Open Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Impetus of Growth and Competitive Advantages

Gadaf Rexhepi is an Associate Professor at South East European University, Republic of North Macedonia, where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the field of Management. His research interests include innovation, strategy, entrepreneurship, CSR and sustainability. He has authored or co-authored over fifty research articles in various peer-reviewed journals, as well as ten textbooks. He serves as consultant of the rector for promotion and development of the university.

Robert D. Hisrich is the Bridgestone Chair of International Marketing and Associate Dean of Graduate and International Programs at the College of Business Administration, Kent State University. Prof. Hisrich’s research pursuits are focused on entrepreneurship and venture creation: entrepreneurial ethics, corporate entrepreneurship, female and minority entrepreneurs, venture financing, and global venture creation. He teaches courses and seminars in these areas, as well as in marketing management, and product planning and development. Prof. Hisrich serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals in entrepreneurial scholarship, is on several boards of directors, and is the author or co-author of over 300 research articles published in journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Professor Hisrich has also authored or co-authored more than 40 books.

Veland Ramadani is an Associate Professor at South East European University, Republic of North Macedonia. His research interests include entrepreneurship, small business management, family businesses and venture capital investments. He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred research articles and twenty-four books, including Effective EntrepreneurialManagement (2018); Entrepreneurship andManagement in an Islamic Context (2017); Female Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies: Trends and Challenges (2015); and Entrepreneurship in the Balkans: Diversity, Support and Prospects (2013). Dr. Ramadani is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (IJESB). He received the Award for Excellence 2015 – Outstanding Reviewer from Emerald Group Publishing, and in 2016 the Award for Best Paper from the Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy. Dr. Ramadani was engaged by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia as a member of the Experts’ Committee to analyze the economic, technological and juridical conditions for establishing techno parks, and as a trainer by the Ministry of Economy in North Macedonia. In 2017, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia appointed him as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion.