Limited potential of financial, organizational, human and technology resources doesn't provide SMEs sufficient opportunities to access information and knowledge necessary in competition. Observing the methods and tools used by large companies, this book studies the conditions under which it would be possible to provide support to SMEs at a lower cost and with greater methodological and organizational backing. The author presents the proposed solution, Benchmarking Collaborative Network, which would provide SMEs access to information about their level of competitiveness, the key areas for the creation of competitive advantage and the activities required to achieve this advantage.

This book focuses on topics such as the cultural specificity of Arab family businesses with regard to shaping their governance and management; the influence that specific values in the Arab world could exert on the management of family businesses; how spiritual and religious values influence business in Arab family firms; and the role of emotions in the management of family firms in the Arab World. Presenting a collection of contributions addressing management, finance, strategy and succession in Arab Family businesses, this book constitutes a novel and unique contribution to the research field of family businesses.

Exploring the diversity of small firms, this contributed volume focuses on the crucial topic of work and the ways in which it is regulated, and offers reflections on the future of labour more generally. Traditionally managed through informal and adaptive processes, small firms allow us to understand the challenges and opportunities facing larger companies within an increasingly fragmented global production system. Analysing the case of Italy, a country characterised by a high number and wide variety of small firms, the authors draw on the results of a survey involving over 2,300 firms and face-to-face interviews with owner-managers working in 60 small and micro firms across several different sectors. Providing detailed analysis which will be useful for scholars of human resource management and small business, as well as managers, practitioners and policy-makers, the book enables a better understanding of the world of work in a globalised economy.

If you want to start, scale, and sell your own company, Grow and Sell Your Start-up is packed with the inspiration, information and practical advice you need to do it successfully and achieve an exit thats right for you. When youre immersed in the excitement of starting a business, the thought of selling it seems like a distant dream. But what if it that dream could come true, and you could sell your business for millions? What if, one day, you could wake up to a life-changing sum of money in your bank account, and the freedom to do whatever you wanted with the rest of your life? If this sounds like the sort of thing thats only for Silicon Valley start-ups, Fiona Hudson-Kelly is living proof that it can be achieved, even by you - and this book will show you how. Sharing her own hard-won experiences and everything shes learnt on her journey through starting and selling numerous businesses, Fiona arms you with vital insider expert knowledge and smart approaches, coaching you step-by-step through the best ways to grow your business now, so you can maximise your chances of selling it for millions later.

An idea is the first step in the process of creating a business. Most ideas, no matter how brilliant they may seem, never actually end up becoming a business. This book explains how to: Look for new small business ideas. Evaluate ideas for their commercial potential. Unlock the strategies that turn an idea into a business. English's focus is on finding the seed of an idea and the process of developing it into a genuine business opportunity. He includes practical diagnostic 'reality tests' developed in his small business workshops. He also includes an analysis of changes in the Australian small business environment as result of Covid-19. The practical, slim volume is ideal for any budding entrepreneur looking for guidance on how to evaluate a business opportunity and build a commercial strategy around it. It will also be an ideal secondary reading for books on entrepreneurship and small business courses.

Drawing on a series of case studies from Finland, this book examines the role of networking in the internationalisation process of family firms. Providing a comprehensive overview of recent literature alongside the empirical analysis of 24 family firms, the authors use theoretical concepts from family business research to create a model specifically for the internationalisation and networking of family firms. An insightful read for those interested in international and small business, this book offers practical implications for the successful internationalisation of family firms and sets the agenda for future research in the field of family business.

In many countries, small businesses comprise over 95% of the proportion of private businesses and approximately half of the private workforce, with information technology being used in more than 90% of these businesses. As a result, governments worldwide are placing increasing importance upon the success of small business entrepreneurs and are providing increased resources to support this emphasis. Managing Information Technology in Small Business: Challenges and Solutions presents research in areas such as IT performance, electronic commerce, internet adoption, and IT planning methodologies and focuses on how these areas impact small businesses.

