De Gruyter Handbooks in Business, Economics and Finance

The handbook presents key contributions from scholars worldwide, providing a comprehensive exploration of current trends in media industries from diverse perspectives. Within the framework of understanding contemporary and future trajectories in media markets and industries, the volume delves into their influence on media organization and delivery, along with broader societal and market implications. Encompassing research at the crossroads of economics, management, political economy, and production studies, the handbook emphasizes the necessity for a robust interdisciplinary dialogue. Beyond scrutinizing present and forthcoming industry developments, the handbook addresses pivotal issues pertaining to media economics research methods and pedagogy. It serves as a valuable resource for scholars, students, and media professionals, providing insights into media economics as an academic field and delving into the multifaceted dynamics that shape the media landscape. Doing this, it contributes to the ongoing discourse on the evolving nature of media markets and their profound impact on society.

Winner of the USASBE 2024 Excellence in Scholarship Award

The De Gruyter Handbook of Social Entrepreneurship serves as a one-stop shop for nascent and established scholars and practitioners alike who seek to quickly gain a broad familiarity with the current state of research in social entrepreneurship.

Part 1 reviews and discusses the historical scholarly foundations of the field, followed by a more in-depth treatment of newer research, while Part 2 examines the broader ecosystem in which social entrepreneurship takes place. In Part 3, the handbook explores infrastructural considerations such as organizational culture, values, processes, business models and mindsets that affect social entrepreneurship. Finally, in Part 4 the handbook analyzes social entrepreneurship from the individual social entrepreneur’s perspective.

Faculty, research-oriented graduate students, think tanks, and government agencies who seek an overview of recent research in the field of social entrepreneurship will benefit from this essential addition to the literature. In addition, practicing social entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs in corporate settings, and non-governmental organizations interested in social entrepreneurship can use this handbook as a resource to inform their approaches to the development of social ventures, how they support social entrepreneurs, and the ways in which they can foster conditions to support a thriving social entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Given the strong migration trends in our society all over the years, this handbook addresses the upcoming topic of migrant entrepreneurship in all its colourful facets. Migration, ethnic minorities, and related phenomena are currently the subject of intensive scholarly discussion and a heated public debate. Migrant entrepreneurship is a powerful issue within this debate as it creates numerous chances for both migrants and societies - despite significant challenges.

In 19 chapters scholars from different disciplines and countries shed light on the phenomenon of migrant entrepreneurship. Long traditions of studies have resulted in the diversity of topics and approaches applied by scholars, and the handbook offers a systematization of research efforts. It also aims to explore future research avenues by providing inspirations.

Three types of readers can benefit from this handbook: researchers, professionals (including policymakers), and students from around the world.

Despite significant changes to the agricultural sector worldwide and major changes in demographic and population internal migrations and rural environs in recent years, the topic of rural enterprise and rural entrepreneurship in developing economies has not been the subject of concerted academic attention. As a consequence, with the exception of a few texts, the area remains relatively under-researched. This is particularly the case at the international level. This handbook aims to bridge this gap in the literature by offering a collection of contemporary research contributions that explore the complex nature of rural enterprise across a range of settings and geographical contexts. In particular, the book will include up to date policy contributions, as well as valuable insights into rural enterprise in practice in developing economies.

This handbook is concerned with defining and conceptualising rural entrepreneurship in developing economies. Much rural enterprise policy tends to be US or European focussed with an almost hegemonic notion that these countries have a superior knowledge of rural policy and rural entrepreneurship.　 Yet, it may be the case that rural entrepreneurship in some less developed countries is actually considerably more advanced in its practice, particularly when it comes to innovation to help mitigate the effects of the climate and environmental crisis.　

