Entrepreneurs In Australia Research Articles

Determinants of Middle Eastern immigrants’ entrepreneurial success in Australia

This paper presents findings on Middle Eastern immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia. The extent to which perceived discrimination and acculturation influence their social and psychological capital, and the effects of social and psychological capital on their firm performance, are explored. We found that such immigrants, who are highly acculturated to the mainstream culture, not only tend to have many social interactions outside their community but also possess strong psychological capital. Although perceived discrimination has been associated with low social involvement outside an immigrant community, we found that perceived discrimination does not exert a statistically significant effect on psychological capital. Importantly, both social and psychological capital are found to exert positive effects on firm performance. The findings have implications for enhancing the capacity of policy makers to provide high impact to immigrant entrepreneurs. Specific interventions are suggested to assist such entrepreneurs to leverage their social and psychological capital.

Hybrid Entrepreneurs as the Neoteric Driver of Skill Variety and Economic Prosperity

Nearly a quarter of all global start-ups are founded by hybrid entrepreneurs, that is, individuals that engage in self-employment activity while simultaneously holding a primary job in wage or remuneration work. This study is the first of its kind to examine hybrid entrepreneurship in Australia using five pragmatic and embedded hybrid entrepreneur mini case studies. Aligning with human capital and skill variety theory, we adopted an interpretivist philosophical paradigm of emergent enquiry action and exploratory research. The paper explores characteristics and antecedents in the forms of the benefits and challenges associated with this increasingly prevalent form of entrepreneurship, including contextual and theoretical foundations. We provide policy and pragmatic research recommendations to enhance the development of this form of employment not only as a steppingstone to full-time self-employment but also as a driver of economic and social benefit to global societies. Furthermore, we provide inferences for future scientific studies within this domain.

Building bridges: using existing law to support the cultural self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and communities

ABSTRACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a long and rich history of enterprise that dates to long before European contact. Today, through resilience and ingenuity, Indigenous businesses are one of the fastest growing sectors of the Australian economy and one of the most rapidly expanding providers of employment. Indigenous individuals are achieving these results in spite of the ways that the laws imposed through colonisation placed, and continued to place, First Nations peoples at a profound disadvantage in maintaining economic self-determination. Although law reform in this area is essential, progress is slow and there is often a perception that little can be done by individuals – especially non-Indigenous legal practitioners and businesspeople – until the reform takes place. There are, however, more immediately available options. Using examples, this article advocates for more systematic research into the capacity of existing laws and commercial legal tools to better strengthen First Nations entrepreneurship in Australia while simultaneously supporting Indigenous businesspeople to achieve success not only economically but also in ways that are culturally relevant to themselves and their communities. Importantly, these structures, processes and mechanisms comprise tools to be deployed by non-Indigenous as well as First Nations legal practitioners and businesspeople.

Ethnic enclaves in immigrant entrepreneurship: Korean immigrant entrepreneurship in Australia

ABSTRACT Despite the fact that Korean immigrants show a higher tendency to become entrepreneurs, we know little about contexts, consequences, and implications of such facts due to the absence of academic research. Hence, this study aimed to learn about Korean immigrant entrepreneurship in Australia and to identify gaps in knowledge on the causes, processes, and impacts of Korean immigrant entrepreneurship on Australian society and communities. It was found that the motivations and challenges encountered by the Korean entrepreneurs in Australia are consistent with previous studies on immigrant entrepreneurship. There was clear evidence of enclaves formed by Korean immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Twenty years of longitudinal data show that the survival ratio of Korean immigrant entrepreneurship is higher than those of mainstream businesses. However, the lack of direct governmental supports or policies hinders their growth potential and further contributions to the wider Australian society and communities.

How Do Immigrant Family Businesses Achieve Global Expansion? An Embeddedness Perspective

Extant literature on immigrant family businesses (IFBs) refers to the vital role of embeddedness in their success. Yet, little is known about how embeddedness evolves from family to global and how it helps IFBs to establish themselves in a host country, survive the related challenges, and thrive in the international market. By drawing on the lived experience of 25 highly successful family business entrepreneurs in Australia, we develop an integrated process model and discover a four-phase chronology of IFBs’ success toward global expansion: arriving, establishing, expanding, and thriving. Further, this model links these transitory phases to the IFBs’ embeddedness that evolves from family to local, host-country, and global. Our findings suggest that while the strength of family embeddedness is critical over time, its scope is limited as the IFBs form new, more extensive networks toward the global market. IFBs act as boundary spanners, blending local and international resources to create value. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are shared in the concluding section. Keywords: Immigrant family business; embeddedness; process model; global strategy

