Understanding Enterprise

Now in its fifth edition, Understanding Enterprise has established itself as one of the most widely respected guides to the discipline, providing a refreshingly perceptive approach to understanding and applying theory. It offers a critical introduction to enterprise in its broadest context, with particular emphasis on its application to entrepreneurs and small business. Divided into three parts, the course examines traditional approaches, new perspectives on the subject, and the success-or otherwise-of government policy.
Written by leading experts with a combined wealth of research, teaching and consulting experience, this textbook will be an essential companion for undergraduate and postgraduate students of enterprise and small business. Policy makers and practitioners will also benefit from this comprehensive guide.
New to this Edition:
- Extensively revised to take into account the latest thinking and research, with updated content and examples throughout
- Updated coverage of the impact and failings of comparative government policies
- Enhanced pedagogical features to engage students and enliven their learning experience
Accompanying online resources for this title can be found at bloomsburyonlineresources.com/understanding-enterprise. These resources are designed to support teaching and learning when using this textbook and are available at no extra cost.

Simon Bridge has been involved in formulating, delivering and/or assessing enterprise policy for nearly 30 years, most recently as an enterprise and economic development consultant and before that as the Enterprise Director of a small business agency. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster. His other books include Rethinking Enterprise Policy: Can Failure Trigger New Understanding? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and, co-written with Brendan Murtagh and Ken O'Neill, Understanding the Social Economy and the Third Sector (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
Ken O'Neill is Professor Emeritus at the University of Ulster, a former President of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), a member of the Steering Committee of the International Small Business Congress (ISBC), a former President of the UK's Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), and is a Director of The Genesis Initiative. In 2005 he became the first person to receive The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion - Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also co-written Understanding the Social Economy and the Third Sector (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) with Simon Bridge and Brendan Murtagh.

PART I: THE EVOLUTION OF ENTERPRISE UNDERSTANDING
1. Introduction Understanding Enterprise
2. A Brief History of Enterprise Understanding
3. Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Their Meanings and Variations
4. Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Understanding Their Nature
5. Small Businesses: Their Characteristics and Variety
6. Small Businesses: Understanding their Dynamics
7. Social Enterprise and the Third Sector
PART II: CHALLENGES TO THE TRADITIONAL VIEW
8. Rethinking Small Business
9. Rethinking Entrepreneurship
10. Enterprise and Life
11. Becoming an Entrepreneur
12. Running a Small Business
13. Social Capital and the Enterprise Mix
PART III: ENTERPRISE POLICY AND GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION
14. Why Governments Intervene: The Aims of Enterprise Policy
15. Enterprise Policy: Approaches and Delivery Methods
16. Does the Policy Work?
17. What Might Work?
18. The Impact of Change.