Assessment Task 1

Task: Kazakhstan has experienced a big growth in entrepreneurial activity in the past 15
years and the conditions for even greater growth of small business in the future look promising
Word count: 489
Foreign experience of economic and social development confirms that small business can
become a real factor not only in the stabilization, but also in the growth of the economy of
Kazakhstan. Small business contributes to the maintenance of a proper level of competition, flexible
restructuring of production, acceleration of innovation processes, the formation of a social
orientation of market relations and employment growth. Over the past 15 years, Kazakhstan has
seen a significant growth in small businesses. What causes contribute to this and how this picture
will develop further - we will try to understand this essay.
The growth of entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan can be explained by the fact that the
legislation on small business regulates general issues of the activities of small business, regardless
of their organizational and legal form. This includes criteria for determining small enterprises,
issues of state support for small businesses and taxation (Smagulova, et al., 2018). Small business
entities are also understood as individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a
legal entity. In the post-soviet space, small enterprises were formed most often by separating from
state-owned enterprises founders. In Kazakhstan, small enterprises were created, as a rule, in the
form of limited liability partnerships, many collectives were reorganized into small enterprises
based on private equity ownership (Lee & Tai, 2010). Less common are small family-type
businesses. In many ways, this can be explained by the complexity and high cost of renting non-
residential premises.
Currently, the issue of developing a network of small enterprises as one of the most
important is included in the program of de-monopolization of the country’s economy. It provides
for both compulsory and proactive unbundling of monopoly production facilities:
• allocation of independent production and economic blocks;
• separation of small and medium-sized collectives from large enterprises;
• creation of small subsidiaries on the initiative of large enterprises (Kurmanov et al., 2016)
Small enterprises can be established jointly with state, public, cooperative enterprises,
private individuals, as well as organizations of other forms of ownership. Depending on what type
of activity and what strategy of behavior the enterprise chooses in the market, in the economy of
developed countries, small enterprises are distinguished that specialize in the manufacture of
individual components and parts, sometimes performing intermediate assembly (Tazabekova,
2016). They work closely with large enterprises through cooperative relations and subcontracting
systems. With the help of these enterprises, large-scale production is freed from unprofitable and
inefficient production.
Thus, the business sector of the country is mainly represented by small-sized entities. The
main contribution to the country’s economy is still made by large legal entities, despite the large
number of small businesses. The main reference point for the development of entrepreneurship
should be the long-term goal of the state to enter Kazakhstan among the 30 most developed
countries in the world. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to take measures on the part of the
government aimed at improving the business environment, as well as actions of entrepreneurs to
improve their competitiveness.

References
Kurmanov, N., Tolysbayev, B., Aibossynova, D., & Parmanov, N. (2016). Innovative activity of
small and medium-sized enterprises in Kazakhstan and factors of its
development. Економічний часопис-ХХІ, (158), 57-61.
Lee, J. W., & Tai, S. W. (2010). Motivators and inhibitors of entrepreneurship and small business
development in Kazakhstan. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and
Sustainable Development.
Smagulova, S., Nurseiytova, G., Rakhimbayeva, R., Spankulova, L., Koptayeva, G., Dzhunusov,
A., & Imashev, A. (2018). Entrepreneurship and investment environment in the Central Asian
transition countries: Case Kazakhstan. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 24(4), 1-8.
Tazabekova, A. (2016). Small and medium business in Kazakhstan: analysis and
prospects. Вестник университета Туран, (2), 199-204.

