Entrepreneurial cognition research is at a crossroads, where static views give way to dynamic approaches. This Handbook draws on a variety of perspectives from experts in the field of entrepreneurial cognition to highlight the key elements in a socially-situated view, where cognition is action-oriented, embodied, socially-situated, and distributed. It provides readers with some of the most up-to-date approaches to entrepreneurial cognition research and is designed to be an invaluable and timesaving companion for entrepreneurial cognition researchers. With insights from leading entrepreneurial cognition researchers the Handbook offers a comprehensive literature review of the field. Readers seeking to better understand and participate in some of the most up-to-date approaches to entrepreneurial cognition research will find this Handbook to be especially helpful in their research. Established scholars who are new to the research area will also be interested in this book. University libraries with research-focused business schools will also benefit from this Handbook. Contributors: R.A. Baron, D.A. Baucus, M.S. Baucus, B. Bird, M. Brannback, M.S. Cardon, A.L. Carsrud, E.T. Chan, J.S. Clarke, A.C. Corbett, J.P. Cornelissen, M. Drnovsek, M-D. Foo, D.P. Forbes, D.A. Gregoire, M. Hayek, J.S. McMullen, J.R. Mitchell, R.K. Mitchell, C.Y. Murnieks, L.E. Palich, B. Randolph-Seng, M.R. Ryan, S.D. Sarasvathy, A. Slavec, W.A. Williams, Jr., M.S. Wood, M.A. Zachary

This timely book investigates the importance of national culture as it applies to the strategic management of multinationals. The author focuses on backward linkage strategies within US, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean microcomputer multinationals investing in Europe. In particular, both market-driven and resource-driven strategic orientations are depicted in new and established firms. The main premise of the book is concerned with the backward linkage strategy of US and Asian Pacific firms, and is therefore based on a specific set of relevant core cultural values rather than a universal set of values. The material in this volume is derived from directly and indirectly collected data, and in addition, unstructured face-to-face interviews with representatives from multinational firms headquartered across different cultures. This volume will provide academics, researchers, students, business consultants and strategists a new perspective on business strategy as well as an up-to-date source of industry material.

During the last decade, privatization, understood here as the transfer of state-owned enterprises to the private sector, has become a widespread phenomenon among formerly socialist and mixed economies. It has been touted as a quick route to growth and prosperity in countries suffering from bloated, inefficient, and debt ridden public sectors. The contributors to this book, drawn from a number of social science disciplines, explore the various ways in which privatization programs affect workers in the reforming countries. The book includes an examination of how privatization impacts on labor economically, by changing the level and conditions of employment, as well as its influence on wages, benefits, and social services. A second section looks at the political effects of privatization on workers, focusing on the strength and militancy of trade unions and their relationship to political parties. The essays, written by scholars as well as policy practitioners, cover both post-socialist countries, including Russia, China, and Eastern Europe, and the developing regions - the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. Scholars and students in economics and political science as well as policymakers will find this collection a welcome addition to the literature on privatization.

The Handbook of Emerging Market Multinational Corporations focuses on why emerging market multinationals internationalize, how they do so and the advantages they explore and exploit as they internationalize. The Handbook highlights the requirement for new perspectives on theory and managerial practice to better comprehend this phenomenon.Internationalizing firms from emerging markets are sweeping the global economy. Here, expert contributors offer interesting insight into emerging market multinationals internationalization drivers, growth processes and expansion, and underscore similarities and differences between developed and emerging country internationalizing firms. Case studies from emerging market economies are presented, including corporations from China, Egypt, India, Thailand, Russia, and South Africa. Revised perspectives on internationalization theory are proposed, addressing changing global value chain configurations, institutional distance between home and host countries, the role of governments and preferred modes of entry into foreign markets. This theoretical, empirical and conceptual work is a fundamental point of reference for students and academics interested in business, economics and internationalization theory. Practitioners in internationalizing firms and policy makers within government and non-governmental organizations will find this discerning book to be of great value. Contributors include: Y. Aharoni, F. J. Contractor, A. Cuervo-Cazurra, M. Demirbag, L. Fernandez-Mendez , L. Gao, E. Garcia-Canal, M. F. Guillen, K. Kalotay, E. Lioliou, X. Liu, K. Meyer, S.R. Nair, P. Pananond, R. Ramamurti, J.N. Sheth, R. Singh, Y. Wei, G. Wood, Y. Wu, A. Yaprak

Every one of the largest, most successful corporations were, at some point, mere startups. McKee explains what enables some companies to growbigger and better, while others stumble along year after year, running but never winning the race. The difference is that the biggest and best brands arena (TM)t slaves to conventional marketing wisdom. McKee shows by example how the same, sometimes counter-intuitive, strategies used by the biggest brands can also best serve small and mid-sized companies. Among the topics explored: How can a company grow big by thinking small? Why do the best companies sometimes avoid being better? Why do brands that create the most memorable advertising stay away from focus groups? What is the secret to an effective slogan? When can admitting a negative become a positive? A diverse selection of companies provides powerful lessons, ranging from traditional icons like Coca-Cola, McDonalda (TM)s, and General Motors, to new media models like Google and Facebook. This book appeals not only to time- starved executives, but also to middle managers and owners of small businesses who have a wide variety of marketing problems to address and who need to change the way they think about how to generate healthy, consistent growth.

