Entrepreneurship books

The intertwining of Economics, Knowledge and Renaissance, introduced by Piero Formica in this book as ‘Econaissance’, fosters the culture of entrepreneurialism, and imagines the reawakening of learning and culture. Acknowledging that schools of thought inherited from the past must be reimagined to give birth to this new age, this book maps out how stakeholders across society can become agents of this unique pathway to economic development.   Formica offers readers an innovative perspective, asking not just how me might do better what we already do, but also how we can engage in activities beyond the economic sphere, and help to usher in the dawn of a new renaissance age that acts on the principles of human knowledge as well as the economy. In doing so, Econaissance highlights the figure of the ‘Ideator’, the polymath of the twenty-first century, set to become the ultimate athlete of social progress fuelled by sustainable and environmentally friendly economic development. This book will equip educators, scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and more to play a part in this imagined future.

This title presents important theoretical developments with regard to research at the entrepreneurship and marketing interface. The editors have invited acknowledged authors working in this exciting discipline, from around the world, to divulge and present in a comprehensive format, a book which addresses critical issues for businesses, both small and large, from a global perspective.

Focusing on sustainable innovation in emerging economies, this book is amongst the first to identify how these perspectives can be used by entrepreneurs within the process of recognising opportunities.   As identifying opportunities is fundamental to successful entrepreneurship, it is crucial for aspirant entrepreneurs to identify appropriate openings that help them gain a competitive advantage in the international marketplace. Whilst there are an abundance of opportunities available, assessing them in terms of their timeliness and relevance is vital.  Each chapter introduces a new way of looking at entrepreneurial opportunities in a range of different contexts including emerging markets, franchise relationships, pricing and revenue management, and the tourism sector. This global, cross-disciplinary perspective of entrepreneurial opportunities offers a unique blending of multiple theoretical viewpoints which are useful for researchers of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs themselves. Enabling the development of both a social and financial view of entrepreneurship, Vanessa Ratten curates a collection which characterises and responds to the contemporary market pressures felt by business leaders worldwide.

Entrepreneurial value creation requires that organizations understand both the actions they need to take and how to effectively take them. The dynamic nature of entrepreneurial behavior involves not only the strength or uniqueness of a firm's resources and competencies but also the capabilities and processes needed to create value and appropriate wealth. This distinction has served the fields of strategy and entrepreneurship well because it provides scholars with a framework for investigating the relationship between the elements of competitive superiority (content) and the decision making styles and practices (processes) involved in taking action and implementing change. On the path from opportunity recognition to new value creation to wealth appropriation, entrepreneurial strategic processes are among the most important steps. The purpose of this volume is to focus on the entrepreneurial processes that have the greatest impact on strategic outcomes such as organizing, learning, and contributing to outstanding financial performance. The chapters draw on both scholars new to the field as well as some of those who have previously made significant contributions to entrepreneurial process research. Several chapters address entrepreneurial processes in a corporate setting including both large and medium-sized corporations. Other chapters explore the issues faced by entrepreneurial owners and managers in directing both themselves and their organizations. Another topic of this volume is the distinctive entrepreneurial process challenges of young and small firms.

The 21st century has changed the face of entrepreneurship and development. Venture capital volume almost tripled since 2006 and concepts like microfinance have emerged and spread. Spurring the creation of new technologies and new jobs, the role of entrepreneurs now affects globalization and amplifies the dynamics of markets and economic growth. Including a preface from Bill Drayton (CEO, Ashoka: Everyone a Changemaker), a cast of expert contributors explore how these new trends, along with a variety of political, cultural and social influences, have affected entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Development in the 21st Century features a diverse array of chapters on subjects such as venture capital, cryptomarkets, and alternatives to fair trade. This work is the inaugural volume of a book series by the Lab for Entrepreneurship and Development (LEAD), a now-independent organization that first started at the Institute of Quantitative Social Sciences (IQSS) at Harvard University.  Experienced editors Bruno S. Sergi and Cole C. Scanlon bring together a detailed exploration of the new face of 21st century entrepreneurship. Looking across cultures, countries and sectors, this is a vital read for any student or researcher of entrepreneurial development.

This volume, comprised of authors from the U.S., Canada, Africa, and Europe, centers on the development, transformation, and role of geographic /regional economies-- specifically in the globalized, post-2009 era. The authors address topics that every region must consider in responding to idea age, globally competitive, regionally driven economies. The volume builds on a large body of scholarship specific to regional economic development and geography by providing a much needed post-2009 perspective on regional economic environments and activities. Among the topics addressed are the emergence and boundaries of new economic geographies; the actors, characteristics, and functions of regional innovation systems as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with region-specific cultural and environmental interactions. It also examines the relationship of regional economies to diminishing country based economies and the critical relationship to globalization.

Entrepreneurship as Empowerment focuses on entrepreneurial theory and practice through the lens of knowledge spillovers and entrepreneurial ecosystems, enabling readers to gain a better understanding about emerging trends and developments.   This edited collection widens the traditional field of entrepreneurship by discussing the way in which ecosystems facilitate the flow of knowledge, thereby creating new business opportunities globally. The current state of research on knowledge spillovers and entrepreneurial ecosystems is analysed with a view to highlighting research gaps that need further attention. Entrepreneurship as empowerment examines cultural and societal expectations and contextualises entrepreneurship across places and industries.  Aimed at both academics and practitioners of entrepreneurship, Ratten uses expectancy theory to understand entrepreneurship and contributes to the burgeoning body of literature from a knowledge management and practice standpoint. Entrepreneurship as empowerment provides a unique approach to understand the cultural and social expectations that are tied into being an entrepreneur today.

Universities globally are under pressure from an expanding range of stakeholders to provide enterprise education and support to students. Enterprise education had become a research domain in itself and an increasingly important aspect of UK universities’ curricular. Within the UK, policymakers consider enterprise education, and the skills it develops, as increasing student’s employability skills, regardless of what their primary subject of study is, and thereby assisting them in gaining employment upon. Despite this growth, there is ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education and there are calls for further evidence to validate its impact. This book meets that call in providing further evidence for best practice and successful deployment. Authors provide evidence to inform the entrepreneurial education discipline in terms of best practice, success stories and identify its future direction for key stakeholders. The book concludes with a summary from the authors which will analyse and contrast the emergent themes identified in each chapter.

This volume of Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitive Strategy is devoted to research aimed at understanding the implications of Exploration and Exploitation activities in early-stage ventures and small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs).

This book examines the illegal behaviour of entrepreneurs and discusses how criminal entrepreneurs acquire information, learn from their entrepreneurial experiences, and utilize acquired knowledge to develop their organizations. The chapters demonstrate several dimensions of the entrepreneurial processes, such as imagination, innovation, calculated risk taking, alertness to opportunities, opportunity identification, as well as resource assemblage and leverage to exploit an opportunity - all in a criminal context. Illegal methods used by entrepreneurs to identify solutions to problems that lead to the generation of business opportunities are illustrated. Moreover, methods used by criminal entrepreneurs to circumvent barriers to the entrepreneurial process and business developments are highlighted. Issues relating to the formation of crimino-entrepreneurial ventures are critically discussed. Emerging issues relating to illegal corporate entrepreneurship are illustrated.