ABSTRACT

High-tech businesses form a crucial part of entrepreneurial activity – in some ways presenting very typical examples of entrepreneurship, yet in some ways representing quite different challenges. The uncertainty in innovation and advanced technology makes it difficult to use conventional economic planning models, and also means that the management skills used in this area must be more responsive to issues of risk, uncertainty and evaluation than in conventional business opportunities.

Specifically focusing on the mix of theory and practice needed to accurately inform students, the key topics covered include:

  • uncertainty and innovation
  • entrepreneurial finance
  • marketing technological innovations
  • high-tech incubation management.

Including case studies to give practical insights into genuine business examples, this comprehensive book has a distinctly ‘real-world’ focus throughout. Edited by a multi-national team, it draws together leading writers and researchers from across Europe, making it a must-read for all those involved in advanced entrepreneurship with specific interests in high-tech start-ups.

chapter Chapter 1|9 pages

High-tech entrepreneurship/bold>

Managing innovation in a world of variety and uncertainty

part I|75 pages

Uncertainty and innovation in entrepreneurship

chapter Chapter 2|18 pages

High-tech, uncertainty and innovation

The opportunity for high-tech entrepreneurship

chapter Chapter 3|17 pages

For high-tech small is beautiful

Why small firms can handle complexity better

chapter Chapter 4|19 pages

Engineers as high-tech entrepreneurs

French engineers' paths to entrepreneurship

chapter Chapter 5|17 pages

Collective learning processes in high-tech firms

Enablers and barriers to the innovation process

part II|100 pages

Different entrepreneurial ways of facing uncertainty

chapter Chapter 6|19 pages

High-tech clusters

Network richness in Sophia Antipolis and Silicon Valley

chapter Chapter 7|19 pages

Network relationships in different cultures

High-tech globalization meets local cultures

chapter Chapter 8|13 pages

Technology business incubation management

Lessons of experience

chapter Chapter 9|14 pages

Strategy development processes

The importance of considering integration and timing

chapter Chapter 10|16 pages

University spin-out firms

Patterns of development based on expertise

chapter Chapter 11|13 pages

Creation processes as evolving projects

High-tech firms as emerging systems

part III|75 pages

Managing innovative high-tech firms

chapter Chapter 12|18 pages

Marketing technological innovations

The challenges of creating markets

chapter Chapter 13|18 pages

Creating competitive intelligence

Competing technologies come from anywhere

chapter Chapter 14|17 pages

Evaluating technology development projects

A multiplexity of controllability and uncontrollability

chapter Chapter 15|20 pages

Networking for innovation

Managing through networks