New Technology-based Firms in the New Millennium – serie

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 represents a continuation of an uninterrupted record of international research pertaining to high technology small firms (HTSFs) over a period that has witnessed a rebirth of interest in the growth problems of the small firm, and is a further addition to a portfolio of specialist work by academics and practitioners on the issues facing new technology-based firms (NTBFs). The book begins with a conceptual overview on the broad theme of innovation in NTBFs, providing a theoretical perspective on the problems of innovation at the end of the twentieth century and setting in context the more specific contributions to follow. A continuing theme of HTSF research is innovation management, and seven chapters are included under this heading focusing on topics such as university spin-out companies and the role of non-executive directors. The successful management of innovation in NTBFs is clearly critical to their survival and growth. Another key and recurrent area of interest to researchers concerned with the problems of NTBFs is finance, with three chapters here addressing the funding problems faced by NTBFs during often lengthy periods of product development. The book concludes with a set of contributions which deal with the increasingly important issues of clustering and location as they affect NTBFs. The chapters included in this book represent a strong set of themes indicative of what key workers in the area of NTBF development are thinking at the turn of the millennium. These issues of effective management, funding and networking are key themes that will continue in the new millennium.

This tenth volume of papers emanating from the annual International High Technology Small Firms Conference represents a full decade of research and policy relevant papers on innovation and growth problems of New Technology-based Firms (NTBf). Because this series has become the major vehicle for publication among the best international researchers working on the formation and subsequent growth problems of NTBfs, it represents an authoritative voice on NTBf development problems. Topics covered in this volume include strategy, spin offs - their contribution to NTBf growth and the problems they encounter during the traumatic spin off process, the current hot topic of clusters and their role in enhancing NTBf formation and growth, networking and global issues since many NTBfs are truly born global.

This volume is part of a growing body of work that maps the evolution of high technology small firm research over almost a complete decade since 1993. Begun during a period of relative neglect of high technology small firms (HTSFs) during the early 1990s, the book series has witnessed, and perhaps played some part in creating, a resurgence of interest in this type and scale of enterprise in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe by the turn of the century. Throughout this period, specific interest within the high technology small firm study area has ebbed and flowed, with some rather obviously important issues (e.g. policy and finance) often to the fore, while new and resurrected areas of concern have also contributed to the research agenda. Perhaps the best example of resurrection has been the rebirth of interest in the subject of clustering (or agglomeration) as it applies to HTSFs, notably led by Michael Porter. This interest has extended, and put a new slant upon, work consistently well represented in these volumes on networking. This trend is evidenced by the presence of four papers in the concluding Part IV of this volume on "Clusters and Networks". Earlier themes comprise groups of papers on "Science Parks and University Spin offs" (Part II), and "Markets, Strategy and Globalization" (Part III). Both individually and in aggregate, this series of books on HTSF development and growth issues represents a "one stop shop" for all those seeking to gain a broad understanding of the evolution of HTSF research since 1993 by providing a record of the manner in which this research agenda has evolved over these years.

This tenth volume of papers emanating from the annual International High Technology Small Firms Conference represents a full decade of research and policy relevant papers on innovation and growth problems of New Technology-based Firms (NTBf). Because this series has become the major vehicle for publication among the best international researchers working on the formation and subsequent growth problems of NTBfs, it represents an authoritative voice on NTBf development problems. Topics covered in this volume include strategy, spin offs - their contribution to NTBf growth and the problems they encounter during the traumatic spin off process, the current hot topic of clusters and their role in enhancing NTBf formation and growth, networking and global issues since many NTBfs are truly born global.

This eleventh volume derived from the Annual International High Technology Small Firms (HTSFs) Conference, and the edited book series of which it forms part, is a detailed testimony to the progress of academic research on this specialist, but highly important, area of industrial activity. In particular, research from this series is intended to provide a basis for new "evidence-based" government policy, although governments in many developed economies have often been seduced by "fads", in circumstances where policy solutions are crudely adopted without convincing evidence of their efficacy. None the less, it is most important for academics, although they may be occasionally ignored, to continue to pursue independent research of the type contained within this series in order to provide research-based policy options, and commentary on the quality of the current policy environment for HTSFs in different national contexts. As in the case of previous volumes in this series, the current collection of papers inform many issues important to policy as governments seek to promote HTSF formation and growth. In this volume individual papers are grouped into three main sections; these are "Theory", "Strategy" and "Clustering and Spin Off Firms". Regarding Theory, all five papers grouped under this heading are concerned, either with high technology entrepreneurship in general, or academic high technology small firm entrepreneurship in particular, with four of the five papers strongly focussed on academic entrepreneurial examples. The Strategy section is again comprised of five papers, which broadly explore how diverse business ideas are operationalised in terms of strategy. A long standing interest in academic spin-offs in this book series has been more recently re-invigorated by a sudden interest in clustering which, through the related topics of incubation, science park formation and sub-regional high technology clustering has prompted linked research on the formation and growth of HTSFs in specialist locations, mainly through spin off. In the final Clustering and Spin Off section, the four individual papers are either concerned with how "spin offs" can contribute to HTSF cluster growth in industrial districts, or in the environs of major core regional universities.

