Entrepreneurship

Student Name Course Title Course Instructor Date of Submission Introduction This paper is a critical comparison of McMullen and Shepherd`s Entrepreneurial Action and the Role of Uncertainty in the Theory of the Entrepreneur and Endres and Woods` Modern Theories of Entrepreneurial Behavior. The paper analyzes and gives a critique of the two articles in terms of the approaches used in discussing the behavioral perspective of entrepreneurship and the different arguments on this topic by the various theories, assumptions and approaches. Similarities between the articles Both articles recognize the fact that an entrepreneur must act in order to create new ventures or enter new markets. The article by McMullen and Shepherd explains the role of uncertainty in entrepreneur action. The authors discuss various theories, approaches and assumptions that explain the role of uncertainty in the action of entrepreneurs. In recognizing the importance of entrepreneurial action in business enterprise, Endres and Woods discuss at length the differences in behavior of entrepreneurial action. The authors describe that the behavior which lead into decision making by entrepreneurs to act in response to business opportunities vary among individuals even if the circumstances are the same. Action and entrepreneurial decisions are explained in the two articles in a way that shows that they refer to the same thing. This is true because action by an entrepreneur means that a decision has been reached while reaching decisions means that an action or something is to be done. This shows how the two articles explain the same thing though the approaches used vary especially in the theories that are discussed. Both articles show that there are differences among entrepreneurs in the decisions or actions they take. The theories in the two articles may be different but they are trying to explain why different entrepreneurs reach different decisions or why they act differently under same circumstances. The article by McMullen and Shepherd seeks to explain the reasons why some individuals are likely to venture into possible business opportunities than others for reasons of making profit. The article also discusses the role of uncertainty in an entrepreneurial action. On the same note, Endres and Woods in their article focus on how behavior causes differences in action or decisions among various entrepreneurs. Both articles agree that doubt leads to loss of entrepreneurial opportunities. According to McMullen and Shepherd, uncertainty in entrepreneurship results from the future which is hard to predict leading to loss of business opportunities. In addition implementation of entrepreneurial action takes a long time to be realized hence some entrepreneurs fail to make use of the available business opportunities because the long duration of implementation leads to doubt. The article by Endres and Woods assesses the behaviors by which decisions are undertaken depending on the level of doubt an individual has on a business venture. According to these authors this is the reason why some entrepreneurs miss to invest in new business opportunities. Both articles consider the various attempts to characterize the individual actions and decisions of entrepreneurs. Through the theories, approaches and propositions presented by McMullen and Shepherd, the individual actions of entrepreneurs are measured by the level of uncertainty. In addition Endres and Woods discuss how the modern theories of behavior are used to characterize individuals based on their entrepreneurial decisions. The theories discussed by the two articles are on the behavioral perspectives of entrepreneurship but they explain different sub concepts of the role of various factors in the decisions of entrepreneurs to venture into business. The theories discussed by McMullen and Shepherd reflect on how uncertainty influences action while those of Endres and Woods are the modern theories which illustrate the differences in behavior among entrepreneurs and how it affects business decisions. Differences between the articles Because the role of uncertainty in preventing entrepreneurial action has been debated for a long time, McMullen and Shepherd compare various streams that explain the role of uncertainty in entrepreneurial action. The first stream is that which the amount of perceived uncertainty and how it differentiates between entrepreneurs who act and those who do not. The second stream focuses on the willingness of an entrepreneur to bear uncertainty w...