Description
Book SynopsisAn ideal text for undergraduate and MBA entrepreneurship courses in business, engineering and the social sciences.
'Deftly written, superbly presented, and highly recommended for community and academic library business studies collections, Entrepreneurship is ideal for use as a classroom textbook or as a primer for non-specialist general readers with an interest in entrepreneurship.'
- The Midwest Book Review
The early years of the 21st Century could well be called the 'decade(s) of the entrepreneur'. Entrepreneurship is an often-featured topic in magazine and newspaper articles, popular television shows and major films. Universities have added courses, departments, and even schools of entrepreneurship to their catalogs, and governments at all levels are competing to develop programs to encourage entrepreneurship. A key reason behind this growing interest is the widely held belief - supported by economic data - that entrepreneurship is a powerful engine of economic growth.
By presenting accurate knowledge about entrepreneurship itself, this book serves to convert the rising tide of interest in entrepreneurship into advice and guidance that can actually assist entrepreneurs in achieving their goals. In order to do so, this book presents evidence-based information concerning the factors that encourage entrepreneurship's emergence, including the conditions that shape its outcomes and how it unfolds as a process. This text draws on two key sources of knowledge - input from entrepreneurs and the findings of systematic empirical research. As the subtitle suggests, however, emphasis is placed on the latter whenever possible because the information individual entrepreneurs possess cannot readily serve as the basis for general principles or guidelines since it is unique to each entrepreneur. By combining evidence-based knowledge with the hard-earned wisdom of experienced entrepreneurs, this volume offers a balanced and inclusive guide useful to both current and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship is indeed a driving force of economic growth. But beyond that, it is also a key mechanism through which human creativity, ingenuity, skill, and energy are converted into tangible outcomes that can, and often do, change the world in ways that enhance and enrich human welfare. This volume will be of particular interest to students of entrepreneurship in a broad array of fields ranging from business and management to engineering and governance. Suitable for undergraduate courses and graduate programs alike, this book is frontier blazing in its own right and will help those who read it be so as well.
Awarded Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2012
Trade ReviewThis book is an ''easy-read'', well written, presented and as the title suggests well researched. . . a good book to flick through and keep as a general reference. --Chris Loughlan, Your Hidden Potential
The connections made by the author between sound psychological research and business practices make this a very valuable book for academics, business students, striving entrepreneurs, and managers. --William Holcomb, Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books
This outstanding, clearly written, psychology-oriented book is based on careful, extensive, evidence-based research rather than on the personal views of entrepreneurs and includes many excellent examples, tables, and figures to explain the ideas presented. . . . An excellent contribution to the entrepreneurship literature. Highly recommended. --D.W. Huffmire, Choice
Table of ContentsContents: Preface: Entrepreneurship’s ‘Split Personality’ – and How to Reunite it Part I: The Foundations of Entrepreneurship 1. Making the Possible Real: The Core of Entrepreneurship 2. Cognitive Foundations of Entrepreneurship: The Origins of Ideas, Creativity, and Innovations 3. Opportunity Recognition: Where Entrepreneurship Begins 4. The ‘Ups’ and ‘Downs’ of an Entrepreneurial Life: Affect, Passion, and Coping with Failure 5. Ingredients of Entrepreneurial Success: Characteristics, Skills, Networks. . . and Self-Regulation Part II: The Practice of Entrepreneurship 6. Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Ideas 7. Planning for Success: Where Goals and Creativity Meet 8. Getting the Support You Need: Financial and Human Part III: Entrepreneurship Without Boundaries 9. Thinking and Acting Entrepreneurially: Beyond New Ventures Index