Entrepreneurship and self-employment for mature-aged people

Not only do Australian mature-aged entrepreneurs contribute $11.9 billion per annum to the Australian economy in over 379,000 businesses, they launch approximately 14,000 new businesses each year and actively contribute to fiscal, social, health, and active ageing outcomes in their communities. Thirty-four per cent of all young businesses in Australia are now led by mature-aged entrepreneurs, identifying mature-aged entrepreneurship as the fastest growing sector of entrepreneurship. This study is the first of its kind to examine mature-aged entrepreneurship in Australia using five pragmatic and embedded case-study examples. Aligning to Cartensen's sociomotional selection theory, we adopted an interpretivist philosphical framework of emergent enquiry action research. The paper includes benefits and challenges associated with mature-aged entrepreneurship, including contextual and theoretical foundations. We provide policy and research recommendations to enhance the development of a dedicated entrepreneurial ecosystem for mature-aged people.

Do manufacturing entrepreneurs in Australia have (or develop) a productivity advantage?

Young firms are integral to productivity enhancing resources reallocation. However, manufacturing entrepreneurs in Australia are quite unproductive upon entry. Yet, the productivity of those that survive makes a quantum leap in one year and converges to that of the mature firms. Those entrepreneurs that grow substantially by age three, termed as transformative, have a major productivity advantage. Interesting productivity dynamics are also afoot for entrepreneurs located within clusters of firms and patents that lead to productivity advantages. These firms are the ones contributing the most to resources reallocation. The findings shed light on a multitude of externalities affecting the productivity of young firms and have implications for the related government policies.

Immigrant entrepreneurs and their cross-cultural capabilities: A study of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of immigrant entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural capabilities for international business. Based on 30 interviews with Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia, we found that cross-cultural capabilities include the capability of psychological adaptation (emotion management and positive mindset) and socio-cultural adaptation (cultural learning, language skills, and bicultural flexibility). A combination of capabilities is necessary for immigrant entrepreneurs to deal with acculturative stress and adapt to the new culture in international business context. Moreover, by leveraging bicultural flexibility, immigrant entrepreneurs create competitive advantage in international markets. We interpret this evidence by using progressive entrepreneurial activity focusing on theory development in the immigrant entrepreneurship context. This study contributes to immigrant entrepreneurship literature by identifying the need to employ a cross-capability lens with regard to the psychological adaptation and socio-cultural adaptation for cross-border business success.

The multiple institutional constraints facing new Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

Drawing on insights from the institutional entrepreneurship literature about changes that occur under institutional constraints, in‐depth interviews with 36 new Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs (NCIEs) were conducted in Australia. The findings suggest that NCIEs are not only constrained but also enabled to make changes by the regulatory, normative, and cultural‐cognitive forces across Australia and China, thus leading to different practices and a particular distributional pattern in business activities. This feature distinguishes NCIEs from other segments of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs. This study provides an explanation for the changing landscape of business activities among NCIEs and also identifies an alternative avenue for changes under institutional constraints. Immigrant entrepreneurs are suggested to not only draw competitive advantages from their cultural origins and ethnic resources but also engage in both the mainstream and international markets. An inclusive and supportive regulatory framework is suggested as a way to facilitate the business growth of immigrant entrepreneurs and revitalize local economies.

Entrepreneurship Dynamics in Australia: Lessons from Micro‐data

Using a large firm‐level dataset covering the years 2002–2015, I explore the dynamics of entrepreneurship in Australia and their evolution over time. Put briefly, the Australian entrepreneurial landscape has become less dynamic and more hazardous over the observed period. With time passing, relatively fewer entrepreneurs are entering the market, and those that enter are more likely to exit than their counterparts that entered in earlier years. In particular, there is a seemingly permanent increase in exit probability followed by a spike after the global financial crisis. Despite fewer firms entering, the share of young firms from job creation has been steadily high. I finish by offering a few thoughts to help understand these changes.

