Entrepreneurs Deal Research Articles

Rural Micro-Entrepreneurs' Experiences Coping with the Pandemic in Nigeria

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a substantial impact on Nigeria's micro, small, and medium-sized companies (MSMEs), disrupting economic activities. The combination of limited travel, the necessity to maintain physical distance, and varying degrees of community lockdown and quarantine has resulted in economic stagnation for these firms. This qualitative study looked at how rural entrepreneurs deal with the epidemic while going about their everyday business. Data demonstrate that rural entrepreneurs are anxious about their health and financial situation. Spirituality and inventive marketing methods were used to ameliorate the pandemic's negative consequences. Rural entrepreneurs resorted to survival attempts despite the government's cash aid and food relief packages. This paper improves government interventions by suggesting new remedies and laws. It also seeks to increase access to government relief programmes for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those that are informal and unregistered. The report also recommends the implementation of information technology (IT) solutions.

Coaching entrepreneurs towards growth: an experimental design study of coaching effectiveness for business leaders’ psychological capabilities

ABSTRACT Coaching has a well-established history over the past two decades as a development tool and it can help entrepreneurs deal with the psychological challenges of building a venture. But there is a lack of understanding how coaching can support entrepreneurs on their journey. This study uses a coaching psychology framework to investigate the effectiveness of evidence-based (EB) coaching for entrepreneurs. The aim of this study was to understand how coaches can support cognition change, wellbeing, and accelerated performance improvement of entrepreneurs. The study used a within participant design, and data were collected using a pre and post coaching survey. The study involved n = 19 participants who were early-stage entrepreneurs. Pre and post surveys were assessed using paired sample t-tests. For cognitions, the results indicate higher levels in solution-focused thinking, hope sub-scales agency thinking and goal-orientation. No changes were found for sub-scales pathways thinking and self-efficacy. For Wellbeing, the findings show psychological wellbeing increased with sub-scales autonomy, self-acceptance, personal growth and purpose in life while relationship with others and environment mastery did not change. Negative emotions reduced while positive emotions did not change. For performance, the results show that participants progressed significantly towards attaining their coaching goals.

Entrepreneurs with Disability: A Comprehensive Study in the Context of Uncertainty

The purpose of this research is to explore how disabled social entrepreneurs deal with uncertainty, the role of technology in entrepreneurial activities, and gendered implications on social entrepreneurship with uncertainty. The data are from understanding different secondary research that already exists on social entrepreneurship and disability, and the use of technology for the disabled. The discourse on social entrepreneurship and uncertainty, a mixed method of narrative and thematic analysis was chosen. The qualitative data have been analysed from peer-reviewed research papers, newspaper articles, journals and quantitative data from the global UN websites, and government. Entrepreneurs with disabilities (EwDs) have links to higher resilience in uncertainties and competencies that attribute to the development of their social enterprise. Technology also acts as a catalyst for EwDs in the face of uncertainty. An overarching limitation that emerged is the lack of data, and literature available on the implication of uncertainty in the context of disabled entrepreneurs. Information on disabled women is also limited. A social implication of this article is the empowerment of EwDs. They are equipped with entrepreneurial skills despite their disabilities. Besides, advocacy of technology can serve as a boon for the disabled community in the face of uncertainty. This research paper has been written using authentic data emerging from secondary research.

Innovation under uncertainty: who holds the upper hand? An empirical study of Armenian SMEs

