Dreaming of EUTopia: Constructing a Vision of an Entrepreneurial Idyll
December 2008
Dr. John Round | University of Birmingham, UK
Dr. Tim Vorley | University of Cambridge, UK
This paper seeks to advance a nuanced approach for considering entrepreneurial environments – utopian thinking. By considering what the entrepreneurial idyll looks like, the policy discussion only then becomes how do we get there. This might appear a somewhat tautological argument but utopia is an unachievable state, not least because of the number of competing interest, be they public or private, national or supra-national. The consequence of these competiing interests is that collective virtues of utopia are displaced by the self-interest of individuals, industry and governments before the vision is even created. Refocusing the debate to construct an apolitical vision of the entrepreneurial idyll provides a benchmark against which the policies and politics of innovation and entrepreneurship can be judged and evaluated.
While not claiming to offer a compreensive vision of utopia, this paper seeks to initiate a dialogue about what such an entrepreneurial idyll vision is founded on a review of exisiting literature and policy, and a survey of entrepreneurs and SME firms in the ICT sector in six European countries. Detailed in the accompnanying report, the survey explores those factors which inform and affect innnovative and entrepreneurial behaviour. It is from this foundation that this paper seeks to create a more comprehensive vision of utopia through engaging more stakeholders in debate, and only then can the route to utopia be meaningfully considered.