What does it take to find oil in an area where many have tried, but failed? What does it take to design buildings that become prize-winning cultural landmarks? And what can the best architects, oil explorers, business lawyers, journalists, and business developers within banking and trading analysis have in common? Idea Work can provide the answers. This book builds on a four-year research project and describes what extraordinary idea work looks like in practice. The authors take you behind the scenes of some of Norways leading companies and show how surprisingly similarly they work when they are working creatively to develop and realise new ideas. The book gives us, for example, a glimpse of how Snohetta designed the Opera and the 9/11 memorial, and how explorers at Statoil discovered the most oil of all oil companies in the world in 2011. Narratives are presented on how prepping, sketches, pin-ups, drama, wonder, and punk are important aspects of the extraordinary. Examples are supported by theory, placing this book at the forefront of international research. Idea Work will appeal to practitioners as well as students. It recounts engaging stories from actual production processes and combines new theoretical perspectives with practical advice. It will also be of interest to anyone working with development, particularly with developing new ideas. From a professional standpoint, this book is an uncommon contribution to describing and understanding creativity as something collective and grounded in everyday activity.

This book draws together William B. Gartner's key contributions to entrepreneurship research over the past 25 years. An original introduction by the author offers a comprehensive overview and analysis of his work as it pertains to the development of entrepreneurship as a scholarly field, and the articles demonstrate the many ways in which his research has explored entrepreneurship in relation to individuals, firms, environments, and processes.

Despite the growing evidence on the importance of the neighbourhood, entrepreneurship studies have largely neglected the role of neighbourhoods. This book addresses the nexus between entrepreneurship, neighbourhoods and communities, confirming not only the importance of `the local' in entrepreneurship, but also filling huge gaps in the knowledge base regarding this tripartite relationship. Interdisciplinary chapters explore the importance of the neighbourhood and local social networks for individual entrepreneurs, highlighting the importance of `the local' in entrepreneurship across several countries. Considering entrepreneurship as a community-based, rather than individual, effort, key contributions explore how entrepreneurship can influence neighbourhoods and communities, in particular through entrepreneurial actions of residents joining forces. The book critically examines the ways in which entrepreneurship can benefit, shape and transform neighbourhoods, particularly those areas affected by social deprivation and poverty. Finally, it outlines a research agenda to further extend the scientific and policy-relevant knowledge on the relationships between entrepreneurship, neighbourhoods and communities. As a response to the international call for an interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship research and neighbourhood and community studies, this book will engage scholars and researchers from entrepreneurship studies, urban geography, housing studies, political studies, sociology and urban planning.

From the founders of the trailblazing software company 37signals, here is a different kind of business book - one that explores a new reality. Today, anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few pounds or even free. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is now simple. That means anyone can start a business. And you can do it without working miserable 80-hour weeks or depleting your life savings. You can start it on the side while your day job provides all the cash flow you need. Forget about business plans, meetings, office space - you don't need them. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who's ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs who want to get out, and artists who don't want to starve anymore will all find valuable inspiration and guidance in these pages. It's time to rework work.

Economic resilience is an emergent field in the social sciences. In this timely book, key scholars examine how individuals, organisations, regions and nations are affected by internal and external crises, and consider how the ways in which they respond will determine their future growth path. Providing a coherent and clear narrative, Creating Resilient Economies offers a theoretical analysis of resilience and provides guidance to policymakers with regards to fostering more resilient economies and people. It adeptly illustrates how resilience thinking can offer the opportunity to re-frame economic development policy and practice and provides a clear evidence base of the cultural, economic, political and social conditions that shape the adaptability, flexibility and responsiveness to crises in their many forms. Academics and scholars across the social sciences will find this book an enlightening gateway into the subject of economic resilience. Its eminently practical approach will also benefit government policy makers interested in how localities, regions and nations can respond more effectively to crises.

