Evolution of Entrepreneurship
The Earliest
Marco Polo, Stage
a merchant from
Venice who travelled to many
places in Asia to trade.
He would enter into a formal
agreement with a capitalist to sell
his goods. He bore all the risk of
possible damage or loss of the
good.
When the merchant-adventurer
successfully sold the goods and
completed the trip, the profits
were divided with the capitalist
taking most of them
th
The 18
In the 18thCentury
century, the person
with capital was differentiated
from the one who needed
capital.
The entrepreneur was
distinguished from the capital
provider.
Jean-Baptiste Say, a French
economist and businessman,
described the entrepreneur as a
person who plays a central
coordinating role both in
producing and selling goods. He
was someone who coordinates,
leads, and manages all the
activities of the firm.
The Middle
EntrepreneurAges
used to describe
both as an actor and a person
who managed large production
projects.
Individuals did not take any risks
because all the resources used to
provide by the government of the
country, all an entrepreneur
should do is to manage it.
A typical entrepreneur in the
middle age was the priest do is to
manage it. The person in charge
of great architectural works used
to build castles and fortifications,
public buildings, abbeys, and
cathedrals.
19th and 20th
In the late Centuries
19th and early 20th
centuries, entrepreneurs were
frequently not distinguished from
managers and were viewed mostly
from an economic perspective
Towards the middle of the 20th
century, Joseph Schumpeter, an
Austrian-Hungarian-American
economist and political scientist,
refuted the idea of
entrepreneurship as manager of
the firm, and espoused the
concept of the entrepreneur as
innovator who seek opportunities
and leads “existing means of
production into new channels.”
Risk and financing is relegated to
the banker or to some other party
whose sole aim is to provide
needed capital.
Peter Drucker, who came up with
a behavioral concept of the
entrepreneur – one who actually
searches for change, respond on
it, and exploits change as an
opportunity.
The 17th
Century
The connection of the risk with
entrepreneurship developed in
the 17th century.
An entrepreneur was a person
who entered into a contract with
the government to perform a
service or to supply stipulated
products or services.
It was a common practice to
agree on the price as part of the
terms and agreement. In effect,
the entrepreneur either reaps
profit or bear losses.
Richard Cantillion, a well-known
English economist at the
beginning of the 17th century. He
viewed the entrepreneur as a risk
taker, observing that merchants,
farmers, craftsmen, and others
sole proprietors “buy at a certain
price and sell at an uncertain
price, therefore operating at a
risk.”
21st Century
DotCom Era, entrepreneurs in
the 21st century are considered
the heroes of free enterprise.
Creativity and innovation have
made many of these
entrepreneurs able to exploit
high growth potentials.
“Today, many people regard
entrepreneurship as pioneer ship
on the frontiers of business” –
Kuratko & Hodgetts
Much of the significant changes
revolutionizing the world of
business was due to the internet
which provide countless
opportunities for entrepreneurs.
The function of the
entrepreneurs is to recreate or
revolutionize the pattern of
production by introducing an
invention. Innovation, the act of
introducing some new ideas, is
one of the most difficult tasks for
the entrepreneur.
 Evolution of Entrepreneur in the
Philippines
Entrepreneurship has existed in the Philippines
since the interaction of the early Filipinos with
foreign traders, especially the neighboring
countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. They
started business transaction through the barter
system wherein goods and services were means of
exchanges. Then countries moved towards a money
economy when people used different form of
money to pay for goods that they bought.
1835

When Spain, Japan, and America colonized the

Philippines for hundreds of years, they changed the

1845 structure of the society, the economy, education, and

the political system. We became a predominantly
family-centered, Catholic, capitalistic and democratic
country.

After the independence, the Philippine government

1898
realized the importance of entrepreneurship to
individuals, society and the country, and how it
contributes to the nation’s economic development.

The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) became the

embodiment of entrepreneurship in the country. The

1972-1976
SME development regulatory framework and policies
started in 1970s when the 1935 Philippine Constitution
first recorded the national commitment to economic
success through industrial and technological growth.

The historical data show that the intensification of entrepreneurship development started in the 1970s. For
the first time, the SME sector given emphasis in the Philippines Development Plan (1972-1976). Then, the
1987 Philippines Constitution reinforced the commitment for the development of the private sector and
provided from a wide range of government reforms and reorganization.