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The main objective of this exploratory study is to analyze the range of human capitals necessary for the modern entrepreneur and the nature of the barriers to effectively support the development of these capitals. Human capital is one of the three dimensions of intellectual capital and this document examines the role of education and training for entrepreneurial success.

Drawing on a broad review of the main contributions to research and practice in the field of intellectual capital and entrepreneurship issues, we conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured in-depth interviews on a sample of 10 professionals expert in business support. They represent a cross section of the main corporate agencies in Scotland. In addition, an interview guide was used to ensure that some questions, or “key questions”, were asked to all participants, also allowing for the flexibility to obtain updated information.

The interviews identified 21 key human capitals needed by today's entrepreneurs. However, the study also identifies the existence of obstacles to providing effective support for the development of human capital in the entrepreneur in terms of attention, process and resources.

Research limitations–The study is based on data collected by a sample of 10 professionals, according to a qualitative approach that focuses on a specific social field and therefore the results cannot be immediately generalized to other fields.

Practical implications–The study identifies the key human capital needed to run a successful company, directing the professional to direct support interventions more effectively in order to increase productivity and improve success rates for its customers.

The value the long-term benefits of even a marginal increase in the efficiency of enterprise support to business through targeted entrepreneurial learning cannot be overstated.

There is a lack of empirical data linking the development of human capital and entrepreneurship. This work has resonance for providers of enterprise support seeking to remain relevant to the entrepreneurial development needs of the entrepreneur.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which the UK Labour Government “framed” the policy and practice debate on social enterprise, the way in which “strategic” networks were (or were not) facilitated and the extent to which scale and geography shaped policy choices after 1997.

The paper examines three phases of development through a series of examples/case studies all of which are based in the West Midlands in the UK. The paper draws upon the author's practice and experience as both a practitioner and researcher during this period. Interviews with other key individuals are undertaken to inform the author's reflections and analysis.

The paper suggests that there is a risk that experience, knowledge and understanding are at risk as there seems to be poorly developed processes and systems to “capture” informed understanding and that the importance of regional networks to promote practice and to protect innovation are often poorly developed and supported.

The paper is timely given the renewed focus by political parties in the UK on the role of the third sector in providing the “solution” for a number of public sector initiatives.

The paper cuts across both the literature/debate on public policy as well as that on the role of networks and decision making within informal (as well as formal) organisations.

The paper is timely and will add to an awareness of policy choices and the importance of sustaining a “memory” of past (and current) programmes.

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of the questions and answers (Q&A) between investors and enterprises from the China stock exchange investor interactive platforms on the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises.

To show how the interaction influences the TFP of enterprises, the authors select Q&A records from the interactive platforms related to production, R&D and technology through the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model and choose A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019 in China as a sample. To treat the data and test the proposed hypothesis, the authors applied OLS regression and endogeneity testing methods, such as the entropy balance test, Heckman two-stage model and the two-stage least squares regression.

This paper finds that interaction between investors and enterprises is positively correlated with TFP, and that improvements in content length and the timeliness of response can promote TFP. Interactive behavior mainly improves the TFP of enterprises by alleviating financing constraints and encouraging enterprises to increase R&D investment. This positive effect is more pronounced in companies with higher agency costs, non-high-tech companies and companies not supported by industrial policy.

The novelty of the research stands in the application of Python's LDA topic model to screen out Q&A records that are directly related to TFP, such as production, R&D, technology, etc., and measures the degree of information interaction between investors and enterprises from multiple dimensions, such as interaction frequency, content length and the timeliness of response.

Socio‐economic decline in rural areas is a pervasive and debilitating phenomenon in terms of regional development, particularly when former models of economic growth which once stimulated business generation and regeneration can no longer be counted on to do so. In these austere times, models of social and community enterprise are becoming more important. This corresponds to the emergence of theories of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise as explanatory variables. Such theories are used to label enterprising behaviour enacted within our communities, even when the theoretical arguments underpinning these re‐conceptualisations require to be stretched to permit this. Often the resultant explanations are not entirely convincing. The purpose of this paper is to challenge existing conceptualisations of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Using a case study methodology, the paper reports on the activities of the Buchan Development Partnership (BDP) – a community‐based project situated in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland – demonstrating how individual and community enterprise can be utilized to develop enterprising individuals and communities by growing enterprises organically. The case articulates this process, as it occurred in a rural development partnership using a narrative‐based case study methodology to examine activities and growth strategies.

The case bridges issues of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial process, community and regional development and tells a story of community regeneration through the process of “Community Animateurship”.