In addition, although all regional and national economies consist of urban and rural components, much of the entrepreneurship literature tends to have an urban-centric focus. Thus, this book focuses on two important questions. Firstly, should there actually be a categorisation called ‘rural entrepreneurship’ or is it simply ‘entrepreneurial activity’ that occurs in rural environments in developed economies? Secondly, is a ‘rural’ business any different to an ‘urban’ business in terms of how it ‘does business?’ By way of laying the foundation for the wide range of contributions presented in this book a key aim is to seek to explore how and why a rural enterprise can be defined, and determine whether rural entrepreneurship is a distinctive category of entrepreneurship theory and practice.

　

Having an online and digital presence has today become essential for art organizations, artists, and artworks. In the maturing field of arts marketing, there has been an ongoing academic debate in the last decade about the nature and value of two competing approaches: whether an organization-centered or a consumer-centered approach shows a higher relative effectiveness in enhancing the performance criteria of arts organizations (Boorsma, 2006). Shifting the focus from a business orientation, digital and online arts marketing provides an additional promising perspective on the debate (Choi & Burnes, 2013). The current trend of marketing the arts via virtual platform networks more effectively engages international audiences to participate in a co-creation process (Edvardsson, Tronvoll, & Gruber, 2011;), connecting them to the various fields of the arts and sustaining a long-term relational and humanistic network of communities in art appreciation (Thyne & Hede, 2016; Walmsley, 2019).

From an organization-centered approach, arts marketing serves as functional tool of an art organization and as a business strategy and mindset. This line of research focuses primarily on how marketing practices facilitate the pursuit of organizational goals and interests in terms of tangible outcomes (such as profits for profit-making arts companies, sponsors, volunteers and donations for non-profit arts organizations) and intangible outcomes (such as the reputation of the organization, or the quality of its stakeholder relationships).

A consumer-centered approach addresses these limitations by systematically analyzing and prioritizing consumer needs and desires, perceptions and preferences, and the degree of satisfaction in the marketing of the arts. This approach assumes that adapting arts products or services through the creation of consumer value can increase sales levels through greater consumer satisfaction. However, studies have pointed out that such a business mindset may lead to pitfalls in arts marketing because the creation of consumer-centered arts may hinder the creativity of artists, violate the principles of artistic expression, over-commercialize the field of arts and lower artistic and cultural value.

For this Handbook, we consider digital and online arts marketing as a timely and evolving trend that is constantly pushing the boundaries of the existing paradigms to explore new possibilities to achieve a balance between artistic and consumer values. Through a multidisciplinary and co-creation approach, the rise of new media and digital technologies has facilitated digital arts marketing to take the lead (O’Reilly, 2011; Özdemir, Fillis, & Collins, 2020); a trend that has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the new normal that has transformed the practices of a mixed-mode of cultural and creative production, distribution, and consumption. In view of rapid social, cultural, and economic changes and the fluid and uncertain contemporary art market, many organizations have begun to reflect on putting aside organization- or consumer- centered approaches and instead turned to the possibility of adopting the logic of mediatization (Have & Pedersen, 2013; Jasson, 2002; Krämer, 2011; Wilke, 2014), creating a mixed-mode of arts collaboration, co-operation, and co-creation of arts marketing (Baumgarth, 2018).

Many countries and regions face unprecedented social and environmental crises and disruptive events whose impact can no longer be ignored. Sustainable entrepreneurs offer new solutions to these problems that involve replacing the current linear economies by circular systems.

Sustainable entrepreneurs generate new sustainable products, services, and production processes, with new sustainable business models that simultaneously balance ecological, social and economic goals, which result in sustainable welfare for current and for future generations. The DeGruyter Handbook of Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research studies the causes and consequences of sustainable entrepreneurship, the new standard of doing business and designing public policy, as reflected in the growth of sustainable entrepreneurship start-up ventures and the increasing integration of sustainability in small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as in incumbent corporations. It explores five main themes, each presenting state-of-the-art thinking: foundations, leadership, innovation, business models, performance and impact. Each section consists of four chapters that, taken together, offer in-depth perspectives, take stock of current situations and propose new avenues for future research.

