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This book offers novel and contemporary thinking of entrepreneurship and change. It espouses the distinct but reciprocal nature of both concepts to unravel high levels of transformation, both in terms of social structures and social relations, inherent in new venture creation. It provides insights from a theoretical, educational, and industrial context with emphasis on holistic approaches to change. Each chapter illuminates distinct elements of the entrepreneurial landscape and the importance of learning, creativity and innovation as tools for practice and knowledge management. This book is an essential resource for practitioners, researchers, and policy makers because it provides new outlooks and dimensions on the transformational powers of entrepreneurship and change.

This is a follow up paper on the dwarfed giant: impact of trade and related policies on SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry. This study uncovers how the dwarfed giant can be undwarfed through the creation of shared value. To achieve this, the study examines areas of SMEs collaborative partnership in the Nigerian textile industry. SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry are faced with challenges that limit their abilities to compete favourably due to growing pressures from the liberalisation of international trade. These challenges have been an issue of concern, especially for SMEs fabric manufacturers operating in the Nigerian textile industry who are faced with the fundamental task of attaining long-term sustainability while simultaneously creating value for their customers and the society. The study identified some elements of collaborative partnerships between SMEs, customers and the government. It also identified the absence of on-going collaboration between SMEs and educational institutions in the country. However, these collaborative efforts have yielded little or no result due to the lack of shared understanding and values among key stakeholders in the industry. In bridging this gap, the study suggests that the principles of shared value creation be embedded into SMEs business strategy in inter-organizational relationships with key stakeholders in and out of the textile value chain. This way, they can effectively co-create shared value in the internal environment and adequately tackle the challenges of the external business environment.

This study examines the impact of trade-related policies on SMEs fabric manufacturers operating in the Nigerian textile industry. The Nigerian textile industry was the third largest in Africa and the second largest employer of labour after the government. However, from the 1990s, the industry started experiencing some challenges often linked to trade liberalisation policy under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This placed SMEs textile fabric manufacturing firms under immense pressure to attain long-term sustainability as the productivity and competitiveness of the domestic industry were being threatened by foreign/external competitors from international markets. In identifying and addressing the issues posed by trade policies as part of achieving the research objective, a qualitative mode of inquiry with a case study approach was employed. Semi-structured In-depth interviews were conducted with the managers of three formally registered SMEs fabric manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The findings were interpreted using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the challenges faced by SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry are linked to the lack of supportive and measurable policy and regulatory frameworks to accompany the implementation of liberal policy in the country. These findings point to the fact that in order to revive and boost the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs in the Nigerian textile industry, and to reap the full benefits of international trade policy on liberalised markets, the government has to engage in restructuring the business environment through the implementation of effective and stable macroeconomic, trade-related infrastructural and institutional policies.