Entrepreneurship Development Division

An emerging market economy is the economy of a developing nation that is becoming more engaged with global markets as it grows. Emerging markets comprise the majority of the world's people and land, and they continue to grow faster than the developed world.

Emerging markets are countries with some characteristics of a developed market but which are not yet fully developed. They have rapid GDP growth and industrialization, growing per capita income, increasing debt and equity market liquidity, and established financial system infrastructures. Characteristics of developed markets may include strong economic growth, high per capita income, liquid equity and debt markets, accessibility by foreign investors, and a dependable regulatory system.

Critically, an emerging market economy is transitioning from a low income, less developed, often pre-industrial economy towards a modern, industrial economy with a higher standard of living.

The association seeks policy and technical analysis arising from emerging markets and their continuous need to support and foster rapid growth, implement constant innovation, and spur competitiveness. Its researchers focus on all emerging countries, including the BRICS members, and also on information systems, electronic government, and digital and social media matters in relation to emerging markets. The researchers provide recommendations on contemporary issues faced by emerging economies, by better understanding the interaction and potential for growth arising from systemic innovation, competitiveness and planned growth.

The association's researchers are concerned with exploring the nature of entrepreneurial behaviour and the way in which entrepreneurs learn. The work on entrepreneurial behaviour uses social psychology, and specifically social constructionism, to explore entrepreneurial behaviour and understand the contextual links between individuals' motivations, behaviours and business strategies. Researchers are expanding and exploring how concepts of the entrepreneur are constructed and used within society.

The association also focuses on attitudes to failure among entrepreneurs and investors, the antecedents, consequences and learning outcomes of entrepreneurial failure, the decision-making processes of entrepreneurs, and the extent and nature of risk management, particularly in new ventures.

Researchers have explored the significant influence of entrepreneurial learning in entrepreneurship. The learning skills of entrepreneurship assist young individuals in making a successful transition from the schooling environment into the workforce, and the research has focused on entrepreneurial intention formation among young adults.

The association's researchers carry out world-leading research that makes a significant impact on people's lives and wellbeing, undertaking interdisciplinary research to develop new interventions and tools, and working collaboratively with end-users and with industrial and practice partners to help adopt technologies that improve quality of life and create economic growth.

Family businesses are those at least 50% owned by a single family. They perform leading roles in the global economy as they represent the largest number of economic ventures worldwide. They are the oldest type of commercial organisation and are now the key driver of wealth creation in both emerging and developed economies. A family business is of the utmost significance in the economy of a country, being one of the oldest economic systems with a substantial contribution to gross national product, total exports and total employment.

Innovation is crucial to the survival of firms, and longstanding family firms provide interesting lessons for others on how to sustain innovation across generations. Intergenerational succession lies at the heart of the longstanding family firm, and succession has within it the potential for change and regeneration of the firm, based upon a bedrock of shared experience and history.

Chief executives and business owners must sooner or later hand over the ownership and management of the company to other people, with such transfers taking place either suddenly or in planned approaches. The business and the family are thus intimately interrelated, with the business controlled by family members within the scope of obtaining its success and guaranteeing its sustainability by transferring it to future generations.

The multiplicity of family businesses and their behaviour make them an important field of study, and one which is naturally multidisciplinary, involving sociology, economics, management theories, culture and history. The association's research on family firms analyses the complex interaction of family and firm, the forces underlying family values, and the way those shape the business culture, behaviour and capabilities of firms.

The research identifies different types of family firm, and those high-performing family firms which differ in size, ownership and management structures from the stereotypical average family firm. It focuses on differentiating family businesses from other types of business, explaining the unique interface between the family and the business, and identifying the characteristics for family business survival and success, including demographics, adjustment strategies, continuity, capitals, and values and goals.

Innovative entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers of economic development, particularly for less developed economies where economic growth is at the forefront of policymakers' agendas, as the practice of creating new business ideas intending to generate profit, assist the community and accomplish company goals.

It is the ability to identify a gap in the market and create something that fills that gap, or to find a better way of doing something that is already being done. It is what sets entrepreneurs apart from others and drives their success. Innovative entrepreneurs develop business models to meet the needs of an organization and improve their competitiveness in the market, and most use innovative ideas to help create these models or make upgrades to their current model.

