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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235

SIM 2013

Technological ecopreneurship: conceptual approaches

Cosmin Mihai Nacua*, Silvia Avasilcăia
a
”Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași, Department of Engineering and Management, 29 Dimitrie Mangeron str., 700050 Ia și,
Romania

Abstract

In global evolution, entrepreneurship has branched into various areas according to age, gender, social environment, natural
environment, technology and more. A niche of entrepreneurship is technological entrepreneurship, which includes innovations in
technology and their entire evolution from idea to "prototype". This paper aims to narrow this niche, of technological
entrepreneurship, into technological ecopreneurship. This term will be detailed and introduced into a conceptual research
methodology based on a conceptual model.

© 2014 The
© 2014 The Authors.
Authors.Published
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byElsevier
ElsevierLtd.
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Selection and peer-review
Selection and peer-reviewunder
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SIM 2013/12th
2013 InternationalSymposium
/ 12th International Symposiumin in Management.
Management.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; technological entrepreneurship; ecopreneurship.

1. Introduction

Entrepreneurship is seen as a process of searching for market opportunities and organizational resources
necessary to exploit these opportunities in order to gain results on a long term. This is a process of planning,
organizing opportunities and risk taking. Thus, it is considered a business risk. It can be distinguished as
independent risk taking ability to achieve the biggest gains in the market. This is a creative and innovative ability
and an adaptation response to the real business environment.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +40-232-278683/1205.

E-mail address: cnacu@tex.tuiasi.ro

1877-0428 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of SIM 2013 / 12th International Symposium in Management.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.481
230 Cosmin Mihai Nacu and Silvia Avasilcăi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235

“The term of entrepreneurship brings to mind a variety of images so that a precise definition can be elusive. The
popular opinions about entrepreneurs and the do-it-yourself personality are in abundance: the alone inventor,
working in a garage, a cook that transforms a home business into a restaurant, the experienced manager leaving a
corporation to open his own consulting firm. Politicians and writers publishers have caught an entrepreneurial spirit
as a way to make companies - and nations - more productive, more innovative and competitive. Looking towards the
entrepreneurial ideal, managers of large and small companies have responded with efforts to stimulate creativity and
flexibility in their organizations "(Sahlman, Stevenson, Roberts & Bhide, 1999).

2. The history of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship as a subject of discussion and analysis was introduced by economists in the eighteenth century
and continues to be an inexhaustible topic for researchers.
Entrepreneurship (Table 1) is the process through which an entrepreneur goes from idea to business. It is an
attempt to create value by recognizing business opportunities. This is essentially a function of the communication
and management which mobilizes financial, human and material resources. From another point of view, the
entrepreneurship is the practice of opening new organizations or revitalizing mature organizations, customizing new
businesses generally in response to identified opportunities.
The French economist of the eighteenth century, Richard Cantillon, was the first to integrate entrepreneurship in
economic theory. In his conception, entrepreneurship is risk taking in the economy, “the one who assumes the risks
of a new business and takes the initiative to exploit business opportunities" (Cantillon, 1755).

Table 1. Chronological definitions of the term entrepreneurship

Year Author Definition of Entrepreneurship

1803 Jean Baptiste Say “joining all factors of production” (Say, 2011)
1921 Frank Hyneman Knight “the approach of uncertainty” (Knight, 1921)
1949 Ludwig von Mises “the driving force that supports the creation of social
wealth” (Ludwig von Mises, 1949)
1963 Edith Tilton Penrose “Entrepreneurship involves identifying opportunities in the
economic system” (Penrose, 1980)
1968 Harvey Leibenstein Entrepreneurship involves “activities necessary to create or
and develop an enterprise, accounting the fact that not all
1979 markets are good or clearly defined, and some relevant
parts of the production function are not fully known”
(Leibenstein, 1968 & Leibenstein, 1979)
1970 Peter Ferdinand Drucker “those new firms that create something new, something
different, they change or transform values” (Drucker,
1970)
1973 Israel M. Kirzner ”exploring opportunities” (Kirzner, 1973)
1988 Gideon I. Gartner “creating organizations” (Gartner, 1988)
1989 Hebert and Link “someone who specializes in taking responsibility and
court decisions that affect the location, the form and use of
assets, resources and institutions” (Hebert & Link, 1989)
2000 Bob Reiss “Entrepreneurship is the capacity to recognize and exploit
opportunities regardless of the resources available to an
individual at a time, so, with full confidence in success,
with the flexibility required by the course of events and the
desire to get up and to survive on the most brutal failures“
(Reiss, 2000)
2011 Marius Ghenea “The road from idea to opportunity and success in
business” (Ghenea, 2011)
 Cosmin Mihai Nacu and Silvia Avasilcăi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235 231

