Financial Crisis 2007-09 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial Crisis 2007-09 - Case Study Example Other factors include surge in subprime mortgages as an answer to high housing speculation and growth of the bubble. The main culprits were lenders, because they were responsible for lending funds without taking into consideration the risk of defaulting. After the central bank lowered interest rates and flooded the market with cash. The lenders, like investors, had ample capital to lend, and more willingness to undertake extra risk to increase their returns. The financial crisis commenced in the US and spread throughout the world. The failure of Lehman Brothers teaches us the importance of risk management because this institution had invested in risky securities loosing much value after the U.S housing bubbles. In addition, the crisis teaches us that it is important to retain the confidence of the financial market because once shattered, it becomes difficult to restore. When such confidence is shattered, it can lead to a full-blown confidence crisis in the entire word. The housing bubble resulted from the enormous savings from developed countries, and the low interest rates that existed in the U.S. Due to the available funds, there was demand for high-yielding investments leading to the housing bubble. Some small banks in the US reduced lending; therefore, governments and consumers could no longer borrow and spend before the crisis. Businesses also had to reduce their workforce because the recession meant less funds. The credit crunch deepened as the losses increased

Social Change According to Foucault and Fromm Essay Example for Free

Social Change According to Foucault and Fromm Essay For many years before Michel Foucault and Erich Fromm put forward their respective theories on social analysis, Karl Marx’s concepts on the contradiction between social classes based on the relations of production were dominant in providing theoretical and practical guidance of forces promoting social change. As a result, revolutions were waged by the forces of social change, which later on gave birth to the world’s biggest socialist countries, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the People’s Republic of China. Other countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America followed suit, with leading revolutionary organizations also espousing basic Marxist doctrines. Due to the successes achieved by such revolutions, many sociologists and academics began accepting the correctness of Marxism and socialism as an alternative social system to capitalism. However, even before the 1950’s, major weaknesses in the socialist systems as practiced by the Soviet Union and China began to emerge. Such weaknesses led sociologists to reconsider their admiration of Marxism without necessarily compromising their stand for social change. Erich Fromm, who belonged to the Frankfurt School which advocated the adaptation of Marxism to the realities of the 20th century, observed the excesses of the Soviet Union under Stalin and became critical of the model of social change advocated by the Soviets as well as radical socialist revolutionaries. Michel Foucault, on the other hand, who was a member of the French Communist Party, became disillusioned with the party’s continuing support of the Soviet Union and with its position in France’s national politics. Both Foucault and Fromm, at one point, considered themselves adherents to Marxist social analysis and its theory and practice of social change. This does not, however, mean that they can be compared to Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theoreticians in terms of strictly adhering to the concepts of dialectical materialism, socialist revolution, and communism as the ultimate objective. They upheld only essential part of Marxism that is characterized by humanism and its stand for progressive social change in order to achieve humanist concerns. In doing so, both Fromm and Foucault managed to develop respectively their own distinct perspectives on the methods of analyzing society. Such theories were not truly devoid of Marxist elements but, nevertheless, these were meant to be applications of some of Marx’s ideas to the more contemporary social issues. Consequently, they also proposed novel concepts on how social change must be achieved, all of which essentially do not espouse violent revolutions or the authoritarian one-party state structure that socialism in practice has been known for. Because of this, both Fromm and Foucault were criticized by Marxists and socialists even within the academic circles to which they belong. Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison is a study on the social foundations and the theoretical concepts in the establishment of the modern prison systems. The study focuses on the Foucault’s observation and historical research on the development of the penal system in his native France. However, his findings and conclusions are proven to be relevant not just for his particular society alone but for all modern societies in Europe and North America. Before Foucault came out with his ideas in Discipline and Punish, most of the conclusions regarding the development of the prison system were based on the notion that reformists within the state were decisive in introducing more humane forms of punishment. The reformists, allegedly, just happened to become more compassionate through time and had determined that criminals and other deviants should no longer be subjected with corporal punishments done in full view of the public. Foucault argued that the invention of the prison was the decisive factor why such public corporal punishments were no longer the preferred mode of penalizing criminals. In this regard, he asserted on the idea that that it was not the government or the powerful bloc of people running it that grew the moral conscience which prompted them to discard corporal punishments but the introduction of a new form technology that allows disciplinary measures instead. Foucault cited the Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon as the embodiment of such technological advance. With this concept, he subscribed to the Marxist theory that man’s ideas are not independent of material objects but is influenced