The role that small firms and entrepreneurship play in economic development has been particularly contentious. Joseph Schumpeter (1911), in his early work, argued that through a process of "creative destruction," small and new firms would serve as agents of change and a catalyst for innovation and growth. But, he later rescinded this view, instead concluding that large corporations were the engines of growth. Just as it seemed that a consensus had emerged among scholars and policy makers that small business was at best superfluous and at worst a drag on growth and economic development, David Birch provided evidence that, in fact, small firms were the engines of job creation. The early skepticism of challenge to Birch's findings revolved around methodology and measurement. However, a wave of subsequent studies by different authors, spanning different time periods, sectors, and even countries, generally confirmed Birch's original findings-for most developed countries and in most time periods, small business has provided most of the job creation.

Providing structured yet adaptable models of project success within an organization, A Standard for Enterprise Project Management explains each of the basic elements needed for project success and integrates them into a balanced life-cycle continuum. It also supplies an inventory of practical policies, procedures, techniques, and templates for consistent management of projects. The book first discusses project authorization and initiation, followed by analysis and planning. It then covers execution, control, and closure. Each phase contains an explanation and an illustration of how to optimize success. Throughout the text, the author refers to numerous appendices that constitute both blank and completed templates. He provides details on how to use these tools, with an emphasis on balancing the benefits of standardization and the need for flexibility. The accompanying CD-ROM encompasses a color version of the book with four bonus features: Quick start with Project 2003 that offers a one-page tutorial and three pages of screen prints designed to quickly generate readable and concise project plans Complex project readiness grid that suggests how to manage intricate interrelationships in a project or program environment Project management competency development grid that outlines a program for developing key skills among project managers within an organization Traceability matrix that illustrates how various levels of requirements and final solutions are interrelated This book offers a painless guide to quickly getting business initiatives out of the clouds and onto the ground. Blending the rigor and discipline of project management with the thoroughness of business analysis, it shows how to successfully build, complement, and enhance project management and business analysis in any organization.

. . . the topical way in which the subject is discussed makes this book useful also for policymakers or entrepreneurs interested in the subject. It is also appropriate for Masters or Ph.D. students who have a basic background in economics and management. . . [the book] provides interesting and deep analysis of the dynamic of knowledge economy and it is very well written. Francesca Masciarelli, Journal of Management and Governance The knowledge economy is a concept commonly deemed too ambiguous and elusive to hold any significance in current economic debate. This valuable book seeks to refute that myth. Presenting an important collection of views, from a number of leading scholars, this innovative volume visibly demonstrates that knowledge and information are a prime resource in driving the dynamics of an economy. It is argued that in order to understand the knowledge economy a diverse set of insights and approaches are required, which shed new and striking light on the roots of present-day economic dynamics. Using both theoretical and empirical material, this interdisciplinary collection offers a range of micro and macro perspectives. It draws on a variety of scientific backgrounds, and uses and develops a number of different methodologies, some of which may not be familiar in mainstream economics. The approaches adopted by historians, economists, systems theorists, management scholars and geographers which are explored in this book are central to encouraging a new and practical way forward in reading the dynamics of the knowledge economy. In offering these key insights, this important volume makes an invaluable contribution to the lively debate surrounding the knowledge economy. An essential read for economists, this book will also find widespread appeal amongst scholars of management, cultural studies and geography.

Provides readers with a comprehensive overview of how to achieve entrepreneurial excellence in the knowledge economy and offers them ICBS - a methodology for strategy check-up of organizations in the knowledge economy context.

With the buzzwords of knowledge-based economy and knowledge-driven economy, policy-makers, as well as journalists and management consultants, are pushing forward a vision of change that transforms the way advanced economies work. Yet little is understood about how the knowledge-based economy differs from the old, traditional economy. It is generall

This book examines the new conditions under which professional work, often referred to as “knowledge-intensive work,” is organised and how professional groups who have traditionally been granted jurisdictional discretion now have their work routines renegotiated. In the new economic regime of what has been called “investor capitalism” and under the influence of shareholder primacy governance, professional work is put under pressure to change. The author explores issues of increased financial and economic volatility, the pressure to outsource and offshore professional work and the increased supply of competitors with tertiary education degrees in the labour market. Examining both macroeconomic conditions and policy that inform and shape the domain of professional work, the book emphasises how the nature of professional work has changed since the 1980s and 1990s and argues that it is no longer a “safe haven” for a favoured group of elite workers. Precarious Professional Work underlines how the study of professions must constantly accommodate new economic conditions and managerial practices to better understand how professional work is dependent on and entangled with external social, economic, and political conditions.

In recent decades urban regions around the world have engaged in a new process of development based on the creation of new knowledge. Amidst the globalization of economic activities and the arrival of transformative technologies, knowledge has become the key driver of competitiveness and is profoundly reshaping the patterns of economic growth and activity. This book offers a comprehensive new model of the rise of a Knowledge Economy and its evolutionary development in the Megalopolis. These regions are developing new institutions and governance mechanisms to adapt, disseminate, and utilize available knowledge to promote continuing development of their Knowledge Economies. However, such developments are accompanied by increasing inequalities in incomes and in urban services. This book examines the resilience of some urban regions and their recent emergence as vibrant Knowledge Economies. It also reviews the recent renewal and growth in the Megalopolis-- stretching along the Atlantic Seaboard along the metropolitan areas of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. This book will appeal to researchers and professionals interested in urban and regional development, and to business groups interested in economic development.