Innovation is often thought of as the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. Without it, companies would quickly become stale and irrelevant in an ever-changing world. It is the ability to implement new ideas, strategies and thought processes with a vision to introduce or improve the present, with a focus on newness, improvement, and the spread of ideas and technologies.

Innovation plays a crucial role in promoting growth, enabling organizations to adapt to evolving market trends and ultimately driving profitability. While it can involve the creation of entirely new concepts, it also includes improvements and enhancements to existing products, services or ideas. It disrupts the status quo and encourages a departure from the traditional approach, requiring fresh thinking, creativity, and the ability to identify opportunities for change and improvement.

To be able to innovate involves new combinations of knowledge, sometimes combining old and new knowledge, or crossing boundaries between areas of expertise or between sectors. It also requires knowledge of what has gone before and the ability to learn from it, as well as an appreciation of the present, to understand the available choices. Innovation is distinct from invention, as it does not necessarily entail the creation of something entirely new; instead it focuses on introducing novel ideas or enhancing existing ones to meet the needs of customers, industry demands and societal changes.

Entrepreneurship encompasses the willingness of individuals or groups to take risks and capitalize on business opportunities in a dynamic market. Business entrepreneurs play crucial roles as leaders, innovators, pioneers and inventors, driving economic, technological and social advancement within their industries, and they possess the ability to identify and transform great ideas into viable business ventures by embracing risk.

Entrepreneurship involves the recognition and assessment of opportunities and is often the bridge between creativity and innovation, because the entrepreneur is involved in the interplay of two ongoing questions: what is needed, and what is possible. Responses are shaped by changing knowledge of the external environment, by social and business networks, by changes in the legal system, by changes in the competitive environment, and by market forces.

Entrepreneurs are not limited to a single type of innovation but actively seek out diverse sources of it. Once they identify a promising opportunity they establish and manage profitable businesses around it. To succeed, entrepreneurs must embody traits such as risk-taking, motivation, leadership, management skills, decision-making abilities and effective planning.

The association's researchers seek to make a major contribution to the development of unique capabilities which will contribute to the sustainable competitive advantage of businesses in developing countries. The work offers insights to policymakers interested in promoting innovative entrepreneurship, and to entrepreneurs and investors seeking to establish and support innovative ventures, and develops a multilevel framework explaining how entrepreneurial competencies attenuate the negative impact of innovation barriers.

Over the past few decades small and medium-sized enterprises have been recognised to account for a considerable share of economic activity. They and the entrepreneurs behind them are fundamental to innovation, economic growth and job creation, and play a critical role in social cohesion. Governments and international institutions now place small firms and entrepreneurship as essential elements in any plan or policy to promote economic growth and development, and SMEs have a key role in ensuring economic growth in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

SMEs are often the source of innovative solutions enabled by information and communications technology that make a long-lasting impact in developing economies, and they are an important source of new jobs, especially for young people. They make up more than 95% of all businesses worldwide and represent a path out of poverty for many developing countries.

SMEs are often considered the steam engine of the economy, spurring economic growth and innovation and creating employment opportunities. However, in a highly globalized world they and their entrepreneurs often find it hard to compete with larger companies. They represent an exceptional vehicle for entrepreneurial activity: most start-up activity comes from SMEs, they are an important source of innovation, new products and services, and they are a key element for regional development and social cohesion.

Within this framework, research from both the economics and management disciplines has focused on investigating the effect of an entrepreneur's characteristics on firm performance, including start-up activity, firm survival, size and growth.

The association's research seeks to contribute towards scaling up innovation and building an enabling environment for SMEs, and it is actively working on developing initiatives that help create synergies in entrepreneurship enabled by information and communications technology. It seeks to provide data and analysis to develop policies that foster SMEs and entrepreneurship and facilitate sustainable growth, competitiveness and the creation of skilled jobs, working on projects creating business-friendly environments and improving access to finance, new markets and internationalization, with public institutions and large private organisations that believe in enabling SMEs and entrepreneurs.