Entrepreneurial Small Businesses: A Resource-based Perspective

The authors of this comprehensive study address why it is that some small firms perform well and others don't, and whether high-performing firms share characteristics that distinguish them from low-performing firms. By exploring bundles of resources and their interaction with other factors, the authors explain important small business outcomes such as growth, performance, entrepreneurial activity, and the chance of receiving debt or equity capital. The authors find that while resources may be valuable, it is essential that small businesses have the processes to facilitate the manipulation of resources into value-creating strategies. Rather than reaching the conclusion that more is always better, the authors tease out the conditions under which certain resources are particularly valuable, as well as the conditions under which these and other resources are less valuable. The resource factors examined range from aspects of the human capital of the small business manager, such as length of education or prior experience with business start-ups, to social capital variables and firm-level resources, such as access to financial capital and competence. Representing leading-edge research across several levels of analysis, this volume will be a useful resource for scholars and students of entrepreneurship and small business, as well as for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Policymakers will find the volume helpful in understanding the effect policies may have on small businesses and the subsequent impact on the economic performance of a region.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1. An Introduction to Entrepreneurial Small Businesses 2. The Motivation to Grow a Small Business 3. Who Grows Small Businesses and How They Choose to Do It 4. The Small Business’s Entrepreneurial Orientation and Knowledge-based Resources 5. The Small Business’s Entrepreneurial Orientation, Financial Capital and the Environment 6. Venture Capitalists’ Investment Decision Policies and Maintaining a Good Relationship with Andrew Zacharakis 7. Loan Officers’ Decision Policies Toward Small Businesses with Volker Bruns 8. Learning from Small Business Failure 9. Conclusion References Index

About the Author :
Dean A. Shepherd, Ray and Milann Siegfried Professor of Entrepreneurship, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, US and Johan Wiklund, The Al Berg Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University, US

Review :
'. . . I have to recommend it as the most serious and accessible book of this type I have read to date. It succeeds where others have failed in passing on the findings of rigorous research to the people who can really make sense of it.' 'The book is well worth reading for all those interested in small business enterprises. . . policymakers and researchers will find it to be a valuable resource. . . the book is highly recommended for academic or special libraries.' 'This volume incorporates current research and academic literature to provide an authoritative examination of small business performance from an entrepreneurial perspective. It will be of use to small business managers as well as students and teachers having an interest in small business and entrepreneurship training. It can also be recommended to bank officials responsible for small business loans.' 'Shepherd and Wiklund's excellent book focuses on a key but sometimes overlooked topic: the entrepreneurial activities of small businesses. By studying small businesses at an individual level of analysis (in terms of motivation and human capital) as well as at firm and environmental levels of analysis, the book offers a comprehensive explanation of why some small businesses outperform others. In particular, I enjoyed the book's investigation of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and its explanation of how the knowledge-based resources of small businesses affect the EO-performance relationship.'