The handbook offers a coherent and systemic perspective for sustainable start-ups and for incumbent firms and governments aiming for transitions. It will also be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students interested in sustainable entrepreneurship.

Far-reaching technological developments are making a deep impact on societies and economic environments worldwide. With the emergence of new digital infrastructures such as artificial intelligence, fintech, data analytics, robotics and nanotech, new creative industries, still in a state of flux, have arisen, while others have disappeared, at least in their traditional form. The intermixing of traditional and new technologies has led to a redrawing of boundaries and an extension of the limits of entrepreneurship out towards industries with hitherto high barriers to entry due to regulatory, technological or structural factors.

These "external enablers" have led to a democratization of entrepreneurship and a lessening of the obstacles to starting up a company by reducing (or eliminating) the difficulties inherent in the entrepreneurial phenomenon in its "classical" configuration, such as high resource intensity, uncertainty, limited time or information asymmetry. The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Entrepreneurship examines the impact of these technological disruptions not only using the existing paradigms, but also by re-examining our very conception of the entrepreneurial phenomenon in terms of its evolving nature and shifting contours.

The contributions to this handbook promote the emergence of new theories and conceptions of the entrepreneurial opportunity and process that more fully reflect the realities of the new environment we are living in. They will benefit both academics aiming to familiarize themselves with the state of research and theory within topics and subtopics in digital entrepreneurship, as well as practicing entrepreneurs and managers aiming to acquaint themselves with leading edge practices and insights in digital entrepreneurship.

Degrowth has emerged as one of the most exciting, and contested, fields of research into the drivers of global heating, ecological collapse, and economic injustice. The perspective is both a critique of existing growth-based models of development, which it argues have put humanity on a collision course with non-negotiable ecological limits, and a vision for a brighter future in which humans and non-humans alike can flourish. By putting an end to growth-seeking economic development and boundless energetic and material throughputs, degrowth’s proponents suggest we can build an economy that meets the material needs of people and planet for generations to come.

This handbook’s contributions signal the importance of degrowth across multiple disciplines and practices. Along the way, they grapple with some of the most critical questions, ideological assumptions, policies, and social struggles of our time.

The handbook approaches degrowth as a loosely knit and developing set of interdisciplinary propositions about what it might take to achieve a world of human and non-human flourishing. Contributors explore, challenge, and critique degrowth’s propositions and its prospects of shaping scholarly agendas, policy frameworks, and social movements. Essays consider degrowth from a variety of empirical and theoretical vantages, including urban design, architecture, political economy, political ecology, critical geography, and political theory. This integrative approach, at once critical and constructive, aims to preserve for readers the sense of possibility that has drawn people to degrowth scholarship thus far.

The narrative about the project management profession is dominated by discussions of “success” and “failure” along with the need to improve the competence of project managers. As a result, the community is engaged in a fruitless search for a combination of tools, techniques and practices that will result in desired outcomes for funders. While the profession has made recent attempts to incorporate environmental and social responsibility, these areas are still framed within the existing discourses of project delivery. The De Gruyter Handbook of Responsible Project Management seeks to rethink project management by integrating contributions from the emerging responsible Management domain.

This handbook will explore the nature and extent of project professionals’ responsibility at different levels – individual, team, organizational and societal – along with the implications for education, research and practice. The De Gruyter Handbook of Responsible Project Management offers cutting-edge insights into the field of project management. It is an essential reference for scholars and practitioners.

Whilst women-owned businesses have a significant positive impact on poverty reduction and social exclusion, we know far too little about women’s entrepreneurship in an emerging economy context. This handbook aims to fill that void by giving voice to women entrepreneurs who are far too often overlooked or even invisible.

The chapters offer varied perspectives on the challenges that women entrepreneurs in emerging markets experience, foremost among these the lack of resources, education, and access to finance, as well as gender-related inequalities, and the impact of social expectations. The handbook portrays how, despite these challenges, women use creative and work-around strategies to access resources, build networks and grow their businesses.　

