The Rise and Decline of Small Firms (Routledge Revivals)

The Rise and Decline of Small Firms (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Jonathan Boswell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2014-06-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317671570

First published in 1973, this title examines the development patterns of small businesses. It considers why people found firms; the factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success; problems of management succession and inheritance; the strengths and weaknesses of family firms; the reasons why small firms are taken over; and the social, economic and managerial context of their growth, decline, and revival. Based on a survey of sixty-four firms, each employing fewer than five hundred people, in engineering, hosiery, and knitwear, and on the records of 370 similar organisations, a striking gap in performance and management attitudes emerges as between dynamic, mostly founder-run firms and stagnant, mostly inherited ones. Where many books are either minutely specialised or highly abstract and over-generalised, Jonathan Boswell’s work is practical and diagnostic, probing the inner recesses of the small firm sector. With particular relevance to the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs in today’s economic environment, this title advances selective measures to deal with old firms and inheritance, and a wide range of policies to encourage new entrepreneurship.

The Rise and Decline of Small Firms (Routledge Revivals)

The Rise and Decline of Small Firms (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Jonathan Boswell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-06-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317671562

First published in 1973, this title examines the development patterns of small businesses. It considers why people found firms; the factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success; problems of management succession and inheritance; the strengths and weaknesses of family firms; the reasons why small firms are taken over; and the social, economic and managerial context of their growth, decline, and revival. Based on a survey of sixty-four firms, each employing fewer than five hundred people, in engineering, hosiery, and knitwear, and on the records of 370 similar organisations, a striking gap in performance and management attitudes emerges as between dynamic, mostly founder-run firms and stagnant, mostly inherited ones. Where many books are either minutely specialised or highly abstract and over-generalised, Jonathan Boswell’s work is practical and diagnostic, probing the inner recesses of the small firm sector. With particular relevance to the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs in today’s economic environment, this title advances selective measures to deal with old firms and inheritance, and a wide range of policies to encourage new entrepreneurship.

Small Business and Society (Routledge Revivals)

Small Business and Society (Routledge Revivals)
Author: David Goss
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2015-06-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317506286

When this book was first published in 1991, political ideology had thrust small-firm issues to the forefront of attempts to revitalize the British economy. In the Thatcher years the emphasis had been on individual enterprise and initiative with the number of small firms increasing rapidly. This was reflected in the growth in the number of specialist studies analysis small-firm revivalism. Small Business and Society clarifies the issues and debates that surround the small business and its place in society. In particular, the complex nature of its social role is examined: on the one hand, the entrepreneur can be seen as the innovator exploiting free-market capitalism to strengthen the economy; on the other, employment conditions and industrial relations are said to suffer. Moreover, the growing importance of ‘green’ issues now brings into question the extent to which the small firm benefits the environment. This book will be of interest to students of business and sociology.

The Entrepreneurial Middle Class (Routledge Revivals)

The Entrepreneurial Middle Class (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Robert Goffee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2015-06-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317539311

This book, first published in 1982, is a study of the processes that shape the reproduction of the entrepreneurial middle class. It identifies the major dynamics surrounding stages of business growth. More particularly, it focuses upon obstacles and cleavages inherent within the process of small-scale capital accumulation. This book is ideal for students of business and economics.

The Real World of the Small Business Owner (Routledge Revivals)

The Real World of the Small Business Owner (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Robert Goffee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2015-06-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317571673

Small businessmen and entrepreneurs came firmly back in fashion when this book was first published in 1980. As the Western economies moved into recession, many governments, particularly Mrs Thatcher’s administration, looked to the entrepreneurial spirit of the small businessman to rejuvenate and revitalise Western society. Stripping away the political rhetoric, this book provides a serious social portrait of the small businessman in the economy at the time in which this book was written. Based upon extensive original research, the detailed analyses focus on the key issues in the small businessmen’s life. At a time when there was much argument about the motivation and will to work of Western society, this study of the traditional custodians of capitalism is particularly relevant. Above all it shows how the historical values of the small businessman have survived in the changed circumstances of the advanced economies.

