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This paper examines the perspectives of employers and employees within nano, micro, small, medium, and large firms in relation to HRM practices. The study draws upon a large sample of respondents f...

How can an entrepreneurial education program simultaneously create entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and competencies, as well as new ventures and jobs? This is a particular challenge for universities that are keen to align with government policies and demonstrate impact. Our paper examines a novel approach to enterprise and entrepreneurship education that integrates training/learning with new venture creation by operating as an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE). We outline a comprehensive EE framework and apply this model using an exploratory case study of an EE centred around an innovative academic unit called The Entrepreneurial Garden (TEG) at Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France. TEG offers entrepreneurial education, research and new venture development as an integrated portfolio. This analysis shows how an academic unit can be developed as an EE building from local resources and expertise, aligning with macroeconomic policies and priorities, and leveraging partnerships to provide access to other entrepreneurial players, resources and networks.

The aim of this article is to explore the place that fiction writing can take in an entrepreneurship and innovation curriculum. The need to project oneself into an uncertain future, and the lack of guidelines for doing so, generally plunges students into a perplexity that leads them to be very conservative in their projects. Creativity was used to help them get out of this caution and call on their imagination to think about the needs of tomorrow’s citizens. The deviation through science fiction allowed them to produce a more radically new world and to reflect within that world on the creation of an activity that is really in line with that future.

This article illustrates the interweaving of technical, social, organizational and regulatory innovations that have shaped the history of bread, a staple food in many civilizations. By tracing the development of this product through the millennia, we address the social developments that have accompanied technical innovation in the agriculture and processing sectors, leading to the industrial system we know today. Two recent examples, which we regard as emblematic of current developments, suggest that this dynamic of innovation has developed in a particular direction, which today translates into standardization within the bread-making industry and a risk of technical and organizational lock-in., L’article permet de montrer l’imbrication des innovations techniques, sociales, organisationnelles et réglementaires qui ont rythmé l’histoire du pain, aliment de base dans plusieurs civilisations. En retraçant le développement de ce produit à travers les millénaires, nous évoquons les évolutions sociales qui ont accompagné les innovations techniques dans le domaine agronomique et dans le domaine de la transformation, pour aboutir au système industriel que nous connaissons aujourd’hui. Deux exemples récents, que nous considérons comme emblématiques des évolutions actuelles, suggèrent que cette dynamique d’innovations s’est développée dans une trajectoire particulière, qui se traduit aujourd’hui par une standardisation de la filière de panification et un risque de verrouillage technique et organisationnel.

L’objectif de cet article est de comprendre comment la digitalisation de l’economie affecte les Business Models dans les PME de l’agroalimentaire. Nous avons cherche a comprendre quelles sont les caracteristiques et les competences d’innovation mobilisees dans ce cadre, en faisant l’hypothese que toutes les PME ne vont pas s’adapter de la meme facon a cette transition. Nos resultats suggerent que si les PME ont toutes recours a une large palette d’innovations, la forme prise par ces transformations depend largement de la categorie d’entreprise, de sa capacite d’absorption et de sa perception quant a la radicalite du saut a faire. Cette recherche apporte des elements de comprehension de la diversite des innovations de Business Model mises en place par les PME d’un secteur low-tech.Codes JEL : L20, M2, O3

