tailieunhanh - Enterprise and Culture: Routledge Studies in Small Business

The word ‘enterprise’ is somewhat overused, if not abused, these days by politicians, so much so that it has undergone something of a grammatical shift. From its original introduction from French as a noun to describe commercial undertakings between people, it broadened to become almost a synonym for a business or firm. Its figurative use to describe the energy, ingenuity and application of people who successfully work in businesses or firms, or even generally show skill at overcoming problems, has now transformed a fairly useful noun into an adjective. Rather abstract concepts such as ‘spirit’ or ‘culture’ and more banal fiscal policy terms such as ‘allowance’ or ‘loan’ can. | Enterprise and Culture Colin Gray Routledge Studies in Small Business Also available as a printed book see title verso for ISBN details Enterprise and Culture This book addresses the fundamental questions concerning the economic reinvigoration of society through policies aimed at encouraging the development of small enterprises. Governments in Europe the rest of the industrialised world and developing countries are increasingly including small enterprise development as a central feature of economic and social policies. Nowhere was this more evident than during the 1980s in Britain as the Conservative government sought to establish an enterprise culture. However despite an impressive growth in the numbers of people turning to self-employment there is little evidence that British society has become more entrepreneurial or that the pursuit of enterprise has become part of the national culture. In Enterprise and Culture the author argues that the failure of small enterprise policy is not just a question of economics but is also caused by psychological and cultural factors. The book demonstrates that the individualism at the centre of enterprise culture policies is itself the main impediment to the successful growth and development of small enterprises. The book also questions whether it is appropriate to give the amorphous figure of the entrepreneur such significance in economic development policy. The author contends that vibrant and progressive capitalism is a highly social enterprise and requires more collective approaches to its future development if the economic rewards are to benefit local communities and society as a whole. Enterprise and Culture is a uniquely wide-ranging insightful and well-informed critical evaluation of the economic and social project of creating an enterprise culture. Colin Gray is Director of External Affairs at the Open University Business School and Deputy Director-General of the Small Business Research Trust. His publications include .