This book provides a comprehensive examination of the many factors that influence the internationalisation of SMEs into China. SMEs represent more than 50 percent of the economic activity and employment in China. This book explores the experiences of SMEs that have internationalised to China from Australia. Australian SMEs are at the forefront of foreign SMEs in China with over 5000 Australian SMEs currently operating in China and a long history of association. The book is unique in that it presents a multidisciplinary perspective of the subject, considering seven different discipline perspectives (internationalisation, innovation, entrepreneurship, networks, resources, human resource management and barriers and liabilities). This makes the book one of the most comprehensive treatments of internationalisation to China so far. Each chapter in the book deals with a different perspective and includes own separate analysis. The chapters commence with a consideration of the current knowledge on internationalising to China for each perspective, analyse the interviews of representatives of 35 SMEs operating in China and then draw conclusions which are relevant to students, scholars and professionals. Each chapter includes extensive examples from the interviews. This integrated book is particularly useful for small business owners, international business management consultants, instructors and students.

Good conversation is at the heart of networking, meetings, interviews, negotiations and raising your profile. It can ease your way in work, enabling you to build alliances, create strong relationships with staff, bosses and clients, succeed at interviews, motivate and inspire. But conversation is something most of us were never taught! We learn to speak as babies, but how conversation actually works is something most of us pick up only haphazardly, and many have yet to learn. Why is it some of us are stuck for words, but others blabber or can t stop? What is it that some people have naturally which enables them to converse comfortably and easily, to engage people and build better relationships? The Art of Conversation will show you step by step how to converse skillfully and enjoyably with other people, at home, at work, on the phone and in the street- even if you re daunted now, discover the difference good conversation can make in every aspect of your life. Learn to: -Overcome the most common block to good conversation- fear; find out how to break the silence and keep the conversation going - Understand the different types of conversation and how they work- which topics and language are suitable for the occasion - Learn simple methods for being heard and understood, including speaking clearly and audibly, listening well and using non-verbal communication - Find out how to hold a conversation in tricky situations, including how to disagree, how to speak to those in authority and people you find difficult -Use conversation to form relationships, improve friendships, make the sale, chat people up, to learn, influence and persuade.

In this fascinating study, Neri Karra examines entrepreneurial family businesses in emerging markets by integrating three schools of thought: agency theory, an institutional framework, and the altruism perspective. Providing an in-depth treatment of the area as well as a real-life case study, it provides a theoretical perspective as well as qualitative insights. It also offers practical observations and future research implications. This book will be valuable reading to students and researchers of entrepreneurship, family businesses, and altruism in management.

Well-known celebrity party planner, Marley Majcher, in her signature witty, no-nonsense style shows you how to make a real profit without spinning your wheels. "But Are You Making Any Money?" answers the questions that you're afraid to ask in a straightforward, easy to understand way. In "But Are You Making Any Money?" you will learn how to fatten up your bottom line in a unique, super simple, step-by-step process that shows you where all of your money is really going. By learning from the trials and tribulations of Majcher's own entrepreneurial journey, you will magically see yourself in her examples yet learn the skills necessary to turn a real profit, all while laughing out loud. Who knew business could be so much fun?

Focusing on international entrepreneurship, this research book explores the accelerated internationalization of young firms. Known variously as international new ventures (INVs) or "born globals," such firms have come to be viewed as legitimate actors on the global stage alongside large multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, the current approach taken by scholars - studying large MNEs and born globals separately - is questionable. This book explores the crucial MNE/INV interface - a fascinating, yet under-researched relationship in international entrepreneurship. Drawing upon a decade of case-based research, the author argues that the MNE influence on born globals must be considered more carefully and suggests how new ventures can leverage MNE networks in the pursuit of their rapid internationalization. Furthermore, it demonstrates that, as firms enhance their levels of innovation, new pathways emerge via multinational corporation networks, a phenomenon vividly demonstrated in the emerging economy context of the Bangalore software industry. This innovative research text will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students with an interest in international entrepreneurship and business, strategy, innovation, and new ventures.

This book, first published in 1998, is an attempt to better understand the human resource programs utilized by small firms and the basis for their choice. Much of the study is designed to provide a working framework from which to begin to understand the myriad of human resource decisions made in these companies on a daily basis. In this way the research seeks to make some contribution to the development of a theoretical grounding for human resources in the small business area. This title will be of interest to students of business studies and human resource management.

Innovation as an activity is not new - what has changed is the pace at which firms have to innovate. This book analyzes the innovation success at the company, rather than the project level and contributes to the development of a new theory on innovation management in small- and medium-sized enterprises. The author uses studies from 63 companies from 35 different industry and service sectors in order to obtain non-sector specific findings. He concludes that innovative success is based on a combination of technological, marketing and organizational competencies and that successfully innovating companies can be said to have a strong internal locus of control.

