Summary

The early years of the 21st Century could well be called the 'decade(s) of the entrepreneur'. Entrepreneurship is an often-featured topic in magazine and newspaper articles, popular television shows and major films. Universities have added courses, departments, and even schools of entrepreneurship to their catalogs, and governments at all levels are competing to develop programs to encourage entrepreneurship. A key reason behind this growing interest is the widely held belief - supported by economic data - that entrepreneurship is a powerful engine of economic growth.

By presenting accurate knowledge about entrepreneurship itself, this book serves to convert the rising tide of interest in entrepreneurship into advice and guidance that can actually assist entrepreneurs in achieving their goals. In order to do so, this book presents evidence-based information concerning the factors that encourage entrepreneurship's emergence, including the conditions that shape its outcomes and how it unfolds as a process. This text draws on two key sources of knowledge - input from entrepreneurs and the findings of systematic empirical research. As the subtitle suggests, however, emphasis is placed on the latter whenever possible because the information individual entrepreneurs possess cannot readily serve as the basis for general principles or guidelines since it is unique to each entrepreneur. By combining evidence-based knowledge with the hard-earned wisdom of experienced entrepreneurs, this volume offers a balanced and inclusive guide useful to both current and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship is indeed a driving force of economic growth. But beyond that, it is also a key mechanism through which human creativity, ingenuity, skill, and energy are converted into tangible outcomes that can, and often do, change the world in ways that enhance and enrich human welfare. This volume will be of particular interest to students of entrepreneurship in a broad array of fields ranging from business and management to engineering and governance. Suitable for undergraduate courses and graduate programs alike, this book is frontier blazing in its own right and will help those who read it be so as well.

Awarded Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2012

Choice Review

This outstanding, clearly written, psychology-oriented book is based on careful, extensive, evidence-based research rather than on the personal views of entrepreneurs and includes many excellent examples, tables, and figures to explain the ideas presented. In the book's first part, "The Foundations of Entrepreneurship," Baron (Oklahoma State Univ.) explains the personal characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and why they are different from other people. He discusses the importance of such qualities as conscientiousness, creativity, curiosity, moderate optimism, high enthusiasm, high perseverance, and the ability to focus on the present rather than the past. Baron also addresses the role of risk taking, emotional stability (self-control, calmness), and the social and political skills needed to get support from key people (venture capitalists, customers, and employees). The second part of the book, "The Practice of Entrepreneurship," includes advice on how entrepreneurs can protect their ideas through copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Baron also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of writing business plans; how to write an effective business plan; and the importance of improvisation (making it up as you go along) to create the future. Chapter bibliographies include references to high-quality journals. An excellent contribution to the entrepreneurship literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduate through professional collections. D. W. Huffmire emeritus, University of Connecticut