Entrepreneurial Firms’ Impact on Society

Entrepreneurial Firms’ Impact on Society
The innovations of entrepreneurial firms have a dramatic impact on a society. Think of all the new products and services that make our lives easier, enhance our productivity at work, improve our health, and entertain us. For example, Amgen, an entrepreneurial firm that helped pioneer the biotechnology industry, has produced a number of drugs that have dramatically improved people’s lives. An example is NEUPOGEN, a drug that decreases the incidence of infection in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
In addition to improved health care, consider smartphones, social networks, Internet shopping, overnight package delivery, and digital photography. All these products are new to this generation, yet it’s hard to imagine our world without them.
However, innovations do create moral and ethical issues with which societies are forced to grapple. For example, bar-code scanner technology and the Internet have made it easier for companies to track the purchasing behavior of their customers, but this raises privacy concerns. Similarly, bioengineering has made it easier to extend the shelf life of many food products, but some researchers and consumers question the long-term health implications of
bioengineered foods.