by it. Here lies the essence of Foucault’s view on social change; that it cannot be achieved merely because man’s ideas willed it but that it should be based on material conditions. Foucault explained that society is itself a prison. He wrote that â€Å"prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline† (Discipline and Punish). With the state above it and with the existence of different forms of hierarchies in schools, churches, and organizations, society is essentially held together by a structure of disciplines. Because of this, it is necessary for penal systems to be established in order for society to survive. Without it, there will be chaos that can lead to the disintegration of society itself. To this effect, it appears that Foucault is an apologist for the existence of prisons or the maintenance of status quo. In his book, he pointed out that â€Å"in its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating† (Discipline and Punish). Thus, he insisted that the state is necessary. The coercive apparatuses of the government must be maintained. This does not, however, mean that Foucault had departed from the progressive standpoint of social change. He explained that it prisons are indispensable facilities but these are also subject to changes. However, such changes should not lead to the elimination of the prison system but to the improvement of its conditions in order to make it more effective in disciplining and rehabilitating the incarcerated. Since society is like prison, it is clear that Foucault advocate social change but not the extent of destroying the state and ultimately the concept of modern society itself. For him, the key to social change is clearly not revolutionary cataclysm but discourse. Intellectual discourse is the venue in which social issues are addressed and solutions that encourage the transformation of society are achieved. He placed emphasis on the importance of intellectuals in social change, whose work is â€Å"is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play)† (Green 1997 p. vii). Erich Fromm’s Escape from Freedom, which came out in 1941, was influential in introducing a new perspective on analyzing society. While most of the earlier methods of social analysis were based on observations of human interaction within a society, Fromm focused on the psychological and philosophical aspects of individuals. Consequently, his analysis on society is primarily dependent of the individual’s mental and moral state and not on the structures or hierarchies in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. In this sense, he deviates from the Marxist theory that man’s ideas are shaped by forces beyond his subjective control. In Escape from Freedom, Fromm explained that man is inherently an advocate of his own freedom but he also seeks a particular order or hierarchy of power that would guarantee the advancement or the defense of such freedom. While he was critical of capitalism, he was also disillusioned with the socialist alternative as practiced by the Soviet Union. Because of this, he found the medieval societies more beneficial towards man than either capitalism or socialism. He articulated that medieval societies were indeed inadequate in providing freedom to the individual along contemporary definitions but then the individual was also not alienated. Instead, â€Å"in having a distinct, unchangeable, and unquestionable place in the social world from the moment of birth, man was rooted in a structuralized whole, and thus life had a meaning which left no place, and no need for doubt†¦There was comparatively little competition† (Escape from Freedom). Fromm believed that people did not sense any form of exploitation or oppression during the medieval era because an individual â€Å"was born into a certain economic position which guaranteed a livelihood determined by tradition, just as it carried economic obligations to those higher in the social hierarchy† (Escape from Freedom). It is clear Fromm places so much emphasis on the human being’s psychological factor in analyzing society and even in achieving social change. Contrary to Marx who stressed on the conflict or hatred between social classes and the inevitability of social transformation through revolutions, Fromm stated that â€Å"love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence† (Art of Loving 1956 p. 133). In elucidating about freedom, he wrote in Escape from Freedom that human beings naturally desire freedom but they also fear it so much. The excesses in the capitalist culture are proofs how such abuse of freedom has become detrimental to society. Because of this, Fromm does see the necessity of social change. However, his eclectic mix religious eastern and western religious mysticism with social critique has resulted into a standpoint for social change without the necessary concrete exposition on how this can be achieved. Both Michel Foucault and Erich Fromm stood for the necessity of social change. However, they differ in the means of analyzing society. Foucault based his on the premise of power relations in society while Fromm on the innate human nature of freedom and love. Foucault considers the material structures as the principal factors that affect social change. Fromm, on the other hand, points out that it is the will of human beings that is decisive. What is common to both, however, is the necessity for dialogue. Foucault sees the importance of intellectual discourse in order for social reforms to be initiated. For Fromm, such dialogues are necessary so that men will come to agree on the vital changes that should be achieved. For the left, however, especially the Marxists from which they were associated in their earlier years, both are reformists or even conformists. For them, the theories of Foucault and Fromm only serve as an excuse for the continuation of the status quo. References Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish. Retrieved 12 May, 2010. http://www. sparknotes. com/philosophy/disciplinepunish. Fromm, E. (1956). The Art of Loving. New York, NY: Harper. Fromm, E. (1941). Escape from Freedom. Retrieved 12 May, 2010. http://www. scholierenliefde. nl/Frommenglisch. html. Green, R. L. (1997). English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. London, UK: Routledge.