One of the most challenging tasks in the research design process is choosing the most appropriate data collection and analysis technique. This Handbook provides a detailed introduction to five qualitative data collection and analysis techniques pertinent to exploring entrepreneurial phenomena. Techniques for collecting and analysing data are rarely addressed in detail in published articles. In addition, the constant development of new tools and refinement of existing ones has meant that researchers often face a confusing range from which to choose. The experienced and expert group of contributors to this book provide detailed, practical accounts of how to conduct research employing focus groups, critical incident technique, repertory grids, metaphors, the constant comparative method and grounded theory. This Handbook will become the starting point for any research project. Scholars new to entrepreneurship and doctoral students as well as established academics keen to extend their research scope will find this book an invaluable and timely resource.

Issues and challenges surrounding corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms remain relatively unexamined. The Handbook of Research on Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurship brings together leading academic experts within their specific fields to examine the most important issues surrounding corporate governance in various entrepreneurial settings, including start-ups, owner-managed firms, fast-growing firms and IPOs. The Handbook also considers how corporate governance and board leadership is associated with entrepreneurship and innovation in mature companies. Detailed chapters span a wide range of topics, methodologies and levels of analysis, all designed to contribute to advancements in the understanding of corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms. The Handbook begins with a succinct investigation into governance and entrepreneurship as a research field, followed by clearly delineated and thematic parts dedicated to different business settings. Key topics include governance in early stage, high-tech ventures and dynamics of governance structures in high-growth, high-potential firms. This innovative Handbook will provide fresh insights and unique practical perspectives for advanced students and academics in business management and entrepreneurship. Collectively, the chapters provide new insights into the topic across different organizational and geographical settings and offer guidance to practitioners and policy-makers working within these domains.

This impressive Handbook provides a dynamic perspective on the international entrepreneurial strategies of SMEs, including the role and experience of their founders, as well as the collaboration of these SMEs in networks with larger firms. The expert contributors from all over the world and the editors explore the origin and evolution of internationalizing SMEs, the changing history and the future outlook of this sector. They study the effects of different cultures on the origin and growth of entrepreneurship and SMEs. The Handbook also outlines the various types of Born Globals that emerge from different parts of the world. This book will prove essential reading for researchers and students of international business, entrepreneurship and SMEs. Founders of internationalizing SMEs will also learn about novel management practices, whilst educational institutions and governments will find invaluable insights on how to foster and support SMEs in their internationalization efforts.

The renowned group of international contributors to this volume provide analysis of where and how gender plays a role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Eleven essays examine how ecosystems influence women entrepreneurs and how women entrepreneurs influence their local ecosystems, both cross-nationally and through in-depth country studies. The studies build on rich qualitative and quantitative data from diverse contexts including the United States, Norway, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Chile. A special section of the book examines national and regional policies in support of growth-oriented women's entrepreneurship. The contributions highlight the significant variety of entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world and provide valuable insights for promoting growth-oriented women's entrepreneurship at the local, regional, and country level. Academic researchers in the areas of entrepreneurship, management, business strategy, economic geography, and gender studies as well as policy-makers at the regional, national, and supra-national levels will all find something valuable in this illuminating book.

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. Hans Landstroem's book provides a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial finance from the entrepreneur and investor's perspectives. With a unique research-based focus, he synthesizes contemporary knowledge and presents diverse theoretical approaches to explain financial decision-making in entrepreneurial ventures. This Advanced Introduction analyses the financial problems facing the diverse range of entrepreneurial projects taking into consideration the changing nature of entrepreneurial ventures today. In particular, this work focuses on the demand for finance and financial decisions taken by entrepreneurs in new and growing ventures. In addition, it includes a detailed discussion of the supply of capital from debt-capital providers, like banks and microfinance organizations, and equity-capital providers, such as crowd investors, business angels and venture capitalists. It concludes by considering the characteristics of financial markets for entrepreneurial finance, examining both financial gaps and public interventions. Key features include: * a strong focus on the entrepreneur's perspective in entrepreneurial finance, yet also a discussion on the supply of capital for ventures from different capital providers such as governments, banks, crowd investors, business angels and venture capitalists * synthesized contemporary knowledge on entrepreneurial finance to provide a comprehensive, accessible understanding * a starting point for entrepreneurship studies, with a focus on young and growing ventures. This is ideal for advanced students and scholars in entrepreneurship, innovation, finance and business. Policy-makers interested in financial issues in young and growing ventures will also find this Advanced Introduction a useful tool for exploring financial decision-making from an entrepreneur's perspective.