Deciphering the Enterprise Culture (Routledge Revivals)

Deciphering the Enterprise Culture (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Roger Burrows
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2015-07-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317510631

The idea of the ‘enterprise culture’ has been much vaunted over the last few decades: the growth of self-employment and small business ownership has been an important feature of the restructuring of the British economy. Because it is a concept that is difficult to evaluate, controversial and politically sensitive, social scientists were slow to analyse it. Consequently, it had been caricatured and many questions about its impact on society and the economy had been left unanswered. This collection, which was first published in 1991, presents a critical analysis of the various manifestations of the enterprise culture. Drawing upon a range of research, it deals with a number of related topics. The result is a powerful analysis of the material and ideological role of the petty bourgeoisie in contemporary capitalism. Its multidisciplinary approach, which contributions from leading scholars in the field, makes this book of interest to anyone wanting to make sense of the socio-economic restructuring of Britain.

Rebuilding Construction (Routledge Revivals)

Rebuilding Construction (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Michael Ball
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2014-03-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317811453

First published in 1988, this book analyses the changes that took place in the economic organisation of the British construction industry throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, in particular considering its social and economic structure and examining the causes of its poor industrial record. Michael Ball describes how the major firms survived the economic slump between 1973 and 1982 - when construction workloads collapsed - by substantially restructuring their operations, relationships with clients, workforces and subcontractors. Detailed attention is paid to construction firms, the workers they employ, the influence of trade unionism and the role of other agencies in the building process. Reissued at a particularly challenging time for the British construction industry, this relevant and practical title will be of value to students and academics of economics and social change, as well as those on courses for construction professionals.

Urban Decline (Routledge Revivals)

Urban Decline (Routledge Revivals)
Author: David Clark
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 113509506X

In the twentieth century, urban growth was one of the most powerful catalysts of geographical, social and demographic change in the Western world. When this book was first published in 1989, however, a massive process of counter-urbanization was underway, which saw the loss of population and jobs in cities and a pronounced urban to rural shift. This book analyses the causes and consequences of urban decline in Britain and the developed world during this period and beyond, and assesses the implications for urban planning and policy. David Clark’s relevant and comprehensive title will be of value to students with a particular interest in urban geography and development.

Politics and Method (Routledge Revivals)

Politics and Method (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Doreen Massey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135163049

This book, first published in 1985, explores the connections in academic research between theoretical positions, political perspectives and policy prescriptions. Five different groups of authors, who have written broadly in the fields of industrial and social geography, discuss this relationship and illustrate it with recent work. Around their contributions, the editors have constructed a book that is both a guide to the research debate for students at all levels and a handbook, with notes and questions, for those about to undertake their own research projects. Though designed primarily for use on undergraduate geography, urban studies and applied economics courses, its broad debate on research method is important for all professional and postgraduate researchers in the social sciences.

Routledge Handbook of Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies

Routledge Handbook of Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies
Author: Colin C. Williams
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 597
Release: 2016-07-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317535154

The Routledge Handbook of Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies is a landmark volume that offers a uniquely comprehensive overview of entrepreneurship in developing countries. Addressing the multi-faceted nature of entrepreneurship, chapters explore a vast range of subject areas including education, economic policy, gender and the prevalence and nature of informal sector entrepreneurship. In order to understand the process of new venture creation in developing economies, what it means to be engaged in entrepreneurship in a developing world context must be addressed. This handbook does so by exploring the difficulties, risks and rewards associated with being an entrepreneur, and evaluates the impacts of the environment, relationships, performance and policy dynamics on small and entrepreneurial firms in developing economies. The handbook brings together a unique collection of over forty international researchers who are all actively engaged in studying entrepreneurship in a developing world context. The chapters offer concise but detailed perspectives and explanations on key aspects of the subject across a diverse array of developing economies, spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In doing so, the chapters highlight the heterogeneity of entrepreneurship in developed economies, and contribute to the on-going policy discourses for managing and promoting entrepreneurial growth in the developing world. The book will be of great interest to scholars, students and policymakers in the areas of development economics, business and management, public policy and development studies.