In Entrepreneurship and Sustainability the editors and contributors challenge the notion that not-for-profit social entrepreneurship is the only sort that can lead to the alleviation of poverty. Entrepreneurship for profit is not just about the entrepreneur doing well. Entrepreneurs worldwide are leading successful for-profit ventures which contribute to poverty alleviation in their communities. With the challenge of global poverty before them, entrepreneurs continue to develop innovative, business-oriented ventures that deliver promising solutions to this complex and urgent agenda. This book explores how to bring commercial investors together with those who are best placed to reach the poorest customers. With case studies from around the World, the focus of the contributions is on the new breed of entrepreneurs who are blending a profit motive with a desire to make a difference in their communities and beyond borders. A number of the contributions here also recognize that whilst much research has been devoted to poverty alleviation in developing countries, this is only part of the story. Studies in this volume also focus upon enterprise solutions to poverty in pockets of significant deprivation in high-income countries, such as the Appalachia region of the US, in parts of Europe, and the richer Asian countries. Much has been written about the achievements of socially orientated non-profit microfinance institutions. This valuable, academically rigorous but accessible book will help academics, policy makers, and business people consider what the next generation of more commercially orientated banks for the 'bottom billion' might look like.

This book addresses the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability (EIS), presenting high-quality research illuminating the relationship between the three fields. The EIS nexus is particularly relevant from a European point of view given the focus of the European Commission on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, as well as their prominent role within the European Union in general. Also, the rapid economic growth witnessed especially in the BRIC countries in recent years requires that firms reconcile sustainability aspects with profitability and innovation, and entrepreneurs are seen as key diffusers of these aims. Sustainability requires both radical and incremental innovation at many different levels (technology, product, process, system). In many cases, such innovations come from small and medium-sized enterprises and so the role of the entrepreneur is key to their success. The book is split into six sections. The first section examines the nexus in detail focusing on system-oriented connectivity between sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship. The second section looks at how to nurture corporate entrepreneurship for sustainability; and the third considers "mature" industries such as automotives, chemicals and electronics and how sustainability aspects can be integrated into innovation process and strategy. The fourth section examines the nexus through the lens of developing countries in Africa. Sustainable entrepreneurship is identified as a hugely beneficial way to foster development. The fifth section of the book concentrates on SMEs; and finally the EIS nexus is approached from a network perspective and focuses on inter-organisational partnerships, which are often an important facilitator or spark for EIS initiatives.This book will prove to be essential for researchers in the EIS nexus and be of invaluable help to practitioners, governments and inter-governmental bodies attempting to encourage sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation.

This book explores the history of green entrepreneurship since the nineteenth century, and its spread globally in industries including renewable energy, organic food, natural beauty, ecotourism, recycling, architecture, and finance.

Sustainable entrepreneurship has attracted growing attention in both scholarly and practitioner circles. Focusing on generating social, environmental and business value, the notion has been raised more recently to address the contribution of entrepreneurial activities to sustainable economic and social development. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation builds on a theoretical framework that addresses related topics via a combination of insights from sustainability, policy, managerial, strategic, innovation and institutional perspectives. Providing empirical casework as well as a conceptual and theoretical framework, the book takes a global, interdisciplinary approach to the emergent field of sustainable entrepreneurship. The book highlights elements of sustainable entrepreneurship which have a societal impact as well as regional relevance and related aspects of innovation are also presented. Definitional issues are further elaborated in order to encompass the main inter-connected fields of study, sustainable entrepreneurship and social innovation. This book is an important resource for academic researchers, and postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability.

Sustainable Entrepreneurship stands for a business driven concept of sustainability which focusses on increasing both social as well as business value - so called Shared Value. This book shows why and how this unique concept has the potential to become the most recognised strategic management approach in our times. It aims to point out the opportunities that arise from putting sustainable entrepreneurship into practice. At the same time, this book is a wake-up call for all those companies and decision makers who underestimated Sustainable Entrepreneurship before or who are simply not aware of its greater dimension. Well structured chapters from different academic and business perspectives clearly outline how Sustainable Entrepreneurship contributes to solving the world's most challenging problems, such as Climate Change, Finance Crisis and Political Uncertainty, as well as to ensuring business success. The book provides a framework of orientation where the journey might go: What can a successful concept of SE look like? What are the key drivers for its realisation? What is the role of business in shaping the future of our society? The book also presents best practices and provides unique learnings as well as business insights from the international Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award (www.se-award.org). The Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award (short SEA) is an award for companies today who are thinking about tomorrow by making sustainable business practices an integral part of their corporate culture. Companies that receive the SEA are being recognised for the vision they have shown in combining economic and sustainable responsibility.

The way organizations manage entrepreneurship has changed dramatically over the past decade. Today, organizations take account of economic issues, but they also adopt a broader perspective of their purpose including social and environmental issues (i.e. sustainability). Yet, despite its global spread, sustainable entrepreneurship remains an uncertain and poorly defined ambition with few absolutes. This book reaffirms the important need to improve comprehension and explore the subtleties of how individuals, groups, and organizations can discover, create, and seize opportunities for blended value generation, by designing and operating sustainable ventures. It examines, in an interdisciplinary fashion and across sectoral and geographical boundaries, how entrepreneurial activities can be developed to be generally consistent with sustainable development goals, as well as by whom, for what reasons, and with what implications. The Editors comprehensively review key dimensions of the sustainable entrepreneurship phenomenon to establish an essential definition and up-to-date picture of the field. The 19 chapters cover 4 main topics: Understanding the intentions and motivations for sustainable entrepreneurship Fostering and enacting sustainability through entrepreneurial action Leading and inspiring sustainable entrepreneurial action Finding the contextually grounded implications of and challenges to sustainable entrepreneurship and blended value generation This book is an important resource for entrepreneurs and policy makers as well as students in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability.

Today’s entrepreneurial practices operate in a continuously challenging, highly dynamic, and everchanging environment. In these times of change, it is important to examine up-to-date theoretical infrastructure on the most powerful and representative approaches to sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship. Sustainable and Responsible Entrepreneurship and Key Drivers of Performance covers an updated view of the newest trends, novel practices, and latest tendencies concerning sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in a world dominated by insecurity and dramatic economic, political, and managerial changes. The book presents theoretical infrastructure on approaches to sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship as well as empirical results that make a tremendous contribution to the analysis of organizations’ performance key drivers. Elaborating on topics such as greening economy, intellectual capital, knowledge management, sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems, and social responsibility, this text is essential for entrepreneurs, managers, executives, academicians, scientists, researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers worldwide.

Given the compelling need to understand how entrepreneurship can support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and be appropriately guided, this book explores how entrepreneurial thinking and action can support social change, and investigates alternative entrepreneurship approaches by drawing together different studies.

This book provides insight for researchers and decision-makers on the application of data in the entrepreneurship and sustainable development sector. This book covers how Big Data for Industry 4.0 and entrepreneurship are effective in resolving business, social, and economic problems. The book discusses how entrepreneurs use Big Data to cut costs and minimize the waste of time. It offers how using Big Data can increase efficiency, enables the studying of competitors, can improve the pricing of products, increase sales and loyalty, and can ensure the right people are hired. The book presents how decision-makers can make use of Big Data to resolve economic and social problems. Analyze the development of the economy and enhance the business climate. This book is for researchers, PhD students, and entrepreneurs and can also be of interest for transforming governments as well as businesses.