It’s time for business

We need millions of jobs for our young population. It is important to empower local entrepreneurship with constant support from government and industry
In the recently concluded World Entrepreneurship Forum at Evian, France, it was discussed how entrepreneurs are the creators of economic wealth and social justice. Today the world is facing challenges like rising population, poverty, changes in business environment and emerging countries gaining significant economic strength. It is perceived that creation and distribution of wealth is the key to our future. Innovation led entrepreneurship initiatives, which will create not only economic wealth, but also social justice, are ideally placed to take up these challenges. Entrepreneurship is a context-sensitive phenomenon. For example the start-upbusiness- model which works well in Spain may not work in India. The business opportunities are dependent on level of development of the economy and prevailing cultural and social context. Atamer (2007) proposed three types of economic and cultural environments, referred to as 'ethos', which condition entrepreneurship: The free market system or ethos: Economic wealth is created and distributed by the market. This is the Anglo-Saxon Model. The cooperative system or ethos: The state plays an important role in the redistribution of wealth that is created mainly by the market. Numerous European countries, including France, function in this way. The parallel system or ethos: Neither the state nor the market play the leading role. Wealth and social justice are created locally and are based on membership of social groups. This is the situation in emerging countries, including the famous 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China). During recessionary times, thinkers across the world are having common consent that new business models should emerge for creation of new jobs, new opportunities and new ideas. In India itself we need millions of jobs for our young population. It is important for us to empower the local entrepreneurship with constant support/mentorship from government and industry. The best examples of our home-grown local entrepreneurship activities becoming the large corporate houses who are providing employment to millions of people are Reliance, Nirma, Infosys, HCL to name a few. Many academic institutions like Babson College, USA; Emloyn Business School, France; University of Essex Business School, UK; Europe Asia Business School, India; are promoting entrepreneurship education through various ways. For instance, EABS has started an entrepreneurship club where students are encouraged to start an enterprise in controlled environment with their fellow classmates and faculty members as consultants. Students have the option of taking the enterprise to the next level of venture capital funding if they are satisfied with the progress during the one year. Such enterprises not only help students in understanding the complexities of business but also help them in creating wealth and employments for generations to come.