I.

INTRODUCTION

"Clients have access to a broader variety of information and suppliers in today's linked and economically dynamic
market. Customers are able to be more demanding thanks to this exposure. That is, requesting better goods and
services at a lower cost (Brett & Okumura, 1998; Yukl, 2001). Innovation was regarded as a strategic component of
an organization's competitiveness in the 1990s. Yet, the economic approach has highlighted the importance of the
innovation concept for economic progress (Zawislak & Marins, 2008). Hence, in order to maintain their
competitiveness, firms must deftly address these issues. In light of this, researchers vowed that organizations must
adopt ongoing innovation if they are to stay relevant and successful in today's market (Chow, 2001; Xerri &
Brunetto, 2011).

The Latin verb "Innovates," which means to bring something new or alter something that has already been
established, is where the word "innovation" originated ([Link] Unabridged, 2014). Schumpeter (1934) was
regarded as one of the first academics to notice innovation while looking at previous literature. According to
Schumpeter (1934), innovation is the creation, application, and fusion of something new, like as goods, services,
operational procedures, and new markets. Since then, innovation has been redefined by numerous academics.
Scholars typically view innovation in the 1950s–1960s as bringing about change from a technical perspective.

For instance, Schmookler (1957) defined ‘technical change’ as an enterprise producing goods or services or using a
method or input process that is new. While Marquis (1969) seen innovation as a changes in technology. Back in
1970, Tinnesand (1973) provided a summary of innovation based by reviewing 188 publications. Tinnesand’s work
reported that 36 % of the publications defined innovation as the introduction of a new idea; 16 % defining innovation
as a new idea, meanwhile only 14 % of the work defining innovation as the introduction of an invention; 14 %
defining innovation as an idea different from existing ideas; 11 % defining innovation as the introduction of an idea
disrupting prevailing behavior; and 9 % viewing innovation as being an invention.

The definition of innovation has grown since the 1980s, moving beyond just bringing about technical improvements
to including conceiving fresh concepts. For instance, Amabile (1983) argued that the successful application of novel
concepts in an organization qualifies as innovation. Urabe (1988), who came before us, saw innovation as having a
number of stages. Urabe believes that innovation should encompass execution as well as the creation of "new" ideas.
According to Urabe (1988), "Innovation consists of the generation of a new idea and its implementation into a new
product, process, or service, leading to the dynamic growth of the national economy, increase in employment, as
well as the creation of pure profit for the innovative business enterprise" (p. 03).

Along with the topic of what innovation is, there was also discussion of who is in charge of it. Innovation, according
to King and Anderson (2002), is the introduction of anything new to an individual, group, company, industry, or
larger society. Before innovation may take place, King and Anderson (2002) emphasized that ideas are necessary.
Ideas serve as the foundation for innovation, which only emerged once the ideas were developed further. Innovation
can happen at different levels, such as individual, team, and organizational, according to West and Farr (1990). They
also emphasized how important it is for employees to generate and implement new ideas if innovation is to be
established within an organization. This viewpoint is consistent with Simonton's (1984) assertion that innovation
results from a person's personal commitment and efforts. Similarly, Scott and Bruce (1994) argued that in order for
an organization to innovate, innovation at the person level must first be fostered by the organization. In conclusion,
innovation aims to create new goods, procedures, or services that benefit the person, the group, and larger society.
The innovation at the employee level, which is typically seen as inventive work behavior, is discussed in the section
that follows.

There is no universal definition of entrepreneurship despite the efforts of classical and neo-classical scholars. It
depends on the person defining it and the angle from which it is viewed. Researchers have examined
entrepreneurship from a variety of perspectives, including economics, sociology, psychology, management, and
social perspectives. As a result, entrepreneurship is a multifaceted term. Say (1767–1832) offers a fresh perspective
on the entrepreneurial task (Bula, 2012). According to him, an entrepreneur manages a business and contributes to
the manufacturing process. (Say, 2001). Several tasks may be performed by an entrepreneur. Some academics
distinguish among an entrepreneur's roles in the provision of functional capital, creativity, resource allocation among
alternative applications, and decision-making. They refer to an entrepreneur by the following definition, which
includes all of the different roles. Entrepreneurs are experts at taking charge of situations and exercising sound
judgement when it comes to decisions that influence the availability, form, and application of goods, resources, or
institutions. 1989, page 213 of Herbert and Link.

The popularity of entrepreneurs is currently on the rise. A growing number of educated young people are being
attracted to entrepreneurship and launching new businesses. Realizing this, the various management schools have
turned their attention to the idea of entrepreneurship and the craft of starting new businesses. Munish Vora (2006) p.
1. The contribution of entrepreneurship to economic progress goes beyond income generation. It involves kicking off
and implementing changes in how society and business are organised. According to (Hisrch, 2002:21), the study of
entrepreneurship is still relevant today not only because it enables business owners to better meet their own needs, but
also because the economic viability of new ventures contributes to economic growth more so than job creation or
national income growth. This is because entrepreneurship acts as a link between new ideas and the market, which
fosters innovation. For locating business possibilities, there are both formal and informal methods. The majority of
entrepreneurs use informal sources for their ideas, such as being attentive to the grievances and haphazard remarks of
friends and associations, even if formal methods are typically found within a more established organisation. As soon
as an opportunity is found, the appraisal process starts. Understanding the elements that provide an opportunity, such
as competition or changes in governmental regulations, is fundamental to the screening process. On this foundation, it
is possible to determine the size of the market and the corresponding time dimension. The idea must meet the
entrepreneur's personal abilities and objectives, and the entrepreneur must have a strong desire to see the opportunity
realized.
By generating new markets, new industries, new technologies, new jobs, and new advances in actual productivity,
entrepreneurship helps an economy grow. It follows that there aren't many alternatives to entrepreneurship for
promoting and sparking economic progress (Aldrich and Wiedenmayer, 1993). The crucial conclusion from all of this
that immediately grabs your attention is how to encourage entrepreneurship and what the causes and elements are that
actually start the development process. This is a crucial field of global research on innovation and entrepreneurship
since it concentrates on the underlying factors that drive people to start their own businesses. The importance of this
study stems from its focus on the factors that influence entrepreneur intention. It has shown the entrepreneurial
intentions of potential entrepreneurs and other business leaders, including Bahir Dar-based students who intend to
start their own businesses.

Therefore, a specific goal of this study is to determine how much gender, education and training levels, perceived
government policies, and perceived financial access influence entrepreneurial intent.