Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship, 1st ed. 2018
An Analysis of the European Textile and Apparel Industries
International Studies in Entrepreneurship Series, Vol. 39

This book examines knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) with a focus on the European textile and apparel industries. The primary purpose is to review the extant academic literature related to the European textile and apparel industries and reflect on that review empirically using a new and robust database on KIE to discover patterns between human capital and strategic entrepreneurial and innovative behavior.

According to the Advancing Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Economic Growth and Social Well-being in Europe (AEGIS) project, KIE is defined as an interface between knowledge generation and diffusion and the productive system. Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurs are thus involved in mechanisms that translate knowledge into innovation, which in turn leads to economic development and growth within an industry and/or region. To date, KIE is often associated with high-tech industries such as aerospace, computer engineering, automotive or telecommunications. For this reason, few studies have been conducted that specifically examine KIE as an avenue for firm or sector growth in the textile and apparel industries. However, new studies have positioned these industries as ones in which KIE can foster growth through innovation, and where products and processes are often evaluated within a knowledge-based framework. Building on this growing literature base, this volume explores potential policies and strategies for driving innovation and growth at the firm and industry levels in Europe and other regions, including the United States.

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage.- Chapter 2: The European Textile and Apparel Industries.- Chapter 3: Trends in the European Textile and Apparel Industries.- Chapter 4: The AEGIS Database.- Chapter 5: Characteristics of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms and Founders.- Chapter 6: Sources of Knowledge used by KIE Textile and Apparel Firms.- Chapter 7: The Strategic Behavior of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms.- Chapter 8: The Entrepreneurial Performance of KIE Textile and Apparel Firms.- Chapter 9: The Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Performance in KIE Textile and Apparel Firms.- Chapter 10: Prescriptions for Growth for U.S. Textile and Apparel Firms.- Chapter 11: Concluding Remarks.

Nancy J. Hodges is the Burlington Industries Professor and Head of the Department of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies (CARS) at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG). Her research focuses on issues of higher education and employment relative to the US and North Carolina textile, apparel, and retail industries. She has published over 50 peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals including the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, and the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. She has presented her research at numerous juried national and international conferences, where she has received multiple awards for best research papers. She received the Outstanding Paper Award for 2010 from the Emerald Literati Network for one of her articles published in the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. She has garnered more than $1M in funds in support of her research, including a recently completed ten-year project supported by the NC Agricultural Research Service on the changing workforce of North Carolina’s textile sector. She is also the Project Director and Co-PI of two recently completed USDA Higher Education Challenge projects focused on investigating global industry issues and trends, including the link between higher education and industry employment.

Professor Hodges served as Director of Graduate Studies for the CARS program from 2004-2014, and has served as thesis or dissertation chair for more than 50 MS and PhD students, and advised more than 20 doctoral dissertations to completion. She has served as the Vice President for Planning for the International Textile and Apparel Association and is on the Executive Board of the Costume Society of America’s southeastern region. Professor Hodges has also served on the Editorial Board for the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal and is presently on the Advisory Board of Fashion Practice: The