De Gruyter Handbook of Women Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies brings together contributions from leading experts in the field and is a must-read for academic scholars and postgraduate students interested in gender and entrepreneurship diversity.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Sustainable Development and Finance explores the difficult and challenging issues confronting society and the environment, in the contexts of unprecedented climate change, bio-diversity loss and the global pandemic.

In this seminal text exploring a wide range of topics, and in the devastating wake of COVID-19, scholars and practitioners analyse the effectiveness of current and proposed actions to build a sustainable future, and the public and private finance necessary to prevent an impending planetary catastrophe.

The first section of the handbook introduces readers to the origins and evolution of sustainable development. An examination of public and private finance follows in the next two sections, presented from the perspectives of authors from both ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries. Climate change, one of the largest sectors of finance for sustainable development, is investigated in detail, as is the new and emerging development frontier, the ‘blue’ economy of the world’s oceans.

Suitable for students, policymakers and the public at large, the handbook highlights the lessons learned and points the way forward for sustainable development and finance in the wake of the global pandemic, and the challenges to come.

"A small business is not a little big business."

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered the engines of worldwide economies and the main sources of job creation. Management in these companies is different from management in larger/older enterprises with their already established concepts and instruments. In view of the high importance of SMEs in emerging, developing and developed economies worldwide, the De Gruyter Handbook of SME Entrepreneurship investigates the underlying mechanisms and practices of management within these companies with a focus on entrepreneurship, growth and innovation.

It argues that it is time for a dedicated theory of "SME Entrepreneurship" to emerge. Entrepreneurial thinking and behavior in SMEs must be differentiated from that of start-ups and large companies. On the other hand, it also explores the different entrepreneurship manifestations that exist within a widely heterogeneous group of SMEs.

The handbook provides a theoretical framework in which to understand, compare and contrast the complexity of SMEs in both domestic and international processes and addresses the strengths, achievements, and challenges of entrepreneurship in SMEs.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Organizational Conflict Management offers insightful contributions covering a myriad of conflict management topics ranging from fundamental issues, such as emotional intelligence and cultural differences, to cutting-edge themes such as political conflicts and mindfulness training. Renowned conflict management scholars and leading practitioners have contributed chapters to this handbook based on their research and their practical experience in the field of confl ict management. Many of the authors have influenced the topic of conflict management as it has become both a fi eld of academic study in universities and a necessary leadership skill.

The handbook is organized in four sections. The first section covers interpersonal conflict management and focuses on perceptions, conflict styles, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and change. The second section includes ethnic and cultural issues in organizational conflict management, such as microaggressions, ethnicity and religion, and political conflicts. The third section offers methods for managing organizational conflicts, including mediation, negotiation, ombudspersons, and conflict coaching. This section also offers guidance on developing an organizational conflict management system and discusses HR’s role in managing conflicts. The fourth section introduces chapters on special topics in conflict management, such as workplace bullying, gender issues, birth order personality, human connections, and forgiveness.

This handbook is an essential reference for scholars and practitioners. It offers organizational leaders insights into the causes and solutions to organizational conflict management. In addition, it is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in organizational conflict management.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Personal Finance provides a robust review of the core topics comprising personal finance, including the primary models, approaches, and methodologies being used to study particular topics that comprise the field of personal finance today.

The contributors include many of the world’s leading personal finance researchers, financial service professionals, thought leaders, and leading contemporary figures conducting research in this area whose work has shaped—and continues to affect—the way that personal finance is conceptualized and practiced.

The first section of the handbook provides a broad introduction to the discipline of personal finance. The following two sections are organized around the core elements of personal finance research and practice: saving, investing, asset management, and financial security. The fourth section introduces future research, practice, and policy directions. The handbook concludes with a discussion on an educational and research agenda for the future.

