New Horizons in Entrepreneurship series – serie

To effectuate is to engage in a specific type of entrepreneurial action. It has special importance for situations where the future is truly unknowable or human agency is of primary importance. In this new and updated edition of the bestselling Effectuation, Saras Sarasvathy explores the theory and techniques of non-predictive control for creating new firms, markets and economic opportunities. Using empirical and theoretical work done in collaboration with Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, the author employs methods from cognitive science and behavioral economics to develop the notion of entrepreneurial expertise and effectuation. Supportive empirical evidence is provided by the author’s study of 27 entrepreneurs as well as other independent studies. The book then traces the consequences of effectuation for business management, economics and social philosophy. The author finds that effectuators generate constraint-satisfying solutions rather than searching for optimal ones, make rather than find opportunities, and in a deep sense, convert ‘as-if’ propositions into ‘even-if’ ones. The way they accomplish this is the central discussion of the book.Students and scholars of entrepreneurship will find this path-breaking research of great value. The book’s conclusions will also be of interest to those in the fields of behavioral and evolutionary economics, cognitive science and management.

To effectuate is to engage in a specific type of entrepreneurial action. It has special importance for situations where the future is truly unknowable or human agency is of primary importance. In this new and updated edition of the bestselling Effectuation, Saras Sarasvathy explores the theory and techniques of non-predictive control for creating new firms, markets and economic opportunities. Using empirical and theoretical work done in collaboration with Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, the author employs methods from cognitive science and behavioral economics to develop the notion of entrepreneurial expertise and effectuation. Supportive empirical evidence is provided by the author’s study of 27 entrepreneurs as well as other independent studies. The book then traces the consequences of effectuation for business management, economics and social philosophy. The author finds that effectuators generate constraint-satisfying solutions rather than searching for optimal ones, make rather than find opportunities, and in a deep sense, convert ‘as-if’ propositions into ‘even-if’ ones. The way they accomplish this is the central discussion of the book.Students and scholars of entrepreneurship will find this path-breaking research of great value. The book’s conclusions will also be of interest to those in the fields of behavioral and evolutionary economics, cognitive science and management.

Offering an empirically rigorous perspective on actionable approaches to entrepreneurship education, including learning, teaching and assessment methods, this book aims to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of entrepreneurship education as it relates to local, regional, national and international contexts.An impressive team of leading international authorities and acclaimed experts provide a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the role and impact of entrepreneurship education in industrially developed and developing countries as well as transition economies. Incorporating a wealth of new, emergent and innovative techniques, this book will allow teachers to effectively encourage future entrepreneurs to realize their ideas and intentions, and to convert them into successful and sustainable small businesses.An excellent addition to current entrepreneurship education literature, this book will be of interest to entrepreneurship teachers, postgraduate and doctoral students, as well as graduate entrepreneurs, for its useful empirical basis, in addition to extensive theoretical and practical knowledge.Contributors include: D. Bolzani, C. Camarero, L. Cisneros S. Coleman, Y. Costin, G. de Jong, J. Delfino, I. Diego, A. Fayolle, A. Fernández-Laviada, R. Fisher, F. Gul, P.D. Hannon, L. Hietanen, L. Huxtable-Thomas, B. Hynes, Y. Israel-Cohen, C. Jones, P. Jones, O. Kaplan, D. Kariv, C. Keen, P. Kyrö, E. Luppi H. Matlay, J.H. Mejia, C. Netana, M. O'Dwyer, A. Penaluna, K. Penaluna, A. Pérez, D. Pickernell, T. Pihkala, M. Redondo, M.P. Rice, A. Robb, H. Ruismäki, E. Ruskovaara, P. San Martín, V. Sanchez-Famoso, J. Seikkula-Leino, W.C. Stitt, M. Zaheer Asghar

In this timely book, Evan Douglas examines the limitations of the current models of entrepreneurial motivation. He proposes an expanded general model of entrepreneurial intention, which integrates both commercial and social entrepreneurs, and explicitly examines the motivation to innovate. In this new, integrated model of entrepreneurial intention, he explores the asymmetric data relationships and interdependencies of these four motivations that operate to result in multiple equally-valid pathways to entrepreneurial action.To discover the alternative configurations that culminate in entrepreneurial intention, Douglas advocates fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, which complements traditional correlational methods and exposes additional information about individual motivation that is suppressed in sample-level correlational analysis.Innovative and insightful, this book is an excellent primer for higher-degree and academic researchers interested in what drives entrepreneurial actions. Public sector researchers developing entrepreneurial infrastructure, incubators and support services will also benefit from Douglas's exciting new model.