The Legacy of President Bill Clinton :: Political Politics Presidents Government Essays

The Legacy of President Bill Clinton People will always remember Bill Clinton, for what reason, however, might be different. Some might remember him as a wonderful president who helped our country pull through the millennium unscathed. He protected our environment, promoted education, strengthened our economy, dropped the crime rate, dropped our nation’s poverty levels and had some victories with international policies. At the same time we have health care that is falling apart, some problems with the military and a scandalous affair. Considering this one has to wonder what his legacy will be. A respected leader who learned as he went and made many valuable reforms? Or a president who didn’t hold to his promises, and lied to the country? President Clinton has done many things during his presidency. Some were good some were bad. He made some mistakes and bad choices, but in the whole, he helped our country excel and flourish. One of the things Clinton is most famous for, but not the proudest of, is his affairs. The issue of Clinton having an affair with Monica Lewinsky is purely personal. It should have been discussed within his family and in his family alone. Many people seem to forget that Presidents before him have done the exact same thing. John F Kennedy is probably the best known with his affairs. This doesn’t diminish the fact that Clinton took it one step farther and lied about the affairs. Lying to the nation wasn’t a smart move. Does anyone know what John F Kennedy would have said, if asked about his affairs? How do we know that he wouldn’t lie? When Clinton was sworn in he said, â€Å"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.† No where in the oath does it say, â€Å"I will not lie.† By doing so he hasn’t broken his promises, he just let the country down. Right before President Bill Clinton left office he issued more than a few pardons. A pardon is saying that the criminal has served his or her time, not that they didn’t commit the crime. One of these pardons was Marc Rich, along with Roger Clinton and 139 other people. Marc Rich was listed on the Department of Justice’s Web site as an international fugitive.

A Literature Review Identifying Group of Learners Within Society and Providing Reasons for Their Possible Underachievement Essay

Those could include students who do not perform well in a specific subject area, do not show interest in gaining qualifications or perhaps are limited by poor language skills or culture from doing well academically at school. There have been many explanations for low attainment and some of them include: * Natural differences between sexes, * Natural intelligence, * Home background, * Type of schooling, * Different teaching styles (stereotyping by teachers), * Material factors (Hammersley-Fletcher, Lowe & Pugh, 2006). Halsey performed a survey of the working class and found that material factors were central to whether learners stayed at school beyond the age of 16 (Halsley cited in Hammersley-Fletcher, Lowe & Pugh, 2006). Department for Education also states that the gap between the best and worst performers in our system actually widens as they go through education; and it is both significantly wider and more closely related to socio-economic status in this country than anywhere else (DFES, 2004). In education, the relationship between schools and social inequality is often explored by looking at the test and examination scores achieved by different groups of children and young people, and other monitoring data. According to Molly Warrington by the age of 11, girls in many primary schools are performing better than boys, particularly in English, and this pattern of differential achievement is sustained and exacerbated throughout secondary education (Warrington and Younger, 2006). This is a particular concern for white working class boys which is the reason why we should evaluate it further trying to establish possible reasons for their underachievement. BBC reported that government figures from January 2008 show only 15% of white working class boys in England getting five good GCSEs including maths and English. (BBC News, 2008). Above view is also supported by the chief inspector of schools who stated that white boys from poor families were worst affected and achieved the worst results aged 16 at school. White British boys who qualify for free school meals achieve the worst results of any apart from gypsy and traveller children – with just 29 per cent getting good marks. (Daily Mail, 2012) Why is this happening then in a modern world where we seem to have unlimited access to books, resources and other forms of help towards achievement? There is no doubt that to be able to achieve we must have the desire to learn and aspirations to perform well academically. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs outlines the necessity of satisfying the basic physiological and safety needs before the ones on upper levels like achievement, understanding and approval make students realise their potential. Unfortunately white working class households often undermine the values of schooling, academic achievement and aspirations. Boys from very early age associate manual labour with ‘masculinity and toughness’ therefore do not find academic learning relevant to them as it is not based on what they have been told or taught at home. Department for Education confirms that ‘schools where socio-cultural strategies were most transformative were those where head teachers recognised that there were sometimes conflicts between the cultural contexts of home and school, and that such conflicts might lead to disengagement and potential underachievement’ (DfES, 2005) Paul Willis performed a case study through a detailed ethnographic account of school lives of white working class boys who were ‘destined’ for labour. Boys showed lack of commitment to schoolwork and an acceptance of the authority of the teacher at the same time associating manual labour with ‘masculinity and toughness’. Willis argued that the boys were drawing