Description
Book SynopsisThe field of entrepreneurship has long pondered the following question: Why, despite their high levels of motivation, effort and commitment, do so many entrepreneurs fail? This innovative volume tackles the complex question of entrepreneurial success, identifying the essential tools necessary for converting ideas into reality and offering concrete means for acquiring and strengthening those tools.
Though entrepreneurial success or failure can be partly attributed to external considerations such as market fluctuations and competitor activity, Robert A. Baron argues that the individual entrepreneur is often crucial in determining whether an idea succeeds or fails. Using current, concrete data, the author demonstrates the critical importance of the entrepreneur's skills, knowledge and other personal resources to the outcome of his or her entrepreneurial undertakings. Written in a clear and vibrant style, this groundbreaking book offers both a detailed breakdown of the personal attributes that foster entrepreneurial success as well as helpful suggestions for achieving and enhancing those same attributes in one s own search for entrepreneurial excellence.
Professors and students of entrepreneurship, as well as their peers in other innovation-based fields such as engineering and the sciences, will find this book an invaluable resource for both the study and practice of successful entrepreneurship.
Contents:
Preface
1. The Nature of Entrepreneurship-and Why Entrepreneurs Truly Matter
2. Motivation: Why Entrepreneurs Make the Journey
3. Human Cognition: The Internal Origins of Creativity, Innovation, and Ideas for the Possible
4. From Desire to Achievement: The Crucial Role of Self-Regulation
5. The Social Side of Entrepreneurship: Getting the Help You Need
6. The Personal Side of Entrepreneurial Excellence: Characteristics that Enhance Success
7. Making Decisions-and Avoiding Cognitive Traps
8. Managing Adversity: Dealing with Stress, learning from Our Mistakes, and Coping with Failure
9. Putting it All Together: A Model of the Highly Effective Entrepreneur
Trade ReviewEnhancing Entrepreneurial Excellence is a fascinating and valuable treatise on how entrepreneurs achieve the transformation of an idea into a product that is successful in the marketplace. It is practical but well-grounded in the academic research. The book explains the tools that entrepreneurs need to be successful and displays the passion of the author, Robert Baron, to help more entrepreneurs become "engines of change" in order to improve human life. The book is a must read for all scholars of entrepreneurship and aspiring entrepreneurs. --Michael A. Hitt, Texas A&M University
After an insightful preface, Baron proceeds to reveal the nature and importance of entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial motivation; the role of human cognition in entrepreneurial endeavors; social aspects of entrepreneurship; decision making; dealing with adversity, and concludes with a model of the effective entrepreneur. Thoughtful, thought-provoking, analytically detailed, deftly written, organized and presented, Enhancing Entrepreneurial Excellence is an impressive work that is very highly recommended for personal, professional, and academic library contemporary business studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists. --The Midwest Book Review
Table of ContentsContents: Preface: Changing the World, One Idea at a Time 1. The Nature of Entrepreneurship—and Why Entrepreneurs Truly Matter 2. Motivation: Why Entrepreneurs Make the Journey 3. Human Cognition: The Internal Origins of Creativity, Innovation, and Ideas for the Possible 4. From Desire to Achievement: The Crucial Role of Self-Regulation 5. The Social Side of Entrepreneurship: Getting the Help You Need 6. The Personal Side of Entrepreneurial Excellence: Characteristics that Enhance Success 7. Making Effective Decisions—and Avoiding Cognitive Traps 8. Managing Adversity: Dealing with Stress, Learning from Our Mistakes, and Coping with Failure 9. Putting it All Together: A Model of the Highly Effective Entrepreneur Index