Purpose Innovation is considered as an important tool to succeed and survive in periods of great uncertainty such as COVID-19 crisis. This paper aims to empirically examine the propensity to engage in product, process and organizational innovation under uncertainty among small and medium enterprises and how that propensity varies depending on the gender of the manager. Design/methodology/approach Using the results of 213 responses by managers of Armenian small and medium enterprises in the scope of GLOBE-2020 survey, the authors investigate the role of manager’s gender in encouraging innovative attitude under uncertainty. To measure the relationship between uncertainty and innovation (product, process and organizational), Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated between managers’ perception about the uncertainty and their perceptions of innovation within their companies compared to the players in the external environment. In addition, a linear regression was run between the three innovation types and uncertainty. Findings The results of our analysis confirmed the positive relationship between uncertainty and innovation. Moreover, our results indicate that male managers have a higher tendency to undertake innovation under external turbulence. Originality/value This study fills the gap in the literature by studying the relationship between uncertainty and innovation, focusing on SMEs during adversarial times, which in contrast to bigger companies are limited in terms of their resources and, hence, capacity to innovate. The paper examines the gender dimension as an internal factor affecting innovation under uncertainty in an under-researched country context of Armenia, where female entrepreneurs deal with unique challenges to engage in innovative activities.

Handling the Beast: How Entrepreneurs Deal with Their Obsessive Passion

Handling the Beast: How Entrepreneurs Deal with Their Obsessive Passion

Concepts as Mirrors and Torches: Rigor and Relevance as Scholarly Performativity

This article aims to further the rigor and relevance discussion in entrepreneurship studies. It argues that tensions arise due to an adherence to a rigor-as-correspondence perspective, which can be addressed through the advancement of a rigor-as-performativity perspective. Entrepreneurship concepts are tools used to define, represent, and explain entrepreneurial experience, yet how these tools hook onto the world is a question of performance and application rather than unambiguous correspondence. We advocate for a view of rigor and relevance that appreciates the torch-like features of concepts—how they help entrepreneurs deal with the world so that they may fulfil their intentions—whilst retaining an understanding that the future is unknowable and change a constant.

Camouflaging and Leveraging Race: How Entrepreneurs Deal with Racial Issues

Camouflaging and Leveraging Race: How Entrepreneurs Deal with Racial Issues

Stress[ed] out, leisure in: The role of leisure crafting in facilitating entrepreneurs’ work stressor— creativity relationship

Although entrepreneurs' work tends to be highly stressful, it is unclear how specific work stressors influence entrepreneurs' work outcomes. Drawing on the challenge-hindrance stressor framework (CHSF), we examine how both challenge and hindrance stressors influence entrepreneurs' creativity. Additionally, to investigate a more complete view of the entrepreneurial stress process, we integrate the CHSF with theory on leisure crafting to examine how proactively structuring one's leisure might help entrepreneurs deal with stress and maintain creativity. Results from a time-lagged study of 258 entrepreneurs showed that challenge stressors were positively and directly related to entrepreneurs' creativity, whereas hindrance stressors were not. Hindrance stressors increased engagement in leisure crafting, which enhanced creativity, highlighting a positive indirect effect of hindrance stressors on entrepreneurs' creativity. These findings provide generative insights into the nature of stressors and the micro-foundational mechanisms of stress and leisure within entrepreneurship.

How would foreign entrepreneurs deal with pressures for corruption? A micro-foundational approach

Is corruption good or bad for entrepreneurship? Prior research has presented mixed results when exploring this question. This article takes a micro-foundational approach by focussing on how foreign entrepreneurs cognitively deal with corruption in the host environment. We argue that the entrepreneur’s motivational antecedent to engaging in corruption, or corruption propensity, represents a cognitive belief in the legitimacy and effectiveness of corruption. We find that higher corruption propensity leads to lower firm growth. In addition, the effects of corruption propensity are conditioned by the corruption difference between home and host countries. Finally, we discuss implications for research, practice and public policy.

Generative Emergence: Exploring the Dynamics of Innovation and Change in High‐Potential Start‐Up Ventures

AbstractStart‐up and early growth of new ventures is a complex process, filled with challenges and learning amidst continuous dynamic change. Understanding these dynamics is a critical goal for entrepreneurs and has been researched by entrepreneurship scholars using complexity sciences. Building on this literature, we explore the ‘dynamics of emergent change’ by interviewing 20 founders/CEOs of young, high‐potential ventures in the Republic of Ireland to generate theory on how these dynamics are experienced throughout the start‐up journey. Our findings suggest a set of process dynamics that are commonly experienced as instability, tension, non‐linear change, unpredictability and surprise, as well as the outcome dynamics of emergent structures, ongoing creation of new knowledge and enhanced capabilities. These are experienced across every aspect of entrepreneurship, from within the specific innovation, through marketing, operations and finance. These findings contribute towards our understanding of how the entrepreneurs deal with these dynamics. Given the current success of their venture, we take their suggestions as an outline for ‘generative leadership’ – behavioural and strategic tools for enhanced venture growth and development.

