Entrepreneurship— Hop William B. Gartner “The future is not coming to you. You fetch it! Or it goes away. Who wins and who gains from a failure Depends on who falls and who stays. It all has to do with perspective What prism that you use for a scatter. But remember: Humble or arrogant May be a bifocal matter.” (Wahlbin, 2005) This is a “mash-up” of some ideas on entrepreneurship scholarship using rhymes. The challenge was to compare and contrast special issue articles along national lines. The pondering of each country’s imperative comes out through this “hip-hop” perspective. Please be assured when you read this that these rhymes are serious. There are important issues that scholars’ interest must pay, so do not let this format get in the way, using this poem as a start, of exploring entrepreneurship as science and art. Ideas from each country are beyond differences in methods quantitative and quality: Issues philosophical, rhetorical, historical, and current are the basis for the entrepreneurship field’s ferment. Pay you back with interest (Clarke, Hicks, & Nash, 1966) Introduction “Whom do we pay attention to?” is the subject at hand. Does anyone seek out knowledge from other lands? Papers from Germany, France, the U.S., the U.K., and Scandinavia presented here, Express “a failure to communicate,” so it is clear, (Blackburn & Smallbone, 2008; Brush, Manolova, & Edelman, 2008; Hjorth, 2008; Lasch & Yami, 2008; Schmude, Welter, & Heumann, 2008) That the problem runs deeper than specific country differences, And, it is more than a reflection of a variety of perspectives. Please send correspondence to: William B. Gartner, tel.: 864-656-0825; fax: 864-656-7237; e-mail: gartner@ clemson.edu. P T E & 1042-2587 © 2008 by Baylor University 361 March, 2008