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.

Corporate entrepreneurship is about remaking organizations; it affects organizational cultures and systems which, in turn, influence the magnitude, direction and content of corporate entrepreneurship activities. This Handbook hopes to synthesize what we know and clarify what we need to know about key issues such as strategic renewal, innovation and venturing activities within established companies, giving direction to future research. This Handbook combines conceptual and empirical contributions covering a wide gamut of theories and perspectives that include: opportunity discovery vs. creation, the behavioral theory of the firm, learning, human capital, agency, and dynamic capabilities. The chapters uncover who the corporate entrepreneur is, how corporate entrepreneurs vary from their independent counterparts, how corporate entrepreneurship influences organizational performance, and the effect of incremental versus radical strategic renewal undertaken within corporate entrepreneurship on financial performance. They also investigate what an organization learns from corporate entrepreneurship, as well as the types of innovation that companies gain through corporate venturing capital investments. The diversity of authors, perspectives and foci of the chapters highlight the growing depth and breadth of the worldwide research on corporate entrepreneurship and the growing maturity of this research. This book will appeal to scholars and students of entrepreneurship and/or strategic management, as well as managers of established firms. Contributors: S. Basu, H. Burgers, J.J. Chrisman, D. Day, G. Dushnitsky, S. Georgoulas, J. Hayton, C. Heavey, S.A. Hill, M. Hughes, M. Jelinek, T. Keil, S. Kotha, M. Lewis, M. Maula, E. Memili, D.O. Neubaum, G.C. O'Connor, E.L. Scifres, M. Shaver, Z. Simsek, D. Ucbasaran, V. Van De Vrande, A. Wadhwa, S.A. Zahra

Many scholars have argued that technology, entrepreneurship, integrated business models and marketing are key to the success of any business, but in particular to the success of unicorn companies. However, there is a need to further investigate interdisciplinary approaches to techno entrepreneurial business strategy, which remains a neglected area of research. In this edited volume, authors explore and develop principles, models and other theoretical and practical concepts to develop better guidance on how to adapt business models using new technologies such as AI, cloud computing, blockchain, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. Underpinned by established academic theories, the book explores integrated business models that are both defensive and offensive in strategic outlook. Ultimately, it will help students, researchers and entrepreneurs to design, develop and implement technology-enabled integrated business models.

In recent years, the pace of technological growth-from the very first stages of research and development to full-scale industrial implementation-has quickened at an exponential rate. To better keep pace with rapidly-changing market demands, the gap between university research incubators and public-sector start-up companies has undergone a marked contraction. Competitive Strategies for Academic Entrepreneurship: Commercialization of Research-Based Products seeks to fill the gap in research between universities and the public, and offers cutting-edge insight into the current state of the field. Charting a course that moves from discussions of academic resistance and implications for knowledge-transfer theory to current case-studies of academic/industrial launch-pads like COTEC's Technology Commercialization Accelerator and the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program, this publication targets an audience of academicians, administrators, researchers, entrepreneurs, and established professionals, and seeks to provide insight into the mechanisms by which the research of today becomes the household names of tomorrow.

Most leadership research has been undertaken in corporate contexts and little attention has been given to leadership development in entrepreneurial and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This book argues that the study of entrepreneurs as leaders is a gap in both the leadership and the entrepreneurship literatures. The impact of leaders is a crucial factor in the success or failure of smaller entrepreneurial firms and has implications for our understanding of new venture viability and growth. Featuring conceptual and empirical chapters from a wide range of cultures and entrepreneurship and leadership ecosystems, this Research Handbook is the first of its kind to present a systematic overview of the entrepreneurial leadership field, providing a state-of-the-art perspective and highlighting unanswered questions and opportunities for further research. It consolidates existing theory development, stimulates new conceptual thinking and includes path-breaking empirical explorations. With its international perspective illustrating the practice of entrepreneurial leadership in a wide range of organizational contexts, the Research Handbook on Entrepreneurship and Leadership offers an essential reference to students and researchers in entrepreneurship and leadership alike. Contributors: A. Bagheri, S. Barnes, R.G. Bell, M. Brannback, A. Carsrud, M.-H. Chen, M.H. Cone, J. Croad, A. Gibb, E. Hamilton, P. Harrison, R. Harrison, G. Haskins, O.M. Hatem, S. Kempster, D.F. Kuratko, C. Leitch, A. Lincoln, M. McAdam, S. Mueller, Z.A.L. Pihie, D. Rae, M. Renko, M.A. Roomi, A. Roeschke, L. Schjoedt, C. Skaveniti, R. Smith, S. Smith, V. Stead, V. Tzoumpa, V.S. Valencia, T. Volery, J.L. Whittington, H. Zhang

The need for "back to basics" information about credit risk has not disappeared; in fact, it has grown among lenders and investors who have no easy ways to learn about their clients. This short and readable book guides readers through core risk/performance issues. Readers learn the ways and means of running more efficient businesses, review bank and investor requirements as they evaluate funding requests, gain knowledge selling themselves, confidence in business plans, and their ability to make good on loans. They can download powerful tools such as banker's cash flow models and forecast equations programmable into a cell or tablet. Readers can punch keys to ascertain financial needs, calculate sales growth rates calling for external financing, profits required to internally finance their firms, and ways to position revenue growth rates in equilibrium with their firm's capital structure - a rock-solid selling point among smart lenders and investors. The book's "how-to," practical and systematical guide to credit and risk analysis draws upon case studies and online tools, such as videos, spreadsheets, and slides in providing a concise risk/return methodology.