In this timely book, Evan Douglas examines the limitations of the current models of entrepreneurial motivation. He proposes an expanded general model of entrepreneurial intention, which integrates both commercial and social entrepreneurs, and explicitly examines the motivation to innovate. In this new, integrated model of entrepreneurial intention, he explores the asymmetric data relationships and interdependencies of these four motivations that operate to result in multiple equally-valid pathways to entrepreneurial action.To discover the alternative configurations that culminate in entrepreneurial intention, Douglas advocates fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, which complements traditional correlational methods and exposes additional information about individual motivation that is suppressed in sample-level correlational analysis.Innovative and insightful, this book is an excellent primer for higher-degree and academic researchers interested in what drives entrepreneurial actions. Public sector researchers developing entrepreneurial infrastructure, incubators and support services will also benefit from Douglas's exciting new model.

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.

Women entrepreneurs command an increasingly large presence at the international and national levels. A significant part of this impact is due to growing numbers of minority women becoming entrepreneurs. This volume provides some of the most comprehensive data to date on the topic of women entrepreneurs across racial lines. It offers a systematic and conceptual framework for understanding issues of network structures and human and financial capital, analyzed through a comparative analysis of minority and white women entrepreneurs. The book begins by looking at the historical and current contributions of women in the labor market, as well as literature related to women entrepreneurs. Subsequent chapters take a critical and in-depth look at white and minority entrepreneurs. Later chapters examine the status of women entrepreneurs in the US, followed by various analyses of their position in the global marketplace. The book concludes with a set of action tools to aid women entrepreneurs as they navigate the road to economic success.Through a well-chosen sample, rich analysis and insightful accounts, Andrea E. Smith-Hunter compellingly details the challenges and opportunities faced by women entrepreneurs in today's marketplace. Government agencies, researchers, entrepreneurs and those involved with the financial aspects of entrepreneurial ventures will find this volume of great interest.

In this unique and timely volume, Scott Shane systematically explains the formation of university spinoff companies and their role in the commercialization of university technology and wealth creation in the United States and elsewhere. The importance of university spinoff activity is discussed and the historical development of university spinoff ventures is traced over time. Scott Shane provides in-depth analysis of the four major factors that jointly influence spinoff activity: the university and societal environment, the technology developed at universities, the industries in which spinoffs operate, and the people involved. He documents the process of company creation, focusing on the formation of spinoffs, the transformation of the spinoff's technology into new products and services, the identification and exploitation of a market for these new products and services and the acquisition of financial resources. Also detailed are the factors that enhance and inhibit the performance of university spinoffs, as well as the effect that they have on the institutions that spawn them.Authoritative and highly readable, this volume will appeal to scholars researching the spinoff phenomenon, university technology transfer officers, inventors, policymakers, external entrepreneurs and investors.

Despite a wealth of efforts that examine separately the role entrepreneurs and universities play in economic development, no systematic effort has been made to examine the role universities play in promoting economic development through entrepreneurship. This book fills that gap, focusing on policy aspects of government-university partnerships with a discussion both of best practices and problematic strategies. The book begins by tracing the history of American government-university-industry partnerships that have promoted economic development. In succeeding chapters, well-known scholars focus on linkages in different domains such as: technology transfer, innovation networks, brain drain, cluster-based planning, and manufacturing. Practitioner commentaries follow many of the chapters in order to present an evaluation of the arguments from the perspective of someone directly involved in the fostering of these relationships.Non-technical and accessible in nature, the chapters summarize existing knowledge and research in order to help policymakers, foundations, university officials, business leaders and other stakeholders create and enhance partnerships between universities and governments that encourage economic development through entrepreneurship.

