Handbook Of Research On Entrepreneurship In Professional Services

ÔProfessional service firms are critical agents of contemporary economies and understanding them has become a central focus of recent scholarship. This very timely and well organized Handbook brings together several leading scholars who explore how we might think and theorize about professional service firms and their entrepreneurial behaviours. The Handbook will become a key source for the growing community of researchers in this area.Õ Ð Royston Greenwood, University of Alberta, Canada ÔFor too long, both researchers and practitioners have presumed that professional service firms follow the status quo when they should better understand how these professionals set the rules for globalization. This Handbook reminds us that professionals are as much the shock-troops of capitalism as the multinational corporations that they serve. As this Handbook shows, the leading firms successfully compete with each other by fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in order to service an institutional system that undergirds the international economy.Õ Ð Christopher McKenna, University of Oxford, UK Professional services are increasingly seen as an important foundation for future economic growth and prosperity. Yet research on innovative and entrepreneurial processes in professional services has been surprisingly scarce. This Handbook provides a collection of original contributions from leading scholars outlining the current stock of knowledge in the area as well as providing directions for further research. The expert contributors discuss entrepreneurship and innovation from a number of different perspectives, including the entrepreneurial professional team, the entrepreneurial firm and the institutional environment. The first part of the book looks at the challenges of entrepreneurship specific to the professional service firm while the second explores the creation and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the professional service team. Part III turns to the organization and Part IV to the management and growth of the entrepreneurial professional service firm. The final part discusses the interplay between professions, firms and the institutional environment. Researchers, scholars and PhD students in the areas of entrepreneurship and professional service firms along with advanced students of management will find this volume of great value.

This indispensable Handbook offers a fresh look at entrepreneurship research, addressing what we already know, and what we still need to know, in the field. Over the course of 17 chapters, a collaboration of 24 highly-regarded researchers, expe

Over the past three decades the Professional Service Firm (PSF) sector has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing, profitable, and significant in the global economy. In 2013 the accountancy, management consulting, legal, and architectural sectors alone generated revenues of US$ 1.6 trillion and employed 14 million people. PSFs play an important role in developing human capital, creating innovative business services, reshaping government institutions, establishing and interpreting the rules of financial markets, and setting legal, accounting and other professional standards. The study of PSFs can offer insights into the contemporary challenges facing organizations within the knowledge economy, and deepen understanding of more conventional organizations. Despite their significance, however, PSFs have until recently remained very much in the shadows of organizational and management research. The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms marks the coming of age of PSF scholarship with a comprehensive and integrative exploration of current research and thinking on PSFs, featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars in the fields of organizational and management studies. It is divided into three distinct sections - the professions, the firms, and the professionals that work within them - and covers subjects from governance and leadership to regulation, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Bringing together a broad range of empirical and theoretical perspectives, the Handbook offers many potentially important insights into the contemporary challenges of organizations in the knowledge economy and suggests new lines of inquiry that may shed further light on the activities and performance of PSFs and the professionals who work within them.

This timely Handbook provides an excellent overview of our knowledge on the drivers, influencing factors and outcomes of energy entrepreneurship. As the world grapples with global resource crunches and fights to reap the rewards of new energy technologies, a wide space for entrepreneurialopportunity has emerged. The Handbook of Research on Energy Entrepreneurship offers critical insight on how nations the world over can make full use of those opportunities.

Corporate entrepreneurship is about remaking organizations; it affects organizational cultures and systems, which, in turn, influence the magnitude, direction and content of corporate entrepreneurship activities. This Handbook hopes to synthesize what we know and clarify what we need to know about key issues such as strategic renewal, innovation and venturing activities within established companies, giving direction to future research.

As businesses seek to compete on a global stage, they must be constantly aware of pressures from all levels: regional, local, and worldwide. The organizations that can best build advantages in diverse environments achieve the greatest success. The Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship explores the emergence of new ideas and opportunities in various markets and provides organizational leaders with the tools they need to take full advantage of those opportunities. With a focus on economic growth in a fast-paced environment, this handbook is a critical reference for business leaders, economists, and students of economic theory.

The rapid rise of knowledge-based economies has revolutionized the perceptions and practices of globalized business. Recent developments in engineering, electronics, and biotechnology have expanded the very definition of entrepreneurship in today’s international market, weaving discussions of enhanced connectivity and communication, environmental sustainability, and government policy changes into a complex, multidimensional conversation. The Handbook of Research of Entrepreneurship in the Contemporary Knowledge-Based Global Economy provides a comprehensive survey of the most recent developments in the field of entrepreneurship, highlighting their effects on information technology, business networking, knowledge production, distribution, and organization. This timely publication features extensive coverage of the fast-developing entrepreneurial field, illuminating recent technological, social, and strategic innovations in language that is accessible for a worldwide audience of business educators, researchers, and students. This authoritative text showcases research-based articles on entrepreneurship for knowledge economies; academic entrepreneurship; women and entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship education; organizational learning ability; innovations in industry, agriculture, and management; and the evolution of a new, all-inclusive corporate culture.

Over the past years, knowledge-intensive industries have gained significant importance as economic factor, giving rise to professional service firms (PSFs) such as law firms, accounting firms, or consultancies. Following this development, the research interest especially in the strategies pursued by PSFs has grown substantially. However, past research focused mainly on strategies of established, mature PSFs, leaving academics as well as potential entrepreneurs without guidance on what newly founded, entrepreneurial PSFs should pay attention to in order to ensure lasting competitive advantages. Based on an explorative grounded theory analysis of two outstanding commercial law firm spin-offs in Germany, this work advances the research in this field. In addition to a detailed case study report, it offers a comprehensive theoretical framework and argues that PSFs have to employ a set of seven specific entrepreneurial strategies – including for example service delivery, people development, and client acquisition strategies – in order to successfully manage the entrepreneurial phase. In providing examples for the growing PSF industry, the findings on commercial law firm spin-offs also inform entrepreneurship research in other professions