This handbook will be a core reference work for researchers, financial service practitioners, educators, and policymakers and an excellent supplementary source of readings for those teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses in personal finance, financial planning, consumer studies, and household finance.

The management field increasingly recognizes that most firms in the world are family firms and that these entities operate differently from the non-family firms on which most of our current management theories are based. The De Gruyter Handbook of Business Families brings together work from leading academics who explore emerging research themes relevant to business families, particularly drawing in new insights from adjacent disciplines that can advance the family business field.

The handbook challenges the traditional notion of the "single firm–single family" that has characterized most early research on family business. Recognizing that families may simultaneously own or control multiple businesses as well as substantial wealth beyond these firms in the form of financial and non-financial assets, this handbook focuses on business families rather than the narrower construct of family business. The contributions in this handbook explore the relatively neglected dynamics between individuals with family ties that shape the interaction between family and business; business families with multiple businesses; how business families adopt formal rules and processes around their joint activities; and the institutionalization of wealth and business families in society.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Business Families fills a gap in the family business research literature and is an essential reference work for researchers and graduate-level students in the area of business families.

As of early 2022, seven of the ten largest firms in the world by market capitalization had been funded through various types of entrepreneurial finance. This handbook provides an up-to-date survey of what we know about this significant phenomenon in all its forms, and where our knowledge about it needs to head from here. The handbook embraces a wide range of established and emerging academic and practitioner voices across the globe to explore the theoretical and practical flux and tension in the field.

Until recently, most studies have taken a supply side perspective, focusing on the perspective of those who provide funding to new ventures. This book takes a different, demand side perspective, beginning with the entrepreneur and gradually broadening our view to include close by and then more distant funding sources. Following this approach, it is organized into four parts detailing the individual level (founders’ resources, bricolage and bootstrapping, effectuation and portfolio entrepreneurship); the inner circle (informal financing, business groups, incubators and accelerators); the wider world (formal debt, microfinance, venture capital, corporate venture capital, business angels, government funding and family offices); and emerging perspectives (non-Western perspectives, gender, indigenous perspectives, post-conflict and disaster zones and ethics).

The introduction considers the general state of the field, while the conclusion takes on additional topics relevant to entrepreneurial finance, such as decentralized finance, big data, behavioral economics, financial innovation and COVID-19, as well as possible ways in which entrepreneurial finance can have a greater impact on other disciplines.

This handbook will be a core reference work for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers seeking an up-to-date academic survey of entrepreneurial finance. It can also be used as a primary text in Ph.D. seminars in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance, and finance. Instructors in Master’s level courses in entrepreneurial finance and venture capital will also find the book of benefit.

Globally, the prevalence of disability is growing, as is disability awareness. The disability rights movement argues that the right to employment is essential for full participation and human dignity. While there have been improvements related to broad diversity programs and policies, those for persons with disabilities, especially less visible or invisible disabilities, have received less attention.

Contextual factors such as the legal environment and protections, cultural and social values, religious norms, and broader economic conditions shape the employment prospects for persons with disabilities. The De Gruyter Handbook of Disability and Management uses an interdisciplinary lens to study disability and management, integrating perspectives from disability studies, psychology, education, and legal domains. It aims to incorporate a contextually sensitive and global perspective to emphasize actionable areas of inclusion and provides a more international focus by including contributions from across the world including contries and regions that have till date received less attention in the area of disability studies.

Managers, human resource professionals, and policy makers can be more proactive to support persons with disabilities, and more insights, best practices, and tools are needed to facilitate this support. This handbook will guide and support efforts of organizational stakeholders and policy makers as they strive to be more inclusive.

Entrepreneurship has been central to China’s transformation into the world’s second largest economy since the country’s reform and opening-up. Today, the entrepreneurial landscape is undergoing significant change. A new generation of entrepreneurs—shaped more by market dynamics than the legacy of central planning—is taking the lead. Early ventures have grown into national champions, now grappling with complexityand the risk of complacency. Meanwhile, a stronger state presence and global headwinds have reshaped the policy and business environment. As China confronts demographic shifts and the limits of an export-led growth model, it once again turns to entrepreneurship to drive innovation and avoid the middle-income trap.

