Given by Howard Alper The second in our series of workshops designed to gather input from stakeholders involved in existing off-grid projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This event is workshop scheduled to be held in Malaysia for the ASEAN countries will be organised by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Entrepreneurship, Innovation

1. Entrepreneurship as a Vehicle to Encourage Grass Roots
Innovation
Howard Alper
Chair
Government of Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council
Smart Villages
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
January, 2015

2. 2
Entrepreneurship Education
Nordic Council of Ministers
• “All activities aiming to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, attitudes and
skills and covering a range of aspects such as idea generation, start-
up, growth and innovation”

3. Entrepreneurship Education
Nordic Council of Ministers
• Entrepreneurship education is to improve student skills,
competencies and mindset to think creatively, see solutions and
to transfer ideas into action.
• That concerns
- Ways of thinking (possibility)
- Approaches to learning (usability)
- Transferring knowledge to action (transferability)
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4. The Evolution of Entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurship is derived from the French entreprendre,
meaning “to undertake” (e.g. some task).
• A person who organizes and operates a business or enterprise,
taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
Or
• An owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and
initiative, attempts to make profits.
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5. Robert C. Ronstadt put together a summary description:
• Entrepreneurship is the dynamic process of creating incremental
wealth. This wealth is created by individuals who assume the
major risks in terms of equity, time and/or career commitment of
providing value for some product or service. The product or service
itself may or may not be new or unique but value must somehow be
infused by the entrepreneur by securing and allocating the
necessary skills and resources.
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6. An Integrative Model of Entrepreneurial Inputs
and Outcomes
Inputs
• Environmental opportunities
• Entrepreneurial individuals
• An organizational The Entrepreneurial Process
context
• Unique business
concepts
• Resources
Outcomes
• A going venture
• Value creation
• New products,
services
• Processes
• Technologies
• Profits and/or
personal benefits
• Employment, asset,
revenue growth
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Identify
Opportunity
Assesses and
acquire necessary
resources
Implementation
Entrepreneurial Intensity
Number of events (and)
degree of entrepreneurship
Innovation Proactiveness
Risk taking

7. Who are Entrepreneurs?
• Entrepreneurs, driven by an intense commitment and determined
perseverance, work very hard to achieve success. They are
optimists who have strong connections as to the veracity of their
new product, process of innovation. Integrity is their signature, as is
excellence. They burn with the competitive desire to excel.
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8. Entrepreneurial Management
• Entrepreneurship is based upon the same principles, whether the
entrepreneur is an existing large institution or an individual starting
his or her new venture single-handed. It makes little or no
difference whether the entrepreneur is a business or a nonbusiness
public-service organization, nor even whether the entrepreneur is a
governmental or nongovernmental institution. The rules are pretty
much the same, the things that work and those that don’t are pretty
much the same, and so are the kinds of innovations and where to
look for them. In every case there is a discipline we might call
Entrepreneurial Management.
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9. Common Characteristics Associated with
Entrepreneurs
• Commitment, determination,
and perseverance
• Drive to achieve
• Opportunity orientation
• Initiative and responsibility
• Persistent problem solving
• Seeking feedback
• Internal locus of control
• Tolerance for ambiguity
• Calculated risk taking
• Integrity and reliability
• Tolerance for failure
• High energy level
• Creativity and innovativeness
• Self-confidence and optimism
• Independence
• Team building
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10. The Dark side of Entrepreneurship
1. Confrontation with risk
2. Stress
3. Ego
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11. 1. Confrontation with Risk
• Financial risk
• Career risk
• Family and social risk
• Psychic risk
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12. What is Entrepreneurial Stress?
• To the extent entrepreneurs’ work demands and expectations
exceed their abilities to perform as venture initiators, they are likely
to experience stress.
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13. Sources of Stress
• Loneliness
• Immersion in business
• People problems
• Need to achieve
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14. Dealing with Stress
• Networking
• Getting away from it all
• Communicating with employees
• Finding satisfaction outside the company
• Delegating well
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15. An Overbearing Need for Control
• Sense of distrust
• Overriding desire for success
• Unrealistic optimism
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16. Role of Creativity
• Creativity is the generation of ideas that result from discoveries or
inventions, in new things of potential value in the market place (e.g.
new drug for treatment for arthritis, or lightweight materials for the
transportation (auto, aircraft) industry).
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17. Innovation
STIC Definition
• The process by which individuals (e.g. entrepreneurs), companies,
and organizations develop, master and use new products, designs,
processes and business methods. These can be new to them, if
not their sector, their country, or the world.
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18. Sources of Innovation
• Unexpected occurrences
• Incongruities
• Process needs
• Industry and market changes
• Demographic changes
• Perceptual changes
• Knowledge-based concepts
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19. Financial Support for Innovation
• Two major sources of financial backing are:
- Venture Capital/Angel
- Government support
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20. Impact of Entrepreneurial Firms
• Entrepreneurial firms make two indispensable contributions to an
economy:
1. They are an integral part of the renewal process that pervades and
defines market economies.
2. They are an essential mechanism by which many people enter the
economic and social mainstream of society.
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21. Gazelles
• A “gazelle” is a business establishment with at least 20% sales
growth every year (for 5 years), starting with a base of at least
$100,000.
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22. Gazelles- Innovation
• Gazelles are leaders in innovation.
• Gazelles produce twice as many product innovations per employee
as do larger firms.
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23. Gazelles- Survival and Success
• About half of all start-ups last 5-7 years. Others fail earlier, and
some success leading to medium and large companies.
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24. First Regional Smart Villages Workshop
Arusha, Tanzania, 2-5 June 2014
Examples of Entrepreneurship Strategies
• 1. Embark Energy—Tanzania (Joshua Kabugo)
Empower clean energy entrepreneurs to see and service their
products on a global basis. The company:
(a) Provides education and training to entrepreneurs
(b) Provides access to demonstrate new products and technologies
(c) Facilitates access to finance. Identifies bottlenecks as SMEs pass
through different stages of growth and development. Identifies
potential sources of seed, working and growth capital
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25. First Regional Smart Villages Workshop
Arusha, Tanzania, 2-5 June 2014
• 2. Global Cycle Solutions (GCS)-Tanzania (Jodie Wu)
Quality solar lights for rural communities. GCS:
(a) Trains and supports local micro-entrepreneurs
(b) Provides training courses twice a year, which cover the basics to
operate a business, product and service knowledge, as well as
addressing needs/objectives of the customer
Key challenges to GCS and the micro-entrepreneurs include poor
infrastructure, maintenance, illiteracy, and risk aversion
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26. First Regional Smart Villages Workshop
Arusha, Tanzania, 2-5 June 2014
Key points re-Entrepreneurship
1. Entrepreneurs could benefit from supportive policies and
regulatory frameworks. There needs to be indirect support to industry
by government through tax credits[direct support programs by
government are also essential]. In addition regulatory frameworks,
without being onerous, need to protect stakeholders.
2. “Financing costs for mini-grids can be punitive as lenders often
perceive risks to be high. Socially oriented “impact investors” who are
able to offer lower than commercial rates may also play an important
role. Such “impact investors” may appropriately build a relationship
with entrepreneurs similar to venture capital funders”
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