In my 15 years teaching experience I have seen that most of those with a natural desire to create their ventures are very determined, driven, and energetic, flooded with ideas, obsessive, are risk takers, expressive and convincing. In conclusion, if you want to start your venture, it doesn’t matter if you have never started a business before, or had started but it failed. It does not matter what your background is; whether you come from a business family or a non-business family. If you have this trigger of starting now, do not delay, if you have a business idea or are simply attracted by the prospect of starting out on your own, just go ahead and do it. Don’t think you are too young or too old – age is not the criteria. Just go ahead and venture out. You may feel astonished by discovering many talents in yourself that you were unaware of it all this while.