This book documents the distinctive experiences and challenges of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia. By assessing succession and innovation in SMEs as the two sides of a coin, this book explains how innovations are essential to SMEs in succession. With detailed case examples, the book provides generalized solutions for SMEs to answer the question of how to make succession and innovation simultaneously successful. The authors discuss the potential solutions to solve the challenges of SMEs on succession and innovation by considering the utilization of the capital market, the electronic commerce strategy, the international strategy, and angel investment to pursue portfolio entrepreneurship, and compare these Asia solutions to the experiences from Europe. The book is recommended for family business and SME owners, professionals serving these firms, and the consulting firms that work on continuity issues of SMEs in Asia.

Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise provides an overview of how small and medium business enterprises (SMEs) can use flexibility, agility, and anticipation strategies to better utilize information technology and knowledge management. Because small and medium businesses tend to be late technology adopters, they could miss versatile and strategic workforce advantages that enable them to achieve higher efficiency and effectiveness through technology.

This book shows these SMEs new technology trends that can transform the nature of their operations both in an evolutionary business path and through revolutionary opportunities. Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise applied correctly to small and medium business can be used as a strategic tool to reach growth and profit goals for the SMEs competing in a very dynamic and global marketplace. Examples include: identifying ways that IT can be used to develop strong relationships with customers and suppliers, and how to select the best technologies for business needs.

Information Technology for Small Business: Managing the Digital Enterprise targets SME owners, educators, and practitioners working in the related fields of management, IT, IS, and CS-related disciplines. Advanced-level students and policy makers focusing on SMEs will also find this book valuable in terms of main concepts for discussion.

Managing Cooperation in Supply Network Structures and Small- or Medium-sized Enterprises outlines different approaches to the analysis of the organisation of small- or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Owing to the increased competition in the worldwide market, several SMEs operating in the same industrial sectors have agreed collaborative market strategies, both for raw material procurement and for final product delivery. The resulting networks, however, have a tendency to suffer from a lack of organization, which minimizes their impact on the product and labour markets, and causes a weak negotiation capacity within their supply chain. Managing Cooperation in Supply Network Structures and Small- or Medium-sized Enterprises aims to give managers of SMEs a simple methodology that helps them to understand when and why becoming a partner in an SME network can be profitable for their enterprise. It discusses the most critical organizational problems and identifies which procedures must be known to become a collaborative member of the network. Policy-makers, as well as managers and executives, will be able to appreciate the key issues in creating and managing healthy networks that serve global market requirements in the major industrial sectors. Managing Cooperation in Supply Network Structures and Small- or Medium-sized Enterprises enables them to evaluate the efficiency of their organization, and to estimate both the network performance and the opportunity for further development.

Expanded and revised again for its Third Edition, this popular book is a highly accessible, self-contained desktop reference that helps small and mid-sized businesses, as well as non-profit organizations and publicsector agencies to achieve effective, efficient, and disciplined business development, proposal development, and knowledge management (KM) processes. All 18 chapters have been updated and expanded to provide you with the very latest guidance on effective proposaling.

CD-ROM Included! Features useful proposal templates in Adobe Acrobat, platform-independent format; HTML pointers to Small Business Web Sites; a comprehensive, fully searchable listing Proposal and Contract Acronyms; and a sample architecture for a knowledge base or proposal library.

This book investigates work relationships on the border between employment and self-employment by bringing together economic, sociological and legal research approaches. It answers the following questions: Why do firms deploy dependent self-employed workers? Why do individuals supply this form of work? By which informal and formal mechanism is dependency created? Who are the dependent self-employed workers? How can firms solve the control-flexibility dilemma in these work relationships? Which implications for social and labour market policy do we find?

"The system you need to make bold changes in your career" Daniel H. Pink We're experiencing a work revolution, with an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how, when, and where we do what we do. Now is the perfect time to take more control over your work/life and maybe even finally take the leap into going it alone, whether by starting your own business or turning your passion into a career. Ollie Henderson shares the lessons he's learned by interviewing entrepreneurs, business leaders, and world-renowned experts on his chart-topping podcast Future Work/Life. Forget work/life balance, the secret to navigating a career transition today is to create a flywheel that aligns all parts of your work and life and harness small wins to help build the momentum you need to succeed. Take control of your long-term future using a proven step-by-step process Develop the confidence to transform your career by focusing on becoming an expert in your niche Adopt a creative and experimental approach to your work/life that delivers consistent, measurable results Cultivate a network of global collaborators to support your transition and generate new opportunities Experienced founder and CEO Ollie Henderson pivoted his career while juggling the pleasures and pressures of raising a young family. He believes work/life balance is a myth. Rather than seeing career and personal life as two opposing forces, Ollie argues that the secret is to design an integrated approach that allows them to work in harmony.