Political Entrepreneurship explores the role of political entrepreneurs in regional growth and entrepreneurial diversity. The authors define a political entrepreneur as a politician, bureaucrat or officer within the publicly funded sector who encourages entrepreneurship for growth and employment using innovative approaches. This book aims to enrich the established research on entrepreneurship with in-depth knowledge of the conditions conducive for political entrepreneurship in Sweden. Political entrepreneurs have the potential to be innovative and encourage entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial diversity by fundamentally challenging the prevailing formal and informal institutions. It is argued that, in times of economic stress, political entrepreneurship is essential to find new ways of promoting growth, employment and welfare. By using social science and economics perspectives, this study complements the dominant business administration research on entrepreneurship by increasing our knowledge of the economic and political contexts in which entrepreneurship and private enterprise is conducted. This book is essential reading for students, researchers and policymakers interested in politics, economics and entrepreneurship, as well as for those working in the public sector. Contributors include: D.E. Andersson, S. Andersson, A.E. Andersson, P. Assmo, C. Berggren, T. Bromander, C. Karlsson, M. Nilsson, C. Silander, D. Silander, P. Stroemblad, M.-L. von Bergmann-Winberg, Y. von Friedrichs, E. Wihlborg

The purpose of this volume is to bring together the leading scholarly papers about how globalization has impacted the role of SMEs. In fact, globalization has affected SMEs in two major ways. The first has been to facilitate the transnational activities of SMEs. Transnational activities, ranging from exports to foreign direct investment to participating in global value chains have become easier as a result of globalization. The second impact of globalization has been to shift the source of competitiveness towards knowledge-based economic activity, which has led to an increased role for SMEs. The first section of this volume examines how globalization has affected the role of SMEs in the economy. The second section of the volume is devoted to global strategies by SMEs The third section focuses on an important type of global activity of SMEs, which involves foreign direct investment. The fourth section focuses on the role of clusters and networks in generating SME competitiveness in global markets. SME export strategies and performance is analyzed in Section Five. Section Six examines the impact that the international mobility of labour has had on SMEs. The seventh section focuses on the role that SMEs play in transnational technology transfer. Section Eight is devoted to SMEs in the context of developing countries. In the final section of the volume policy issues are raised. This includes identifying how policy needs to address barriers to internationalization confronting SMEs.

In the first exhaustive treatment of the field in 20 years, Scott Shane extends the analysis of entrepreneurship by offering an overarching conceptual framework that explains the different parts of the entrepreneurial process - the opportunities, the people who pursue them, the skills and strategies used to organize and exploit opportunities, and the environmental conditions favorable to them - in a coherent way. Given the level of interest devoted to entrepreneurship in the economy and among academics at business schools, one would think that researchers would have deep insights into this phenomenon. However, those who look closely at academic investigations of entrepreneurship realize that scholarly understanding of this field is quite limited. Unlike its sister fields of accounting, marketing, finance, organizational behavior and strategic management, entrepreneurship is rather poorly explained by academics. Scott Shane resolves this by considering the nexus of enterprising individuals and valuable opportunities and by using that nexus to understand the processes of discovery and exploitation of opportunities, the acquisition of resources, entrepreneurial strategy and the organizing process. This authoritative study will be a central reference and standard text for researchers, academics, and students in the field of entrepreneurship.

The Theoretical World of Entrepreneurship contains the first and most comprehensive examination of more than 250 theories applicable to the study of entrepreneurship. It includes a theoretical examination of current social and economic controversies that impact entrepreneurs. Following in Weber's tradition, it also compares the doctrines of 16 Christian denominations and nine world religions which offer different conceptual windows for understanding entrepreneurs. The author ties the theoretical world of entrepreneurship together by pursuing three primary objectives. The first objective is to focus intently on the need to specify the assumptions of the theories that are used to address research questions. The second is to provide a common vision of diverse perspectives. The third is to help scholars who are seeking alternatives to the conventional wisdom. This comprehensive resource is ideal for doctoral students seeking to grasp the entire theoretical domain of the field of entrepreneurship. It also serves as a reference for professors who want to position the work that they know best within the frame of the entire theoretical world of entrepreneurship. The book is accessible enough to engage those who do not already possess an academic background.

The contributors to this collection provide a wealth of new analyses of both traditional and emerging aspects of entrepreneurship, from a variety of national perspectives and from a variety of disciplines. Globalization has begun to dismantle the barriers that traditionally segregated local business opportunities and local firms from their international counterparts. Local markets are becoming integral parts of broader, global markets. As globalization proceeds apace, entrepreneurs and small businesses will play a more prominent role on the global business arena. The volume is divided into three sections. The first looks at the internationalization process itself while the second focuses on factors facilitating this process in small and medium-sized firms. The last section examines emerging dimensions in management policy. This book provides valuable insights for business leaders, policy formulators, students and academics alike in understanding and coping with our rapidly changing world.

Femtocell is currently the most promising technology for supporting the increasing demand of data traffic in wireless networks. Femtocells provide an opportunity for enabling innovative mobile applications and services in home and office environments. Femtocell Communications and Technologies: Business Opportunities and Deployment Challenges is an extensive and thoroughly revised version of a collection of review and research based chapters on femtocell technology. This work focuses on mobility and security in femtocell, cognitive femtocell, and standardization and deployment scenarios. Several crucial topics addressed in this book are interference mitigation techniques, network integration option, cognitive optimization, and economic incentives to install femtocells that may have a larger impact on their ultimate success. The book is optimized for use by graduate researchers who are familiar with the fundamentals of wireless communication and cellular concepts.