Contains papers originally presented at the 25th International Confe rence on Business History, held in Japan, Jan. 1998.

Includes bibliographic references and index.

Machine generated contents note: PART I. ENTREPRENEURS AND THE CREAT ION OF NEW BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIES -- 1. The Beginnings of the Radio Communications Industry -- PASCAL GRISET -- 2. German Department Store Chains from the 1920s to the 1980s -- HEIDRUN HOMBURG -- 3. The Spanish Motor Industry, 1930-1975 -- ALBERT CARRERAS and SALVADOR ESTAPt-TRIAY -- 4. Nintendo's Home Video Game Business -- HIROYUKI YOSHIDA -- 5. Th e Software Business: Lessons from Bill Gates and Microsoft -- MICHAEL A . CUSUMANO -- PART II. INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS FACILIT ATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION -- 6. Venture Capital and the Loc al Area Networking Industry -- URS VON BURG and MARTIN KENNEY -- 7. The Hive-Off Mechanism of Larger Japanese Companies -- JURO HASHIMOTO -- 8 . The Environment-Creating Mechanism of a Firm: Sony and Samsung -- DON G-SUNG CHO -- PART III. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PERIODS OF TRANSITION -- 9. R & D in British Industry -- SALLY M. HORROCKS -- 10. Transformational Entrepreneurship at NEC -- SEIICHIRO YONEKURA -- 11. Leadership Succes sion in British Business in the 1950s -- MARY B. ROSE.