This handbook looks at the complex dynamics and changing nature of entrepreneurshipin China. It provides overviews of up-to-date research in four important areas: how Chinese entrepreneurs exercise their ability to seek and seize market opportunitiesin the face of uncertainty; how entrepreneurial firms in China facilitate the continuous leveraging of opportunities; how entrepreneurial ecosystems are evolving to support the entrepreneurial actions of both individuals and organisations; and how entrepreneurship is exercised as an instrument to address pressing societal challenges.

This handbook offers rich and diverse discussions of key topics in the field and is disciplinary-agnostic and in tune with empirical manifestations. It spans multiple perspectives, including (but not limited to) management, cultural studies, economic geography, sociology, gender studies, critical race, disability and communication studies. A range of contributions is included from historical perspectives to emerging debates, in addition to work on key current issues. It moves beyond the “industry” of creative industries to also document and examine the ways that industry shapes identity and community and how industry is shaped by external forces. In a sector that is particularly prone to disruptions, be they social, cultural, legal, or economical, this handbook reflects the current state of the creative industries.

While plenty of research has been undertaken on coopetition – the practice of organisations (of different sizes) collaborating with their competitors in informal and/or formal capacities – the wider business community is still learning about how and why companies join forces with their competitors, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of these strategies.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Coopetition is designed to showcase some novel studies about the ways that coopetition activities are managed by businesses (using a variety of contexts and research methods), the advantages of these strategies, and insights about what can go wrong when competing firms collaborate with one another. The contributors address certain under-researched issues, such as how coopetition operates in internationally oriented arenas (e.g., for exporters), the dark-side of coopetition strategies, measuring the coopetition construct in empirical research, methodological factors for investigating coopetition activities, and much more.

This handbook will benefit academics, postgraduate researchers, students, and practitioners that are interested in the interplay between cooperation and competition.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Media Technology and Innovation brings together scholars from around the world to provide key insights on emerging technology trends and issues related to the fields of media management, information technology, product design planning and digital lifestyle. This handbook is about the power of good ideas. It’s about those business enterprises, government planners, educators and entrepreneurs that have harnessed the power of good ideas to become real difference makers in the world we live in.

Keeping pace with fast paced technology change requires ongoing assessment and reassessment of the media management and technology fields to address important questions and emerging issues. A major premise of this book is that given the complex and ever-changing state of media technology – we have a responsibility and obligation to engage in a broader interdisciplinary dialogue whose purpose is to understand the current and future state of media technology and innovation as well as to appreciate the social impact that such technologies have on business, education and the general public. Forecasting the future, as any weatherperson or stock broker can tell you, is a risky business. But in this book we use the phrase "the creative next step" as a way to talk about the future and what we can expect in terms of the opportunities and challenges going forward.

Is entrepreneurship a pathway out of poverty? Does creating a business represent a means for improving one’s life circumstances? Surprisingly little is known about ventures started by those in circumstances of poverty. This pioneering handbook integrates diverse perspectives from around the world regarding the poverty and entrepreneurship interface.

While the tendency among many scholars, economic developers, and policymakers is to downplay these ventures, arguing they are largely inefficient, marginal enterprises that create little innovation and few jobs, the chapters in this handbook demonstrate their significant contributions, and encourage societies to invest in their development.

The authors explore a range of factors affecting the ability of the poor to create enterprises that contribute to their well-being, including the role played by personal capabilities, education, family support and faith, availability of microfinance, technology, supportive community ecosystems and a munificent institutional environment. By shedding light on issues that can help nations realize the potential of these ventures, this volume demonstrates how entrepreneurship can serve as a source of empowerment, while providing direction regarding ways to surmount the obstacles that stand in the way.