Exploring Entrepreneurship

• Breaks away from the traditional coupling of entrepreneurship with small business management, and instead addresses development of new ventures, thus aligning entrepreneurship with enterprise and innovation.
• Features a social entrepreneurship theme throughout, looking at common ground between 'commercial' and 'social' entrepreneurs, and recognising that entrepreneurial activity is not confined to the private sector.
• The text is divided into two distinct, but inter-related, sections that cover practical issues related to the creation of an entrepreneurial venture, together with reviews of related research evidence and more theoretical discussion about entrepreneurship. This enables students to understand the theoretical perspectives of entrepreneurship, and how these can be applied to practice.
• Extensive use of up-to-date case studies and illustrative examples helps students easily contextualise theory, and see how it applies to practice.

Readership: The primary readership for this text is advanced undergraduate and postgraduate business and management students taking modules in Entrepreneurship and/or New Venture Creation. It is also appropriate for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in other disciplinary areas, such as biosciences, engineering, art and design or publishing, who may take an additional course in entrepreneurship and setting up a business. These may be free-standing certificated courses, or credit-based options within a modular programme.

Richard Blundel, Senior Lecturer in Enterprise Development and a member of the Management of 'Knowledge & Innovation Research Unit' and 'Public Leadership & Social Enterprise Research Unit' at the Open University, and Nigel Lockett, Professor of Enterprise at the University of Leeds

"This entrepreneurship text is unique. There are many books on entrepreneurship, but none that combine theory and practice as well as this. The book examines the links between entrepreneurship and innovation, and between the entrepreneurs behaviour and their success. There is a great deal of wisdom in the book, and it contains many instructive and entertaining case studies. " - Mark Casson, Professor of Economics, University of Reading, and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurship

"The writing style of Exploring Entrepreneurship is modern and there is a sense of humour here illustrated in the choice of examples. The content of the book is good, as is the nature of the supporting features. " - Frank Martin, University of Stirling

"Exploring Entrepreneurship is more detailed and offers a completely different perspective to any of the texts I use. I think the text is more comprehensive and would make a strong compulsory textbook. " - Dr Spinder Dhaliwal, University of Surrey

"Exploring Entrepreneurship is up to date, comprehensive, current, well designed and relevant to the contemporary entrepreneurship and small business development debate." - Harry Matlay, Birmingham City University

"Exploring Entrepreneurship compares very favourably with the materials currently being used. It is far more up-to-date and the contemporary nature of the material is an important differentiator. The utilisation of the latest case studies, examples and reference sources and the extensive use of case studies using successful entrepreneurs are strong selling points. " - Nigel Walton, the Open University

1: Introduction: the many faces of entrepreneurship
Part One: Entrepreneurship in Practice
2: Visions: creating new ventures
3: Opportunities: nurturing creativity and innovation
4: People: leading teams and networks
5: Markets: understanding customers and competitors
6: Processes: controlling operations and technologies
7: Accounts: interpreting financial performance
8: Finances: raising capital for new ventures
9: Reflections: learning from entrepreneurs
Part Two: Entrepreneurship in Perspective
10: Perspectives on entrepreneurship: an overview
11: Economic perspectives: influences and impacts
12: Individual perspectives: beyond the 'heroic' entrepreneur
13: Social perspectives: understanding people and places
14: Historical perspectives: the 'long view'
15: Political perspectives: from policy to practice