upon cultural constructions of masculinity which idealised manual workers strength, so becoming a source of higher self-esteem. The ‘lads’ asserted their masculinity in the stories they told about resisting mental work (Willis, 1977). Most schools in Britain are dominated by the anti-education and anti-aspiration culture which has much more pronounced effects on boys. They believe that it is not ‘cool’ to learn, that real men work with their hands, not their minds, and that school does not matter (Telegraph, 2011). All of the above are deeply ingrained in our culture therefore boys like acting tough or hard, for example, by fighting or publicly denying adult authority; using humour and wit, sometimes as a confrontational device against teachers; wearing fashionable clothes and trainers or possessing culturally acclaimed knowledge, for example, being able to talk knowledgeably about the latest computer game (Swain, 2003, 2004). There are many reasons for this behaviour but Connell claims that working class communities in some parts of England are those most affected by the collapse of the traditional local manufacturing industry base and deindustrialization. These working-class boys can no longer rely on work for their traditional status of power and see little point in gaining qualifications, therefore are more likely to reject values that are conducive to academic success such as work ethic or punctuality. For the same reason they do not value academic success and admire peers challenging school’s authority (Connell cited in Younger, 2005). How do we change that? What do schools need to provide the best possible progress and the highest attainment for all pupils? Practical suggestions for educational organisations to better meet the needs of these pupils. Given the amount of literature talking about the underachievement of working class white boys, it appears that the reading material available, suggesting solution to the growing problem is limited. The suggestions on how to better meet the needs of these boys have been based on the literature review. Main points however, have been developed through discussions with school staff, parents and pupils from a local primary school where most pupils are White British with a few from minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and with a statement of special educational needs is below that found in most schools. Those discussions gave an insight into successful practices that minimise the impact of barriers to achievement for white working class boys. After careful consideration of the subject, improving achievement of boys appears to be a very complex process linked to many factors playing important parts. They include factors like leadership and vision, the curriculum and language support, behaviour management, parental engagement, targeted support including the role of the learning mentor in supporting white working class pupils. Successful transition to Year 7 from Year 6 has proven to also have a positive impact on white working class pupils. ‘These factors are significant in all schools, whether mixed or single-sex, maintained or independent. Senior managers play a crucial role in determining the most appropriate strategy for school improvement, based on close examination of the school situation and identification of the barriers to improving boys achievement’ (OFSTED, 2003). The quality of management and leadership within the schools plays a major part in developing successful strategies. Head teachers who keep their students at the heart of the school’s ethos and everything they do, find it easier to engage staff and parents. Strong leadership can be the driving force behind change, new expectations and inspirational success. They should: * Create a culture of achievement with a positive can do attitude. * Have high expectations and the provision of intensive support should be expected of all * Allocate a lot of time to being in the classroom with teachers and pupils * Make sure that diversity of pupil’s backgrounds and circumstances are celebrated. * Make sure that all children are encouraged to achieve their potential and stereotypical expectations are not made. * Make sure that books used, displays and worksheets avoid stereotypical images, sexist language and represent our multicultural society. The curriculum and language support also plays a major part in tackling underachievement. The Guardian (2013) agrees that barriers to learning faced by white working class boys are mostly concerned with language and literacy: ‘Many of these young people have a limited vocabulary and grasp of standard English and have a limited higher order reading skills such as skimming, scanning, synthesis, and empathy. Pupils with low levels of literacy rarely read at home, and their development in this area stalls when they get into their teens’. Our school believes that the curriculum should be accessible to all children whatever their age, race, gender, ability or social background. The use of appropriate reading materials gives the teachers the ideal opportunity for tackling stereotypical views, as well as widens their knowledge and understanding of things that middle class pupils already know and understand. Considering the above it was interesting to find that Schools and Communities Research Review (2010) suggests, it is unlikely that changing textbooks or curriculum content will in itself lead to improved outcomes in reading or mathematics. It is believed that professional development and coaching in effective teaching strategies make much more of a difference. Continuing, extensive professional development to teachers is likely to improve academic attainment for poor pupils therefore teachers need extensive, engaging workshops to learn new strategies and then coaching to be able to successfully implement and maintain them in their classrooms. Behaviour management also plays a major part in raising achievement of working class boys, and involves using successful strategy which requires a planned approach and subsequently dedication from all parties involved specially educators, pupils and