Research, practical and social implications are discussed but in particular the need to adopt a more holistic “bottom up” approach.

This case challenges existing conceptualisations of community‐based entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

This chapter contributes to addressing the gap in the literature on entrepreneurs and enterprise in island and remote rural environments.

The research, policy and practice literature on island enterprises and entrepreneurs is reviewed, taking Scotland as a focus within wider international contexts. Islands – as spaces and cultural places – are recognised in terms of ‘otherness’ and difference, not least in respect of tourism and culture. The importance of distance, isolation and peripherality is discussed as social constructions – myths and narratives – as well as in their mainstream measured equivalences. Agencies and policies are introduced at different levels and given significance reflecting their particular relevance in remote and isolated communities. The significance of the dominant paradigm founded on agglomeration, clusters, connectivity, proximity and competitiveness in the peripheralisation of those establishing and running businesses on islands is explored critically. This is contrasted with experiences from comparative northern European locations of smart specialisation, innovation and resilience, and the underpinning key roles of social capital, relationships and cultural values and norms are identified. Sectoral case studies and enterprise are offered to examine these issues in context.

As this is an exploratory study, results are neither comprehensive nor definitive. However, they are indicative of how forces and obstacles apply in island and remote rural environments.

The study confirms the need to recognise social relations locally, and for policies and strategies to be proofed for locational differences.

In an era of change and uncertainty, there is a need for employees who are both resourceful and flexible. The creation of such competencies in graduates is the objective of the UK Training Agency′s recent Enterprise Initiative in Higher Education. This Initiative is reviewed and the outcomes of one project, the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme, which exposes undergraduates, of any discipline, to a period of action learning in a small firm, is explored. In total, the experiences and attitudes of 75 students are examined, together with the views of their employees. The study concludes that, as described in the programme, action learning can help develop the requisite competencies in students, at the same time developing their understanding of business and management. However, to be fully effective, it needs to be incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum.

Contrary to what one might expect, some of the least economically advanced regions of the world enjoy well established management development systems. This paper explores management development in parts of Eastern Africa and shows that, although the per capita income there is only one‐hundredth of that in industrialized countries, the region’s MDIs (management development institutions) benefit from a wide variety of influences. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the MDI offerings in the region, past attempts to overcome the weaknesses, and challenges yet to be met. It suggests how international donor agencies could work more closely with government agencies and the management community in the region to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of management development there.

This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it examines international influences, including supranational organizations; foreign investors and international accounting firms; domestic institutional influences, including the political system, economic system, legal system, and cultural system; and accounting infrastructure. China’s convergence is driven by desired efficiency of the corporate sector and legitimacy of participating in the global market. Influenced heavily by international forces in the context of globalization, corporate governance and accounting practices are increasingly becoming in line with internationally acceptable standards and codes. While convergence assists China in obtaining legitimacy, improving efficiency is likely to be adversely affected given that corporate governance and accounting in China operate in an environment that differs considerably from those of Anglo-American countries. An examination of the corporate governance and accounting environment in China suggests heavy government involvement within underdeveloped institutions. While the Chinese government has made impressive progress in developing the corporate governance and accounting environment for the market economy, China’s unique institutional setting is likely to affect how the imported concepts are interpreted and implemented.

In response to calls to critically analyse and conceptually advance social enterprise, the purpose of this paper is to examine narratives and models representing a spectrum of social enterprise from the “social” to the “economic”. The paper tests these against the experience of practitioners who were either employees in social organisations or support workers tasked with promoting social enterprise. This is timely against a background of imperatives from central governments for social organisations to compete for the delivery of public services and become more “entrepreneurial”.

The paper reports qualitative research in which participants were invited to draw lines and arrows onto spectrum models to illustrate the social and economic contexts they perceived themselves to be working within. The data comprise interviews and drawings, combined with verbal descriptions of the drawings and reflections on their significance.

The paper shows how participants interpreted the “social” and “economic” of social enterprise in pictures and words. The research suggests that social enterprise can not be told as a single narrative but as a set of little stories showing oscillations, contradictions and paradox.

Understanding of social enterprise can be much improved by giving greater recognition to ambiguities and compromises within the lived experience of contemporary practice.

The article offers new reflection on widely used images that represent social enterprise along a dichotomous, polar spectrum from social to economic.

This article is based on a British Library Research and Development funded project entitled ‘Industrial, commercial and agricultural information in Northern Ireland: a survey of needs and provision,’ October 1985‐June 1987, by A. MacNabb, Dr G. Philip and Dr W.J. Martin, Department of Information Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast.