Global Entrepreneurship: Case Studies of Entrepreneurial Firms Operating Around the World

Citation

Nick Williams (2015), "Global Entrepreneurship: Case Studies of Entrepreneurial Firms Operating Around the World", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 642-643. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-02-2015-0056

Context matters in entrepreneurship. While entrepreneurship is often portrayed as an individual endeavour, it is important to recognise that it does not occur in a vacuum but both affects and is affected by the institutional environment in which it takes place (Acs et al., 2008). Some contexts are supportive of entrepreneurship which contributes to economic growth; while others hold it back and impose a growth penalty. Given this, understanding the nature of entrepreneurship in national, regional and local contexts is important if we are to develop better policies to support growth. Indeed, in our turbulent economic times understanding the contribution of entrepreneurship to growth is as important as ever (Williams and Vorley, 2015).

This book brings together entrepreneurship scholars to provide a collection of global case studies on entrepreneurial firms and individuals. The book is a collection of 15 chapters, all of which focus on entrepreneurial activity in a specific spatial context, and all contributed by members of the Ambassadors Program of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. The preface to the book assists in setting the scene to the chapters, by setting out the importance of context through discussion of “entrepreneurial framework conditions” which illustrate the complexity of the environment which entrepreneurs have to navigate.

While on the face of it, the 15 chapters are separate essays, there are some overarching themes which help to bring them closer together. The main focus of the chapters is on country settings, yet the collection also captures a number of firm, industry and governance contexts, and success as well as failure. The chapters deal with a number of different issues regarding entrepreneurial activity, including start-up, growth and succession strategies; family business, corporate social responsibility, technology development and the role of management/education. This wide range of topics emphasises the complexity of different contexts that entrepreneurs face and how barriers and challenges may be tackled.

In addition, the discussion of failure is an interesting element of the book. As the editors make clear, case study books on entrepreneurship often focus on success stories, it should not be forgotten that business failure is a fact of life. After all, there is as much (if not more) to be learnt from failure as there is from success. Chapters 8, 10 and 15 on Latvia, the Netherlands and UK, respectively, all discuss elements of failure. The chapter on Latvia provides interesting insights into operating a venture during a recession and bankruptcy forcing business closure; the Netherlands case study outlines how franchising businesses can decline quickly through an acute shortage of cash; while the UK chapter shows that failure represents one of the most complex, difficult yet valuable learning experiences that entrepreneurs can have (Cope, 2011), through an examination of critical incidents which contributed to failure. The chapter illuminates many of the challenges of being a “lone” entrepreneur, but also how the aftermath of failure had provided space for reflection and thus entrepreneurial learning.

While the book has numerous interesting case studies, it would have been helpful to classify the focus and context of the chapters more clearly. Topics and issues are identified for each chapter, but there are common themes which could have been drawn out to provide overarching lessons in an extended introduction and conclusions chapters. The book states that it hopes readers will appreciate the complexity of interactions within different entrepreneurial ecosystems and this is achieved. Yet this could have been enhanced further through the development of lessons for academics and policy makers. For sure, there are complexities and differences between different localities, but there are also common lessons to be learnt.

Having said this though, each chapter makes interesting contributions to understanding entrepreneurship in context and can be read in isolation. This is the book’s key strength: each contribution proves a useful resource for both research and teaching on entrepreneurship in different contexts. The chapters are particularly useful as a teaching tool as most contain case study questions, and Chapter 15 on the UK goes further by providing suggested role play scenarios, seminar debates and a task. It is a suitable text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on entrepreneurship, particularly those with international dimensions. The book makes the chapters accessible to a wide audience and contributes to understanding the interplay between institutional, environmental and organisational factors and their impact on entrepreneurship. Overall, this is a useful book which puts into context theoretical notions of entrepreneurial activity and which would be a suitable supplement to introductory texts on entrepreneurship.