'Entrepreneurial identities permeate virtually every facet of the venturing process, but the study of these identities has received surprisingly little attention among scholars. Thomas Duening and Matthew Metzger address this problem with this insightful and timely edited volume. They have compiled an impressive array of research that covers both macro- and micro-level explorations of entrepreneurial identities. Most importantly, these chapters provide numerous examples of tangible advice to interested educators about how to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and build the entrepreneurial identity within their own students. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in entrepreneurial identities.' - Charles Murnieks, Oregon State University, US Entrepreneurship is an academic discipline that, despite decades of growth in research and teaching activity lacks a traditionally distinct or common pedagogy. In this book, editors Thomas N. Duening and Matthew L. Metzger explore entrepreneurial identity as a new basis upon which curricula can be constructed for aspiring entrepreneurs. Critically, this perspective is based on the insight that there is a fundamental difference between venture development and entrepreneur development. Unfortunately, most current interventions for aspiring entrepreneurs focus on the former at the expense of the latter. The editors have collected work from an international team of authors with diverse views on how identity theory applies to entrepreneur development. Chapters focus primarily on macro-level identity issues (that is, how do these entrepreneurial archetypes form, persist, and sometimes change) or micro-level identity issues (that is, how can educators and resource providers identify, communicate, and incentivize identity construction among aspiring entrepreneurs). This book provides a general theoretical background and offers numerous suggestions for application and further research. One example of this is the 'For Further Reading' feature at the end of each chapter which is perfect for assisting those who want to delve deeper into various topics. This essential resource will be of interest to researchers, resource providers and students alike. Contributors include: D. Boje, A. Donnellon, T.N. Duening, R. Gill, B. Mathias, M.L. Metzger, R. Smith, K. Williams-Middleton

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable? In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

In this book, Sigvald Harryson demonstrates how to use know-who based networking to increase knowledge whilst reducing complexity. He reveals new synergies between external and internal knowledge networking that promise to enhance the innovation performance of any transitional, transnational company. The book develops and builds upon knowledge in the interconnected areas of entrepreneurship and networking across different levels and units of analysis. In-depth studies of a wealth of absolute best practice companies are explored, illustrating how concrete management practices can be established to acquire and then transform science into sales in more time- and cost-efficient ways. A unique framework is developed to overcome the dichotomies between knowledge creation and business implementation. Through this, the author provides the necessary foundations from which profitable growth through innovation (GTI) can be developed: * Identification and analysis of the most important barriers to entrepreneurship * Enabling factors and intelligence processes required for forceful innovation * A GTI process for application in practice. Know-Who Based Entrepreneurship shows that the knowledge and innovation process is no longer limited to intracorporate know-how, but has now expanded to encompass global know-how. It will thus be invaluable to business managers, international scholars and researchers of R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship and the knowledge economy.

Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a social process and creating a firm requires both the mobilisation of social networks and the use of social capital. This book addresses the gap that exists between the need to take these factors into consideration and the understanding of how network relationships are developed and transformed across the venturing process. Expert contributions from key scholars in the field illustrate how social networks evolve across entrepreneurial stages, using studies from different regions across the world. Offering a comprehensive understanding, they emphasize the role of formal networks created inside professions and firms. Also examined is the impact of context including both family and internationally variable institutions that can help entrepreneurs to access resources and competencies useful for their projects. The book concludes by emphasizing the various research challenges: which theories are useful for our endeavors and which new methods can be used to understand the dynamics of the venturing process? Dynamic and eminently practical, this book will be invaluable to scholars and students studying the entrepreneurial process and the impact of social networks. It will also prove a useful tool in aiding entrepreneurs to optimize the development of their networks and better manage their entrepreneurial processes. Contributors include: L. Aaboen, M.A. Abebe, A.R. Anderson, M. Brettel, D. Chabaud, H. Chebbi, M. de Beer, S. Drakopoulou Dodd, A. Fayolle, R.T. Harrison, F.M. Hill, S.L. Jack, W. Jansen, W. Lamine, H. Lawton-Smith, C. Lechner, C.M. Leitch, C. Leyronas, F. Lind, S. Loup, A.B.R. Lwango, R. Mauer, S. Mian, G. Mollenhorst, J. Ngijol, S. Qureshi, T. Redd, V. Schutjens, M. Virahsawmy, S. Wu

In recent years our understanding of corporate sustainability has moved from exploitation to exploration, from corporate environmental management to sustainable entrepreneurship, and from efficiency to innovation. Yet current trends indicate the need for radical innovation via entrepreneurial start-ups or new ventures within existing corporations despite difficulties with the financing and marketing of such efforts. Presenting both conceptual and empirical research, this fascinating book addresses how we can combine environmental and social sustainability with economic sustainability in order to produce innovative new business models. The international cast of contributors addresses the wide range of issues in the balance between growth and environmental concerns. The first five chapters discuss various aspects of sustainable entrepreneurship. This is followed by two chapters that look at innovation within existing firms. Innovation is not successful until it finds a customer, so the two chapters that follow delve into the marketing aspects of business-to-consumer and business-to-business settings. The book closes with a broad discussion of the evolution and future of the research agenda into the intersection of sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship. Academics, students, business professionals, and NGOs will find this volume enlightening and useful.

This highly topical book presents a new theory on the characteristics of entrepreneurial knowledge. It explores the recent shift among professional economists and scholars in their evaluation of the debate of socialism. Socialism, Economic Calculation and Entrepreneurship presents an application of Israel M. Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurship to the theory of the impossibility of socialism. It discusses the influence of the fall of socialism, with particular reference to the evolution of economic thought.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. A Research Agenda for Entrepreneurial Cognition and Intention suggests new directions and approaches to study the internal thought processes of entrepreneurs by examining areas that have been under-researched, ignored or overlooked. Proposing new views on the idea of an entrepreneurial personality, new methodologies and theories of cognition and influence of personality, the contributors go beyond the study of individual intentions to evaluate group intentions. Furthermore, the book proposes that current research methods limit our understanding of entrepreneurial processes by not connecting to the wider entrepreneurial audience. With this in mind, key chapters focus on the role and relevance of language and gender in entrepreneurship. Academic researchers and advanced students looking to explore the latest research methods and statistical approaches will find this Research Agenda extremely useful for creating new research pathways. The case studies will also be exceptionally useful for those with a wider interest in entrepreneurship and those who wish to have a greater understanding of entrepreneurial intention. Contributors include: G.A. Alsos, G. Bertrand, M. Brannback, C.G. Brush, A.L. Carsrud, R. Germon, P.G. Greene, D.M. Hechavarria, A. Ingram, I. Jaen, F. Kropp, N. Krueger, F. Linan, A. Maalaoui, J. Mezei, S. Nikou, T.F. Nogueira, C. Perez, M. Razgallah, L. Schjoedt, K.G. Shaver, R. Yitshaki

International Entrepreneurship in Family Businesses illustrates that family firms have always been active agents in the global economy and that their participation in the international competitive dynamic will only increase in the coming years. Indeed many of the large multinational firms that dominate today's world markets were founded as, and continue to be, family firms. The authors document the particularities of the family business phenomenon from a holistic, multi-paradigmatic, and global viewpoint. The book integrates intensive studies of family business that encompass wide-ranging areas of research and contexts, including psychology, sociology, organizational behaviour, financial studies, strategic management and internationalization. Practical examples and case studies of multinational family firms underpin the exploratory empirical research. Academics, researchers and students of international business, and more specifically, family business will find much to interest in them in this book, as will entrepreneurs and practitioners with a vested interest in the family firm.

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable? In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

This book makes a rare - but often advocated - contribution to research in entrepreneurship and international business by providing a richly contextualised longitudinal case study of the growth and internationalisation of a cluster of small firms over more than 20 years. Sara McGaughey presents a vivid, ethnographically-inspired narrative using creative forms of writing - including diary extracts, dramas, personal narratives and a cartoon - that draws the reader into the world experienced by the entrepreneurs, and conveys the unfolding context of the research process itself. The author interprets key events and activities such as export market choice, institutional entrepreneurship and portfolio activities in international new venturing through the lens of legitimacy and legitimation processes. The rich empirical and methodological contextualisation invites all readers to reinterpret these events and activities using their own diverse perspectives. This unique book will strongly appeal to practitioners and scholars of international entrepreneurship, international business, business history and organisation studies, as well as those interested in research methods used in these fields.