In this book you'll discover how to effectively: prepare to present to an audience with relevance and knowledge; structure your presentation to gain maximum engagement and buy-in; create Content that will captivate, build credibility and establish trust; and deliver it with poise, assurance and impact. Dexter's passion is to help people maximise their precious time in pitching and presenting situations. To stand out from the crowd and clearly articulate their proposition and inspire others to buy what they're `selling'. It's not enough to be technically brilliant at what you do, now you have to be a Master Communicator. If the fear of making a fool of yourself prevents you from presenting to your executive, colleagues or potential customers, you're missing a golden opportunity. Stand Up and Sell takes you through business winning processes that Dexter has used to sell GBPmillions worth of products on QVC The Shopping Channel and taught others to do the same.

Aimed primarily at undergraduate students, this highly successful textbook provides the reader with a broad overview of the entrepreneurship phenomenon. It focuses on the emergence, evaluation, and organizing of entrepreneurial opportunities in various organizational contexts. This thoroughly revised second edition brings the reader up to date with the newest trends in the entrepreneurship field and includes four insightful new chapters, covering: * nascent entrepreneurship * design thinking * public entrepreneurship * entrepreneurship policy. New diagrams and figures have been added throughout to clarify key concepts and to clearly illustrate workflow relationships. With real-life international case stories by high profile entrepreneurship scholars, such as William B. Gartner, Saras Sarasvathy, Alain Fayolle, Benson Honig, the book highlights the paradoxes and dilemmas entrepreneurs may encounter on their entrepreneurial journey. Including student involvement, theory, paradoxes, actions, and exercises, all undergraduate students with or without prior entrepreneurship education can enjoy the many benefits, puzzles, and insights the book has to offer.

'What a life. Tony Fernandes has accomplished amazing things - and who's to say what he can go on to achieve?' Sir Richard Branson The inspiring story of business hero and Apprentice Asia star Tony Fernandes As a boy, Tony Fernandes wanted to be a pilot, a footballer or a racing driver. By 2011 he'd gone one better: founding his own airline and his own formula one team, and becoming Chairman of Queens Park Rangers, helping them reach the Premier League again after a 15-year absence from the top flight. Flying High is the memoir of an exceptional business leader; the man who created Asia's first budget airline, democratizing air travel in Asia and building AirAsia into a multi-billion-dollar company in the process. Published as Tony returns as the face of the second series of Apprentice Asia, this inspiring personal story will be a major global publishing event. Tony Fernandes studied at Epsom College, UK, and the London School of Accountancy. He worked for Virgin Communications and Warner Music before acquiring AirAsia and relaunching it as Asia's first low-cost carrier in 2001/2. He is currently Group CEO of AirAsia, Chairman of QPR football club and owner of the Caterham F1 team. Tony has been awarded a CBE, titled twice by the King of Malaysia and awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French government. He has also received awards from major business media outlets including theInternational Herald Tribune, Business Times, Business Week, Fast Company and Forbes.

This innovative textbook covers the most important challenges facing family businesses. Practice-inspired and research-based, it emphasizes both practice and theory along with concepts, cases and reflection questions to illustrate key topics. This text discusses the relevance of family firms across the globe, their unique strengths and weaknesses, their governance, strategic management, the succession process, drivers of long-term success and interpersonal dynamics. Taking a holistic and international perspective, the book combines management concepts, research findings, practical examples and case studies to provide a unique source of insight and inspiration for students and practitioners in the most prominent type of business organization in the world. This textbook's comprehensive coverage of topics and combination of didactical formats makes it ideal for students studying family firms, and a useful reference for professors, advisors, and practitioners as well.

Accomplished inventor, visionary photographer, philanthropist, and successful businessman, Francis Blake (1850 1913) changed not only the way Americans communicated in the nineteenth century but also quite literally how they saw themselves. His major inventions, the telephone transmitter and innovations in high-speed photography, and his Weston, Massachusetts estate Keewaydin epitomized how a gifted individual of modest circumstances could create and re-create himself during America s Gilded Age.