EFFECTUATION AND CAUSATION DECISION MAKING LOGICS OF MANAGING UNCERTAINTY AND COMPETITIVENESS BY NIGERIAN RETAIL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS

Uncertainty is a major dimension of business that alters business plans and courses of actions. Hence, this study primarily examined how entrepreneurs deal with uncertainty using both effectual and causal logics. The study design was cross-sectional while multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data. These data were analysed using bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression techniques of SPSS version 23. The results of the correlation analysis showed that causation and three of the four sub-dimensions of effectuation had significant relation with competitiveness while pre-commitment did not. The analysis further showed that Nigerian retail entrepreneurs tended more towards causation and effectuation. The results from the hierarchical regression revealed that causation made the most unique impact on competitiveness and was closely followed by experimentation and flexibility. However, affordable loss and pre-commitment did not. This study contributed to knowledge by empirically showing that entrepreneurs will not always be more effectual oriented in all cases. It also confirmed that causation and effectuation should be seen as complementary and not exclusive strategies.

Role of Contemporary Management Accounting Practices in Reducing Customer Uncertainty in Entrepreneurial Startup Firms

Many failures of new ventures are an outcome of the inability of the entrepreneurs to deal with uncertainties. Uncertainties impact almost all different stages of the entrepreneurial process, and the success or failure of firms depends upon how entrepreneurs deal with uncertainties before acting on an opportunity. Uncertainties in early-stage entrepreneurship can include customer, competitor, supplier, technological and resource aspects. An entrepreneurial firm must deliver value along the dimensions that matter most to its customers. Thus, Entrepreneurial firms should focus their scarce resources on the dimensions of value that most matter to customers. Creation of value for customers is a critical task for entrepreneurs, particularly when developing new products and services or starting new businesses. In addition, successful entrepreneurs understand the needs of their customers. Understanding the needs and wants of the targeted customer will help businesses to innovate and grow. On the other hand, Ignoring customer needs and not seeking their feedback can prove to be fatal mistake for most startups. Many changes in the contemporary business environment have caused significant changes in management accounting. One of the most important trends in management accounting is greater focus on customer (customer orientation). Consequently, a hallmark of this era is the introduction of a diverse set of new managerial accounting practices that focus primarily on promoting value for customers. These practices can help in reducing customer uncertainty in entrepreneurial startups. This research focus on how to use current management accounting practices to help in reducing customer- related uncertainty in startup entrepreneurship. In attempting to identify the role of current management accounting practices in reducing customer-related uncertainty in startup entrepreneurship, the researcher will use the constructive approach.

The ebb and flow of identity: How sustainable entrepreneurs deal with their hybridity

The identity of sustainable entrepreneurs progresses and is primed by certain identity dimensions, including society, community, or competition as their frames of references, their social motivation, and their self-evaluation. Because sustainable entrepreneurs aim to achieve the goals of generating profit and create social and/or ecological value at the same time, they experience two types of tensions: one that concerns social and ecological and the other with an extension of economic aspects. To leverage these, we find identity shifts dependent on the tension sustainable entrepreneurs’ experience, activating a certain combination of identity dimension. Building on 29 case studies with European sustainable entrepreneurs, the study investigates the dynamic role of entrepreneurial identity, thereby informing about fluid hybrid identity conflict management strategies. This adds to theory on entrepreneurial identity that has widely found multiple, yet coherent entrepreneurial identities and conflict management strategies.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: How do academic entrepreneurs deal with identity conflict?

