Entrepreneurial Economies Management Essay Research
Requirements:
Assessment Task: Entrepreneurial Economies Essay Assignment (100%)
Word Count: 2500 words (excluding tables, references and statistical/text appendices)
You are required to write an essay which critically evaluates entrepreneurship in an economy of your choice. You can choose your own country or any developing economy, emerging economy, or an advanced economy. Your essay will enhance our understanding of the entrepreneurship process in the economy of your choice. Your essay must demonstrate your knowledge of “how entrepreneurship is fostered and/or hindered in the economy of your choice?”. You are strongly encouraged to include a discussion of how the Covid 19 pandemic affected entrepreneurship including how both entrepreneurs and policy makers responded to this exogenous shock that affected almost all businesses globally. In addition, you should succinctly examine entrepreneurial processes, innovation, the institutional environment and how it promotes or inhibits entrepreneurship in that country. For instance, some institutional realities (such as regulation, corruption, export promotion strategies, import substitution strategies…etc) and other relevant variables might hinder or promote entrepreneurship. On the other hand, innovation and technology are enablers. Based on entrepreneurship theories and relevant concepts of economic development, you are expected to provide empirical evidence in support of your arguments and reasons for your thinking. A critical evaluation means providing a critique of the various relevant debates including the evaluation of policies, the R & D or technology landscape designed to promote entrepreneurship. You should make use of existing published literature in international peer-reviewed journals (e.g. Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice), book chapters, policy reports and evidence from the business press (e.g. the Economist magazine, Financial times) to substantiate your understanding of the key drivers of the entrepreneurship process in the economy of your choice. You can include both qualitative and quantitative literature.
You are NOT expected to collect your own primary data for this assignment. However, you can use secondary data to support your ideas, as well as empirical evidence from published literature or reports. A careful use of qualitative data, and evidence from studies based on a specific company or a group of companies in a given economic sector is also welcome.
Use of figures and tables to support discussions is encouraged, but such figures and tables should be appropriately captioned and referenced in the text. The document should be prepared with 1.5 line spacing.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ECONOMIES: SINGAPORE
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Table of contents
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Table of contents PAGEREF _Toc62511414 \h 1Introduction: PAGEREF _Toc62511415 \h 2How Singapore Became an Entrepreneurial hub PAGEREF _Toc62511416 \h 2It is easy to set up a business PAGEREF _Toc62511417 \h 2A vibrant entrepreneurial community PAGEREF _Toc62511418 \h 3Government support PAGEREF _Toc62511419 \h 5Singapore’s Entrepreneurship during COVID PAGEREF _Toc62511420 \h 7Lessons from Singapore PAGEREF _Toc62511421 \h 11Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc62511422 \h 11
Introduction:
SMEs make up about 99% of the overall enterprises in Singapore, contributing 47% of Singapore’s annual GDP CITATION She17 \l 1033 (Goh, 2017). Singapore has been ranked highly in many global competitions on entrepreneurship and other factors that foster an entrepreneurial environment such as ease of doing business. Singapore is one of the most dynamic and business-oriented nations globally and was also ranked the best by the IMD world in competitiveness ranking CITATION Asi \l 1033 (Asialink Business, n.d.). In each of these rankings, Singapore has performed well and has earned the country the coveted spot in competitiveness. Singapore’s entrepreneurial culture is exemplified by the fact that the country trading capacity is almost three times its GDP and its economy continues to grow at around 1.5-2.5 per cent CITATION Asi \l 1033 (Asialink Business, n.d.). All these statistics are the product of the country’s thriving entrepreneurial culture. Singapore’s focus on entrepreneurship has continued during the ongoing pandemic, and the government has stepped in to help entrepreneurs through the pandemic. This essay seeks to highlight the roots of Singapore’s entrepreneurial culture and factors that helped it become an entrepreneurial hub.
How Singapore Became an Entrepreneurial hub
It is easy to set up a business
Singapore has invested in easing the process of setting up a business. It has created a multifaceted system that helps entrepreneurs to set up their business. First, the registration of a new business in the country can be done online through bizfile portal. Thus, the process that takes days or even weeks in other countries can be done in a matter of hours if not minutes in Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower has also created a portal for foreigners to start and operate businesses in Singapore. Secondly, the Singaporean government has been very supportive to entrepreneurs. The political class has helped foster an entrepreneurial culture in the country. The government also helped entrepreneurs in various ways. First, the government offers grants to entrepreneurs. One of the most limiting factors for entrepreneurs is lack of capital and the government steps in this sphere in a major way. One of the most significant government intervention measures to entrepreneurs is giving them advice and any other necessary assistance to grow through various channels. For example, the Economic Development Board, Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board, Accounting Corporate Regulatory Authority and SMEPortal.sg. All these agencies and website help entrepreneurs looking to start, sustain and grow businesses.
