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The aim is to provide a conceptual framework that from a local perspective positions alternative ways to cope with the challenges of a globalising world.

The notion of “organising context” is introduced as an ideal setting for business and community development processes as collective entrepreneurial efforts. A 3D model proposes means of structuring contemporary public discourses on local economic development. A bridging “virtual” logic is suggested that crafts and enacts localised entrepreneurial opportunities by bridging the territorial logic and the functional logic. The practices of these three rationales are illustrated by cases on community development in the Swedish rural setting.

The globalisation of the world offers challenges to every individual, organisation and location. These contests can either be considered as openings for development or as threats which trigger defensive measures and ultimately produce lock‐ins. Local leadership and entrepreneurship define the outcome of change efforts.

Reflections on the conceptualisation and the empirical lessons raise epistemological and ethical questions which trigger alternative methodologies for researching complex community‐development processes. Interactive approaches where researchers get hand‐on involved in ongoing events appear as appropriate.

The need for interactive research when enacting community development calls for a coalition between local stakeholders and researchers. By bridging local and formalised knowledge needed competencies and legitimacy for change can be created.

By proposing and applying a vocabulary for diagnosing and evaluating the potential for local economic development both researchers and practitioners are invited to further knowledge creation.

Attempts to consider how a founder has reduced equivocality in relation to support networks and reducing risks, especially in an international environment. Presents the case studies of five Danish and Australian born global companies. Considers different global models and their limitations. Presents the findings of recent surveys in this area. Concludes that internationalization has not been the primary objective in the founding process and gives direction for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to present and develop models of educational approaches to entrepreneurship that can provide complementary analytical structures to better study, enact and reflect upon the role of entrepreneurship in higher education.

A general framework for entrepreneurship education is developed by using theory as well as practical experiences from the fields of business, engineering and pedagogy. The paper is mainly conceptual where the unfolding Swedish practice is used as contextual backdrop.

The FOR/IN/THROUGH/ABOUT (FITA) taxonomy is presented and used to develop three models of how to approach entrepreneurship in higher education depending on purpose. As there exists a didactical divide between entrepreneurial education for business and entrepreneurial approach to teaching and learning, educators and researchers ought to let their specific context influence the adoption of the taxonomy as well as the presented models.

The differentiations suggested by the presented models can be used to both structure the designs and limit claims of future research. More heuristic research is called for.

The use of FITA in the designing of entrepreneurship education offers new opportunities for enhancing complementary student learning in higher education.

The study suggests that any political or scholarly initiative must acknowledge the diversity of entrepreneurship education and chose different approaches depending on what is to be achieved.

The multidisciplinary approach has made it possible to present and create models that denote a common ground for a productive discussion on how to better understand and make use of entrepreneurship in higher education.

This study aims at providing exploratory insights into the initiative and capabilities of Chinese SMEs to develop and utilize diverse networks to support internationalization. Such network development and utilization efforts are fundamental to the analysis and explanation of Chinese firms’ internationalization patterns and outcomes. Extending from the existing network studies in the Chinese context that generally put emphasis on strong‐tie and ethnic‐oriented networks, this paper investigates and explains explicitly the use and effects of both strong‐ and weak‐tie networks in the international development of Chinese SMEs. Indepth case studies on four rapidly internationalized Chinese SMEs are conducted. The case findings demonstrate that weak‐tie networks are essential to the firms’ business development in foreign markets; and were proactively developed and utilized in the course of the firms’ development. The cases also provide alternative perspectives to the beliefs and values underpinning strong‐tie networks presumed in existing literature. The findings draw attention to the changing business values and approaches of the Chinese firms aiming at developing internationally. Managerial implications concerning the significant influence of effective networking on internationalization are pinpointed.

The purpose of this paper is to advocate for greater use of ethnographic research methods in entrepreneurship studies to produce more contextualized research. An argument for getting “up-close” and “hands-on” is presented to better understand how context shapes action in entrepreneurship than is presently achieved under the present entrepreneurship research orthodoxy. The need for contextualized research is particularly acute in the domain of social innovation. For its maturation as a field of research, it also requires stronger critical perspectives into the agendas and impacts of practitioners and other field-shaping actors. Ethnographic approaches are potentially powerful methods for revealing truths of this nature. Ethnographic methods are, however, problematic for professional researchers. The challenges of conducting such research are discussed.

Conceptual paper regarding research methods in social innovation and social entrepreneurship studies.

Social entrepreneurship that happens within established organizations is a hybrid social innovation activity that is informed, constrained, and compelled by idiosyncratic social contexts which are fashioned by institutional logics, identities, organizational culture, and history. With its contestable conceptualizations, priorities, models, purposes, and approaches, it arguably defies researchers’ ability to build a deep understanding, from arm’s length, of how the activity is undertaken for theory building purposes. Ethnographic methods enable deeper insight than traditional entrepreneurship research methods, and this research illustrates the differences between the espoused intentions, beliefs, and attitudes of managers and the lived experience of staff.

Social entrepreneurship is a micro-level, hybrid social innovation activity that challenges embedded social, structural, and cultural norms when undertaken within established organizations. Ethnographic methods are under-utilized in exploring this and other forms of entrepreneurial action. This paper illustrates the value of ethnography for contextualizing social innovation research and that eschewing “arm’s length” objectivity for “hands-on” insight is a powerful approach to empirically contextualizing social innovation and contributing to more critical perspectives and sophisticated theory building.

Contemporary entrepreneurial education (EE) has global reach and impact, with a growing number of entrepreneurship courses, specializations, and degrees in all parts of the world. There is no longer a question of the significance and demand for EE in the higher education system. At the same time, the interest in scientific knowledge and proven experience of “what works” has accelerated, resulting in a rapid growth in the number of scholars and research-based publications conversing vividly about the field. This chapter elaborates on the historical evolution of EE as a scholarly field. First, an overview of important milestones and major events that shaped the field is provided. Second, by focusing on the development over the last three decades, the authors present an overview of the advances that have occurred within the field in terms of practice, social, and research-based aspects. The historical review shows how EE began in, but gradually separated from entrepreneurship as a field, which can be observed in the development of research outlets, meeting places, and teaching practice. Consequently, this historical review can serve as a point of departure for showing how the field has emerged and how knowledge has been developed and accumulated over time. The authors believe that this review can be helpful for scholars, particularly new entrants such as PhD students and other scholars entering the EE field, to learn from and contextualize their own research-based historical insight.