Michael Schaper (BA, MComm, PhD) is an adjunct professorat Curtin Business School, Curtin University of Technology, WesternAustralia, and is also deputy chairman (responsible for smallbusiness issues) of the Australian Competition and ConsumerCommission. Michael was previously dean of Murdoch Business School,head of the School of Business at Bond University, and held thefoundation professorial chair in Entrepreneurship and SmallBusiness at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He hasextensive experience in the area of small business through hisprevious roles, which have included appointments as Small BusinessCommissioner for the Australian Capital Territory, and as Presidentof the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and NewZealand. Before his academic career, Michael worked for several years as aprofessional small business adviser in Australia. In addition, heran his own business and was involved in numerous other start-upprojects. He holds a PhD and a Master of Commerce degree fromCurtin University of Technology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts fromthe University of Western Australia. Michael is the author orco-author of ten books, all in the field of business management,and numerous journal articles, newspaper columns and scholarlyresearch papers. Thierry Volery is a professor of Entrepreneurship and theDirector of the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship and SmallBusiness at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland. FromSeptember 1999 until 2002, he was a professor of Entrepreneurshipat EM Lyon Business School, France. He was previously a seniorlecturer in Entrepreneurship and International Business at CurtinUniversity of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. Thierry has been a visiting professor at the China EuropeInternational Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai and at theUniversity of Western Australia Business School. He has served onseveral editorial boards, including the Journal of Small BusinessManagement, the International Small Business Journal, the Journalof Enterprising Culture and the International Journal ofEducational Management. He holds a doctorate in business economicsand social sciences from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.His research interests include entrepreneurs behaviours andcompetencies, entrepreneurship education and training, andinnovation in small firms. Paull Weber is a senior lecturer in Entrepreneurship andSmall Business at Curtin University in Western Australia. He hailsfrom a banking background and began his academic career aftercompleting a research Masters in marketing in 2003 and then a PhDin entrepreneurship in 2007. He has taught management and marketingcourses in small business management, entrepreneurship, creativityand innovation, marketing communications and marketing principles.His research activities concentrate in the areas of matureentrepreneurship, lifestyle entrepreneurship, small businesssuccess metrics, growth perceptions and motives, ethics in smallbusiness and tourism. Paull has contributed several book chapters, journal articles andcase studies in the disciplines of entrepreneurship and tourism. Heis also the deputy chair of Business Foundations, a highlysuccessful and well-respected business incubator, advisory andtraining organisation that has assisted many thousands of smallbusiness owners over a 20-year period. Brian Gibson has over 30 years experience inuniversities, including positions as lecturer and senior lecturerat the University of Newcastle, Director of the Institute ofIndustrial Economics at the University of Newcastle, associateprofessor in Accounting at Murdoch University, and professor inAccounting at the University of New England. In addition to hiscurrent part-time roles in curriculum development and research withTOP Education, he is currently a conjoint professor in theNewcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle andDirector of International Accounting at Rangsit University inThailand. Prof. Gibson has served on several accrediting committeesincluding the Australian Society of CPAs National Accreditation SubCommittee and has recently been appointed to the TEQSA register ofexperts in accounting and business. He is also a past President anda Wilford White Fellow of the International Council for SmallBusiness (ICSB) and the immediate past President of the SmallEnterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ). Hisprimary research achievements are in the area of the management(especially financial management, accounting and governance) ofsmall enterprises (privately-held firms). Research outcomes include28 refereed journal publications, 61 refereed conferencepresentations, 42 other publications (including papers in books)and presentations, and involvement in research projects withfunding of $225 000. He is currently consulting editor of SmallEnterprise Research (the journal of SEAANZ) and an editorial boardmember on several other international journals.