Break-out strategies of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese immigrant businesses in Australia were able to shift from low return start-up businesses and move to more competitive business models targeting mainstream clientele. The research aims to identify the factors enabling a break-out strategy for these entrepreneurs and whether a horizontal or vertical break-out was achieved.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research method with in-depth interviews is employed. Interviews were conducted with 55 Chinese immigrant business owners in Sydney and Canberra.FindingsThe analysis found that a break-out strategy depended on a range of business activities, including innovation, marketing, networking and personnel strategies. Importantly, the current research found that these resources have varying degrees of importance in the different stages of the transition to the new business model. Accumulating sufficient financial capital was a fundamental enabler for a break-out strategy, followed by the capacity to learn and benefit from the experience of social networks.Research limitations/implicationsThe current research highlights the importance of financial capital and capacity to benefit from social networks as fundamental factors in enabling a break-out strategy. The benefit of the qualitative approach in obtaining rich data needs to be offset by potential limitations on generalisability. Future research could incorporate comparison between different size businesses as well as analysing factors underpinning a failure to successfully implement a break-out.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that business support groups and policymakers could review access to financial capital for entrepreneurs seeking break-outs, consider improving opportunities for developing capacity to utilise heterogeneous social networks, and consider pathways for improving skills acquisition amongst immigrant entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the research literature on break-out strategies used by immigrant entrepreneurs by analysing, in detail, the transition steps undertaken by ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in the shift to more competitive business models.

Entrepreneurial Motivations and Capabilities of Migrant Entrepreneurs in Australia

AbstractThis article presents findings on immigrant entrepreneurship in Australia. The relationship between the entrepreneurial start‐up motivation, co‐ethnic preferences and entrepreneurial capabilities of established immigrant businesses are explored. We analyse data collected with a self‐administered survey questionnaire from 157 immigrant entrepreneurs in Melbourne's suburbs. Our findings show that immigrant entrepreneurs who report a high level of individual achievement as their start‐up motivation also report high levels of entrepreneurial capabilities in terms of opportunity recognition, managerial innovativeness and proactiveness. Immigrant entrepreneurs who are highly influenced by co‐ethnic preferences on staff employment and customer targeting report higher opportunity recognition than those who have a co‐ethnic preference on suppliers. We provide important insights and explanations for these findings and their implications for Australian immigrant entrepreneurs and policymakers.

The perceptions of Australian senior entrepreneurs on the drivers of their entrepreneurial activity

PurposeWhy is self-employment an attractive option for certain seniors and what drives seniors into business start-ups? In this study, the motivations and preferences of senior entrepreneurs in Australia, to become self-employed, by means of business start-ups, are explored. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical basis for policy implications.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods study is conducted. Members of the National Senior’s Association in Australia were interviewed and surveyed. The semi-structured interviews identified the key factors influencing senior entrepreneurs in relation to self-employment and entrepreneurial choices at a later career stage. The survey collected information on intentionality, motivation, skills, opportunities, success, satisfaction, participation, barriers, benefits, education and training, and perceptions of policy support for senior entrepreneurs.FindingsRespondents gave an account of the prevalence of pull factors motivating their choice of an entrepreneurial career. Multivariate statistical analysis of survey responses showed that senior entrepreneurs are more driven by opportunity than necessity and are primarily internally motivated.Research limitations/implicationsResults of this study suggest a weak link between motivation by others and the act of start-up, but this may also imply that those seniors who are more likely to become entrepreneurs are more likely to ignore the impulses from their social context. This requires further investigation to ensure a robust identification of drivers and an elimination of contextual effects. Further research is suggested to compose a relevant model structure in different contexts and a representative sample to confirm the model outcomes.Originality/valueThis is the first mixed methods study of the antecedents of senior entrepreneurs’ start-up intentions in Australia. The study also uses entrepreneurial activity as opposed to intention as its dependent variable, which allows for a more accurate evaluation of antecedents to the senior entrepreneurship phenomenon.

Do Manufacturing Entrepreneurs in Australia Have (or Develop) a Productivity Advantage?

Young firms are integral to productivity enhancing resources reallocation. However, they need to be more productive than the average firm to play that part. In Australia, manufacturing entrepreneurs are quite unproductive upon entry. Yet, the productivity of those that survive makes a quantum leap in one year and starts to converge to that of the mature firms. Those entrepreneurs that grow substantially by age three, termed as transformative, have a major productivity advantage. Interesting productivity dynamics are also afoot for entrepreneurs located within clusters of firms and patents that lead to productivity advantages. The findings shed light on a multitude of externalities affecting the productivity of young firms and have implications for the related government policies.

