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Although there is broad recognition amongst policymakers of the significance of new business start-ups to the economy, there is an ongoing debate in the research literature as to the feasibility and desirability of intervention at this stage of business development. Of particular concern is the extent to which government can target resources so that there is substantive additional impact arising from public intervention. Using the experiential 'decision rules' of private investors, the author develops a broad framework for assessing the future potential of new ventures. Implications are considered for intermediaries working with all types of new venture prospect.

Experiencing and coping with uncertainty is common to most small businesses. The knowledge that is generated and applied as a result is a product of and a response to this condition, and so can be considered as knowing in and through practice. A consideration of knowledge as contingent upon unpredictable internal and external factors leads to the identification of multiple types of knowledge-asknowing. As such, knowledge within small businesses can be characterized as contextualized 'bundles' of knowing that are shaped by, and in turn shape, the business and the uncertainty of its internal dynamics and external environment.

The role of clusters and clustering in economic development is of current policy interest, in part because of analyses and studies that have associated these forms of collaboration with regional and local prosperity and development. Although some of the literature supports or starts from this association, there are also critiques of the clusters concept and its feasibility as a policy development and intervention strategy. Intrinsic to part of these concerns has been a view that clusters cannot be created without business involvement and input at the heart of the process. The paper addresses this issue via an examination of four cases of potential clusters development from the perspectives of the businesses involved. Although clear evidence for the existence of a cluster could only be established definitively in one of the four cases, there were extensive indications of clustering as a collaborative activity across all four cases. Based on this, a process of clusters formation and emergence was developed that applied to the cases. This process consists of several phases of clusters emergence and points to three stages of clusters development: potential, emerging, and established. A key implication is that processes of clusters formation may provide an opportunity for the formulation of 'bottom-up', contextually sensitive clusters development strategies for groups of businesses.

China's rapid growth in recent decades can be attributed in large part to the emergence of a vibrant private sector, which now accounts for around three quarters of the economy. Despite government pronouncements in support of private small businesses, public policy and institutions to support private sector development have been slow to emerge and address their needs. However, many privately owned enterprises are in need of assistance, affected by internal capability constraints such as a lack of management and leadership skills and by an external environment that still privileges state-owned enterprises. Although policy makers may have had other policy priorities in the past, and private enterprises have been able to survive and grow without inputs of professional advice and support, we argue that in the future small and medium-sized enterprises in China will require appropriate and effective business support to continue to grow. In this context we consider two interventions designed to build institutional capacity to provide business support at a local level and the barriers to be overcome if an effective framework for state promotion of privately owned small businesses is to be established.

Inherent to enterprising behaviour is the exercise of strategic awareness, a process of understanding and learning from the environment in which the entrepreneur and the small business operate. This paper notes that a growing recognition of high levels of change and uncertainty in the environment infers a need to increase small business understanding of what is changing and why. Strategic awareness is an individual and organisational capability, tailored to contextual needs and contingencies, that describes processes for identifying, understanding, interpreting and acting on events and influences. It also contributes to the process of innovation. Research in the UK, and later in Western Australia, identified a customer needs-focused and outwardly-directed approach to innovation that relies on understanding the external environment. This paper concludes by stressing the relationship between strategic awareness and innovation, and suggests that the nature of these processes demands a rethink in how we support and research small businesses and entrepreneurs.

China's entrepreneurial transformation -- China's entrepreneurs and private enterprises -- The evolution and emergence of entrepreneurship in China -- Models of entrepreneurship in China -- China's market dynamics : domestic competition and international expansion -- Financing entrepreneurship in China -- Chinese business culture and entrepreneurship -- Dealing with the government -- Doing business with Chinese entrepreneurs -- The future of entrepreneurship in China