Written for the business manager of middle or senior rank who is contemplating a career move from corporate to self-employment, as well as redundant or retired executives seeking to capitalize on their experience and expertise, this book describes how to set up a consultancy practice with little financial outlay and take advantage of a growth market.;Emphasis is given to the need to market the consultancy, and low-budget methods of promotion to create a client base are described. The preparation of proposals, the conduct of assignments, and the importance of presenting subsequent recommendations that will satisfy client needs and lead to recommendations and referrals is discussed. B.H. Elvy is the author of "Marketing Made Simple" and "Salesmanship Made Simple.

For courses in Entrepreneurship, Small Business Management, and Starting a Business. A Comprehensive, Practical Approach to Starting a Business For fledgling entrepreneurs and business students, Entrepreneurship: Starting and Operating A Small Business untangles the complex economic, financial, and professional considerations surrounding business ownership and operations. In its 4th Edition, Entrepreneurship takes a critical look at contemporary entrepreneurial successes, allowing students with a range of business interests to engage with and draw insight from the text. Balancing real-world case studies with thoughtful instruction, Entrepreneurship leads students to develop their business plans step by step, at the end of each chapter. This approach allows students to internalise different aspects of business ownership at a self-guided pace. The authors' combined business acumen and educational expertise make for a fluid transfer of business concepts between text, instructor, and student. Students will relish the opportunity to start drawing up a business plan right away, enhancing their experience both in and out of classroom.

Information is considered essential in every business model. Effective usage of this information to direct goals and drive missions can lead to successful enterprises. Knowledge Integration Strategies for Entrepreneurship and Sustainability is a critical reference source that expounds upon the critical methods in which new information is integrated into existing models for starting new companies and the ways in which these models interact and affect each other. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as tacit knowledge utilization, knowledge retention in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and knowledge dynamics in supply chain management, this book is geared toward academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on the effect of information management in the interdisciplinary world of business creation as well as enterprise stability and longevity.

This book explores startups that have thrived against the odds in places where startup success was deemed to be unlikely. Discussing a number of technology startups from around the world that have succeeded without state backing nor local venture and seed capital, Black Swan Start Ups provides unique insights into unsung models of success beyond the two dominant narratives of Asia's 'Tiger Economies' and America's Silicon Valley miracle. The author describes these stories of success as 'black swan events' and ascribes their achievements to the ability of entrepreneurs to leverage the 'place surplus' of their locations, while building connections to support networks outside their immediate geographies. Including case studies such as Skype in Estonia, SoundCloud in Germany and Bayt.Com in Dubai, this insightful book gives a holistic and wide-ranging view of how technology startups have, and can, succeed in less likely places.

For courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Written by award-winning experts, Steve Mariotti and Caroline Glackin, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management presents complex economic, financial and business concepts in a manner easily understood by a variety of students. Based on a proven curriculum from the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), it is organised to follow the life-cycle of an entrepreneurial venture-from concept through implementation to harvesting or replication. Filled with examples from a broad range of industries, it moves further into the entrepreneurial process-discussing the business plan and also the unique aspects of managing and growing entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses. This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience-for you and your students. Here's how: Help Students Apply Knowledge from the Text to the Real World: Cases give students the opportunity to solve real-world challenges. Present Special Insights on Presenting and Writing a Business Plan: Go beyond formulating a business plan to include critical topics of management, marketing and operations. Guide Student's Learning: A proven curriculum builds on the expertise of the authors and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to teach the nuts and bolts of how to start and operate an entrepreneurial small business