Entrepreneurship Dynamics in Australia: Lessons from Micro-Data

Using a large firm-level dataset covering years 2002 to 2015, I explore the dynamics of entrepreneurship in Australia and their evolution over time. The short answer is that the Australian entrepreneurial landscape has become less dynamic and more hazardous over the observed period. With time passing, relatively fewer entrepreneurs are entering the market, and those that enter are more likely to exit than their counterparts that entered in earlier years. In particular, there is a seemingly permanent increase in exit rate starting from the cohort of 2005 entries, followed by a temporary spike after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Despite fewer firms entering, the share of young firms from job creation has been steadily high. I finish by offering a few thoughts to help understand these changes.

Shifts in Intergenerational Mobility of Indian Immigrant Entrepreneurs

AbstractThe objective of this article is to examine the shift in the intergenerational mobility of Indian immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Based on a qualitative methodology, this article reports on the differences in the entrepreneurial attitudes of push and pull and the aptitudes of social and human capital between pre 2000 and post 2000 immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that the post 2000 Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia are mostly pull motivated, have higher qualifications than the pre 2000 arrivals, speak better English, have professional educational qualifications relevant to their business, and operate predominantly in the service sector. They take fewer years to get into business and are less dependent on immigrant social capital resources than pre 2000 arrivals. The study proposes that, compared with social capital resources, human capital resource have a greater impact on entrepreneurial propensity in the case of second generation Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Policy Implications This research has implication for Australian immigration policy, labour laws and settlement services of migrants. It recommends successful implementation of policies and durable solutions for Indian immigrants in the labour market in Australia. The Australian Government will be assisted in examining and identifying future options for the intake of temporary and permanent migrants that improve the income, wealth and living standards of Australian citizens, improve the budgets and balance sheets of Australian governments, minimize administration and compliance costs associated with immigration, and provide pathways both for Australian citizens to be altruistic towards foreigners, and for Australia's international responsibilities and obligations to foreign residents to be met. Improvements in the labour laws would promote the effective integration of Indian immigrants into society. Further, Indians in the USA have contributed immensely to the entrepreneurial spirit due to the government support for migrant SMEs and the small business venture funds. The Australian government can replicate this policy, reduce restriction on employment opportunities and enhance entrepreneurship for all migrants.

The Determination of Chinese Graduate Entrepreneurship in Australia

This paper examines what factors determine Chinese graduate entrepreneurship in Australia, such as individual characteristics, entrepreneurial motivations, and environment and opportunities. The qualitative research approach was utilized to interview three Chinese entrepreneurs who started their businesses after graduation in Australia. The results indicate that personal characteristics, motivations and environmental opportunities contribute to Chinese graduate entrepreneurship in Australia. Work experience and social skills are essential individual characteristics in Chinese graduates' entrepreneurial activities. Motivations such as difficulties in finding employment and permanent residency significantly contribute to their entrepreneurship. Environments like family background and market demands give entrepreneurs opportunities to participate in entrepreneurial activities. The study recommends that individuals should develop their abilities in order to become entrepreneurs, the government should make positive policies to graduates' entrepreneurship, and the universities should encourage students by adopting more practical entrepreneurship programs.

Innovation Rhetoric and Reality: An Introduction to the TIM Review's Special Issue on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia

In this introduction to the Technology Innovation Management Review's special issue on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia, Guest Editor Rowena Barrett reflects on the perceptions of innovation, both in terms of its evolving concepts and terminology (the rhetoric) and its frontline application (the reality). Prompted by the recent launch and ongoing implementation of Australia Government's National Innovation and Science Agenda's, this special issue focuses on insights into innovation and entrepreneurship from the Australian context.

Innovation Rhetoric and Reality: An Introduction to the TIM Review's Special Issue on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia

In this introduction to the Technology Innovation Management Review's special issue on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia, Guest Editor Rowena Barrett reflects on the perceptions of innovation, both in terms of its evolving concepts and terminology (the rhetoric) and its frontline application (the reality). Prompted by the recent launch and ongoing implementation of Australia Government's National Innovation and Science Agenda's, this special issue focuses on insights into innovation and entrepreneurship from the Australian context.

Editorial: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia (June 2016)

Editorial: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Australia (June 2016)