Growing your business sustainably and successfully isn't just about systems, visions and values. The secret to a thriving business? It's in the team - the people part.

Learn how to develop a standout, successful business by putting people at the heart. Top-tier business consultant Annie Hyman Pratt knows that the key to a successful business is the team behind it. Most business books on shelves today focus on either the structure part (processes) or the culture part (values). What's missing? The all-important 'people part' - the often hidden, often misunderstood area of a business where team members and team leaders interact and have their greatest impact.

As Annie reveals the power and promise of this missing link, you'll discover:

• the secret of self-leadership - the way you show up as an individual in your work and how to perform effectively in the face of pressure or stress
• the key to effective teamwork - the way team members interact, especially in times of challenge or change
• how these two abilities together create the conditions for a business to perform at its best - and for leaders to have the positive impact they desire
• a wealth of practical tools and techniques for creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, negotiating and more

In a world where the rate of change is increasing exponentially, with burnout and overwhelm at epidemic levels, it's more essential than ever to get this part right.

'What a great book! Two eminent researchers on women's entrepreneurship, Patti Greene and Candy Brush, have assembled a wonderful group of well-known and upcoming scholars, each of them adding novel insights to the puzzle of ''female entrepreneurial identity''. The book covers a wide array of interesting identity-related themes and presents evidence from countries and contexts which are much less studied. This is a must-read for those of us who want to understand and study entrepreneurial identity from a gender perspective, and also for those supporting women entrepreneurs.' - Friederike Welter, Institut fur Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn and University of Siegen, Germany 'This book is a welcome addition to the cumulative body of research on women's entrepreneurship and a critical milestone in the research agenda on female entrepreneurial identity. The editors Greene and Brush, top scholars in the field, brilliantly join the dots in the literature to make clear the complexity of women's entrepreneurial identity and the connections to related concepts of confidence, behaviors and aspirations. The wealth of contributions in this highly recommended volume, successfully illuminate important aspects and signposts questions to continue this vital discourse.' - Anne de Bruin, Massey University, New Zealand Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This book looks at long-studied questions of identity from the perspective of women entrepreneurs, exploring ideas related to entrepreneurial identity for women and their businesses. The editors map out a vision for research on women and entrepreneurship and discuss aspiration, behaviors and confidence as key concepts that shape and enhance a woman?s identity in the entrepreneurial process. A global collection of authors who are passionate about identity and women?s entrepreneurship bring a variety of theoretical perspectives and quantitative methodologies to the table. Through a common framework of on women business owners and their businesses, they delve into social identity, start-ups, crowdfunding and context to set the groundwork for future research on entrepreneurship and gender. Advanced graduate students and researchers in the field of entrepreneurship will appreciate this focused exploration of a compelling topic, as will doctoral students and scholars of women?s issues. Contributors: T.H. Allison, M. Brannback, C.G. Brush, A. Carsrud, E. Crosina, C. Cruz, J.O. De Castro, C. Elliott, P.G. Greene, R.T. Harrison, D. Hechavarria, R. Justo, K. Kuschel, J.-P. Labra, C.M. Leitch, M. Markowska, S. Nikou, P.P. Oo, B. Orser, A. Sahaym, S. Srivastava, S.K. Trivedi

The applied nature of the field of entrepreneurship means it is crucial for scholars and researchers to connect with practitioners to ensure that their work has an impact on real-world activity. This insightful book examines the need to bridge the gap between scientific rigour in entrepreneurship research and its practical relevance to external stakeholders, and demonstrates clearly how this can be achieved in practice. Featuring cutting-edge research, Rigour and Relevance in Entrepreneurship Research, Resources and Outcomes presents and evaluates current critical approaches in the field, analysing their theoretical value and their relevance to policy and practice. Chapters examine these approaches through the lens of specific issues and circumstances such as intrapreneurship, freelancing, crowdfunding, family firms and technology-based start-ups, providing a variety of perspectives and exemplifying how pragmatic questions can productively influence research agendas. This book's up-to-date analysis and practical insight will prove invaluable to scholars and researchers in entrepreneurship as well as other business and management academics. Students at all levels in these fields will also find it useful for considering future research.