parents. Ofsted reinforces this view by stating that behaviour is significantly better in settings which have a strong sense of community and work closely with parents and carers. In these settings learners feel safe and are confident that issues such as bullying are dealt with swiftly and fairly (Ofsted, 2005). Involvements of parents in the school life of their children, and their aspirations for them, have been also acknowledged as some of the most important factors associated with lower educational achievement. This appears to be particularly relevant to children from low-income families as parental aspirations and attitudes towards education vary significantly according to socio-economic status (Goodman and Gregg 2010). Young working class boys lack self believe and aspirations which results in having difficulties in understanding its importance and relevance. A lot of working class parents have had poor experience of education and believe that there is nothing to be gained from it as their children are likely to end up unemployed, or perhaps have achieved a lot in life through hard work despite having no formal qualifications. In both cases parents do not believe in education therefore pass that view and lack of aspirations onto their children (The Guardian, 2013). The head teacher of the local school reported that the white working class families were the hardest to engage within the life of the school and their children’s learning. School staff expressed frustration at the mismatch between the high aspirations of the school and low aspirations of the parents for their children’s learning, and therefore have to work hard on strategies to engage white parents with a view to raising achievement. School staff are aware that they have to draw parents in for positive reasons as a counter balance for the negative experiences that many had at school themselves. Younger ;amp; Warrington (2005) suggested that a combination of a strong learning ethos in school and increased involvement of parents in their children’s education could raise aspirations and achievement. There are number of reasons why white working class pupils should be able to do well academically despite challenging socio-economic circumstances in the areas served by schools. The evidence presented by the teachers from our local school mentioned earlier, enables the conclusion to be drawn that this school demonstrates the many ways in which they work to support pupils through a wide range of imaginative and inclusive strategies. Their success in raising the achievement of their pupils is a tribute to their vision, and to the very hard work that is needed to make it a reality. WORD COUNT: 2028 References BBC News Channel. (2008). White working class boys failing. Available: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/education/7220683. stm. Last accessed 28th Feb 2013 Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services . (2011). Effective classroom strategies for closing the gap in educational achievement for children and young people living in poverty, including white working-class boys. Available: http://www. c4eo. org. uk/themes/schools/classroomstrategies/files/classroom_strategies_research_review. pdf. Last accessed 3th March 2013. Daily Mail. (2012). White working-class boys are consigned to education scrapheap, Ofsted warns. Available: http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2159616/The-anti-school-culture-condemns-white-boys-failure. tml. Last accessed 28th Feb 2013. Department for Education and Skills. (2004). Five Year Strategy for Children and Learning. Putting people at the heart of public services. Available:https://www. education. gov. uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DfES-5%20Year%20Plan. pdf. Last accessed 21st February 2013. Department for Education and Skills. (2005). Raising Boys’ Achievement. Available: https://www. education. gov. uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR636. pdf. Last accessed 28th Feb 2013. Goodman, A. , Gregg, P. (2010). POORER CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT: HOW IMPORTANT ARE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR?. Available: http://www. jrf. org. uk/publications/educational-attainment-poor-children. Last accessed 3th March 2013. Hammersley-Fletcher, L. , Lowe, M. and Pugh, J. (2006) The Teaching Assistant’s Guide, an essential textbook for foundation degree students. Oxton, Routledge. OFSTED. (2003). Boys’ achievement in secondary schools. Available: http://www. ofsted. gov. uk/resources/boys-achievement-secondary-schools. Last accessed 28th February 2013. OFSTED. (2005) Managing challenging behaviour. Available: http://www. ofsted. gov. uk/resources/managing-challenging-behaviour. Last accessed 15th February 2013. Swain, J. (2003). How young schoolboys become somebody: the role of the body in the construction of masculinity. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24: 299-314. Swain, J. (2004). The resources and strategies that 10-11-year-old boys use to construct masculinities in the school setting. British Educational Research Journal, 20: 167-85. The Guardian. (2013). Working class boys: schools must work with parents to raise their attainment. Available: http://www. guardian. co. uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jan/17/working-class-boys-raise-attainment. Last accessed 3th March 2013. The Telegraph. (2011). Why are poor white boys doing so badly at school? It’s about culture, and we’ve got to change it. Available: http://blogs. telegraph. co. uk/news/neilobrien1/100102225/why-are-poor-white-boys-doing-so-badly-at-school-its-about-culture-and-weve-got-to-change-it/. Last accessed 28th Feb 2013. Warrington, M. , Younger, M. (2006) Raising Boys’ Achievement in Primary Schools. Berkshire, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing. Willis, P. (1977). Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Aldershot: Saxon House. Younger, M. , McLellan, R. , Warrington, M. (2005). Raising Boys’ Achievement in Secondary Schools. Birkshire: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing.

