Strat. Change, 9, 461–463 (2000)

Strategic Change, November 2000Copyright Þ 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book review

The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Learning to Unlock Value, David Rae,Blackhall Publishing, Dublin, 1999, ISBN 1 901657 64 7, 223pp,price £19.99.

The emphasis that the current Labour government has placed onthe development and promotion of an enterprise culture in the UK,has led some commentators to suggest that recent policy initiatives‘evoke the spirit of Margaret Thatcher’. A book which states thatone of its main objectives is to help individuals ‘unlock their entre-preneurial ability’, is obviously very welcome.

In particular a text which is interested in promoting and aidingpotential entrepreneurs by focusing on how they learn to developand utilize their entrepreneurial capabilities, is indeed a very wel-come break from the numerous texts which translate the promotionof entrepreneurship and the development of entrepreneurialcapacity, into treatises about business plans.

The book can be divided into two main sections. The first sectionis made up of four chapters and presents an understanding ofentrepreneurship as ‘releasing value’ both within individuals andwithin external resources. In chapter one a general notion of entre-preneurship as the ‘unlocking of value’ is presented, emphasizingthe dynamic, opportunity-seeking, venturing nature of this activity.Within this context a straightforward definition of entrepreneurshipas ‘the process of identifying and exploiting opportunities throughbringing together resources to form ventures, which create orrelease value’ (page 16) is proposed and used throughout the book.

Chapters two and three develop the notion of releasing valuefurther through a focus on the unlocking of internal and externalvalue respectively.

Chapter two presents an entrepreneurial learning model throughwhich indivuals can learn to nurture, develop and release theirentrepreneurial capabilities. The model provides a frameworkwhich individuals can use to identify different attributes and capa-bilities within themselves through the development of their ownlearning map. The dimensions of this model include learning modes,personality constructs, personal theories derived from learning epi-sodes, known capabilities, networks and relationships, values andmotivation. This is a particularly strong chapter as it provides aframework, which can be understood as an articulation of an ethicof enterprise, the latter being a key dimension of the phenomenonof enterprise culture.

Book review

Copyright Þ 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change, November 2000

462

Following on from this, chapter three focuses on the creation,identification and exploitation of opportunities as the means bywhich value can be released from external entities. Both chapterscontain a range of useful practical exercises by which issues dis-cussed can be explored further. A further collection of exercises isincluded in appendices and in this sense the book provides anextremely useful classroom resource. This first section concludeswith chapter four, which attempts to identify the links between theentrepreneur and his/her business through use of the concept ofentrepreneurial strategy. This is loosely defined as ‘a series ofchoices’, in particular a series of choices around the growth of thebusiness. Emphasis is placed on the interplay between the personalgoals and choices of the entrepreneur and the aims and objectivesof the business as a venture.

The second section of the book is made up of chapters five toseven, each of which is built around empirical data derived frominterviews with entrepreneurs. Starting from a position whichargues that ‘entrepreneurship is living theory which can be expre-ssed and understood through personal narratives—life stories’(page 23), each of these chapters is built around a different stageof the lifecycle of a business and presented through the personalnarratives of ten entrepreneurs.

Chapter five explores the process of entering a business, exam-ining and describing how and why entrepreneurs took the stepof begining their own business. It also explores the linkages andconnections between the individual and the business venture. Dif-ferent entrances into business ownership are explored through theentrepreneurs’ narratives and include

ž moving from a senior management position in a large organ-ization to running a small business;

ž making the transition from running someone else’s business torunning their own;

ž changing status from being an employee to starting a business;ž starting a business as a member of a team; andž entering into a family business.

The chapter concludes with two case studies, one that focuses onthe establishment of a new business, and a second that concentrateson a management buy-in.

Chapter six focuses on the growth of a small business. The authoris quite clear in his belief that entrepreneurship is fundamentallyabout growth, despite his acknowledgement that keeping a busi-ness small is a legitimate choice. In this he reiterates the long-standing position in the small business literature which suggeststhat growing businesses are entrepreneurial, with a question markbeing placed over the entrepreneurial capacities of the owners ofbusinesses who choose to remain small. No attention is directed atother ways in which businesses and the individuals who run themcan be entrepreneurial. For example through networks andalliances or through serial entrepreneurship, though the latter is

Book review

Copyright Þ 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change, November 2000

463

mentioned in chapter seven as a way of moving out of a business.In looking at the issue of growth as emblematic of entrepreneurialbehaviour, chapter six is much like many other chapters on growthin other books on entrepreneurship, discussing issues such asgrowth strategies, planning for growth and managing the growthprocess. It also presents a case study on growth, which focuses onthe rebirth of an underperforming business.

Following on from this, chapter seven explores the options opento entrepreneurs if they want to move on from a business. Con-sideration is given to how to prepare for the transition and what todo after it has been made. Each of these three chapters draws onthe narratives of the ten entrepreneurs interviewed, providing avery rich and colourful, in-depth account of the various stages abusiness and entrepreneur can move through. However as well asusing the interviews to outline and illustrate different personal andbusiness experiences, further analysis of the interviews could haveusefully extended the discussion of conclusions reached at the endof chapter seven. These include the notions that learning plays avital role in the entrepreneurial process; entrepreneurship is a livingtheory and finally that entrepreneurship is about doing and learningfrom doing.

The book concludes with chapter eight, which builds on the firstsection and aims to help readers develop their own entrepreneurialcareer plan under a range of headings. These include goals andmotivations, ventures, building networks, personal learning andincreasing personal value.

It is in this type of chapter that the strength of the book lies, inthat along with the first section, it presents a means by whichnotions of being enterprising and entrepreneurial are given amaterial reality. The principal criticism that I have of the book isthe very conventional emphasis it places on growth as a form ofenterprising business and the familiar ‘lifecycle’ path it followswhen exploring the activity of entrepreneurs and their businesses.Nevertheless, I think that this book will be a very useful additionto the reading list of any course which explores enterprise andentrepreneurship, with the first section in particular providing veryuseful seminar material.

Patricia CarrSchool of Business and Management

Brunel UniversityUxbridge

UK