Are Small Firms Important? Their Role and Impact proposes and supports the claim that small firms make two indispensable contributions to the economy. First, they are an integral part of the renewal process that pervades market economies. New and small firms play a crucial role in experimentation and innovation that leads to technological change, productivity and economic growth. Second, small firms are the essential mechanism by which millions enter the economic and social mainstream of American society. The public policy implications for sustained economic growth and social well-being is the continued high-level creation of new and small firms by all segments of society. It should be the role of government policy to facilitate that process by eliminating entry barriers, lowering transaction costs, and minimizing regulation.

Black & white print. Principles of Management is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the introductory course on management. This is a traditional approach to management using the leading, planning, organizing, and controlling approach. Management is a broad business discipline, and the Principles of Management course covers many management areas such as human resource management and strategic management, as well as behavioral areas such as motivation. No one individual can be an expert in all areas of management, so an additional benefit of this text is that specialists in a variety of areas have authored individual chapters.

Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

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Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Drawing on empirical case-study research carried out in the Bangalore software industry, this book explores the role of network relationships in the internationalization of small knowledge-intensive firms. Using a conceptual framework, it looks at a range of key themes. These include: networks knowledge technology. Highlighting the propensity of small knowledge-intensive firms to develop and leverage network relationships and thereby, the resourcefulness with which entrepreneurial firms can (and do) internationalize, this book is essential reading for academics and students with an interest in the intersection between international business and entrepreneurship.

It has long been recognized that advances in science contribute to economic growth. While it is one thing to argue that such a relationship exists, it is quite another to establish the extent to which knowledge spills over within and between sectors of the economy. Such a research agenda faces numerous challenges. Not only must one seek measures of inputs, but a measure of output is needed as well to estimate the knowledge production function. The identification of such a measure was a compelling goal for Zvi Griliches, if not the holy grail: “The dream of getting hold of an output indicator of inventive activity is one of the strong motivating forces for economic research in this area.” (Griliches 1990, p. 1669). Jaffe (1989) made a significant contribution to estimating the knowledge production function when he established a relationship between patent activity and R&D activity at the state level. Feldman and coauthors (1994a, 1994b) added considerably to this line of research, focusing on innovation counts as the dependent variable instead of patent counts. This work was particularly important given that many innovations are never patented. Feldman’s work also differentiated by firm size and showed that knowledge spillovers from universities play a key role as sources of knowledge for small firms.

Dana s Handbook is an essential read for international entrepreneurship scholars as well as policymakers and practitioners concerned with the dynamics associated with the international entrepreneurship process. Succinct reviews of the literature and useful summary tables relating to key themes and studies are presented by a number of contributors. . . Paul Westhead, International Small Business Journal This is a formidable and weighty tome. . . More important than sheer quantity is consideration of the quality, and here the broad spread yet eclectic choice of the research papers is most enlightening. The contributing authors have collectively condensed much of the knowledge garnered from the past five years of this global field into one handy sourcebook. . . The end result is, indeed, a fresh recognition, if recognition still needs to be made, of the major importance of this new global growth phenomenon of international entrepreneurship. Mark Haydon, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation The Handbook is a nearly comprehensive reference work to the field that will be useful to scholars new to the area as well as those already engaged in it. . . I was impressed by the diversity of the authors. . . The Handbook is an excellent broad reference to the field. Ben Oviatt, Journal of International Business Studies Over the last few years there has been an increased interest in research on the internationalization of new ventures and the global challenges facing growing young businesses. The Handbook of Research on International Entrepreneurship has collected and synthesized the contributions of leading researchers in an effort to define and categorize the unique contributions and state-of-the-art of this emerging field. It provides a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary treatment that advances the frontiers of knowledge regarding the fundamental concepts, methods, and theories of international entrepreneurship. The Handbook should serve as both an authoritative and comprehensive reference work for researchers, and a state-of-the-art compilation of new insights for educational leaders. Ari Ginsberg, New York University Stern School of Business, US Entrepreneurship and international business have remained separate subjects for far too long. The study of international entrepreneurship thrives on the cross-fertilisation of ideas between these fields. It is one of the most dynamic research areas in economics and management. The contributors to this Handbook are the pioneers in the field, and this volume provides a definitive survey of their work. Mark Casson, University of Reading, UK These notable researchers share a common dedication to rigorous methodologies and vigorous research. Together in this volume, the researchers have assembled and presented a cross-section of tested methods, and innovative approaches. These contributions are an inspiration to younger researchers, and this bids fair to set the tone, and level of intellectual rigour and vigour for future research in the emerging field of international entrepreneurship. From the preface by Bob Kirk, University of Canterbury, New Zealand This unique reference book provides an array of diverse perspectives on international entrepreneurship, a new and emerging field of research that blends concepts and methodologies from more traditional social sciences. The Handbook includes chapters written by top researchers of economics and sociology, as well as academic leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship and international business. State-of-the-art contributions provide up-to-date literature reviews, making this book essential for the researcher of entrepreneurship and the internationalisation of entrepreneurs.