2009 Volume 18 Issue 3 Pages 287-300
The purposes of this paper are, (1) to define the nature of entrepreneurs, reviewing “The Theory of the Growth of the Firm” by Penrose and showing the relationship between Penrose’s theory and “Entrepreneurship and the Market Process” by Harper, (2) to describe the important factors to nurture entrepreneurs in their behavior. Entrepreneurs are specifically characterized as functions of ‘discovery’ and ‘solution’ of problem in (1). They discover problems through the interpretation of internal and external environment according to their knowledge in real time and to ‘theories-in-use’. ‘Theories-in-use’ guides the efficient way to the problem-solving, but then again, it has negative side that entrepreneurs may overlook new problems. On the basis of this point, in (2), this paper shows the necessity for entrepreneurs to be able to deliberate over the ‘theories-in-use’, and to evaluate critically their own activities from customers’ viewpoint, then presents a framework of nurturing entrepreneurs, which is related to ‘dialogue’, and ‘voice of customer’.