Nous développons une taxonomie des entreprises de petite taille (TPE/PME) permettant de mieux les classifier et de mieux les comprendre, afin de mieux en soutenir le développement. Pour cela, nous mobilisons une base de données de grande ampleur construite pour la région Rhône-Alpes. Cette étude est motivée par l’énorme diversité des PME, et l’existence de très nombreuses définitions, tant statistiques que de recherche, utilisées pour de multiples usages, sans que l’une ou l’autre se dégage réellement. Cherchant à apporter un outil aux décideurs publics, notre travail cherche à construire une taxonomie des PME en se fondant sur une observation empirique. Nous cherchons ainsi à mieux identifier des situations stratégiques appelant des accompagnements différents. Notre étude permet d’identifier sept catégories de PME groupées par similitude de comportement et de situation stratégique. Pour chacune de ces catégories, nous analysons une firme caractéristique, que l’on peut identifier comme un archétype. Cette approche devrait se montrer plus réaliste et permettre en particulier aux décideurs politiques de mieux adapter leurs efforts de soutiens aux PME. Elle devrait également permettre une meilleure précision aux recherches conduites sur les PME., This paper develops a taxonomy of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using a large database of SMEs in the Rhône-Alpes region around Lyon and Grenoble in south eastern France. Motivating this study is the wide diversity found across SMEs, which makes difficult for public decision-makers trying to support them. The purpose of the study is to generate a number of SME archetypes so as to offer policy makers a more reliable system of classification of SMEs. Seven categories of SMEs showing similar strategic behaviours and comparable strategic situation. For each of these categories a characteristic firm is described, which can be identified as an archetype., Hemos desarrollado una taxonomía o clasificación de pequeñas empresas (PyME) para clasificarlas y comprenderlas mejor y con el fin de apoyarlas para que puedan desarrollarse. Para esto, hemos analizado una gran base de datos producida por la región de Rhône-Alpes. Este estudio está motivado por la gran diversidad de PyME y la existencia de muchas definiciones de estas, que sirven tanto para fines estadísticos como de investigación. Deseamos proporcionar una herramienta para las personas que toman decisiones públicas, nuestro trabajo busca construir una taxonomía de PyME basada en la observación empírica. Por lo tanto, buscamos identificar claramente las situaciones estratégicas que requieren comprensión y apoyo adecuados. Nuestro estudio identifica 7 categorías de PyME agrupadas por similitud de comportamientos y por situaciones estratégicas.

The co-operative and mutual enterprise business model represents a unique type of organisation that has a dual purpose focused on both economic and social goals. For nearly two centuries it has played an important role in economic development, job creation and addressing market failures. However, despite its potential importance to economic development it has been largely ignored within the mainstream economics and management literature. This paper provides an overview of the nature of the co-operative and mutual enterprise business model and also proposes a business model framework or ‘canvas’ that can be used for research, teaching and strategic analysis.

Chapter 1: Entrepreneurship as a social and economic process.- Chapter 2: The Entrepreneur.- Chapter 3: The entrepreneurial process.- Chapter 4: Intrapreneurship.- Chapter 5: Innovation in small firms.- Chapter 6: Adoption and diffusion of innovation.- Chapter 7: Planning, business models and strategy.- Chapter 8: Team building, company leadership and strategic alliances.- Chapter 9: Financing the venture.- Chapter 10: Intellectual property management.- Chapter 11: Risk management and innovation.- Chapter 12: Disruptive innovations and the commercialisation of technology.- Chapter 13: Social entrepreneurship and cooperative enterprise.

This chapter has provided an overview of the financing process for entrepreneurial firms. For these types of businesses, there is likely to be an equity finance gap due to a lack of available risk capital. Sources of financing can include banks, financing firms, insurance companies and trade creditors that provide debt financing against either tangible assets or cash flow.

This chapter examines the issue of how to manage risk in the process of innovation. By its very nature, innovation is inherently risky. The more radical and disruptive the innovation, the more uncertainty and potential risk is created. However, the management of risk remains an important issue for any manager or organisation seeking to engage in the commercialisation of innovation.

This chapter examines the role of innovation as a key economic driver and the nature of radical or disruptive innovations as a major source of new technological products and processes. It examines the theory and practice of strategic management of innovation, and the generation of innovation value through the adoption of a Blue Ocean strategy. Technological innovation involves significant improvements in product or process performance and generally has a higher level of risk associated with it. Historically, technology has played an important role in the success of entrepreneurs, but in recent decades it has accelerated in its importance.

This chapter examines the process of screening opportunities for new product development (NPD), and the importance of undertaking detailed market assessments of the customers’ needs and wants. It discusses the use of a range techniques and associated concepts including voice of customer, quality function deployment (QFD), Kano analysis, CAGE modelling, customer archetyping, product concept development, and product-technology road mapping. The chapter also provides an overview of how this screening and market assessment process can be undertaken with reference to many of the concepts covered in Chaps. 7, 8 and 9.

This chapter provides an overview of the concept of intrapreneurship or internal corporate venturing which suggests that managers within large organisations can behave like entrepreneurs. The ability of large organisations to generate innovations is contingent on their ability to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour among their employees. Intrapreneuring is contingent upon an alignment between the individual’s ability to undertake entrepreneurial activities, and also the organisation’s characteristics. Innovative organisations need a strong market orientation, innovative leadership, non-linear strategic planning, flexible structures and a supportive culture. The structure and culture should be aligned to ensure that innovation can be fostered through freedom and creativity, but also implemented through efficient production and distribution. Intrapreneurship can be risky for managers who need to behave as if they are risking their own money. Encouraging entrepreneurial behaviour within large organisations requires attention to be given to human resource management (HRM) systems with appropriate rewards, resources, management support, organisational structure and a risk tolerant culture.

