This paper explores what constitutes “enterprise education” in four European countries. It proposes a conceptual schema for capturing the various objectives of enterprise education programmes and initiatives. This conceptual schema is then used to categorise the objectives of 50 enterprise programmes from Austria, Finland, Ireland, and the UK. The paper reviews the teaching/learning methods used in these programmes. It discusses what factors are associated with “effective” enterprise education, illustrating the discussion with “best practice” from the programmes studied. The paper argues that in order to operate effective enterprise education programmes, policy makers and educators need a thorough understanding of the diverse and alternative aims and objectives of enterprise education interventions, of the alternative forms such interventions can take, and of the need to “train the trainers”.

How do entrepreneurs identify foreign market opportunities and how do they identify foreign market(s) and customers? We draw on the concepts of effectuation, improvisation, prior knowledge and networks to study the early internationalization of new ventures operating in the Irish Shellfish sector. We argue that the internationalization process was strongly influenced by two 'resources to hand': the entrepreneurs' idiosyncratic prior knowledge and their prior social and business ties. We observe an effectuation logic and extensive improvisation in the internationalization process of these new ventures.

In many universities, heads, administrators and faculty seek to increase the propensity to engage in commercialization of research activity through the spinoff of new companies. The highly complex mechanism of spinoff generation is typically considered the result of either the characteristics of individuals, organizational policies and structures, organizational culture, or the external environment. Explanations of spinoff activity have in the main focused on only one of these dimensions at a time. In this paper we integrate these four dimensions of academic entrepreneurship to develop a more systemic understanding of spinoff activity at the university level. Using the case of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a top spinoff generator in the United States, a systemic analysis is presented. We identify the inter‐related factors that have contributed to successful academic entrepreneurship in MIT. We argue that MIT's success is based on the science and engineering resource base at MIT; the quality of research faculty; supporting organizational mechanisms and policies such as MIT's Technology Licensing Office; and the culture within MIT faculty that encourages entrepreneurship. However, to understand why MIT has developed these resources and organizational mechanisms, it is necessary to understand the historical context and emergence of MIT, and in particular the historical mission of the university, the role of key individuals and university leaders in supporting this mission, and the impact of past success at commercialization activity. Finally, we suggest that MIT's success needs to be understood in the context of the local regional environment. We argue that university administrators and academics can learn from the case of MIT, but that efforts at transposing or replicating single elements of MIT's model may only have limited success, given the inter‐related nature of the drivers of spinoff activity.

This paper explores the factors that determine the sustainability of growth in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Previous research has shown that SME growth may be the consequence of the strategic choices of entrepreneurs or the structural characteristics of the external environment. This research investigates the dynamic between these two “conflicting” explanations. Two in‐depth longitudinal case studies are presented of SMEs in the wholesale sector. For SME managers, this research suggests that the first key managerial choice is “where to compete” but that this is followed by other key choices concerning “how to compete” and it is in the combination of these that sustained growth is found. Moreover, there may be circumstances when an innovative decision about “where to compete” endows the creative first mover with the opportunity to both drive growth and to be the prime beneficiary of market growth.

In this study we explore the daily managerial behaviour of managers of small growth-orientated businesses and contrast it to previous research of managers in large organisations. We also investigate if one background characteristic, the owner–managers functional experience, is related to daily managerial activity. More specifically, we seek to strengthen the ‘managerial work’ tradition through a replication of Mintzberg’s work (The Nature of Managerial Work, New York: Harper and Row 1973) and an extension of the ‘managerial work’ tradition to another contingency, that of small growth- oriented businesses. The study is based on direct observations of ten CEOs of small growth-orientated businesses. The research provides evidence that organisational size is an important determinant of the nature of managerial work. However, in exploring the variability that may occur in managerial work within a given size context, we failed to establish a relationship between the owner–manager’s functional experiences and daily functional work orientation. The article concludes by speculating why the nature of managerial work in small growth-orientated businesses may provide a template for management in larger (more bureaucratic) organisations. Copyright Springer 2005Ireland, managerial work, observational method, small business growth, M13, L20,

Abstract:It is widely recognized that foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic development. Internationalization theory is used to explore how inward FDI impacts entrepreneurial activity. Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor we find significant differences in entrepreneurial activity between Ireland and Hungary in both the type of people starting businesses and the opportunities pursued. These results suggest that economic development policies for middle-income countries, like Hungary, should focus on increasing human capital, promote enterprise development, and upgrading the quality of FDI.

Knowledge spillovers, TTO, Incubators, Scientists, Commercialisation, Academic spinoffs, O31, O32,

PurposeThis paper aims to draw on the network perspective of firm internationalisation to study how an intermediary network actor, such as an export promotion organisation (EPO), can influence the internationalisation of new ventures located in peripheral regions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs case analysis and the critical incident technique to study the influence of the Irish Government's support agency for the seafood industry, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), on the internationalisation of three new ventures in the seafood sector in the West of Ireland.FindingsThe EPO played an important role in information mediation: identifying foreign opportunities and customers; facilitating introductions to international customers; and by providing foreign market knowledge; and as a resource provider developing the firm's export capacity.Research limitations/implicationsThe choice of sector and method may impact on the ability to generalise the findings to firms in other contexts.Practical implicationsThis study identifies a number of important implications for managers. It identifies a dilemma for policy‐makers: do efforts to develop strong support agencies come at the expense of developing strong firms?Originality/valueThis study advances the understanding of the role of an intermediary network actor in influencing new‐firm internationalisation. It identifies a set of conditions that, it is argued, are necessary if an EPO is to facilitate firm internationalisation.