This book compares processes of entrepreneurship, specifically of high-tech manufacturing, in the UK and Japan — countries associated with liberal market economies and coordinated market economies respectively. Similarities are found in approaches to opportunity and business creation which are strikingly different from recent policy emphases in the UK and Japan, inspired by Silicon Valley. Differences — in the backgrounds of entrepreneurs, founding teams, attitudes to growth and risk, innovation, competitive advantages, HRM, and collaborations — are summed up by the concepts of ‘project entrep ... More

This book compares processes of entrepreneurship, specifically of high-tech manufacturing, in the UK and Japan — countries associated with liberal market economies and coordinated market economies respectively. Similarities are found in approaches to opportunity and business creation which are strikingly different from recent policy emphases in the UK and Japan, inspired by Silicon Valley. Differences — in the backgrounds of entrepreneurs, founding teams, attitudes to growth and risk, innovation, competitive advantages, HRM, and collaborations — are summed up by the concepts of ‘project entrepreneurship’ and ‘lifework entrepreneurship.’ This study brings insights from entrepreneurship to comparative institutions and varieties of capitalism, and vice versa, and draws on two surveys and twenty-five case interviews in both the UK and Japan. It concludes with a discussion of dilemmas for entrepreneurship policy in the UK, Japan, and other countries.