The selected papers in this volume bear witness to a maturing of High Technology Small Firms (HTSF) research. In the past, HTSF research has produced some solid findings, but also several paradoxes: shedding more light on the unintended and paradoxical effects of technology developments regarding HTSFs is now one of the aims of research in this field, and an observed change in the focus of the research agenda is reflected in this book.
Although many of the topics have also been covered in earlier volumes, a gradual shift from descriptive case or survey studies to more explanatory studies, with an objective of understanding the processes that drive HTSF development, now becomes apparent. Researchers from different backgrounds increasingly strive to apply and integrate theoretical traditions that focus on the individual firm, regional and wider environmental levels. As a result of this shift, topics such as financing, internationalisation or firm development are viewed more from a perspective of networking and cooperation, or of development and growth.
The understanding of how to promote cooperation and networking will probably remain on the HTSF research agenda for some years to come; the development and growth processes of HTSFs, within the context of clusters and networks, will also be high on the agenda in the next decade.

This book, first published in 1982, is a study of the processes that shape the reproduction of the entrepreneurial middle class. It identifies the major dynamics surrounding stages of business growth. More particularly, it focuses upon obstacles and cleavages inherent within the process of small-scale capital accumulation. This book is ideal for students of business and economics.

This insightful Handbook focuses on behavior, performance and relationships in small and entrepreneurial firms. It introduces a variety of contemporary topics, research methods and theoretical frameworks that will provide cutting edge analysis, stimulate thought, raise further questions and demonstrate the complexity of the rapidly-advancing field of entrepreneurship.With an extensive introduction, logical sequencing and a collection of interesting and original contributions from across the globe, the Handbook commences with two thought-provoking chapters, which raise issues of theoretical framing and highlight the importance of paradigm choice, methodology and method. After considering different disciplinary approaches to entrepreneurship and small business, various issues are raised about entrepreneurship education and learning and the application of entrepreneurship to various sectors and sectional interests. For example, what conceptual framework is available for entrepreneurs and small businesses? How does innovation relate to entrepreneurship and small business behavior? And what evidence is there of the links between better performing firms and effective learning? These issues are debated before the authors consider the future application of entrepreneurship research to different sectors. Both scholars new to the area, as well as established academics looking to extend their research scope to encompass the field of entrepreneurship and small business will find this work to be an invaluable and timely resource. Contributors: A. Anderson, R. Barrett, B. Bird, J. Broad, J. Byrne, M. Casson, D. Chalmers, E. Chell, A. de Bruin, M. Della Guista, A. Discua Cruz, A. Fayolle, C. Forson, E. Garnsey, W.B. Gartner, S. Gherardi, X. Gu, R. Hanke, R. Holt, J. Howells, C. Howorth, S. Jack, J. Jackson, O. Jones, M. Karatas-Ozkan, M. Kerrin, M. Levesque, S. Lubik, A. Macpherson, S. Mayson, E. McKeever, M. Minniti, M. Ozbilgin, M. Ozturk, F. Patterson, M. Perrotta, L. Pittaway, A. Rauch, L. Schjoedt, E. Shaw, L. Spence, A. Tatli, O. Toutain, C. Yavuz

This book examines the ways in which cultural and creative industries can drive entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainability and overall regional development. It will address such issues as (1) the technical (tangible) components of creative and cultural industries in relation to innovation; (2) the intangible components of creative and cultural industries in relation to services provided; (3) the relationship between tangible and intangible components and economic and social innovation; and (4) the ways in which creative and cultural industries effect and influence regional sustainability and development. Cultural and creative industries and the creative economy as a whole have been increasingly prevalent in research literature because of their role in driving economic and social development. Cultural and creative industries also enable other forms of entrepreneurship and innovation beyond the traditional, technology-based focus of innovation, thereby enhancing regional growth and development through these channels. The contributions presented in this book discuss the main issues, challenges, opportunities and trends of cultural and creative industries through conceptual analysis and cases studies from different world regions. Featuring research from industries such as art, health care, beer and wine and education, this book provides researchers, academics, professionals and policy makers with a detailed examination of the development and potential of cultural and creative industries in regional and global economies.