Investors are instrumental in the development of new businesses and can be a key component of future success. However, for business ventures outside the general urban environment, communicating with potential sponsors may be difficult. Role of Regional Development Agencies in Entrepreneurial and Rural Development: Emerging Research and Opportunities explores the theoretical and practical aspects of regional economic development and applications within entrepreneurship and provides guidance on how to establish the agencies and implement sustainable development. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as leadership management, organization culture, and socio-economic systems, this book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, developers, small and medium enterprises, business associations, bankers, financial organizations, researchers, business professionals, academicians, and students.

Explains how easy it is to start and run a business. List many businesses to start with little or no money. Shows how to turn those arts and crafts items into a business. Very informative for men and women.

'Zellweger has written a wide-ranging, thorough and very readable examination of the family business. His discussions of governance, succession planning, financial management, and conflict resolution draw on over 40 years of research, with relevant case studies that provoke discussion and reflection. His overview of cultural differences in families and in family businesses shows his grounded perspective. This text will provide a strong educational foundation for students and proactive family business owners alike.' - John A. Davis, Harvard Business School 'One of the top international researchers in the family business field, a celebrated instructor, and a thoughtful practitioner, Thomas Zellweger succeeded in the daunting task of writing a book on family enterprises that appeals to multiple audiences. By carefully identifying the themes that are crucial to family business continuity, and by connecting them through a multidisciplinary approach that is at the same time intellectually deep, practically relevant, and crystal clear, the author does full justice to the complexity of family firms, and to their vital role in our economies and societies.' - Carlo Salvato, Bocconi University, Italy 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.

'A refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like ... It's an amazing tale' Bill Gates

'The best book I read last year was Shoe Dog, by Nike's Phil Knight. Phil is a very wise, intelligent and competitive fellow who is also a gifted storyteller' Warren Buffett

In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the boot of his Plymouth, Knight grossed $8000 in his first year. Today, Nike's annual sales top $30 billion. In an age of start-ups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all start-ups, and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe-spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognisable symbols in the world today.

But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, he tells his story. Candid, humble, wry and gutsy, he begins with his crossroads moment when at 24 he decided to start his own business. He details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream - along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls how his first band of partners and employees soon became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission, and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything.

A memoir rich with insight, humour and hard-won wisdom, this book is also studded with lessons - about building something from scratch, overcoming adversity, and ultimately leaving your mark on the world.

This book offers novel and contemporary thinking of entrepreneurship and change. It espouses the distinct but reciprocal nature of both concepts to unravel high levels of transformation, both in terms of social structures and social relations, inherent in new venture creation. It provides insights from a theoretical, educational, and industrial context with emphasis on holistic approaches to change. Each chapter illuminates distinct elements of the entrepreneurial landscape and the importance of learning, creativity and innovation as tools for practice and knowledge management. This book is an essential resource for practitioners, researchers, and policy makers because it provides new outlooks and dimensions on the transformational powers of entrepreneurship and change.

Entrepreneurship and innovation are arguably the main drivers of economic development today. This book explores the two in depth, at both the national and regional levels, using a variety of methodologies. The expert contributors discuss the subject from a policy perspective, with case studies from a host of countries, including new member states of the EU, as well as established EU member states. Split into three parts, the book focuses on: Innovation, Entrepreneurial Activity and Regional Development, and Entrepreneurship and SME Policy. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of entrepreneurship and related subjects, as well as practitioners and policy makers in the field. Contributors include: T. Chamberlin, A. Chepurenko, D. Curran, V. Elakhovskiy, M. Freel, O. Gumenna, C. Kalantaridis, M. Kuttim, T. Mets, C. O'Gorman, B. Piasecki, E. Popovskaya, A. Richter, P. Robson, A. Rogut, S. Roper, O. Savchenko, S. Slava, U. Venesaar

This book presents a reader-friendly analysis and synthesis of the key economic and management approaches to innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological change. Link and Siegel provide precise definitions of key concepts, present numerous historical examples to illustrate these concepts, outline a framework for analyzing key topics, compare and contrast different theoretical frameworks, provide a reader-friendly interpretation of quantitative and qualitative findings, and emphasize international comparisons of innovation infrastructure and technology policy.
Key topics covered include:
DT basic concepts of innovation and technological change,
DT a history of the role of the entrepreneur in innovation,
DT the impact of innovation and information technology on performance,
DT the analysis of technological spillovers,
DT innovation in the service sector,
DT university technology commercialization and entrepreneurship, including property-based institutions such as research parks and incubators,
DT entrepreneurship in the public sector,
DT the first systematic analysis and synthesis of the new interdisciplinary literature on technology commercialization and entrepreneurship at universities.
While the book reflects the complexities of debate around these topics, it will be an important guide to the area for academics, graduate, and advanced undergraduate students of Business Studies, Economics, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Studies. The book also provides a roadmap of specific recommendations for managers and policymakers.

The creation, success and long-term survival of enterprises are fundamentally linked to the effectiveness of decision-making processes and negotiation capabilities. This book provides an overview of research into how decisions permeate entrepreneurial ventures throughout their lifecycle. A multidisciplinary approach combining psychology, sociology and political science is used to investigate how entrepreneurs address and deal with decision-making. The respective contributions highlight the latest empirical, theoretical and meta-research, and bridge the gap between literature on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial and innovative behaviours with that on decision-making and negotiation. This book is one of the first to combine these streams of research, thereby offering a new and insightful addition to the field of entrepreneurship.

Combining emerging trends in collaboration, democratization, and urbanization, this book examines the emergence of entrepreneurship and innovation as a primarily urban phenomenon, explains why urban environments are rapidly attracting global innovators across three distinct forms of "urbanpreneurship," and lights the path forward for entrepreneurs, innovators, and city governments. The world is urbanizing rapidly. Currently, 600 cities account for 60 percent of the global economy; by 2025, it is predicted that the top 100 cities will account for 35 percent of the world's economy. Emerging trends in collaboration, the sharing economy, and innovation are opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurs in urban environments-"urbanpreneurs"-to participate in everything from tech startups in cities (instead of suburban tech parks) to makers and on-demand service providers to roles in civic entrepreneurship for those interested in solving the challenges that growing cities are facing. Readers of this book will understand how the converging trends of collaboration, democratization, and urbanization are rapidly attracting global innovators to cities capable of creating the enabling environment for aspiring innovators. The book discusses how entrepreneurs can best capitalize on the opportunities in urban settings, identifies what large and small cities can do to encourage more urbanpreneurship, and concludes with a consideration of the future of entrepreneurship in urban environments. Documents how the integration of three converging trends-collaboration, democratization, and urbanization-contribute to what the author calls the "Urbanpreneur Spiral" Presents eye-opening insights and reflections on the current and future state of entrepreneurship and innovation in society Explains why today's cities are the primary source of opportunities for new entrepreneurs Pays much-needed attention to the growing role of local governments in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation

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 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. Contributors include: C. Albornoz, J.E. Amoros, T. Baker, B. Bjerke, L. Busenitz, M. Chiasson, D. Dimov, J.O. Fiet, J. Gaddefors, W.B. Gartner, D.A. Gregoire, A. Haas, T.P. Kenworthy, S. Korsgaard, A. Kurczewska, C. Leger-Jarniou, F. Linan, M. Marchesnay, J.S. McMullen, S.P. Sassmannshausen, F. Sautet, B.T. Teague, S. Tegtmeier, S.J. Vliamos, R.D. Wadhwani, M. Wright