Narrow Results

Culture offers an important setting for entrepreneurship to grow, and trust is critical for entrepreneurship to thrive. In recent years, there has been debate whether Chinese culture facilitates or hinders entrepreneurship; there has also been a call for empirical investigation of trust in entrepreneurship research. Our paper investigates the relationship between Chinese cultural values and two kinds of trust, in two different enterprises as two subcultures in China. The two kinds of trust are dispositional trust and interpersonal trust; and the two enterprises are a joint venture and a state-owned enterprise. We composed questionnaire from established work about trust and cultural values, ran survey research on 226 employees in the two organizations in China, and analyzed the survey data by descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlations, and MANOVA. We found that dispositional trust and interpersonal trust are different at individual level; Chinese cultural values correlate significantly with both dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and positively correlate to both kinds of trust. Employees in the state-owned enterprise held higher level of Chinese cultural values but had lower level of interpersonal trust, which suggests potential problems in its management. Our study is one of the recent studies that separately measure dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and our findings across two different types of organizations have practical implications for entrepreneurship research in China. Our study is also one of the recent studies that find Chinese cultural values may benefit trust in enterprises, although some earlier studies suggested the opposite.

Applying Ajzen’s planned behavior theory, we study the impact of control beliefs (reflected by an internal locus of control) and normative beliefs (investigated via individualistic cultural orientation) on entrepreneurial attitudes and self-employment intentions of final year university students. We particularly explore the interactive effect of internal locus of control and culture when explaining entrepreneurial attitudes, which consequently shapes self-employment intentions. The data were collected at a German university and three universities in East Africa. We received 590 complete responses. We used PROCESS Macro to test our model and hypotheses. Our findings show that both internal locus of control and culture predict entrepreneurial attitudes and self-employment intention. The effects of international locus of control are mediated by entrepreneurial attitudes. Moreover, the indirect effect is further conditioned by culture. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Venture capitalist and buy-out funds are often considered experts at investing in high-risk projects and companies. To be successful investors, private equity funds must therefore manage the many aspects of risk that are associated with investing in non-public enterprises. This study examines how Indian private equity funds manage several dimensions of risk in comparison to non-Anglo-Saxon funds. We analyze risk management preferences in Indian and Franco-German funds in pre- and post-investment stages. The results, which are discussed in detail, show significant differences between the two groups.

This qualitative study focuses on the relationship between culture and entrepreneurship in the Torres Strait Islands. Similar to other countries with a low per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), aggregate evidence suggests that entrepreneurial activity is commonplace among the indigenous community. Closer investigation revealed this is particularly so for a form known as "marginal" entrepreneurship. Using Hofstede's (1994) model of cultural dimensions linked to key western entrepreneurial traits, a sample of 61 Torres Strait entrepreneurs showed sizable perceptual trait differences compared with western theory. This has implications on the received current wisdom regarding typical values and characteristics of entrepreneurs. It would appear that cultural differences exist between the entrepreneurs of the Torres Straits and others. The implications of this finding have a potentially significant impact on policy and the level and types of investment funds made available for enabling entrepreneurship in the Torres Straits.

This study examines the impact of national cultural values and the development of market institutions on three aspects of entrepreneurship (desire, intention, and confidence in creating new ventures). We ask: What different kinds of effects do cultural and institutional factors have on different aspects of entrepreneurship? Our samples come from Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United States (US). The use of three countries allows us to distinguish the separate influences of culture and market institutions on entrepreneurship. Our results suggest that only culture has a significant impact on individuals' desires to create new ventures. However, we found mixed results on whether culture or institution affects individuals' intentions and confidence in creating new ventures. Contrary to our hypotheses, the Vietnam sample had higher scores on intention to create new ventures than both the US and Taiwan samples. The Vietnam sample was also higher than Taiwan on the confidence in creating new ventures. This may suggest an interaction effect of cultural and institutional factors on entrepreneurship. This interaction deserves more attention in future research.

