Entrepreneurial Success in Kerala—A Short Preview based on Content Analysis of Published Material Authors: Joseph M. Cherukara Dr. James Manalel Research Scholar Professor School of Management Studies School of Management Studies Cochin University of Science and Cochin University of Science and Technology Technology e-mail: jmcherukara@gmail.com email: jamesmanalel@cusat.ac.in Abstract The secrets of Entrepreneurial Success still remain as an unsolved riddle. Numerous attempts have been made in this direction and many contradicting and complimenting theories have been developed. The present study is based on the content analysis of 100 out of top 500 successful entrepreneurs of Kerala as identified by a leading Financial Journal of Kerala. The study was made on the basis of an open ended questionnaire /interview they had conducted among the successful 500 entrepreneurs of Kerala. The responses are analysed on the basis of grouping the responses under accepted Core Competency Model that identifies traits that lead to entrepreneurial success. The findings shows that the most significant Traits that enable entrepreneurial success given in the order of significance are Information Seeking, Concern for Employee Welfare, Efficiency Orientation, Commitment to Work Contract. The significant Traits Clusters are Achievement Cluster, Directing and Controlling Cluster, and Personal Maturity Cluster. Entrepreneurial Success in Kerala—A Short Preview based on Content Analysis of Published Material Introduction The definition of entrepreneurship has been debated among scholars, educators, researchers, and policy makers ever since the concept was first established in the early 1700’s. The term “entrepreneurship” comes from the French verb “entreprendre” and the German word “unternehmen,” both meaning to “undertake” or “do something”. Joseph Schumpeter introduced the modern definition of ‘entrepreneurship’ in 1934. According to Schumpeter, “the carrying out of new combinations we call ‘enterprise’,” and “the individuals whose function it is to carry them out we call ‘entrepreneurs’.” Schumpeter tied entrepreneurship to the creation of five basic “new combinations” namely: introduction of a new product, introduction of a new method of production, opening of a new market, the conquest of a new source of supply and carrying out of a new organization of industry. Peter Drucker (1985) proposed that ‘entrepreneurship’ is a practice. What this means is that entrepreneurship is not a state of being nor is it characterized by making plans that are not acted upon. Entrepreneurship begins with action, the creation of a new organization and when individuals create a new organization, they have entered the entrepreneurship paradigm. Bygrave and Hofer in 1991 defined the entrepreneurial process as ‘involving all the functions, activities, and actions associated with the perceiving of opportunities and the creation of organizations to pursue them’.