The Handbook of Measures for International Entrepreneurship Research is a user-friendly collection of multi-item measures developed and used in the research of international entrepreneurship and important areas related to it: international business, entrepreneurship, marketing, strategy, and innovation. Editors Nicole Coviello and Helena Yli-Renko carefully compiled 212 scales from over 820 possible measures using rigorous selection criteria. The scales fall into eight distinct categories: Individual-level influences Firm and team-level influences External environmental influences Relationships, networks, and social capital Organizational learning Capabilities Orientation and strategy Performance and innovation outcomes For each scale, the book includes the following information to enable ease of use: summary, construct definition, description, source, development or adaptation procedures, sample, validity, scores, references, and scale items. This standout Handbook not only builds a compelling case for a more rigorous approach to research methods in international entrepreneurship research, but also explores the best practices in development, adaptation, use, and reporting of multi-item measures. Academic researchers in international entrepreneurship, international business, entrepreneurship, marketing, strategy, and/or innovation will find this reference tool a welcome addition to their survey research practices. Policy-makers conducting research in these areas will also appreciate this book.

Strategic choices made by entrepreneurs have major consequences for SME performance. This book explores the factors that influence entrepreneurial strategic decisions using a cognitive theoretical framework. The proposed model, based on a dual processing approach, integrates motivation, emotions and information processing modes and is tested in several empirical studies. The results show the model's potential for furthering interesting research agendas in entrepreneurial cognition research. The authors also reveal that entrepreneurial cognitions can be elicited and represented in the form of cognitive maps. The structural complexity of the cognitive maps (cognitive complexity) is an important prerequisite of effective strategic decisions and is a core concept for the advancement of our knowledge in entrepreneurial cognition. The book is an informed and interesting exploration of entrepreneurial cognition with both theoretical and methodological contributions to this field of research. Entrepreneurial Strategic Decision-Making will be of great interest to undergraduate students and academics in the field of entrepreneurship. Policymakers will learn from this book to understand the distinctions between various types of entrepreneurial decision-makers and the way they make strategic decisions.

What drives innovation and entrepreneurship in India, China, and the United States? Our data-rich and evidence-based exploration of relationships among innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth yields theoretical models of economic growth in the context of macroeconomic factors. Because we know far too little about the key characteristics of Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs and the ways they innovate, our balanced, systematic comparison of entrepreneurship and innovation results in a new approach to looking at economic growth that can be used to model empirical data from other countries. The importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to any economy has been recognized since the pioneering work of Joseph Schumpeter. Our analysis of the major factors that affect innovation and entrepreneurship in these three parts of the world - US, China and India -provides a comprehensive view of their effects and their likely futures.

Private Equity and Management Buy-outs provides a balanced view of the often polarized private equity debate. This careful and objective analysis of the presence of private equity in buy-out firms reviews the effects of this ownership transfer in terms of firm performance and survival, thus placing private equity in a broader context of implications for value creation. The analysis provides an overview of international trends in private equity and develops a conceptual framework for understanding the heterogeneity of private equity deals. Systematic evidence from large-scale studies of private equity and buy-outs are used to shed light on short- and longer-term economic and social effects. For the first time the broader scope of the key issues now facing private equity and buy-outs are brought together in the contributions herein. The book includes highlights such as: * empirical evidence on a special organizational form of private equity; * examination of backed buy-outs (perspectives from strategy, finance, HRM and management accounting); * discussion on the level of PE involvement; * challenging further debate on economic and social key issues regarding policy implications and a future research agenda. Academics and researchers - postgraduate and above - in business schools and schools of economics will find this book enlightening. It will also hold great interest for practitioners in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, general, strategic and financial management, and corporate entrepreneurship and corporate governance.

As businesses aim to compete internationally, they must be apprised of new methods and technologies to improve their digital marketing strategy in order to remain ahead of their competition. Trends in entrepreneurship that drive consumer engagement and business initiatives, such as social media marketing, yields customer retention and positive feedback. Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship provides information on emerging trends in business innovation, entrepreneurship, and marketing strategies. While highlighting challenges such as successful social media interactions and consumer engagement, this book explores valuable information within various business environments and industries such as e-commerce, small and medium enterprises, hospitality and tourism management, and customer relationship management. This book is an ideal source for students, marketers, social media marketers, business managers, public relations professionals, promotional coordinators, economists, hospitality industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and researchers looking for relevant information on new methods in digital marketing and entrepreneurship.

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.

This books provides a critical perspective on entrepreneurialism in the creative industries. Split into three sections, the book first asks the contextual question; why, at this point in time, did we arrive at such a focus on entrepreneurship in the creative industries? Examining the historical, social, cultural, economic and political background, the book places the creative industries and entrepreneurship firmly within a systemic approach to creativity and cultural production. Given this emphasis on entrepreneurship in the creative system, the second part of the book asks, what do those who want to work in the creative industries need to do to pragmatically gain an income? The practices, skills, business models and plans necessary to master in order to successfully run a business are explored in this section. The final section contains detailed case studies that reveal the lives of those who found a way to successfully gain an income in the creative industries. It highlights the practical knowledge they gathered, how they negotiated their field of endeavour, and the decisions they made in the real world. Fundamentally the book answers three questions: How and why did we get here? Given that we are here at this point in time, how do we go about being entrepreneurial? And who has managed to do this in the creative industries and how did they do it? Covering both theoretical debates in detail, and practical case studies in key sub-sectors of creative industries, this truly integrative and far-reaching volume will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners alike.