This chapter has examined the nature of entrepreneurship and innovation, providing definitions for both and placing them into context. Note that entrepreneurship is a major driver of employment and economic growth throughout the world. Entrepreneurship operates at the individual, organisational and environmental level, and is a process associated with self-evaluation, opportunity recognition, the active management of resources, and the capacity to reassess and change. Unlike managers, the entrepreneur is willing to assume the risk associated with ownership of a venture, but also enjoys the rewards of success. Innovation is an integral part of entrepreneurship and involves either product or process innovations that can be incremental, synthetic or discontinuous in nature. Innovation is a major source of competitiveness for firms and is essential to success in modern economies.

This chapter has examined the entrepreneurial process which is comprised of three distinct stages: (i) opportunity recognition, (ii) marshalling resources, and (iii) developing capability. The screening of opportunities is a key part of the entrepreneurial process, and the reason why some people identify opportunities better than others may be due to their having access to better information channels and the cognitive abilities to assess and value them.

This chapter has provided an overview of the small business sector and the nature of small business management. Small firms are a major source of employment and economic growth throughout the world and provide a management environment that is very different from that found in large organisations. A problem in understanding the small business sector is the lack of agreed definitions as to what an SME is. Most SMEs lack the resources of large firms and are dependent on one or two key owner-managers for their long-term survival. Small firms are typically less formal that their large counterparts, and are run more for lifestyle than for growth by their owners. Entrepreneurs can own a small business, but not all small business owners are entrepreneurs. Most small business owners are oriented toward lifestyle and task management rather than risk taking, innovation and growth. Small businesses are often undercapitalised and their owners lack management skills.

Planning should not be confused with clarity of vision. This chapter examines the relationship between an entrepreneur’s vision and the need to generate a formal business plan. It suggests that a formal business plan is no guarantee for success and that, while planning is important, too much attention can be paid to business plans at the expense of having a clear vision for the business. The business plan is often viewed as a complex document, but it is really a mechanism for helping the entrepreneur systematically communicate their vision to others – either to raise money, secure contracts or organise the work of employees. Of more strategic importance is the ability to create a clear vision for the future.

This chapter provides an overview of some of the elements associated with team building and leadership with entrepreneurial companies. The importance of assembling a well-balanced management team with a complimentary range of skills is highlighted. This management team should be supported by a competent management board made up of individuals who compliment the executive management team and assist in providing strategic guidance. In establishing a board of governance, care should be taken to get a good cross-section of members who can work together, and to avoid individuals who might wish to pursue narrow interests, interfere too much with the operational management, or see board membership as a ‘second job’.

This chapter has provided an overview of the concepts of social entrepreneurship and innovation. It has highlighted the fact that social entrepreneurs use the same skills and behaviours of traditional entrepreneurs, but for a social rather than an economic purpose. The social entrepreneur can be found in a wide range of environments that can include non-profit and voluntary organisations through to for-profit organisations. Social entrepreneurship seeks to build a social value proposition that draws together people and capital to exploit opportunities for social capital building. Social entrepreneurship and innovation are new and emerging concepts that remain poorly defined. However, since the 1990s there has been a growing recognition of the importance of the social economy and the social enterprise. The ‘third way’ was a reaction to the ‘economic rationalism’ that became prominent in the 1980s. An important form of social enterprise is the co-operative. This type of business model has been in operation for centuries, and the principles of the Rochdale Society founded in 1844 remain the basis for the global co-operative enterprise movement that encompasses some of the largest business organisations in the world. Co-operatives offer economic and social benefits to their members and can be found in a wide range of industries. They play an important role in regional and community development. However, co-operatives suffer from some generic problems associated with their collective ownership rights, and recent trends have seen the formation of a new generation co-operative business model designed to alleviate some of these problems. The theory of community-based enterprise (CBE) suggests that, where a community is suffering economic or social stress but has a tradition of collective problem-solving and sufficient social capital willing to become involved and provide the necessary critical mass, a CBE can form. It will be based on available community skills, have a range of goals, and succeed if there is sufficient community participation.

