French economist, JEAN BATISTE SAY called entrepreneurs “the venturesome
individuals who stimulated economic progress by finding better ways of doing
things.” In the 20th century, JOSEPH A. SCHUMPETER styled entrepreneurs as
innovators and the source of creative destruction necessary for economic advances.
In his words, “the function of entrepreneurs is to reform or revolutionize the pattern
of production” and they do this by exploiting an invention or, more generally, an
untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity or producing an
old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new
outlet for products, by reorganizing an industry and so on.” (SCHUMPETER: 1984.)
Although the term has been prominently extolled by economists, starting up a
business is not the core of the notion. The role of the entreprenuer is seen as a
catalyst and innovator for progress in a variety of fields, both economic and social.
Entrepreneurs may not necessarily cause change in business, but they have the
ability to exploit opportunities (in technology, consumer preferences, social norms)
that do create change. Entrepreneurs are able to mobilize the resources of others to
achieve their goals.
The term “social entrepreneur” has gained popularity in recent years. Even
universities like Stanford and Harvard offer courses on the subject of social
entrepreneurship. The term is increasingly invoked by journalists, politicians,
philanthropists and development experts. In most analyses emphasis is placed on
how business and management skills can be applied to achieve social goals. This
view recognizes social entrepreneurs as “transformative forces;” people with new
ideas to address major problems who are relentless in the pursuit of their visions.
People who will not give up until their idea for social change has spread to replace
unresponsive and archaic systems with new systems that work for the benefit of
more people.
One of the most well-known examples is the Grameen Bank and its founder,
MUHAMMAD YUNUS, who won the the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. The Grameen
Bank originated in the mid-1970s when MUHAMMAD YUNUS launched an action
research project to examine the possibility of designing a credit delivery system to
provide banking services targeted at the rural poor. The Grameen Bank has reversed
conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a
banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity.
MUHAMMAD YUNUS reasoned that if financial resources could be made available to
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