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.

In this unique and timely volume, Scott Shane systematically explains the formation of university spinoff companies and their role in the commercialization of university technology and wealth creation in the United States and elsewhere. The importance of university spinoff activity is discussed and the historical development of university spinoff ventures is traced over time. Scott Shane provides in-depth analysis of the four major factors that jointly influence spinoff activity: the university and societal environment, the technology developed at universities, the industries in which spinoffs operate, and the people involved. He documents the process of company creation, focusing on the formation of spinoffs, the transformation of the spinoff's technology into new products and services, the identification and exploitation of a market for these new products and services and the acquisition of financial resources. Also detailed are the factors that enhance and inhibit the performance of university spinoffs, as well as the effect that they have on the institutions that spawn them.Authoritative and highly readable, this volume will appeal to scholars researching the spinoff phenomenon, university technology transfer officers, inventors, policymakers, external entrepreneurs and investors.

The Entrepreneur in Youth offers one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of African American, Latino, and white high school students' aspirations, knowledge, opinions and educational views related to entrepreneurship and philanthropy. A key strength is its longitudinal approach to analysis and interpretations, made possible by extensive surveys of over 11,000 respondents from high school youth and other groups, including adults and business owners. The key findings exhibit an extraordinarily high level of interest in entrepreneurship among youth as well as a strong desire to give back to their communities. However, they lack the knowledge and experience to achieve their aspirations.The book's major recommendations and guidelines include challenges to education and other policymakers to expand and enhance opportunities to access entrepreneurship education and early entrepreneurship mentoring shadowing experiences - especially for those who demand it the most: African Americans and Latinos. Meeting these challenges not only will contribute to economic growth and social reform initiatives but also will increase economic and social mobility and access to opportunity for a still largely untapped pool of future entrepreneurs.This book will appeal to academics in entrepreneurship, economics, business and education, as well as policymakers, educators and business leaders.

Enterprising new firms drive economic growth, and women around the world are important contributors to that growth. As entrepreneurs, they seize opportunities, develop and deliver new goods and services and, in the process, create wealth for themselves, their families, communities, and countries. This volume explores the role women entrepreneurs play in this economic progress, highlighting the challenges they encounter in launching and growing their businesses, and providing detailed studies of how their experiences vary from country to country. Statistics show that businesses owned by women tend to remain smaller than those owned by men, whether measured by the number of employees or by the size of revenues. Because women-led firms fail to grow as robustly, the opportunities to innovate and expand are limited, as are the rewards. Based on recent studies that examine the links between entrepreneurial supply and demand issues, this volume provides insights into how women around the world are addressing the challenges of entrepreneurial growth. The first set of chapters consists of country overviews and provides discussions of the state of women growing businesses. The second set of chapters describes research projects under way in different countries and explores more focused topics under the umbrella of women business owners and business growth. The volume concludes with an agenda and projects for future research.Academics and policymakers will gain a greater understanding of women's entrepreneurial behaviors and outcomes through this path-breaking volume. Those who support women through education and training, policymaking, or providing entrepreneurial resources will also find the volume of great practical interest.

Despite a wealth of efforts that examine separately the role entrepreneurs and universities play in economic development, no systematic effort has been made to examine the role universities play in promoting economic development through entrepreneurship. This book fills that gap, focusing on policy aspects of government-university partnerships with a discussion both of best practices and problematic strategies. The book begins by tracing the history of American government-university-industry partnerships that have promoted economic development. In succeeding chapters, well-known scholars focus on linkages in different domains such as: technology transfer, innovation networks, brain drain, cluster-based planning, and manufacturing. Practitioner commentaries follow many of the chapters in order to present an evaluation of the arguments from the perspective of someone directly involved in the fostering of these relationships.Non-technical and accessible in nature, the chapters summarize existing knowledge and research in order to help policymakers, foundations, university officials, business leaders and other stakeholders create and enhance partnerships between universities and governments that encourage economic development through entrepreneurship.