Unbundling enterprise and entrepreneurship: From perceptions and preconceptions to concept and practice

Enterprise, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs are terms that are subject to particular depictions and representations that do not always reflect their actual nature. Publicly held and shared perceptions and preconceptions tend to lead to stereotypes, caricatures and distortions that preclude or obstruct real insight into these phenomena. A case is made for a reconsideration of the key terms, particularly via a grounding of analysis and experience in actual events and conditions. The paper concludes by defining entrepreneurship as being both a state - of being an entrepreneur, and a behaviour - of being entrepreneurial. From this perspective, entrepreneurship extends beyond limited conceptualizations of its close association with business start-up and growth to incorporate enterprising activity and dynamics across society and its institutions

Does more mean worse? Three decades of enterprise policy in the Tees Valley

This paper argues that there have been three distinct phases of enterprise policy in the UK in the past 30 years: the 1970s saw no effective enterprise policy ('policy off); the 1980s witnessed an attempt to increase the number of start-ups; and the 1990s saw a concentration on 'business quality'. This paper looks at how enterprise has evolved in Cleveland/Tees Valley over the past three decades. It suggests-and finds-that businesses in the 1980s were more numerous but of lower 'quality' (even if the influence of unemployment is accounted for) than those from the 1970s and 1990s. This implies that we should be cautious about the value of policy attempts to increase business formation rates in areas such as Cleveland/Tees Valley