This book consists of selected papers from the Annual High Technology Small Firms (HTSFs). The conference is acknowledged by experts in the field to be a particularly useful and authoritative record of the evolution of HTSF research since the inception of the series in 1993. It addresses strategic growth for small firms. It discusses how to harness external resources to promote growth (i.e., government and/or larger firms) while maintaining a win-win. It includes discussion of "spin off" the transformation from a non-profit making entity to a competitive business world.

Ward et al., examine the question of whether providing work experience within courses of study in higher education affects entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviour, important given government imperatives to foster entrepreneurship through the education system. They consider two dimensions: self-efficacy, which broadly relates to confidence in ability; and, entrepreneurial intent which relates to positive attitudes towards engaging in risk taking or firm start-up. Their sample is of 158 undergraduates who engaged in a summer work placement linked to their study. Their key finding is that positive effects on self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intent depends on the nature of the experience, being fostered by performing well in the face of difficulty and the closeness of the placement activity to their studies. Such experience appears more common when undertaking a placement in a small firm. Van der Sijde et al., consider the extent to which University start ups which are global as opposed to being domestically focussed differ in the extent of their business networks, using a sample comprising five technology-based firms of each type. They establish that global start-ups do have more extensive networks in terms of number of actors and global actors in the network at start-up, although their networks do not expand thereafter significantly more than domestic start-ups. They also have significantly more sources of capital.

"The New Technology-Based Firms in the New Millenium" series provides up to date research on a variety of aspects of High Technology Small Firm formation and growth (HTSFs) from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives and from national contexts throughout the world. This edited book series reflects on and shapes currently popular national government policies insofar as they relate to HTSFs. It is the only international publication specifically dealing with HTSF formation and growth and it uniquely provides an uninterrupted record of research in this area since 1993. This latest volume is a collection of the best papers presented at the HTSF Conference held in the United Kingdom at Manchester Business School in June 2007. Three major themes have emerged. Six particularly strong chapters of this volume are devoted to the critical problems of HTSF financing, comprising two contributions from the United Kingdom and individual chapters from Sweden, the Irish Republic, Italy, and Belgium. A further four papers are concerned with aspects of strategic development in HTSFs, and a final group of three papers deal with HTSF marketing problems, often in a 'born global' strategic context.

This volume is the latest edition of an international edited book series based on the formation and growth problems of High Technology Small Firms (HTSFs) begun in 1993. This body of work is unique, and maps the evolution of research in this area through almost two decades of academic research and government policy towards a sector that is the key to future prosperity of developed and developing notational economies throughout the world. In this the latest Volume, there is one major and two subsidiary themes that have emerged from the best papers to be presented at the HTSF Conference held at the University of Twente at Enshede in May 2008. Following a contextual introduction by the editors, seven of the chapter are concerned with the key issue of strategy, which is always a key concern for HTSFs as they seek to find the best way to getting their products to the market. Indeed, a further two papers are concerned with the requirements of international marketing, while a final three papers deal with aspects of education for HTSF founders.

This volume is the latest edition of an international edited book series based on the formation and growth problems of High Technology Small Firms (HTSFs) begun in 1993. This body of work is unique, and maps the evolution of research in this area through almost two decades of academic research and government policy towards a sector that is the key to future prosperity of developed and developing notational economies throughout the world.

The latest edition of this international edited book series, based on the formation and growth problems of High Technology Small Firms (HTSF), contains the best papers presented at the 2011 and 2013 conferences, both held at Manchester Business School. This volume remains true to the initial mission of the HTSF Conference, established in 1993, to advance our knowledge of high-technology entrepreneurship and to advocate the need for more and better designed policy to promote such entrepreneurship. The need is as great as ever it was, not least given the continued economic stagnation of the European economy in the wake of the Financial Crisis and the Euro crisis. These papers address key themes relating to improving our understanding of the processes involved in high-technology entrepreneurship and of the design of effective policy to promote this research. The first two groups of papers examine the start-up and commercialization processes and the internationalization processes, which are often important for new high-technology businesses. Other papers examine topics like entrepreneurship clusters, inter-firm collaboration, and growth strategy for high-technology small firms.