Title: Entrepreneurship, management, and sustainable development

Authors: Allam Ahmed, Ronald W. McQuaid

Addresses: SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, The Freeman Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QE, UK ' Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Craiglockhart, Edinburgh, EH14 1DJ, UK

Abstract: Successful management in the new millennium requires developing new methods and approaches to suit the challenges and opportunities of this new era of globalisation. An entrepreneurial approach is seen by many scholars and policy makers as a major option to enhance organisational performance in this era. The concept of entrepreneurship is multi-dimensional and often unclear. Various perspectives have different implications for how entrepreneurship is related to and can help promote sustainable development (SD). This introductory paper to WREMSD will attempt to explore viewpoints from around the world on entrepreneurship, management, and SD. The key objectives are to explain different perspectives on what is meant by the term entrepreneurship in a global context and to provide an overview of SD in relation to entrepreneurship. The paper argues that it is essential that research and policy development fully takes account of the differing perspectives of entrepreneurship and make explicit the particular perspective(s) that they are taking. No single definition necessarily fully captures the concept, but by being clear about our meaning of the concept and the underlying assumptions, we can progress our understanding of entrepreneurship and its relationships to SD.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurial approaches; management; business; technology; sustainable development; production; consumption; environment; world; global competitiveness; societies; developing countries; developed countries; organisational performance.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2005.007750

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2005 Vol.1 No.1, pp.6 - 30

Published online: 15 Sep 2005 *

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