Who Is an Entrepreneur

Common/different aspects of the paper2 Conclusions6 References7 â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? † Introduction â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? † is a question that aroused many controversies and debates. Among many articles that talks about the entrepreneur and the process of entrepreneurship I will focus on three articles that tried to answer this question or demonstrated the uselessness of the question. Analyzing many different points of view will conduct to a better and deeper understanding of the phenomena.Therefore, this is not an exact science, like for instance mathematics or physics. It leads us more to interpretation, which means that, there will always be a need of debate. Short Summary In the article â€Å"Differentiating Entrepreneurs from Small Business Owners: A Conceptualization†, Carland et al. tries to answer the question by focusing on the characteristics of an entrepreneur and they go further with comparing him to a small business owner. They settl e a definition for each and then, they apply the main ideas to a larger scale and differentiate an entrepreneurial venture from a small business.Gartner criticize their point of view in his article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is the wrong question† and considers that it is improper to define â€Å"the entrepreneur† because it would mean that an entrepreneur fits a certain type of person, which is not true since the views are not homogenous. That is why Gartner considers a more suitable approach for the concept, to analyze the entrepreneur’s behavior. In the article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is a question worth asking†, Carland et al. tries to respond to Gartner’s critique and in the end, he argues that indeed entrepreneurship is a complex and dynamic concept.Common/different aspects of the paper In the article â€Å"Differentiating Entrepreneurs from Small Business Owners: A Conceptualization†, Carland et al. , in terms of entrepreneur and small business owner, focus on intentionality and characteristics. In their opinion, an entrepreneur’ purpose is profit and growth and he is characterized as an innovative person who will employ strategic management practices, while a small business owner’s purpose is furthering personal goals, and to whom the business is the primary source of income which will consume almost all of his time.In terms of differentiating Entrepreneurial Ventures form Small Business Ventures, they focus on the same ideas applied to a bigger scale. However, this attempt to define the concepts, and especially their arguments were hardly criticized by Gartner in his article â€Å"Who Is an Entrepreneur? Is the Wrong Question†. He brings into discussion the situation when â€Å"an individual personal goal is to establish a business for profit and growth†. He considers that Carland et al. are rung, first by focusing on intentionality, instead of creation, and second by focus ing on the person instead of the act of entrepreneurship.He argues that, by referring only to intentionality rather than to concrete things like articulated strategies or observed behaviors, they increased even more the ambiguity. In my opinion, Carland et al. ’s attempt to define a small business owner as an individual whose main characteristic is achieving its personal goals is a vague statement. To be more specific, I will take as an example a farmer, who lives in the country, has no job, owns 10 hectares of vineyards, and decides to start a business in wine industry. For him, this will be the primary source of income.To help me set his goals, I will analyze Maslow pyramid. According to Abraham Maslow we will start from the base. Our farmer’s first goal will be to sell as much wine as to be able to sustain his physiological needs, like buying food, water and so one. After satisfying his basic needs, he will want to assure the need of safety and therefore, he will ne ed to earn more money. So how can he do that? Growing his business and raising his earnings. This means that his goal will change into growth and profit while his business remains his principal source of income. And so one, we can continue to higher stages in the pyramid.Therefore, I consider that, the desire of achieving its personal goals cannot be a specific characteristic for a small business owner. I also believe that the two terms, â€Å"entrepreneur† and â€Å"small business owner†, are so close related that the transition between them can be made very easy and therefore I again disagree with Carland et al. because of their attempt to totally separate the concepts. For instance, if we take the farmer, on the the first stage of Maslow pyramid, according to Carland et al. , he fits the description of a small business owner, by having his business as his primary source of income and furthering his personal goals.But, what if we add that he discovers a secret recipe of wine, a new type of product, and he is able to put it into practice? This last feature belongs to an entrepreneur; therefore, the farmer will have both characteristics from a small business owner and an entrepreneur. So is he really a small business owner or he had become an entrepreneur? Gartner tries to show what differentiates an entrepreneur from non-entrepreneurs and it demonstrates that behavioral approaches are the ones we should concentrate on, for analyzing future researches in entrepreneurship, than trait approaches.He also recognizes that trait approaches and behavioral trait approaches are two related concepts that cannot be treated separately. Gartner explains that if we talk about behavioral and trait approaches, we analyze the entrepreneur’s characteristics through its activities undertaken to create an organization. For instance, Arthur Cole tries to take a behavioral viewpoint of an entrepreneur and then analyses his traits and specific characteristics (j udgment, perseverance, knowledge of the world and business).Jenks and Kilby disagree with studying the personality of an entrepreneur and they encourage researchers to study the behaviors and activities of an entrepreneur. However here, I consider