The Blake telephone transmitter became the world standard, and anyone who spoke into Alexander Graham Bell's device in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century also encountered Blake s name, emblazoned on his transmitter. In addition, he invested an enormous amount of his energy, talent, and wealth in his home, originally designed by Charles Follen McKim, and its elaborate grounds. This self-contained compound, which included homes for his in-laws and his children and a complete water system, reflected Blake's passion for precision, beauty, and order. It became his major preoccupation, a place where he could exercise unchallenged mastery.Unfortunately, the fabulous Keewaydin estate did not endure, but thankfully Blake's photographic images remain. Blake's experimental camera work placed him in the forefront of the photographic world in the 1880s. His high-speed photographs remain unsurpassed for their clarity, crispness, and composition, and are as fresh today as when he first snapped them over a hundred years ago. Although little-known today, Blake helped revolutionize photography and transformed the role of the photograph in American society, marking him as a significant figure at the dawn of the twentieth century. His story is a compelling and fascinating chronicle of unbounded energy, independence, and genius.

Why companies need to move away from a "product first" orientation to pursuing innovation based on customer need. In the past, companies found success with a product-first orientation; they made a thing that did a thing. TheInversion Factor explains why the companies of today and tomorrow will have to abandon the product-first orientation. Rather than asking "How do the products we make meet customer needs?" companies should ask "How can technology help us reimagine and fill a need?" Zipcar, for example, instead of developing another vehicle for moving people from point A to point B, reimagined how people interacted with vehicles. Zipcar inverted the traditional car company mission. The authors explain how the introduction of "smart" objects connected by the Internet of Things signals fundamental changes for business. The IoT, where real and digital coexist, is powering new ways to meet human needs. Companies that know this include giants like Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, Google, Tesla, and Apple, as well as less famous companies like Tile, Visenti, and Augury. The Inversion Factor offers a roadmap for businesses that want to follow in their footsteps. The authors chart the evolution of three IoTs-the Internet of Things (devices connected to the Internet), the Intelligence of Things (devices that host software applications), and the Innovation of Things (devices that become experiences). Finally, they offer a blueprint for businesses making the transition to inversion and interviews with leaders of major companies and game-changing startups.

In recent years entrepreneurship has become one of the most popular fields of research in management studies. As the subject has broadened, increasing attention has been paid to the behavioural aspects of different practices to identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. This timely book analyses three key strands of contemporary research into entrepreneurial behaviour: intention, education and orientation. It offers novel insights that can be applied to foster entrepreneurial activities in different settings. The chapters in the book are divided into three parts. The contributors first focus on the entrepreneur as an individual and offer three innovative yet complementary approaches to entrepreneurial intentions. They go on to consider how entrepreneurial behaviour can be trained and learned, providing a much-needed theoretical anchor to pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship. The final part covers entrepreneurial behaviour at the organizational level and expertly tackles the popular topic of entrepreneurial orientation through novel empirical studies with diverse methodologies and multiple levels of analysis. Researchers and advanced students in management and entrepreneurship will benefit from the state-of-the-art analysis and innovative approaches presented. Entrepreneurship educators and policy-makers will also find this book to be stimulating reading, where they can find suggestions for an evidence-based practice.

With must-have updates, a new edition of the bestselling method that shows how anyone can turn their one simple idea into millions - without lifting a finger! Stephen Key is an award-winning inventor who has licensed more than 20 product ideas. In 2011, he shared the secrets to his success in the bestselling book One Simple Idea. Since that time, many changes have occurred in the entrepreneurial world. One Simple Idea, Revised and Expanded Edition has been revised and updated to reflect current trends and practices in the industry. In addition to teaching readers how to turn their ideas into marketable products that companies will want to license, Key expands upon his cutting-edge product development, sales, and negotiation strategies, making note of the new opportunities and technologies available to creative people today. The book also features real-life success stories from people who have used the author's strategies.

