Purpose – Daniel Defoe, best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe , was also an early entrepreneur who late in his life published a business text called The Complete English Tradesman. The purpose of this paper is to argue that The Complete English Tradesman should be given renewed...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the methodological limitations of existing dominant research paradigms in entrepreneurship research. In order to encourage the use of little used methodologies to create higher quality data, an alternative approach is proposed whereby data...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a framework for competing theories of entrepreneurship but to argue for transparency in one's attempts to understand this phenomenon. Then to argue that, when matching small business advisers to small business, one should consider their...

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the way in which small retailer performance is influenced by strategy at different levels. It also aims to propose that business level strategy is more important to success than functional level strategy in small retail firms, as this is what enables...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a framework for sales forecasting more suitable for smaller firms. The authors examine the sales forecasting practices of small firms and then proceed to discuss the application of Bayesian decision theory in the production of sales forecasts,...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine whether the standard support service intervention model of providing training programmes to stimulate business growth is an effective economic regeneration model in the case of small creative industry firms. Design/methodology/approach – A...

Purpose – This paper aims to perform a descriptive analysis of the current degree of development and application of work‐life balance policies in Spanish SMEs, examining the differences that arise due to ownership structure (family owned business versus non‐family owned business) and...

Purpose – The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine whether performance of microenterprises located in a microenterprise zone (MEZO) in China is positively related to key management practices, entrepreneurial orientation, marketing capability, and technology capability. The paper...

Purpose – The current credit rationing strongly influences the viability of SMEs innovation projects. In this context, the practice of screening borrowers by project success probability has become a paramount consideration for both lenders and firms. The aim of this paper is to test the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine why social entrepreneurs in the USA choose to operate an entirely fair trade business and the factors that affect fair trade social entrepreneurship. Fair trade seeks to benefit producers in developing countries by providing a market for their...