Have you "built a better mousetrap" but are finding the world just isn't beating a path to your door?
Do you have a product or service that people genuinely would want to buy from you... if only they knew it existed?
With advertisements bombarding your prospective customers from every direction, at all hours of the day, it's no longer enough to shout your message from the rooftops and expect that the right people will take notice.
Instead, you need to craft a powerful marketing strategy and develop a tactical marketing plan that will reach the right people, in the right place, with the right message... at the right time.
"Make My Marketing Work" is a blueprint, a map, a GPS device for your business that will help you navigate the often treacherous road to success.
With it, you'll learn the fundamentals of strategic marketing as you develop a strategy for your own business. Then you'll discover how to tactically apply your strategy in the real world so you can win more customers and make more money.
If you're ready to Make YOUR Marketing Work, let's get started...

'Kind, realistic and genuinely helpful' Observer 'Bravo on the publication of this witty, wise guide to solo working' Alice Lascelles 'Filled to the brim with advice . . . Such a brilliant book' Emma Gannon Whether by choice or circumstance, as a freelancer or a company employee working from home, more of us are becoming solo workers than ever before. But once you've made the leap, how to do you actually work well in isolation? And how can you thrive while working alone? Picking up where the freelancer bibles stop, Solo addresses what we gain but also miss when we shift from the structure of an office environment to the solitary confines of our homes or studios. Blending the latest research in psychology, economics and social science with guided self-examination and more than ten years of freelance experience, Rebecca Seal shows you how to stay resilient, productive and focused in a company of one. Practical and inspiring, she also explores the idea of meaningful work and helps you define your own success.

Examines regulatory and other strategies for improving chemical risk management in small enterprises in the European Union. This book considers what supports are necessary to secure the implementation of these strategies and is particularly concerned with the role of chemical product supply as envisaged by REACH.

Although the new small and medium enterprises (SME) sector is emerging as one of the driving forces in transition economies, little is known about the conditions behind its successful development or about policies that could facilitate its expansion. This unique book explores the complex relationship between the growth of the SME sector and the current policies and institutional, historical and cultural forces that shape its fate.

There is more to setting up a successful business than just a good idea. Creating a Business examines concisely all the relevant aspects: the excitement and satisfaction that business entails, the challenges that face the entrepreneur, the risks that lie in wait. The textbook is organized around a practical example: a company setting out to launch a new line of clothing. Aspects of setting up a business, including management, marketing, legislation, and financial management are examined. Including pedagogical features, such as end-of-chapter questions and illustrations, Creating a Business will interest students of small business and entrepreneurship.

Since the 1980s, governments have often sought to encourage entrepreneurship on the assumption that it creates small businesses which are the primary drivers of job creation. Largely because of this assumption, entrepreneurship has become a valid subject for academic research attracting extensive funding. Yet despite this explosion of scholarship, there is no accepted model of how entrepreneurship operates or even a commonly accepted definition of what it is. Simon Bridge posits that this is because entrepreneurship has been studied as if it were a deterministic science, based on the false assumption that it exists as a specific discrete identifiable phenomenon operating in accordance with consistent, predictable 'rules'. This challenging book contends that this misdirected search has produced more questions than answers. Accepting that entrepreneurship as we have conceived it does not exist could lead to new and valuable insights into what the different forms of entrepreneurship are and how they might be influenced. Scholars, advanced students and policy makers will find this a thought-provoking insight into the myths and misconceptions of 'entrepreneurship'.

The challenges and opportunities that are presented to both small and medium-sized enterprises have changed dramatically in recent decades as the world's economy becomes more globalised. The policies of open borders, a decrease in protectionism and the demise of the nation-state, have enabled small and large firms to engage in international activity from the outset. Understanding the Born Global Firm, combines the many different theoretical perspectives on born globals that have been previously researched, providing a unified framework to connect the antecedents, types and outcomes of entrepreneurial activities pursued by such new ventures. A central case study of an international fashion firm which operates in over nine countries, runs through the text, highlighting the formation and success of born globals and the importance of cultural competence. This book will be invaluable to post-graduate students in the field of international business; entrepreneurship; ethnic entrepreneurs; global entrepreneurship, and international networks.

In E-Commerce Power, Jason G. Miles shares a practical framework for starting and scaling a profitable e-commerce brand in the age of Amazon. E-Commerce Power is filled with encouragement, practical advice, tips, strategies, interviews, and proven online marketing methods - all organized to help new entrepreneurs. In 2008, Jason worked with his wife to start their new brand created on eBay selling doll clothes. In 2013, they launched Pixie Faire - a popular sewing supply marketplace that has had over 4 million patterns downloaded which is averaged at 60,000-70,000 orders a month. The site has been featured by Shopify and is in the top 1% of all Shopify sites based on worldwide site traffic. Within E-Commerce Power, Jason aims to teach new entrepreneurs how he and his wife were able to accomplish such a feat and thrive from it. E-Commerce Power is: Packed with interviews featuring small business owners crushing it online. A practical framework that explains how to scale up an e-commerce business for even the most novice reader. An enthusiasm guide of Amazon's 3rd party selling system which has created a boom in Private Label product strategies.