Thus entrepreneurship includes "risk, uncertainty, innovation, perception and change in the market system. The
activities of an entrepreneur include but are not limited to: coordination, arbitration, ownership, speculation and
resource allocation"(Herbert & Link, 1989).
The attention paid by various authors to innovation, when considering entrepreneurship, is determined by the
intrinsic link between creativity and entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur can be defined as someone who is sensitive
to opportunities and has a sense of freedom both in the personal sense and in the organizational sense to act on the
opportunity. Entrepreneurship has the connotation of implementation (doing). While innovation involves a vision of
what is possible, the entrepreneur translates the creative vision into action, in human vision that guides people of
work groups. If the term "innovation" suggests the implementation process, which leads to practical results through
creative inspiration, then entrepreneurship is the human and organizational process by which the innovation occurs
(Nastase, 2010).
In England, about the same period, the Industrial Revolution brings entrepreneurs the opportunity to play an
increasingly visible role in the transformation and use of resources, so that it registers early influences on the
macroeconomic indicators.
Joseph Schumpeter (1934), considered by some a genius of the twentieth century economy, said: "In
entrepreneurship there is an understanding that we do in relation to a particular type of behavior which includes:
initiative, organization and reorganization of social-economic mechanisms and acceptance of risk and failure.” In his
vision, entrepreneurship is the "carrying out of new combinations" (Schumpeter, 1934).
In the view of Behaviorist School representatives, who granted grate attention to the elements that characterize
entrepreneurs, the main issues specific to them are those of: innovators, leaders, risk assumed, independent, creative,
tenacious, energetic, original, optimistic, oriented towards results, flexible, materialists, but a remarkable progress in
tackling labor content and characteristics of entrepreneurs realizes Jacques Fillon. (Fillon, 2011) In one of his latest
studies he performed an integrative approach particularly interesting and useful on the activities and specific
characteristics of entrepreneurs.
To complete the list of information about the activities and qualities that drive the results of entrepreneurs, many
studies have been undertaken. Their joint conclusion was that all successful entrepreneurs experienced the following
qualities: interior control, capacity planning, risk taking, innovation, and use of feedback, decision making, and
independence. This list is in a process of continuous improvement by adding new features.
Entrepreneurship can be described as the engine of economic growth, in both developed countries and those in
the developing process. Entrepreneurship reduces unemployment and poverty and is a way to thrive through capital
formation and increased macroeconomic indicators.
Basically, we can say that entrepreneurship is the hope and dream of millions of people around the world.

3. Technological entrepreneurship – chronological terminology

“The road to success in technological entrepreneurship” (Fig. 1) “starts with an idea and culminates with a
successful outcome. While we can know with certainty the start and end points, several variables that contribute to
the success of the business and its development, makes it difficult to give simple principles. However, there was
plenty of technological entrepreneurship research” (Table 2) “over the past quarter century so that it can provide
some guidance” (Duening, Hisrich & Lechter, 2010).
At the World Economic Forum 2010 it has been discussed about technology as a necessity for the integration
policy in the European Union, which was even strengthened by the Lisbon agenda. More specifically, it was need
for inclusion and reduction of technical gap after the 2004 (10 countries) and 2007 enlargement (Bulgaria and
Romania). Up to now, the innovative situations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were modest, but the role of
Research and Development is likely to increase in line with the global restructuring of the Research and
Development (Piech & Radosevic, 2006).
232 Cosmin Mihai Nacu and Silvia Avasilcăi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235

