Understanding U.K. ethnic minority entrepreneurship from an enterprise culture perspective

Abstract

ObjectivesThis paper is aimed at examining the enterprise culture within different ethnic groups (i.e., the enterprise subcultures) in the United Kingdom. The research aims to investigate the interplay between individuals and their institutional context (especially social and cultural context) and how the different institutional contexts then shape the different enterprise cultures, leading to differentiated ethnic business characteristics and consequently different levels of entrepreneurial activity in different ethnic communities.Prior workUnequivocal evidence shows that certain ethnic groups display higher levels of entrepreneurial activity than their White counterparts. Despite the large amount of work that has been dedicated to ethnic minority entrepreneurship, there is a lack of coherent conceptual and analytical framework that addresses the links between different factors contributing to ethnic minority entrepreneurship. This paper takes forward the available empirical evidence and theoretical constructs into a conceptual and methodological framework to aid understanding of ethnic minority entrepreneurship.ApproachA process‐oriented research framework to investigate the enterprise culture within different ethnic groups (i.e., the enterprise subcultures) is proposed rather than one oriented primarily towards the differentiation of characteristics.ResultsA large‐scale national survey in the United Kingdom is adopted. The findings of the quantitative fieldwork will form the central part of this paper.ImplicationsUnderstanding how and why certain ethnic groups are more entrepreneurial may assist the different parties in different ways. First, learning from the more entrepreneurial subcultures may contribute to the development and implementation of more effective public policies and efficient service delivery programmes. Second, advancing understanding of ethnic communities helps to support more informed decisions by policymakers and local support agencies through improved anticipation and greater understanding of responses. Third, it helps entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs to have a better understanding of the nature of their perceived barriers and constraints by demonstrating potential solutions successfully employed by other subcultures.ValueThe conceptual and methodological development of this study has the potential to build the link between relevant parties and pave the way forward for ethnic entrepreneurship research.