Creating Communities of Practice

1. Introduction: An Overview of the Research1.1 Introduction1.2 The Study of INNOSPACE2. Business Incubation2.1 Introduction and Background2.2 Definitions of Business Incubation2.3 Examining Business Incubation2.4 University-Based Incubation (UBI)2.4.1 UBIs and the Management Team2.5 Summary3. Entrepreneurship, Opportunities and Entrepreneurial Learning3.1 Introduction3.2 Defining Entrepreneurship3.2.1 Defining Opportunity Identification3.2.2 Prior Knowledge3.3 Perspectives on Entrepreneurial Learning3.3.1 Entrepreneurial Learning3.3.2 Experiential Learning Theory3.4 Entrepreneurial Learning in the Context of an Incubator3.4.1 Learning in Communities of Practice3.4.2 A Learning Model3.5 Summary4. Research Methods 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Researching Entrepreneurship4.3 Research Approach4.3.1 The Case Study Organisation4.4 Interviews with Incubatees and the Management Team4.5 Data Analysis4.6 Summary5. The INNOSPACE Experience5.1 Introduction5.2 Six Individual Pathways5.2.1 Andy's Experience: INNOSPACE as a Transitional Phase5.2.2 Jane's Experience: INNOSPACE Separating Work and Home5.2.3 Ian's Experience: INNOSPACE as a Physical and Social Space5.2.4 Tony's Experience: INNOSPACE as a Talent Pool5.2.5 Paul's Experience: INNOSPACE as Resource Repository5.2.6 Kath's Experience: INNOSPACE as a Driver of Entrepreneurial Spirit5.3 Analysis: The Incubation Process5.3.1 Pathways through INNOSPACE5.3.2 Business Support5.3.3 The Social Aspects of Business Incubation5.3.4 Collaboration between Tenants5.4 Summary6. The Role of Prior Knowledge in Opportunity Identification6.1 Introduction6.2 Prior Knowledge6.2.1 Prior Knowledge of Markets6.2.2 Prior Knowledge of Customer Problems6.2.3 Personal Interests6.2.4 Prior Knowledge of Markets and Customer Problems6.2.5 Prior Knowledge of Markets and Means to Serve Markets6.2.6 Prior Knowledge of Markets and Personal Interests6.2.7 Prior Knowledge of Customer Problems and Means to Serve Markets6.2.8 Prior Knowledge of Markets, Customer Problems & Means to Serve Markets6.2.9 Prior Knowledge of Markets, Customer Problems & Personal Interests6.3 Analysis: Prior Knowledge and Opportunity Identification6.3.1 Stream 1: Change and Innovation6.3.2 Stream 2: Knowledge Transfer6.3.3 Stream 3: Knowledge Replication6.4 Summary7. Learning and Opportunity Development in INNOSPACE7.1 Introduction7.2 Opportunity Development and Entrepreneurial Learning7.2.1 Andy: Learning about Customer Problems7.2.2 Jane: Learning New Business Skills7.2.3 Ian: Learning about Networking7.2.4 Tony: Learning how to Serve Customers7.2.5 Paul: Learning about Markets7.2.6 Kath: Learning from Others7.3 Analysis: Entrepreneurial Learning and Opportunity Development7.3.1 The Exploitation of Prior Knowledge7.3.2 Transformation of Identity and Opportunities7.3.3 Acquisition of Skills and Competencies7.4 Summary: The INNOSPACE Learning Community8. Discussion: The INNOSPACE Community of Practice8.1 Introduction 8.2 Entrepreneurial Learning and Business Incubation8.2.1 The Business Incubation Process8.2.2 Entrepreneurs, Prior Knowledge and Opportunity Identification8.2.3 Entrepreneurial Lear
About the Author: Oswald Jones is an Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Liverpool Management School (United Kingdom). He was previously employed at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School where he established the Centre for Enterprise and the associated incubator, Innospace. Most of his recent research has focused on learning in small firms and has appeared in a wide-range of journals including Business History Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, International Small Business Journal, Long Range Planning, Management Learning, R&D Management and Technovation.

Dr. PingPing Meckel is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Central Lancashire (United Kingdom). PingPing is passionate about using learning theories to nurture and support an effective learning community, which can take place in a classroom, a business incubator or learning and teaching practice in an informal setting. PingPing's background is in Business and Management, and more specifically entrepreneurship. PingPing was a member of the Steering Group for Manchester Metropolitan University's Business Incubator, Innospace. She witnessed the birth and growth of Innospace, the management team, and most importantly the incubatees. She has been an active member of professional organisations such as the British Academy of Management. To help to promote Entrepreneurship as an important discipline, she gained European Entrepreneurship Educators Fellowship. She was also secretary for the Entrepreneurship Track for six years, assisting the Chair to grow this increasingly popular research subject and community.

David Taylor is a Principal Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Education Lead within the Department of Strategy, Enterprise and Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. He led several initiatives which brought business school students into the University's business incubator, Innospace, for internships, consultancy projects, start-up workshops, self-employed placements, Masters level study and networking. David has always been at the cutting edge of education from helping deliver the groundbreaking Gordon Brown initiative, the New Entrepreneurship Scholarship scheme, through to the design and launch of the most successful Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship programme in the country, and most recently leading the development of an MSc Entrepreneurship and a Global Online Business Administration Management top-up degree, both focused on international markets. David has published in the areas of green entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial networks, gender and entrepreneurship, and enterprise education.