Assessment Task 2
Task: Creativity and innovation are critical to the success of small business
Word count: 1088
 In many countries of the world in recent years, the concept of «creative and innovative
economy» has rapidly acquired its significance and has become a separate sector of the economy,
which is closely related to the development and application of creative industries in society.
Millions of people work and realize creative potential in this field, while simultaneously supporting
the country’s economy on the world stage and the general level of culture. The openness of
society’s access to entrepreneurship makes it possible to express one’s creative potential, boldly
implement ideas, and at the same time, be consistent with one of the main functions of
entrepreneurship - to make a profit from the sale of goods or services and achieve success. In this
essay, we will look at the features of the emergence of the phenomenon of creativity, how it is
associated with innovation, and how creativity and innovation can help achieve success in small
businesses.
The term «creativity» was widely used in the 1950s in psychology: the American
psychologist P. Torrence defined creativity as sensitivity to the problem of lack of knowledge; the
combination of diverse information, the disharmony of elements; the definition of related problems,
the search for their solutions; the proposal and hypothesis about the possibilities of solutions
(Boden, 1996). Now creativity is considered a characteristic not only of the individual, but also a
property of a complex system of relations: a new term has appeared - «creative economy». For the
first time this concept was voiced by the magazine «Business Week»: Coy (2000) reflects on what
awaits the corporation in the XXI century, how they will adapt to the conditions of the new
economy, where the importance of ideas is increasingly increasing, and the main means of
production are intellectual resources. The basis of this type of economy is the ability of subjects to
solve emerging problems using non-standard, original methods, which allows to achieve a high
degree of competitiveness, to obtain additional effects.
Scientific, economic and technological information that is used in productive consumption,
largely anticipating the production process, determines its compliance with changing production
conditions, and becomes the driving force of innovation, a «personalized» resource, part of the
know-how of companies. Recent studies (Bilton & Cummings, 2010; Andersen & Kragh, 2013)
indicate a sharp increase in the value of the company’s intellectual funds in comparison with its
material resources and financial capital. In general, their ratio varies between 5:1 and 6:1. It is also
estimated that a dollar spent on research and development brings in eight times more profit than a
dollar invested in technology. All this indicates the transition of the economy to a new, innovative
path of socio-economic development, as well as the relationship between creativity and business.
Active innovative search for the purpose of improving the business process and identifying
new types of activities is a real creativity for an entrepreneur. Solving a problem is the shortest path
to success. Only a motivated person, guided by his love for his work and interest in life in general,
is able to do this, which is extremely necessary for creativity and business. The businessman
focuses on the consumer, trying to understand whether to solve his needs - creates value for him
(Lee, Hallak & Sardeshmukh, 2019).
The success of a small business lies in the birth of a new interesting idea, in the
implementation and transformation into a profitable activity, and without creativity it is impossible
to create a new idea that will be interesting to the consumer (Krishna & Swathi, 2013). New ideas
and business development directions create new opportunities, resources, or, in some cases, may
have inconsistencies or shortcomings. The natural creativity of an entrepreneur should include the
development, implementation and implementation of a business idea.
In order to remain at the forefront of the market, in addition to generating creative ideas,
entrepreneurship uses the process of innovation, which can significantly change not only the
ideological content of a product or service, but also their properties (Penaluna & Penaluna, 2009).
Innovative entrepreneurship in the creative sector today is a public technical and economic process
that promotes the creation of best-in-class goods, services or technologies through the commercial
use of innovations. This type of modern business largely determines the pace of economic growth,
the competitiveness of products on the national and international markets. Therefore, the interest in
the organization of innovative creative entrepreneurship, its varieties, models and features is quite
understandable.
According to Lee, Hallak and Sardeshmukh (2019, p. 58), there are several types of creative
innovations that small businesses can use to achieve success:
1. A technological innovation is a new or improved method of production or distribution that
involves specific changes in technology, equipment, and/or software.
2. Organizational innovation is a way of designing and implementing an offer in an
enterprise (practice, workplace organization, external relations).
3. Marketing innovation is the introduction of a new method of designing, packaging,
placing, promoting and pricing the company’s offer.
4. Market innovation is the creation of a new market (a new use of an existing product, a
new type of customer).
5. Strategic innovation is a change in the way an organization implements its activities,
which may be related to business model innovations. The latter is understood as creating a new
value configuration for the sector, that is, a new way of creating and collecting value. For example,
small video game studios have managed to distinguish themselves from large publishers by
developing a multi-level platform on the Internet, bringing together complementary and / or
interdependent user groups.
 6. Management innovation is a change in traditional management principles, processes and
practices, or in familiar organizational forms, a change that should be considered in relation to the
business and/or the market.
7. Social innovation is defined as a new response to the needs expressed by a particular
social group, which are not met by state markets and institutions. This can be, for example, in areas
in difficult situations, to offer solutions to people facing unemployment, old age, illness, or
disability.
Thus, small businesses are considered as a single organizational unit. The innovative activity
that contributes to its propensity for innovation, in this regard, is of a specific nature. Therefore, in
this essay, we have considered arguments that seem informative to us to understand why small
businesses tend to be innovative and creative in order to succeed, as well as introduce new products,
while some characteristics should prevent them a priori. We looked at what creativity is and how it
relates to innovation. We also found out how small businesses can incorporate creativity and
innovation into their innovation-friendly activities in the face of the current changes in the
economy.

References
Andersen, P. H., & Kragh, H. (2013). Managing creativity in business market
relationships. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(1), 82-85.
Bilton, C., & Cummings, S. (2010). Creative strategy: reconnecting business and innovation (Vol.
3). John Wiley & Sons.
Boden, M. A. (1996). Creativity. Artificial intelligence, Academic Press, 267-291.
Coy, P. (2000). The creative economy. Business Week, (3696), 76-76.
Krishna, R. R. B. M. M., & Swathi, A. (2013). Role of creativity and innovation in
entrepreneurship. Innovative Journal of Business and Management, 2(05).
Lee, C., Hallak, R., & Sardeshmukh, S. R. (2019). Creativity and innovation in the restaurant
sector: Supply-side processes and barriers to implementation. Tourism Management
Perspectives, 31, 54-62.
Penaluna, A., & Penaluna, K. (2009). Creativity in business/business in creativity: transdisciplinary
curricula as an enabling strategy in enterprise education. Industry and Higher
Education, 23(3), 209-219.