Managing Complexity and Change in SMEs

The process of founding new enterprises and making them grow and prosper is a far more convoluted undertaking than it was just a few decades ago. This book explores the complexity faced by today's entrepreneurs. Institutional boundaries, evolutionary perspectives and the intricacies of management are the central themes in this study of entrepreneurs and SMEs in a world marked by major transitions. While mainstream research enhances our understanding of the dynamics of the entrepreneurial process, this book progresses the research yet further. It examines another fundamental role of research in entrepreneurship: our understanding of future organizational and managerial forms evolving from the globalization process. Issues addressed include: growth patterns among enterprises initiated by science-and-technology-based entrepreneurs; the actions and motives driving radical entrepreneurs; the role of experience versus formal education in entrepreneurship; the role of endogenous growth processes; managerial complexity in new knowledge-based enterprises; and, the role of collaboration for innovation in new business ventures. The contributors aim to further encourage dialogue and reflections triggered by the growing emphasis on entrepreneurship in policy agendas and business communities all over Europe. As such, this book will prove stimulating reading for researchers, students, academics, consultants and advisors involved in entrepreneurship, business and management.