Description
Book SynopsisEntrepreneurial Strategy aims to revive the debate on the role of entrepreneurship in the context of mature business. The authors contend that mature and declining industries are increasingly dominated by the negative pressure of external factors, but they are also embedded with a potential renewed role for entrepreneurship because the industry forces as a whole tend to break up, leaving space for strategic business innovation.
The book offers a thorough insight to the entrepreneurial dynamics behind emerging businesses in declining industries, in particular on the roles of resources, processes and people. Using structured business case studies, it illustrates the entrepreneurial strategy of these firms, concluding that emerging firms target growth by:
- expanding to control key assets
- using innovation rather than production of new technologies
- making significant improvements in productivity
- building a particular customer-oriented reputation.
Practitioners, managers and entrepreneurs wishing to better understand the dynamics behind emerging businesses, and policymakers developing industry foresight and setting out policies for the enhancement of entrepreneurial activity will find this book invaluable. It will also be warmly welcomed by students, academics and researchers with an interest in entrepreneurship, industrial economics and business administration.
Trade Review‘Entrepreneurial Strategy is an extremely well-written text, excellently produced and attractively published. . . it will make a useful addition to a research library, especially for those new to the field, perhaps approaching entrepreneurship in the advanced stages of life cycle maturity from one of the many disciples that contribute towards a deeper understanding of the topic.' -- Peter L. Jennings, International Small Business Journal
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction PART I: MATURITY AND DECLINE IN THE INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE 2. Industry Evolution 3. Advanced Maturity and Early Decline in the Industry Life Cycle PART II: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EMERGING BUSINESSES 4. Main Theories on Entrepreneurship 5. Entrepreneurship and Growth 6. Entrepreneurship, Mature Industries and Emerging Businesses PART III: BUSINESS CASES 7. Entrepreneurial Strategies in Selected Mature Industries 8. Geox and the Footwear Industry 9. Gillette and the Personal Care Industry 10. Italcementi and the Cement Industry 11. RyanAir and the Airline Industry 12. Starbucks and the Speciality Coffee Industry 13. Swatch and the Watch Industry 14. Tenaris and the Seamless Steel Tubes Industry 15. Toyota and the Automotive Industry 16. Wal-Mart and the Retail Industry PART IV: ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGIES FOR FIRMS IN ADVANCED MATURITY 17. Entrepreneurial Strategy in Mature Industries 18. Business Cases at a Glance 19. Entrepreneurship and the Determinants of Emerging Business 20. Removing Constraints to Growth References Index