This chapter provides an overview of the characteristics that influence the entrepreneur and shape their behaviour. The factors influencing entrepreneurship are found both internally and externally to the individual, comprising a combination of personality traits and environmental influences. Entrepreneurs are typically characterised by strong achievement drive, high levels of creativity, a desire for autonomy, a willingness to take calculated risks, and an internal locus of control. These are key enterprising tendencies that are inherent in all people regardless of their background, age, ethnicity or personality. Entrepreneurs are not born; rather, they interact with their environment to apply their enterprise tendencies into entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurial motivation is triggered by the individual’s entrepreneurial orientation, personal goals and the opportunities available to them in their environment.

This chapter examines the process of adoption and diffusion of innovation. It suggests that innovation is driven by three paradigms, focusing respectively on: the individual creative genius, the technology-push of systematic scientific inquiry, and market-pull. While the creation of innovative new ideas and technologies is an important goal for business, there is no value in innovation without commercialisation which is frequently fraught with challenges. The diffusion of innovation is a social process that involves inventors being imitated by adopters. Their decision to adopt – or not to adopt – is influenced by a combination of rational attitudes and subjective norms that can be shaped by peer group influence. Word of mouth can play a key role in the diffusion process as early adopters provide recommendations and role models for laggards. Successful commercialisation requires the innovation to be adopted by customers and to diffuse into markets. Customers will not always accept new ideas. They usually need to be assured that the innovation: can be integrated with their existing systems, is able to produce genuine benefits, is easy to use, and is also being accepted by others. It can take many years for a new innovation to gain acceptance in markets. Good technology development must also be accompanied by good market and business development.

This chapter provides an overview of the emerging field of social entrepreneurship and innovation, with a specific focus on co-operative enterprise as a distinct business model. While entrepreneurship has been viewed as a process of self-directed, individualistic and profit maximising opportunism, the reality is that many entrepreneurs and innovators are not totally focused on personal wealth creation. Money is just a necessary tool that can be used to purchase assets with which to develop new products or services and deliver value to customers.

This chapter examines the relationship between the entrepreneur’s vision and the need for strategic planning. It recognises that flexibility is critical in the development of entrepreneurial ventures and that the planning process must be non-linear in nature if it is to be responsive to the opportunities that market or product innovation offer. While the discipline of formal business planning is highly important to the development of a successful venture, the plan is only a manifestation of the business case or model that underlies the venture. The chapter explores the nature of planning and strategy, business model design and offers both a theoretical and applied view of these areas.

This chapter examines creativity and its links to enterprise. This includes the three-stage process of entrepreneurship: opportunity screening; acquiring resources and building capability. Within this examination, the chapter reviews innovation and competitive advantage, financing ventures, team building and entrepreneurial growth. The process of entrepreneurship has been viewed as resting on four cornerstones. The first of these is the ability to impact your personal environment. Second is to possess a high degree of self-confidence. Next is the ability to create support networks that the entrepreneur can call upon for assistance, advice and resources. The final element is the ability to create a linkage from vision to action (Johannisson 1988). In this chapter, the role of creativity and the need to develop sound networks to support entrepreneurial activities are examined.

This chapter examines the small business sector and the differences that exist between entrepreneurs and small business owner-managers. The “myth” of small business innovation and the entrepreneurial growth cycle of small firms are also explored along with the need for small firms to establish collaborative support networks. The importance of small business entrepreneurs being able to develop strategic thinking skills is highlighted along with the need for them to learn how to balance strategy, structure and resources.

This chapter examines the financing options available to entrepreneurs from initial start-up through growth and expansion. It examines the key sources of finance with attention to debt, equity and retained profit. While much of the popular focus of entrepreneurial financing has been placed on venture capital, this is only one of many options available to entrepreneurs, and it is not always the most appropriate or popular. Furthermore, as we will show, securing venture capital financing is quite difficult and most new ventures will not be eligible for such financing.

This chapter examines the nature of corporate structure and governance for high-growth firms as well as the process of team building both in early stage and in more mature ventures. The importance of getting the right team and the need to ensure that the team is balanced and effective are also considered. It also examines some of the issues associated with the management of strategic partnering through joint ventures and alliances.