that we can analyze equally, both the traits and the behavioral of an individual, because are strongly connected, and can be related in both ways, but the focus should be on the behavior. First, the behavior of an individual can be determined by its characteristics, as if for instance a person who most often takes hasty decisions he could be an impulsive person.And second, if we analyze an individual characteristics, we can suppose that he will behave in a certain way, like if he is very confident in its believes he could assume more risks than a person who does not trust its own ideas. Still we have to analyze each person as a simple, because everyone is unique and behaves in its own way. Gartner uses researches that focuses on the person of the entrepreneur, and tries to settle an entrepreneur’s qualities (traits), like: need for achievement, locus of control, risk taking, values, age, and others.Then he explains that these are worthless to differentiate entrepreneurs from others, because in the trait approach, an entrepreneur is considered a particular personality type with certain characteristics, but if we look at the studies, we can see that few entrepreneurs employ the same definition, so the views are not homogenous. In the article â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? Is a question worth asking†, after analyzing a compilation of Gartner’s studies of entrepreneurship, Carl et al. demonstrated the fruitlessness of his trait research.They considered that he used inconsistent definitions, samples that are not homogeneous or comparable and most important, he created an inconsistent entrepreneurial profile, which is often not significantly different from the rest of the population. Van de Ven finds it also important to analyze the traits and characteristics of a leader. However, Carland et al. considered that there are not so many classification schemes involving complex human behavior and that is one reason why they have excluded it.According to Gartner, we cannot talk anymore about â€Å"entrepreneurs† in general without referring to characteristics of the sample. In their continuous attempt to separate the term of â€Å"entrepreneur† from â€Å"small business owner† Carland et al. uses also psychology literature and considers that one’s personality is defined by all aspects of life and is largely set during the formative years. However, Gartner still believes that it is impossible to settle certain traits for an entrepreneur because everyone is different from other.Gartner also disagrees with the last part of Carland et al. entrepreneurial definition, which ties the state of being an entrepreneur to innovative behavior, and he brings up the problem of identifying if only the first firms in each industry are the innovative ones and all other subsequent would be small business owners. I consider that an entrepreneur is an innovative person, so in this respect I disagree with Gartner’s opinion. In addition, this does not mean that only the first company in each industry is innovative, like Gartner believes.Even if two firms are competing on the same industry, the second firm appeared on the market, could have products with the same utility and some similar characteristics, but the product can also contain an extra new, special, different, and innovative characteristic. Like for instance when it appeared the beer with lemon, I consider that is was a result of innovative thinking, because although it has the main utility of a bear, to quench the thirst, and has similar characteristics, it can also be seen as a new and different product.In this respect, Bhide, in his article â€Å"The questions every entrepreneur must answe r†, considers that in the same industry, the option that suits for one entrepreneurial venture can be completely inappropriate for another. In addition, he gives as an example companies like Microsoft, Lotus, WordPerfect, and Intuit, which are competing in the same industry but had a very different evolution. In his research â€Å"What is entrepreneurship? , Davidsson analyzes entrepreneurship through competitive behaviors. He agrees with Gartner. He does not consider innovation as an example of entrepreneurship. On the one side, he manages to avoid more the risk of ambiguity by restricting the entrepreneurship concept to a market context which gives a more precise characterization to the process and on the other its permissive because it has no restriction to innovation, organizational context, risk taking and others.He sees entrepreneurship on a small level, which has important effects on a bigger scale, because it influences the whole market. In addition, it is brought int o discussion the problem of differentiating a product from its similar product that constitutes innovation. Moreover, but not lastly we confront with the dilemma if new methods of manufacturing, marketing, distributing the product could be also considered as innovation and here, Gartner brings into discussion, the debate on which are the truly innovative methods.In the end, Gartner tries to change a long held viewpoint of entrepreneurial process by identifying it as the creation of new organizations. After that, he debates if the entrepreneurship ends once the organization creation is over. In his opinion the entrepreneurship ends once with the creation stage of the organization. In these respect, Greiner (1972) and Steinmetz (1969) considers that any organization can survive on past its creation stage to all the possible stages like growth, maturity, and decline.Therefore, if we look at the process itself and analyze each stage, when the individual creates an organization he takes different roles like innovator, manager, small business owner and many others and each is characterized by specific behaviors. But the order of these stages aren’t always the same. I consider that when the creation of the organization is on its end stage, we cannot say that entrepreneurial process it’s necessarily over. In certain situations, some firms extend their business by discovering a new revolutionary product.To be more specific, if we take in consideration a company which produces milk, and it discovers a new product