PAULA FITZSIMONS is the founder of Fitzsimons Consulting, which specialises in entrepreneurship and growth. Paula has been the national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for Ireland since 2000. She previously served for several years on the governing body of GERA, the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association, as President of the national teams.

Fitzsimons Consulting has designed and implemented several peer support initiatives to address gaps in enterprise development. The award winning Going for Growth is focused on supporting ambitious female entrepreneurs to realise their growth ambitions and is supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG; ACORNS, an initiative to support early stage female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland, is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and the most recent of these initiatives, Back for Business, focused on returned emigrants who wish to set up a business in Ireland, is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

E-mail: paula@fitzsimons-consulting.com

 

COLM O’GORMAN is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Dublin City University Business School. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth in new firms and in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically he has studied the growth strategies of SMEs, the nature of managerial work in high growth SMEs, mission statements in SMEs, and internationalisation processes in International New Ventures, and in SMEs. His research has explored the emergence of high-tech firms in the context of cluster dynamics, including a study of the factors that led to the rapid emergence of the software industry in Ireland during the 1990s.

Colm has published in international peer-reviewed journals such as Academy of Management Review, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, European Planning Studies, Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of World Business, International Marketing Review, Organisational Dynamics, R&D Management, Small Business Economics, and Venture Capital. He has completed several European Union funded research projects. He has co-authored eight teaching cases studies on entrepreneurship published by the European Case Clearing House, including several award winning cases.

E-mail: colm.ogorman@dcu.ie