Despite its centrality in the economic process, entrepreneurship is an elusive phenomenon, a concept difficult to define clearly, and so protean that it is virtually impossible to categorise it formally. So much so that in dealing with it there tend to be more hard questions than definitive answers. This article addresses such questions and lists them as elements to keep in mind when approaching the subject. It starts off with an examination of how entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs have been considered by economists, who represent a crucial point of reference for business historians. Then it tackles the relationship between entrepreneurship and organisations as well as how this topic has been dealt with in Alfred Chandler’s remarkable work. During the last 25 years, such an intellectual construction has been challenged by the «spirit of the times», part of which makes up an «alternative approach». This will lead to consider the relationship between entrepreneurs and their environment, and the new research fields whose development it has stimulated. A quick review of some of the regional orientations (US, Europe, and Japan) of historiography follows before some concluding remarks are offered.
Entrepreneurship
AMATORI, FRANCO
2006
Abstract
Despite its centrality in the economic process, entrepreneurship is an elusive phenomenon, a concept difficult to define clearly, and so protean that it is virtually impossible to categorise it formally. So much so that in dealing with it there tend to be more hard questions than definitive answers. This article addresses such questions and lists them as elements to keep in mind when approaching the subject. It starts off with an examination of how entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs have been considered by economists, who represent a crucial point of reference for business historians. Then it tackles the relationship between entrepreneurship and organisations as well as how this topic has been dealt with in Alfred Chandler’s remarkable work. During the last 25 years, such an intellectual construction has been challenged by the «spirit of the times», part of which makes up an «alternative approach». This will lead to consider the relationship between entrepreneurs and their environment, and the new research fields whose development it has stimulated. A quick review of some of the regional orientations (US, Europe, and Japan) of historiography follows before some concluding remarks are offered.
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