Business angels are recognized as playing a key role in financing the start-up and early stages of new ventures. However, our knowledge of how business angels operate remains limited and highly fragmented. This Handbook provides a synthesis of research on business angels. It adopts an international perspective to reflect the spread of angel investing around the world. The increasing number of government initiatives to promote angel investing is also reflected in the book with an assessment of the most common support schemes. Adopting an international focus, the expert group of contributors examine business angels themselves; the evolution of the market; the various stages of the investment process and the role of public policy in influencing angel investment. They each conclude their chapters with an agenda for future research on business angels. Students and scholars of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, and related subjects will find this book to be an invaluable resource to their work.In particular, they will benefit from the research agendas that that concludes each chapter This Handbook will also be of interest to policy-makers and other practitioners looking to enhance their understanding of the design and need for such interventions. Contributors include: F.M. Amatucci, M. Atienza, S. Avdeitchikova, T. Botelho, C. Carpentier, V. Collewaert, L. Hornuf, H. Keinonen, T. Lahti, H. Landstroem, D. Lingelbach, M. Liu, C. Mason, A. Maxwell, D. Politis, G. Romani, W. Scheela, A. Schwienbacher, J.-M. Suret, R. Sorheim, Y. Tan, J. Wang

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this unique and original Advanced Introduction, Robert Hisrich pinpoints the essential principles of forging a new venture in an existing corporate context. In this environment, starting and operating a new business includes considerable risk and requires effort to overcome inertia to create something new of value both to the organization as well as to the market and the individuals. This accessible and practical guide to the nature of the entrepreneurial process discusses the basic aspects of corporate venturing before diving into topics such as innovation, creativity, opportunity analysis, market disruption, and the critical development of business plans. The result is an applicable illustration of how an individual might organize, control and effectively implement a corporate venture, including methods for evaluating results and using creative problem solving. This highly readable guide will be an invaluable text and resource for students of entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation.

This book embodies the ever-increasing scope and depth of empirical entrepreneurship research in Europe. Contributors from different disciplinary backgrounds within the business field - including finance, management, and entrepreneurship, and from other related disciplines such as economics and economic geography - employ various methodologies to study the phenomenon of entrepreneurship. Drawing on this wealth of theoretically based and empirically sound research, the contributors examine three overarching themes. First, entrepreneurship issues in specific country settings are discussed: these encompass Portugal, the UK and Germany in Western Europe, Eastern European countries such as Russia and Latvia, and then Scandinavia and Finland. Second, special issues concerning technology-based companies are explored, and finally, unique aspects of venture capital markets in Europe are studied. Presenting cutting edge empirical research on myriad entrepreneurship topics in Europe, this multidisciplinary volume will strongly appeal to academics, students and researchers from various backgrounds that have a specific interest in entrepreneurship.It will also be warmly welcomed by entrepreneurs themselves.

Dyson has become a byword for great design, brilliant invention and global success. Now, James Dyson, the entrepreneur who made it all happen, tells his remarkable and inspirational story in Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure. 'By continually challenging ourselves, investing in the future and experimenting, we can continue to make the future. We must never stop. Never, for one second become comfortable.' James Dyson In this spirited autobiography, James Dyson interweaves his own life story with a wider exploration of the importance of invention. On the way, the reader encounters challenging and inspirational characters, radical inventions, adventurous engineering, cultural fads, political gamesmanship, legal battles and much else besides. Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure is a 21st century call to arms: creative invention through the research, design and manufacture of technologies and products empowers not only employees and employers, but the economy at large, while the very acts of imagining, shaping and making things enriches our lives. James Dyson sees people as producers as well as consumers, the inventing and making of things part of a natural instinct. Invention is a lifelong commitment. It has been James Dyson's life.

