ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the changing role of management education in the USA. It discusses the necessity of promoting quality indigenous entrepreneurs in the Republic of Ireland. The book presents a sophisticated study of ‘know how’ and growth in Italian software firms, which are often started by a founder or founding team with a high technical education and experience. It considers a long standing debate in the management literature on whether education should concentrate on developing general management skills which can be employed across sectors, or whether the emphasis should be on the development of specialist management skills within specific sectors or organisations. The book proposes how in Norway, the proliferation of unregulated start up programmes in the 1980s led to concern on their usefulness and effectiveness.
