Bilal Ahmad Dar [PhD Scholar, School of Business and Management, Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India]
Abstract
This paper focuses on “Technology Revolution and its positive effects on the entrepreneurial promotion especially in Indian context. It will discuss how technology has been an aid to the entrepreneurial process and how start-up and established ventures can be benefitted through the systematic use of technology. The development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is vital to create economic prosperity in a nation and Entrepreneurship development can be considered as a reflecting part of SME as well as established venture growth emphasizing on institutional development in the economy. “Technology is the collection of tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures used by humans” This tool aids in the entrepreneurship development from beginning to end whether it is the Internet services like Knowledge and awareness sites, Advanced Financial transaction technologies, Computers aiding the start-up business, R&D tools and mappings, Machine based operation and production techniques, Advanced Marketing through use of modern technology (e.g. new media for advertisement, POS and POP techniques, MIS based on computer data usage etc.) or techno based Consumer satisfaction systems. In India, Economic development is structured on entrepreneurial institutional growth and IT revolution and other technological developments (especially in recent times) have paved a path for increased entrepreneurial activities in the nation building a modern business society. Technology entrepreneurship is gradually being recognized to impact significantly on socio-economic activities of the nation. This paper examines the impact of viewing technology entrepreneurship as a dais towards industrial development and reduction in youth unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir. The major essence of the study is to focus that- Technology is an accelerator in development of innovative ventures and hence the economic development of a country.
Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurial; Promotion.
Cite This Article: Bilal Ahmad Dar. (2017)
“TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROMOTION WITH REFERENCE TO JAMMU AND KASHMIR.”
(International Journal of Research - Granthaalayah).
1. Introduction
Uneducated manpower has become one of the most topical and thorny issues in contemporary
Jammu and Kashmir. The unemployment situation has changed from previous position marked
by prolonged period of unemployment and misemployment, to one in which graduates of tertiary
institutions have to normally wait for a long time before getting a first job – if at all (Hassan,
2013) Jammu and Kashmir has 6 lakh youth unemployment. These are mostly young adults that
have graduated from universities and polytechnics or institutions of higher learning. . In addition
to this number, about 3 lakh others are certificate carrying youths that have no formal education,
or have completed primary or secondary school, or dropped out from tertiary institutions all of
which are annually poured into an already saturated labour .Many of those youths are not
productive not because they lack the qualification but because the system has not been able to
impact in such individuals technical knowledge and know-how skills required to carry out
entrepreneurial activities especially technologically oriented. In recent times, the concepts of
entrepreneurship have been made prominent by various discussions relating to industrial
development. However, it has been observed that while entrepreneurship which is the
exploitation of business opportunity would bring about job creation and wealth generation, it has
limitation in bringing about accelerated industrial development that will not only expand the job
creation and wealth generation phenomena, but also would enable a country to compete in the
frontiers of global rapid technological developments. Thus the concept of technological
entrepreneurship has gained more and more attention among researchers, policy makers,
government, scholars and firms alike. For instance, we have authors who have discussed the
subject of technological entrepreneurship (D. C. Mowery and S. Shane, 2002; S. Shane and S. Venkataraman, 2003; P. Phan, and M. Foo, 2004; R. C. Dorf and T. H. Byers, 2007).
In this
body of literature, emphasis seemed to be placed on high-potential technology opportunities,
technical systems, innovation, production and commercialization. Within this context, very little technological entrepreneurship can be said to exist in Jammu and Kashmir, and indeed in many
developing economies.
Entrepreneurial ventures are considered as the engines for the development of economy and
nation. They are the transformation agents and knowledge resource of the nation upon who the
responsibility of structured development and radical changes is there.
Entrepreneurs need
Technology for undertaking these responsibilities. Technology as a method, tool, process or
modification work as a support element for entrepreneurship development. The process of
entrepreneurship involves the use of technology at every step whether it is idea generation, idea
selection, resource assemblage, production and services, marketing, customer satisfaction or any
other aspect related to development of enterprise. To understand the role of technology as a
facilitator of entrepreneurship promotion.
1.1. Aim of the Study
This paper seeks to examine the importance of technology entrepreneurship as a platform
towards industrial development, reducing youth unemployment, and the promotion of socio-
economic growth and development in Jammu and Kashmir. Specifically, it also identifies Policy
Requirements for Technological Entrepreneurship Development in Jammu and Kashmir.
2. Research Methodology
The data for this paper were originated from secondary sources: previous research and analysis
of scholars, government documents, /magazines as well as journals articles that are related to the
subject. This study involved an extensive literature review which critically analyzed the present
status, prospects of technology knowledge and technology entrepreneurship as part of the
roadmap to wealth creation and reduction of unemployment among Jammu and Kashmir youths.
3. Concept of Technology
Entrepreneurship
Technology entrepreneurship according to Abdullah and Ahcene, (2011) is basically the merge
of two words from two disciplines: technology from the innovation discipline and
entrepreneurship from the business discipline. Technology entrepreneurship is referred to the
capabilities of a technology entrepreneur, specifically the knowledge and skills required by the
entrepreneur to carry out technology based entrepreneurial activities successfully, (Abdullah and Ahcene, 2011) Technological entrepreneurship, also referred to as technology based
entrepreneurship, can also be defined as the setting up of new enterprises by individuals or
corporations to exploit technological innovation, (Aderemi, et al, 2011).It can also be described
as the commercialization of emerging technological discoveries or innovation. Technological
entrepreneurship is defined as a style of business leadership that involves identifying high
potential, technology intensive commercial opportunities, gathering resources such as talent and
capital, and managing rapid growth and significant risk using principled decision making skills
(R. C. Dorf and T. H. Byers,2007; Aderemi, et al, 2011 ). It is also defined the term as the
process by which entrepreneurs assemble organizational resources and technical systems, and the
strategies by entrepreneurial firms to pursue opportunities (S. Shane and S. Venkataraman, 2003;
Aderemi, et al, 2011). Aderemi, et al, (2008) positioned technological entrepreneurship as being
needed to make full use of the knowledge of science and technology currently available in
meeting market needs, thereby making the country in question more productive and more
competitive internationally (Aderemi, et al, 2008).This suggests the necessary involvement of a
process of industrial innovation in the country’s area of strength and endowment to generate
productivity and competitiveness. According to them, “Technological entrepreneurship is
initiated and culminated in design, development, production, engineering and commercialization
of innovative new products and processes”.
4. Dimensions of Technology
Entrepreneurship
Eight key technology entrepreneurship activities are identified based on the four constituencies
of technology entrepreneurship as highlighted by Shane and Venkataraman (2003), in their
special issue on technology entrepreneurship, and reviewed by Abdullah. S and Ahcene .L,
(2011), which includes industry, firm, technology and entrepreneur. The 8 key dimensions of
technology entrepreneurship are: awareness, search, strategy, core competency, technology
paradigm, linkages, learning, and leadership. “Awareness” is referred to the ability to recognize
pertinent environmental changes, and the need to improve; “Search” is the ability to explore for
opportunities and threat; “Strategy” is the plan of action to achieve the envisioned goals that are
significant for the economic growth of the firm; “Core Competency” is the economic strength of
the firm that needs to be identified and built upon; “Technology Paradigm” is the ability to understand the existing platform of technology; “Linkages” is any form of collaborative effort
established by the firm; “Learning” is the firm’s effort to encourage acquisition of codified and
tacit knowledge on continuous basis; and finally “Leadership” is the ability of the entrepreneur to
lead his firm to achieve competitive advantage and sustain it.
5. Features of Technology Entrepreneurship
There are certain attributes that characterize technological entrepreneurship. These attributes by
(Aderemi, et al, 2011) are elaborated below:
5.1. High Potential Opportunity
A new technology-based venture is described as having a high potential opportunity if it is
capable of creating new value for its customers, it has a significant level of technology
understanding which is difficult to replicate and can often be protected (patented), it has a
significant first mover advantage, it has a level of scalability, it creates a barrier to entry, and it
also has a high level of initial risk which can be translated into high levels of return.
5.2. Technology-Intensive Opportunity
Technological entrepreneurship is described as a technology-intensive opportunity involving a
process of problem solving, raising and safeguarding the quality of life, needing technical skills
and applications, identifying potential market, improvement in quality of products in order to
improve competitiveness of the firm with expectation of saving in process cost. Furthermore, the
sufficient reason for embarking on technological entrepreneurship is borne out of the need to
commercialize significant innovations that are expected to guarantee suppliers of materials, long-
term stability of firms and increase output.
6. Unique Technology Capable of Driving A New Business
As firms can be viewed as bidding and competing for customers’ purchases, and markets can be
evaluated based on the extent to which the profitability of a firm hinges on meeting consumers
demands if possible, better than its rivals. Consequently, aside from having more share of the
market through aesthetic changes, price reduction, and better performance and so on,
technological entrepreneurship has the characteristic of being able to advance new technologies
that can institutionalize new ventures that adequately meet consumers’ need.
7. The Role of Technological Entrepreneurship in Social and Economic Development
A vast body of research exists on the importance and varied contributions of technological
entrepreneurship to job creation, economic and social development, and growth. It was
specifically stated as follows (S. A. Zahra and J. C. Hayton, 2007; Aderemiet at, 2011):
Technological entrepreneurship is a key source of economic and social progress. It refers to the
creation of new firms by independent entrepreneurs and corporations to exploit technological
discoveries. These new firms create jobs, contribute to the well-being of their communities and
generate wealth for their owners. These firms are also the change makers in their respective Industries as they bring in new technological paradigms that alter the dynamics of competition
and rules of rivalry. Basically, both incremental and radical innovations are important not only
for the positive economic impact they typically create, but also because they fundamentally
change the behavior of consumers, often in ways that improve their lives. More specifically, as
stated by Aderemiet al, 2011, the following are the roles of technological entrepreneurship in
socio- economic development:
1) Technological entrepreneurship is needed to propel technological innovation efforts into
the market. Whenever there is a breakthrough in research and development. It is the place
of technological entrepreneurship to commercialize the achievements of technological
efforts otherwise; it remains in the laboratory without making any impact. One of the
reasons why many research breakthroughs never leave the laboratory is due to short fall
of technological entrepreneurs. And unless technological innovation or the output of
research and development efforts reaches the market or are commercialized, industrialization would be elusive.
2) Technological entrepreneurship has the potential of improving state of technological
capability in a country. This is because as technological efforts are being made, learning
takes place. This occurs either by doing or observation, thus improving technological capability in the efforts in question.
3) Because technological entrepreneurship would necessarily involve the commercialization
of a research output, more patents are generated and patents are a well-known indicator
and measure of technological development and industrialization in countries all over the
world.
4) Technological entrepreneurship is the platform that accelerates the diffusion of successful
technological innovation in an economy. For instance in Jammu and Kashmir, and in
most the states of country, the rate of diffusion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is on the increase. This is made possible by the private firms that saw an opportunity and decided to market ICT products and services thereby increasing the
pace of diffusion. The diffusion in turn has greatly enhanced the quality of life of the citizenries.
5) For a technological entrepreneur to be relevant, he must of necessity meet market needs
and be a problem solver. In a bid to meet market need, research and development as well
as science and technology efforts must be well coordinated. Science and technology as
well as industrialization policies are tailored towards meeting the needs of the market.
This, we believe, will invariably bring about socioeconomic development.
8. Policy Requirements for Technological Entrepreneurship Development in Jammu
and Kashmir
Many policies covering different sectors of the Jammu and Kashmiri economy have been put in
place to guide the development of entrepreneurship but without a concise and effective Science
and Technology (S & T) policy, the industrial and other related policies will only promote
commerce. It is important to note also, that entrepreneurial interest among J&K students is quite
high but the expression of this interest in practice is rather low. The main factors found to be
responsible for this are poor funding and inadequate preparation through training. A particularly
key institutional weaknesses identified be expressed in the inadequacy of government support to
young and aspiring entrepreneurs. In fact, until government directed all universities in the J&Kto establish entrepreneurship centers, youth entrepreneurship has been left in the domain of
agencies and non-governmental organizations. Much has been said about entrepreneurial
education and its importance in stimulating and sustaining entrepreneurship, especially among
students. In implementing this, however, it is important to note that a uniform curriculum might
not yield optimal results across different disciplines or levels. The design of these curricula
should, therefore, consider the peculiarities of each discipline when issues and resource persons are being selected. As a necessity, entrepreneurial training initiatives should include a
standardized monitoring and evaluation structure which ensures strict conformance with quality.
Besides the strictly formal training, entrepreneurial advocacy is also very beneficial. Institutions,
of their own conscious will should seek to organize seminars, workshops, symposia and other
similar forums where students could be brought in contact with state-of-the-art knowledge in the
practice of entrepreneurship. These forums also hold the benefit of encouraging the students by
bringing them in contact with excelling nascent entrepreneurs. In implementing all of the
foregoing recommendations, the place of a stable political atmosphere, strong institutions and
sustainable funding cannot be overemphasized. Few, if any, policies and programmes would ever
work in situations of chaos and scarcity of resources. It then rests on the government of the day
to work sedulously at creating a crime-free and peaceful environment without which entrepreneurship, which is the vehicle of innovation, cannot succeed.
9. Conclusion
From all indications, youth unemployment is a menace in Kashmir and constitutes a real danger
and a threat to social, economic, political and industrial development However, career guidance
can only be a panacea for reducing the rate of youth unemployment in conjunction with technical
and vocational education (TVE) and entrepreneurship. Moreover, the energy, skills and
aspirations of young people are invaluable assets that no country can afford to waste and holding
them to realize their full potential by gaining access to employment is a precondition for poverty
eradication, sustainable development and lasting peace. No amount of career guidance will help
if there are no employment opportunities, no entrepreneurial
Skills to facilitate self-employment and no technical and vocational skills needed for gainful
employment.
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