美国社会与文化(全套　英文版）.doc

Preface The field of entrepreneurship is growing at an incredible rate, not only in the United States but across the world as well. People of all ages, backgrounds, and stations of life are launching businesses of their own and, in the process, are reshaping the global economy. As the twenty-first century dawns, small companies are discovering that the natural competitive advantages resulting from their size—speed, flexibility, sensitivity to customers needs, creativity, spirit of innovation, and many others—enable them to compete successfully with companies many times their size and with budgets to match. As large companies struggle to survive wrenching changes in competitive forces by downsizing, mergers, and restructuring, the unseen army of small businesses continues to flourish and to carry the economy on its back. Entrepreneurs willing to assume the risks of the market to gain its rewards are the heart of capitalism. We need look no further than the economies of those nations that are throwing off decades of control and central planning in favor of capitalism to see where the process begins. In every case, it is the entrepreneurs creating small companies that lead those nations out of the jungles of economic oppression to higher standards of living and hope for the future. Even in countries that stubbornly cling to the fragments of communism, entrepreneurs survive. They operate businesses in underground economies, often producing as much or more value than the official economy does. In the United States, we can be thankful that the small business sector is strong and thriving. Small companies deliver the goods and services we use every day, provide jobs and training for millions of workers, and lead the way in creating the products and services that will make our lives easier and more enjoyable in the future. Small businesses were responsible for introducing to the world the elevator, the airplane, FM radio, the zipper, the personal computer, and a host of oth