Academic entrepreneurs are perpetually faced with an identity conflict. Drawing on concepts from social identity theory, we investigate the tension of duality between the academic identity and the entrepreneur identity. We contend that an indirect nonlinear relationship exists between social identity continuity and academic entrepreneurship performance through identity conflict, and that another indirect nonlinear relationship exists between experiences of multiple identities and academic entrepreneurship performance through identity conflict. We conducted an empirical survey of 246 academic entrepreneurs in China and found that our hypotheses were largely supported. Theoretically, our study offers new insights into the paradox of academic entrepreneurs and hybrid founder identities. Additionally, it also enriches the extant literature on identity conflict. Practically, our research not only offers helpful suggestions for academic entrepreneurs, but also has important implications for organizations supporting academic entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs with multiple identities.

Unexpected Events, Opportunity Images, and Entrepreneurs’ Responses to the Unanticipated

Entrepreneurs are often confronted with unexpected events. Yet we know very little about the ways in which unexpected events manifest in entrepreneurial efforts. Entrepreneurship and management theory have traditionally viewed the process of individuals processing novel incoming information through the lens of “normalization”, meaning one systematically analyzes data, looks for commonalities, identifies trends and then takes isomorphic action. We argue that an explanation for how entrepreneurs deal with unexpected events does not fit this pattern and requires a different theoretical lens, one we coin “exceptionalization”. We theoretically elaborate exceptionalization as a process of embracing schema-incongruent information, inductively updating opportunity images, and acting in one of four ways: abandoning, self-deception, routinization, or improvisation. This new theory identifies entrepreneurs’ perceptions and considerations of unexpected events as an influential, yet previously overlooked lever in the genesis and pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavors.

Entrepreneurial Clustering and the Development of Positive Psychological Capital

In this paper, I explore the core idea that geographical clustering may provide entrepreneurs with psychological benefits - a type of benefit that is not yet recognized in the literature on clusters. Specifically, I develop a theoretical model along with testable propositions where I argue that entrepreneurial clusters have the potential to develop into ‘communities’ which provide clustered entrepreneurs with varying degrees of psychological sense of community. A strong psychological sense of community in turn helps entrepreneurs develop positive psychological capital through processes of social comparison, social influence, perceived social support, increased participation inside the cluster community, and emotional sustenance. Higher levels of positive psychological capital helps entrepreneurs deal with the psychological pressures associated with starting and managing a small business and thereby leads to improved venture performance, albeit up to a threshold level of psychological capital after which higher levels of psychological capital may hurt venture performance. Contributions to the literatures on clusters, entrepreneurship, and psychological capital are discussed.

When entrepreneurs become leaders: how entrepreneurs deal with people management

When entrepreneurs become leaders: how entrepreneurs deal with people management

When Entrepreneurs Become Leaders: How Entrepreneurs Deal with People Management

When entrepreneurs start hiring employees, new role demands arise and several tasks add on their previous responsibility. In new ventures, entrepreneurs themselves usually have to deal with human resources management issues and also fulfil the leadership role for all employees. To shed light on the variety of entrepreneurs' people management tasks, this paper shows how findings from literatures on human resources management and leadership can be transferred to the entrepreneurial context. I draw on previous theoretical knowledge and empirical findings to describe in what way the entrepreneurial context shapes entrepreneurs' people management, and in what way characteristics of entrepreneurs shape how they deal with people management issues. Based on this elaboration, I suggest a framework that helps bridging the literatures and opens up avenues for future research.

Focus! A Theory of Entrepreneurial Attention in Emerging Economies.

The paper proposes a theoretical model that helps to determine how entrepreneurs deal with their limited attention in emerging economies. We explore how specific situations and contextual structure...

Female and Male Opportunity Effectuation and Bricolage in a Resource-Constrained Environment

Debate surrounds whether opportunities are effectuation made or causation found when entrepreneurs deal with a future that is unknown and unknowable. Issues relating to gender and prior business ow...