Fig. 1 Technological Entrepreneurship

Table 2. Chronological definitions of the term technological entrepreneurship

Year Author Definition of Technological Entrepreneurship

1992 Abetti A system (Abetti, 1992)
2003 Gans and Stern A strategy (Gans & Stern, 2003)
2004 Burgelman A concept linking the concepts of technology and
marketing innovation, bringing together the worlds of
technology and business in a profitable way
(Burgelman, Christensen & Wheelwright, 2004)
2005 Dorf and Byers An individual approach (Dorf and Byers, 2005)
2008 Antoncic and Prodan A process (Antoncic & Prodan, 2008)
2008 Zhang A policy (Zhang, Xuebing & Li, 2008)
2009 Claudio Petti Incorporates four main sets of activities relating to:
creating new technologies or identify existing
technologies (but previously undeveloped); the
recognition and matching of opportunities arising from
the application of these technologies to emerging market
needs, technology development / application, and
business creation. (Petti, 2009)
2011 Petti and Zhang A complex phenomenon that encompasses multiple
disciplines and levels of analysis (Petti & Zhang, 2011)

4. The concept of ecopreneurship (green entrepreneurship / environmental entrepreneurship)

There is a growing emphasis on environmental sustainability, which gained momentum in the business
environment. This trend has created a full range of opportunities for entrepreneurs: from creating green-technology,
using technology to promote environmental sustainability (e.g. energy management) to simply make the existing
business more environmentally friendly to take advantage of the benefits.
An environmental entrepreneur is a person who is determined not only by the possibility of making profits, but is
also determined by environmental issues. He wants to make the world a better place by improving, or at least protect
the environment.
In the literature, the terms environmental entrepreneurship, ecological entrepreneurship and ecopreneurship (Fig.
2) are used synonymously to mean innovative behavior of individuals and organizations operating in the private
business sector, which see environmental issues as a central objective and competitive advantage.
 Cosmin Mihai Nacu and Silvia Avasilcăi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235 233

The ecopreneurs identify environmental innovations and their market opportunity and successfully transform
these innovations into new products or services (Lober, 1998; Pastakia, 1998). Most authors do not limit their
definition of ecopreneurship only to singular actors, as founders of organizations focused on environmental medium
or intrapreneurs, operating in an existing organization. On the other hand, most of the definitions also include
ecopreneurial organizations, such as organization which acts ecopreneurial and encourages the environmental
intrapreneurs and ecopreneurs.

Fig. 2 Ecopreneurship

5. Technological ecopreneurship

The term of technological ecopreneurship embodies ecological or green entrepreneurship and technological
entrepreneurship, as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 Technological Ecopreneurship

An example of eco-technological entrepreneurship it is considered a power distribution company which owns and
operates the electricity transmission technology required, yet it must also comply with standards, terms of keeping a
clean, unpolluted and ecological environment.
234 Cosmin Mihai Nacu and Silvia Avasilcăi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 124 (2014) 229 – 235

It is said that the Universe is based on the harmony that exists between all its components. Following this path,
the harmony between environment, technology and entrepreneurs resulted technological ecopreneurship. The
formula of harmony has not yet been discovered, but instead we know some of its basic elements: the resources of
all kinds, latest technology, nature of entrepreneur and more. These factors have as a result the creation of value and
it gives the performance. A part of these elements are presented in the conceptual model of technological
ecopreneurship, presented in Fig. 4, where the technological ecopreneurship is a process that encompasses these
elements.

Fig. 4 Technological ecopreneurship – Conceptual model

6. Conclusions

This research has revealed a new segment of entrepreneurship, namely technological ecopreneurship, which
includes present and mostly future ideas and businesses a lot more environmental friendly.
In all fields, the latest technology is required, even for the purpose of protecting, preserving and improving the
environment. Given this, innovations from the technological domain can be used for the above mentioned purposes?
This is the major question of this study and it is still looking for answers as detailed and concrete as possible in
future research.

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