that haven’t existed before, let’s suppose it’s butter, than the company will have to develop only some extra operations to make the revolutionary product. Therefore, the milk company will support a creation of a new sub organization in this section (technology, marketing, sales, management, and so one). Moreover, here come into discussion the habitual entrepreneurs, who, after creating a business, they are still identifying n ew business opportunities and put it into practice when they are able to do that.An interesting polemics, we can find on the article of Ucbasaran et al. , â€Å"Does entrepreneurial experience influence opportunity identification? †. After using data and research methodology among individuals engaged in entrepreneurial acts, they conclude that, on the one side, there are some differences between inexperienced novice entrepreneurs and experienced habitual entrepreneurs, but on the other, they also have some similarities in their behavior.Both habitual and novice entrepreneurs are in continuous searching for knowledge and development. One difference between these two categories is that with their experience, habitual entrepreneurs, identify more business opportunities, and one explanation could be that they use different sources of information like financiers, employees, and consultants. In addition, their attitude to business opportunity identification is different. They consi der that one opportunity often leads to another but it can also emerge in connection with some problems.Experienced entrepreneurs are also convinced that it is crucial to obtain the necessary resources and capital to implement a good idea, and they underline the importance of spontaneity and alertness. In addition, experienced entrepreneurs often identify business opportunities with higher level of innovativeness. One explication could be their ability of choosing the best person for the right activity, based on their experience, which gives them more time to develop more business opportunities. Wright et al. brings into discussion the risk of habitual entrepreneurs to repeat same ideas but in different or changed environments.I believe that habitual entrepreneurs indeed find more easily business opportunities because of their experience in the changing of the market needs, and most important customer’s needs. They have a better understanding of the market mechanism and how v ital is the spontaneity. They also understand better the consequences of doing or not doing something. However, entrepreneurship cannot be treated as an independently concept so therefore it can be related to areas like for instance mathematics, statistics, economics and many others.We find an attempt to prove the importance of having a complex model, in Bygrave and Hofer’s research, â€Å"Theorizing about Entrepreneurship†, where they try to highlight that entrepreneurship is a dynamic concept, which can’t be analyzed very good, using simples models like regression. They consider that we need a model with much more variables, such as: discontinuities in entrepreneurial process, changes of state (changes of phase in organization, including start-ups), sensitivity to initial conditions and multiplicity to anterior variables.In my opinion, using mathematics or some other exact sciences offers us a less subjective approach but if the model is not complex enough, we can also miss some details that could lead us to a rung conclusion or interpretation. Conclusions After analyzing opinions from several authors of articles, who tried to understand the concept of entrepreneurship and â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? †, we can conclude that there are many points of view in this respect and that’s why we cannot reach to a general valid and accepted definition of the concepts.Some tried to establish the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, others tried to differentiate even the entrepreneurs between them, focusing on experience, and some tried to measure the concept through statistics, all having the same aim, to understand deeper the concept. However, there will always be the need of debate because the concept itself is a subjective one. So it remains to our discretion what opinion do we agree with, or we may very well create our own concept of an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship.In my opinion, a better understanding o f the entrepreneur concept, needs a more suitable question, than â€Å"Who is an entrepreneur? †, like â€Å"What does an entrepreneur do? †. I believe that if we are able to establish his behavior, this will lead us to its characteristics, on the one side, and on the other, it could also give us a vision of his potential future behavior. After analyzing all points of view, I finally created my own concept of an entrepreneur.Therefore, first I believe that an entrepreneur should be able to create an organization, based on an original innovative idea, and sustain it. Second, he is concentrated on anticipating the need of the person on long term and finds the most efficient way of satisfying it. Third, he takes huge risks in order to fulfill its goal and he is able to adapt easy to changes. Moreover, most of all he identifies itself with the organization. Therefore, on an entrepreneur all these characteristics and behaviors complement each other.References Bhide, A. 1996 ) The question every entrepreneur must answer, Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 120-130 Bygrave, W. D. & Hofer, C. W. (1991), Theorizing about entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Theory an Practice, 16(2), pp. 13-39 Carland, J. W. , Hoy, F. , Boulton, W. R. , & Carland, J. A. (1984). Differentiating entrepreneurs from small business owners: A conceptualization.Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 354-359 Carland, J. W. , Hoy, F. , & Carland, J. A. C. (1988): _’Who is an Entrepreneur? _Is a question worth asking’, American Journal of Small Business, 12(4): p. 3-39. Davidsson, P. (2004) What is entrepreneurship? Chapter in Researching entrepreneurship. Boston, Massachusetts: Springer. Gartner, W. (1989)

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