The government has also ensured that the intellectual property of entrepreneurs and contracts are protected. It has ensured a reliable and noncorrupt legal system and a strong dispute resolution mechanism. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 (Zegal, 2018), Singapore was ranked second in the world in protecting IP rights. Singapore is also politically stable. Political stability assures entrepreneurs that their business would not be affected by political chaos. Additionally, the government has brokered strategic and lucrative free trade agreements with many countries and regions in the world; Australia, China, Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Costa Rica, European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), India, Japan, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership, United States. Through these agreements, entrepreneurs in Singapore have access to a market with over 3 billion consumers.
A vibrant entrepreneurial community
Singapore has a vibrant entrepreneurial community. There are many entrepreneurship communities in each economic sphere. Once every year, Singaporean entrepreneurs organize and for the Global Entrepreneurship Week, which fosters deeper collaboration between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurship support organizations CITATION Buk20 \l 1033 (Cuhadar, 2020). The government has also helped grow the entrepreneurial community by initiating and directing programs to promote networking and cooperation in the entrepreneurial community. These programs are:
Startup SG Founder – This is a platform matching mentors to startups to direct them on how to run their startups. It also offers up to $30000 funding to entrepreneurs to kickstart their businesses.
Startup SG Tech – this program helps tech entrepreneurs fast track the development of proprietary tech solutions and grants early-stage funding to commercialising the technology.
Startup SG Talent – this program aims to create a global pool of talent and enable them to join local startups to set up businesses in the country.
Startup SG Network – This program is aimed to connect startups to accelerators, incubators and investors within the Singapore startup community. The system is online, and an entrepreneur can profile themselves to seek potential partnerships and deals.
Startup SG Infrastructure – This program helps entrepreneurs to find space and create the conducive environment for their businesses to grow, experiment and flourish.
Startup SG Loan – this program helps startups access government-backed loans they’d need for working capital, equipment/factory and trade financing needs.
Startup SG Equity – this program aims to stimulate private-sector investment into innovative Singaporean tech startups with global potential.
Startup SG Investor – this program helps individuals and fund management companies to find tax deductions and tax incentives when they invest in Singapore startups.
Other programs and organizations that have helped spur innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore include; Action Community for Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation Network. These programs have different approaches to giving a budding entrepreneur a better footing through mentorship, funding and partnership within the Singaporean entrepreneurial community. For each challenge the entrepreneur faces, there is a support network that he/she can connect to or help.
Government support
Entrepreneurship in Singapore has flourished largely because of how the government. Government is one of the determinants for innovation capacity, and its intervention can be vital in supporting R&D and innovation as the market alone cannot provide adequate incentives for knowledge production CITATION Wan181 \l 1033 (Wang, 2018). Singaporean entrepreneurship is largely policy-driven. When Singapore gained independence, it had a weak economy with minimal natural resources. The circumstances compelled the government to strategize on how to build a robust economy anchored in entrepreneurship. Over the past five decades, the government has helped establish a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem. One of the main ways which highlight how the Singaporean government has supported entrepreneurship in the country is by funding entrepreneurs. The government offers many options to secure funding and has instituted SME-friendly funding schemes to spur economic growth. Secondly, the government has created training programs for SMEs and their employees. The government also gives preference to local SMEs for government contracts. In 2016, local SMEs won over 35,000 contracts with the government amounting to $22.6 billion CITATION She17 \l 1033 (Goh, 2017). the government also provides free consulting services to SMEs. COVID-19 highlighted the way the government steps in to help the entrepreneurial community. Since Feb -June 2020, the government has granted the entrepreneurial community $90.5 billion in different packages aimed to spur economic recovery CITATION KPM20 \l 1033 (KPMG, 2020).
The Singaporean government has also invested in entrepreneurial education. State-sponsored universities have aggressively pushed innovation, and the state-owned television company MediaCorp run television programs celebrating entrepreneurialism CITATION Sco15 \l 1033 (Anthony, 2015). Entrepreneurial education is not only through academic institutions; the government has stepped in and helped build a mentorship program for entrepreneurs. Accredited Mentor Partners (AMP), which is accredited by the government is one of such bodies that help budding entrepreneurs to navigate the challenges of starting their businesses. Additionally, the government continuously cuts deals with other markets to give their entrepreneurs a bigger market. Other perks that Singaporean entrepreneurs enjoy through government interventions are; corporate tax rates flat 17%, no dividend or capital gains taxes, no estate/death/inheritance tax and personal tax rates start at 0% and max out at 22%. All these government legis...