This chapter examines theories of the adoption and diffusion of innovation. It explores the issue of whether innovation diffusion is a social or economic process, and the importance of initial customer selection. Also discussed are the need to identify clear pathways to market, the barriers to market entry, and substitution threats. The need for the formation of strategic alliances is also considered.

This chapter examines the issue of how to manage risk in the process of innovation. By its very nature, innovation is inherently risky. The more radical and disruptive the innovation, the more uncertainty and potential risk is created. However, the management of risk remains an important issue for any manager or organisation seeking to engage in the commercialisation of innovation. Risk management, or enterprise risk management (Brustbauer 2016; Reboud and Seville 2016), is viewed as a major concern for managers today and the number of large companies having a risk manager is growing. However, within the context of new entrepreneurial ventures the dynamics are different, because such businesses are particularly risky, and face greater uncertainty. This is particularly the case in innovation where structured, systematic approaches are necessary.

Commercialisation has been described as the process of preparing and taking an established product, process or service to market (DITR 2003). The process ends when the product, process or service is finally marketed successfully to the customer. It is typically the costliest part of the innovation process, requires the most entrepreneurial effort and involves the most commercial risk. At the heart of the commercialisation process is the development and economic leverage of IP, which is the ability of creative ideas to be identified and protected for future commercial benefit. In this chapter, we explore the nature of IP and IP rights as well as how such IP can be brought to market via the commercialisation process. The chapter examines the role of intellectual property (IP) in the innovation process including: types of IP, the protection of IP, and how to assess the technical feasibility of an innovation. Also considered is the process of licensing and the valuation of IP in the commercialisation of an innovation.

This chapter examines the role of innovation as a key economic driver and the nature of radical or disruptive innovations as a major source of new technological products and processes. It examines the theory and practice of strategic management of innovation, and the generation of innovation value through the adoption of a Blue Ocean strategy. The chapter also provides an overview of new product development processes such as Stage-Gate® and Lean Start-Up, plus the process of assessing innovation rent.

This chapter examines: new venture creation in established organisations, the intrapreneurial process, the middle manager as an entrepreneur, the roles of sponsors, and climate makers. The infusion of entrepreneurial thinking into large corporate organisational structures has emerged as a key area of management attention since the 1990s. As levels of competition have accelerated, the creative and innovative nature of entrepreneurship has come to be seen as a way of enhancing the competitiveness of organisations and encouraging employees to view themselves as owners. This has seen organisations attempting to encourage employees to tap into their creative and innovative talents, and seeking to promote innovation.

Marketing within the small business is not the same as found within larger organisations due to limited resources, but also the owner-manager’s ability to get closer to the customer and understand their needs and wants. The term “customerising” has been coined to describe the process of marketing within the small business. This involves the ability to delight the customer by offering significantly better levels of product or service quality. Successful small firms have formal approaches to marketing and secure an above average level of word of mouth referrals. These firms have business generating systems and know why their customers buy from them and how they make buying decisions. Small business owners need to understand customer needs while monitoring the past performance of their firm within its market. They also need to develop a coherent and well considered sales management process and a marketing strategy that considers each of the seven elements of the marketing mix. This strategy must identify selected target markets, develop a position within these markets and create appropriate plans for the management of products, pricing, distribution, promotion, process, people and physical evidence. Further, by paying attention to the quality of service that the firm can give to its customers, and engendering in them a perception of value it can generate customer loyalty, repeat business and positive word of mouth referrals.

While many small businesses start up with only bootstrap financing, it is usually necessary for them to expand their operations and invest in both new capital equipment, employees and marketing or advertising activities. The expansion – even modest expansion – of a small firm can place a strain on the firm’s resources and it is possible for a small business to overtrade and find itself in a financial crisis even though sales are increasing. This chapter explores the importance of understanding the working capital cycle and the need to monitor the break-even sales within the firm while understanding the importance of ‘gross’ rather than ‘net’ profit. It should be noted that the purpose of this book is not to cover financial accounting issues in any detail as this would be beyond its scope. Instead this chapter aims to provide an overview of key financial management concepts considered important to the successful operation of the small business.

This chapter examines the issue of valuation and the related issues of purchasing and selling a small firm. It highlights the fact that valuation is not a precise science, and there is no established formula for determining how much a business should be worth. It also considers consolidation and harvesting of the wealth from the business.