With a wide-ranging set of contributions, this book provides a compilation of cutting-edge original research in the field of entrepreneurial opportunities. The book reopens the subject from diverse perspectives focusing on theories and approaches to entrepreneurial opportunities. It provides a brief history of the idea of opportunity and a framework of how opportunities develop in space and place. Further, this Research Handbook looks at process and context-based views on the topic. It also includes the latest research on impact factors, such as individual values on creating entrepreneurial opportunities. The book has been complemented by an outstanding Delphi panel of six leading scholars of the field: Lowell Busenitz, Dimo Dimov, James O. Fiet, Denis Gregoire, Jeff McMullen and Mike Wright. This carefully edited selection of current and topical contributions will be of immense value to students, researchers and scholars interested in the field of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Allying and expanding the diverse fields of entrepreneurship and sustainable development research is a modern day imperative. The Handbook of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Research cuts through the different approaches and perspectives of the two fields to point the way ahead for research on sustainable entrepreneurship, outlining the motivation, intentions and impact of ecopreneurs in a local, national and global context. This Handbook paints an illuminating picture of the historic and current understanding of the bond between entrepreneurship and sustainable development. The authors explore the basic contradictions between the two fields and outline the transformative role entrepreneurship can play in achieving sustainable development. 45 expert researchers and their research communities from 16 countries across Europe, Africa, Australia and North America provide original and informative contributions on a variety of issues, from women's empowerment to climate change and organic farmers to ecotourism. With current and authorative contributions spanning the globe, this Handbook will inspire researchers, teachers and policy-makers to compose their own understanding and contribution on the fast expanding field of entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

Drawing upon current cutting-edge theories, knowledge and research findings, this Handbook provides an analysis of the interaction between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and financial institutions globally. The contributors consider regional and international perspectives within and between Europe, North America, New Zealand, the Middle East, as well as South, Central and East Asia on a chapter-by-chapter basis. In so doing, they provide a contextualized, up-to-date snapshot of research into entrepreneurial finance across the world. This book is aimed at both established and emergent researchers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students looking for avenues of future research into entrepreneurial finance. It will also be of use to policymakers and practitioners seeking a global perspective in their work.

The first generation of children born after Rwanda's 1994 genocide is just now reaching maturity, setting aside their school uniforms to take up adult roles in Rwandan society and the economy. At the same time, Rwanda's post-war government has begun to shrug off international aid as it pursues an increasingly independent path of business-friendly yet strongly state-regulated social and economic development. The Orderly Entrepreneur tells the story of a new Rwanda now at the vanguard among developing countries, emulating the policies of Singapore, Korea, and China, and devoutly committed to entrepreneurship as a beacon for 21st century economic growth. Drawing on ethnographic research with nearly 500 participants, The Orderly Entrepreneur investigates the impact and reception of the Rwandan government's multiyear entrepreneurship curriculum, first implemented in 2007 as required learning in all secondary schools. As Honeyman shows, "entrepreneurship" is more than a benign buzzword or hopeful panacea for economic development, but a complex ideal with unique meanings across Rwandan society. She reveals how curriculum developers, teachers, and students all brought their own interpretations and influence to the new entrepreneurship curriculum, exposing how even a carefully engineered project of social transformation can be full of indeterminacies and surprising twists every step of the way.

You may be familiar with the success stories of Spanx, GoldieBlox, and other women-owned businesses that have taken their markets by storm. But, today, only two percent of women-owned firms generate more than one million dollars annually. The Next Wave is here to help women drive up that number. Drawing on the Kauffman Firm Survey and many other sources, Susan Coleman and Alicia M. Robb cull together data-driven advice for women-owned, growth-oriented businesses as they finance their expansion. They not only consider the unique approaches and specific concerns of female business owners, but also take into account the growing pool of investors who will play a role in selecting and grooming a new generation of women entrepreneurs. Since growth-oriented firms typically require external capital, the investor perspective is critical. Telling entrepreneurs what the research means for them, outfitting them with resources, and illustrating the road ahead with real world cases, this book serves as a pioneering strategy guide for the next wave of women who want to "go big" to bring home their goals.