This open access book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of knowledge on the state of crowdfunding research and practice. It considers crowdfunding models and their different manifestations across a variety of geographies and sectors, and explores the perspectives of fundraisers, backers, platforms, and regulators. Gathering insights from a wide range of influential researchers …
Dominik T. Matt holds the Chair for Production Systems and Technologies and heads the Industrial Engineering and Automation (IEA) research department in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. Dominik is also the Director of Fraunhofer Italia, the largest applied research organization in Europe. Vladimír Modrák is Professor of Manufacturing Tec…
This open access book explores the experience of working as a craftsperson or designer maker in the contemporary creative economy. The authors utilise evidence from the only major empirical study to explore the skills required and the challenges facing contemporary makers in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Drawing upon 180 interviews with peak organisations, established and emerging makers…
This open access, interdisciplinary book presents innovative strategies in the use of civil drones in the cultural and creative industry. Specially aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the book offers valuable insights from the fields of marketing, engineering, arts and management. With contributions from experts representing varied interests throughout the creative industry, inc…
Dieses Open-Access-Buch vermittelt praxisnahes Wissen über Konzepte und Methoden für das Innovationsmanagement in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU). Es werden Lösungsansätze für Herausforderungen im gesamten Innovationsprozess – von der strategischen Orientierung über Ideengewinnung, -bewertung und auswahl bis zur Umsetzung – aufgezeigt. Der Hauptfokus liegt auf dem Umgang mit A…
Professor Yokoyama is the Dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration, Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo, Japan, where she supervises research in the field of human resource management in Japanese companies by drawing comparisons between Japanese-style employment management and the merit-based systems. Her recent research is concerned with Japanese self-initiated expatriate entrepreneurs…
Small companies account for a surprising one-third of U.S. exports, and their market share is growing. The Internet has played a major role in helping these companies develop an increasingly powerful international presence. Global E-Commerce Strategies for Small Businesses describes the export opportunities e-commerce holds for small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs) all over the world. The boo…
A comprehensive analysis of racial disparities and the determinants of entrepreneurial performance--in particular, why Asian-owned businesses on average perform relatively well and why black-owned businesses typically do not.Thirteen million people in the United States--roughly one in ten workers--own a business. And yet rates of business ownership among African Americans are much lower and hav…
"Why small business is not the basis of American prosperity, not the foundation of American democracy, and not the champion of job creation. In this provocative book, Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind argue that small business is not, as is widely claimed, the basis of American prosperity. Small business is not responsible for most of the country's job creation and innovation. American democracy…
Information and communication technologies (ICTs)--especially the Internet and the mobile phone--have changed the lives of people all over the world. These changes affect not just the affluent populations of income-rich countries but also disadvantaged people in both global North and South, who may use free Internet access in telecenters and public libraries, chat in cybercafes with distant fam…