When this book was first published in 1991, political ideology had thrust small-firm issues to the forefront of attempts to revitalize the British economy. In the Thatcher years the emphasis had been on individual enterprise and initiative with the number of small firms increasing rapidly. This was reflected in the growth in the number of specialist studies analysis small-firm revivalism. Small Business and Society clarifies the issues and debates that surround the small business and its place in society. In particular, the complex nature of its social role is examined: on the one hand, the entrepreneur can be seen as the innovator exploiting free-market capitalism to strengthen the economy; on the other, employment conditions and industrial relations are said to suffer. Moreover, the growing importance of 'green' issues now brings into question the extent to which the small firm benefits the environment. This book will be of interest to students of business and sociology.

Much research in entrepreneurship presents results as if they are universally and timelessly valid. Entrepreneurship in Context takes the opposite tack - it studies entrepreneurship as a context bound phenomenon. For entrepreneurship, the importance of context goes beyond gaining understanding and avoiding mistakes. The reciprocal influence exercised by the entrepreneurial venture and its corresponding context is at the very heart of the entrepreneur as an agent of change. The book addresses context in a narrow sense, i.e. a person's life situation and local, situational characteristics. It also deals with wider contexts such as social, industry, cultural, ethnic, sustainability-related, institutional, and historical contexts. The book studies the interconnectedness of all these various sub-contexts. It zooms in on the actions that entrepreneurs take to involve, engage, and influence their context and shows the changing and dynamic nature of context. It provides lessons for entrepreneurs about which contextual elements should be prioritized, engaged and sought out.

Small businesses make up some 90-95 percent of all global firms. Many undervalue the importance of information and communication technology (ICT). Within the small business segment there can be significant differences amongst the avid early adopters of ICT and the laggards. Research on early adopters tends be more prevalent as they are perceived to have a more interesting and positive story. However, late adopters and 'laggards' also have their own interesting stories that are under-reported. Small Business and Effective ICT draws on research undertaken over several years and documents the adoption/use of ICT across 'better' users of ICT (Leaders), typical ICT users (Operationals) and late adopters (Laggards). The findings are presented using a re-formulation of the LIASE framework which addresses a number of areas that include ICT literacy (L), information content/communication (I), Access (A), Infrastructure (I), Support (S) and Evaluation (E). Some 60 businesses were investigated in Australia and the UK, with each business presented as a concise vignette. The vignettes serve to show that small businesses are not as conservative in their use of ICT as the literature suggests, with examples of innovative uses of ICT in small businesses provided. Lessons for the effective use of ICT by small businesses are presented. The research design, methods adopted, presentation of findings through the vignettes, and 'take away' lessons have been written in manner to appeal to a broad range of readers including academics, researchers, students and policy makers in the discipline.

This book brings together thirty years of original empirical research on key aspects of the formation and development of small firms from selected articles authored or co-authored by Peter Johnson. Complete with a comprehensive introduction from the author placing the work in relation to the contemporary debates on the subject and providing a cohesive overview, these essays provide an excellent historical context for current research in this area. Many of the studies in this book emphasise the interrelatedness of economic activity and decisions, an emphasis that serves as an important reminder of the complex business environments in which small firms operate. The book is divided into five sections. The first part focuses on the process of business formation. In part two, the role of new firms in regional development is considered. The third section deals with employment issues, whilst part four looks at various aspects of growth and development. Finally, the book concludes with two articles on policy.

A new analytical approach to small firms' cases, which * Uses rich primary source data on modern small businesses * Combines business strategy and industrial organization * Presents detailed Profiles on diverse small businesses * Shows how successful small businesses achieve competitive advantage * Considers both extended rivalry and financial structure * Shows how to `ground' small business theory in reality Profiles in Small Businesses has a companion volume Small Business Enterprise by Gavin Reid (also published by Routledge, Hb: 0-415-05681-0: GBP45.00) which contains a full analysis (ranging from econometrics to the ethics of competition) of the larger sample of small businesses from which the Profiles are drawn.

Micro-econometric analyses cover a wide range of new innovation 'input' and 'output' indicators. Among the robust findings about determinants of innovation is evidence on the importance of technological opportunity, of appropriability of innovation benefits, and of Schmooklerian demand-pull effects. As opposed to the evidence from standard R&D data, small firms appear more innovative and the impact of market power on innovation is, in the best case, modest.

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.

To maintain a competitive edge against other businesses, companies must ensure the most effective strategies and procedures are in place. This is particularly critical in smaller business environments with fewer resources. Knowledge Management Initiatives and Strategies in Small and Medium Enterprises is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly material on the management of knowledge resources in smaller-scale enterprises. Highlighting theoretical foundations and real-world applications, this book is ideally designed for professionals, practitioners, researchers, and upper-level students interested in emerging perspectives on knowledge management.