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Models of Opportunity

Models of Opportunity

Models of Opportunity

How Entrepreneurs Design Firms to Achieve the Unexpected
Gerard George, Imperial College London
Adam J. Bock, University of Edinburgh
March 2012
Available
Paperback
9780521170840

    Entrepreneurship is changing. Technology and social networks create a smaller world, but widen the opportunity horizon. Today's entrepreneurs build organisations and create value in entirely new ways and with entirely new tools. Rather than just exploit new ideas, innovative entrepreneurs design organisations to make sense of unlikely opportunities. The time has come to overhaul what we know about entrepreneurship and business models. Models of Opportunity links scholarly research on business models and organisational design to the reality of building entrepreneurial firms. It provides actionable advice based on a deeper understanding of how business models function and change. The six insights extend corporate strategy and entrepreneurship in a completely new direction. Case studies of innovative companies across industries demonstrate how visionary entrepreneurs achieve unexpected results. The insights, tools and cases, provide a fresh perspective on emerging trends in entrepreneurship, organisational change and high-growth firms.

    • Presents a managerially based framework for developing and assessing business models
    • Applies an entrepreneurial lens that more accurately frames the business model in the context of venture creation and survival
    • Features case studies of small firms actively developing and legitimising business models

    Reviews & endorsements

    "Some of the best works on business models are conceptual and case-based books that have been written by experienced entrepreneurs … The contribution of Models of Opportunity to this literature is the importance of narratives. George and Bock's emphasis on the importance of communication and the management of narrative is likely to resonate well with those immersed in practice and matches my own experiences from working with numerous start-ups."
    Administrative Science Quarterly

    See more reviews

    Product details

    March 2012
    Paperback
    9780521170840
    320 pages
    227 × 153 × 14 mm
    0.51kg
    24 b/w illus. 18 tables
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • List of figures
    • List of tables
    • List of boxes
    • Six insights to achieve the unexpected
    • 1. Rethink organisation design
    • 2. Appreciate imperfect opportunities
    • 3. Remodel for coherence
    • 4. Build bridges
    • 5. Inspire the narrative
    • 6. Embrace the unexpected opportunity
    • 7. Hindsight
    • Index.
      Authors
    • Gerard George , Imperial College London

      Gerry George is Professor and Deputy Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London, where he also serves as Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre facilitating its strategic commitments in India for joint research, technology commercialisation and educational programmes. He is Professorial Fellow of the UK's Economic and Social Research Council and Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Journal. He serves on the boards of high technology companies and is actively engaged in guiding start-ups and large companies on technology venturing and entrepreneurship.

    • Adam J. Bock , University of Edinburgh

      Adam J. Bock is Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Edinburgh Business School. He is also an experienced entrepreneur and venture financier. He co-founded three medical device companies and managed three angel investor networks in the United States, facilitating more than $10 million of investment into start-up companies. His research focuses on how innovative entrepreneurs create extraordinary companies. He is the co-author of 'Entrepreneurship in the Research Context' (2009), a web-based e-learning course for nascent scientist entrepreneurs.