This expansive and practical Handbook introduces the methods currently used to increase the understanding of the usefulness and versatility of a systematic approach to qualitative research in entrepreneurship. It fills a crucial gap in the literature on entrepreneurship theory, and, just as importantly, illustrates how these principles and techniques can be appropriately and fruitfully employed. The Handbook is underpinned by the belief that qualitative research has the potential to charter hitherto unexplored waters in the field of entrepreneurship and thus contribute significantly to its further advancement. The contributors seek to assist entrepreneurship researchers in making more informed choices and designing more rigorous and sophisticated studies. They achieve this by providing concrete examples of research experiences and tangible 'how to' advice. By clarifying what these research methods entail, how they are currently being used and how they can be evaluated, this Handbook constitutes a comprehensive and highly accessible methodological toolbox. Dealing with both well-accepted qualitative approaches and lesser-known, rarer and more novel approaches to the study of entrepreneurship, this Handbook will be invaluable to those studying, researching and teaching entrepreneurship.

This fascinating and original textbook - an excellent introductory text for both graduate and undergraduate students - attempts to enhance and advance our understanding of entrepreneurship. In this intriguing book, Bjorn Bjerke contends that entrepreneurship cannot, to any great extent, be planned in advance. He goes as far as to suggest that planning could be against the very essence of entrepreneurship. The book explains that entrepreneurship is about courage rather than willpower, is to be venturesome and undertaking whilst experimenting, networking and pushing oneself forward, and concerns exploiting mistakes as essential learning curves. The importance of the entrepreneur as a human being is strongly expressed, as is the idea that entrepreneurship is closer to art and aesthetics than science and mathematics. Language, argues the author, plays a decisive role and philosophy provides a solid basis when we try to come to grips with the nature of entrepreneurship. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Bjorn Bjerke asserts that all these points alert us to one simple fact: it is not possible to define a 'typical' entrepreneur or to present a model method of operating and supporting an entrepreneurial venture. Understanding Entrepreneurship is a truly remarkable textbook that will provide an absorbing and illuminating read for all those - academics, students and practitioners alike - with an interest in entrepreneurship.

Is social capital the 'missing link' in economics? In this vital new book, the authors argue that the 'forgotten' production factor of social capital is as crucial in economic decision-making as the other more traditional factors of production such as physical, financial and human capital. They attempt to bridge the gap between theory and reality by examining the main factors that determine entrepreneurship, co-operative movements and the creation and destruction of social capital. To address the question of how social capital is created and destroyed, the authors develop an interdisciplinary approach combining political science, economics, anthropology, sociology and history. They show how bridging social capital enforces personal contact and acts as a lubricator for human co-operation, whereas bonding social capital enforces distance between people, increasing mistrust and, consequently, transaction costs. They demonstrate how entrepreneurship can facilitate voluntary collective action and create inclusive forms of social capital. Crucial in this respect is that entrepreneurs are motivated not only by economic incentives but also by social motives. Applying historical and contemporary case studies, they identify the serious human and economic consequences that result when social capital is disregarded. The authors believe that the implications of such a discovery demand a re-evaluation of traditional economic theory. This book will contribute substantially to academic and popular debates on social capital and will be an invaluable source of reference for all social scientists. It will particularly appeal to students and scholars of public policy, economics, sociology, political science, anthropology and history.

In this book, Sigvald Harryson demonstrates how to use know-who based networking to increase knowledge whilst reducing complexity. He reveals new synergies between external and internal knowledge networking that promise to enhance the innovation performance of any transitional, transnational company. The book develops and builds upon knowledge in the interconnected areas of entrepreneurship and networking across different levels and units of analysis. In-depth studies of a wealth of absolute best practice companies are explored, illustrating how concrete management practices can be established to acquire and then transform science into sales in more time- and cost-efficient ways. A unique framework is developed to overcome the dichotomies between knowledge creation and business implementation. Through this, the author provides the necessary foundations from which profitable growth through innovation (GTI) can be developed: * Identification and analysis of the most important barriers to entrepreneurship * Enabling factors and intelligence processes required for forceful innovation * A GTI process for application in practice. Know-Who Based Entrepreneurship shows that the knowledge and innovation process is no longer limited to intracorporate know-how, but has now expanded to encompass global know-how. It will thus be invaluable to business managers, international scholars and researchers of R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship and the knowledge economy.