This paper examines how sub-Saharan Africans do business in China, particularly in the province of Guangdong. Through a qualitative approach, the paper analyzes data obtained from twenty interviews with sub-Saharan Africans. It’s a descriptive study that explores the strategies, tactics and attitudes adopted by those sub-Saharan Africans to cope with a particularly difficult Chinese business environment. Using the concepts of foreignness and adaptation, the study identified four categories of immigrant entrepreneurs: the assimilators, the conservatives, the adventurers and the cautious. Concomitantly, this research identified factors and skills that contributed significantly to immigrants’ success in China. The paper also underlines challenges sub-Saharan Africans still face in China and the unconventional tactics they use. The study represents an insightful exploration of an increasingly important subject but still under-studied. It calls for a thorough research toward the understanding of African businesses in China.

Entrepreneurs are critical for countries’ industrial dynamics and economic growth. Although there are several studies focusing on the attitudes, cognitions and traits of entrepreneurs, only a few have explored the link between entrepreneurship and the job features entrepreneurs most value in the work setting. Taking a longitudinal perspective, over two periods of time, 1990–1993 and 2008–2010, the present study resorted to the European Value Study dataset, encompassing 27 European countries and more than 100 thousand individuals. Based on logistic estimates, we found that, compared with non-entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs consider work more important than other life dimensions (except family). Moreover, some work values associated with entrepreneurship (e.g., use initiative, achieving something, responsible job, meeting abilities, have a say, and learning new skills) are indeed mentioned the most by entrepreneurs and emerged significantly related with entrepreneurial propensity. Finally, some work values (e.g., have a say) are associated with entrepreneurship propensity regardless of country’s culture, whereas others (e.g., interesting job) are strongly influenced by culture.

This paper assesses the impact of Ghanaian culture on the entrepreneurial disposition of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates of Accra Polytechnic from 2007 to 2012. Since the turn of the millennium, there has been more attention given to job creation than job seeking, especially among the youth, to address unemployment in developing countries. This is because of governments' inability to match the growing number of job seekers to job creation across the globe. One way to address this deficit in Ghana is the introduction of courses in entrepreneurship in almost all tertiary institutions, coupled with the setting up of institutions such as Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Agency (GYEEDA), National Youth Employment Program (NYEP), Youth Entrepreneurship Agency (YEA), Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES), among others. Reporting on 2015 data from Accra, the main finding was that collectivistic culture has negative effects on capital accumulation, human resource management and the urgency the unemployed graduates attached to self-employment. Therefore, this paper calls for some ways to address the issue of graduates' inability to be enterprising.

This study explores the role of cultural practices on female entrepreneurship with some insights from the Nabdam district of Ghana. The views of twenty (20) female entrepreneurs were gathered through face-to-face in-depth interviews, which were analyzed according to identified themes. The key finding of the study is that, because of cultural influences and norms, entrepreneurship is perceived to be a field for uneducated women as highly educated women seek formal employment than self-employment. Also, the value and respect for traditions was found to be a limiting factor to the growth and expansion of female-owned enterprises. Therefore, this study concludes that the general poor performance of female entrepreneurs in the study area can be attributed to long-held traditional beliefs and practices rather than managerial inability on the part of women. The stereotype threat theory is used to explain the state of female entrepreneurship in the study area. Therefore, there is a call on policy makers to formulate policies that could eliminate the negative impact of culture on female-owned businesses.

The paper examines the impact of individual culture orientations on the nascent entrepreneurship at the individual level. The cultural orientations investigated in this study were based on Schwartz’s values model. Using data from World Value Survey collected from seven countries ($\mathrm{\text{n}}=6267$), we investigate the direct effect of Open to Change, Self-enhancement, Conservation and Self-transcendence values on nascent entrepreneurship. The results show that the Open to Change values, including Stimulation and Self-direction values, significantly and positively affect nascent entrepreneurship. Only one of the Self-enhancement values has a positive effect on nascent entrepreneurship — the Power value. Meanwhile, Conservation values, including Tradition and Security, negatively and significantly affect the nascent entrepreneurship. Finally, the results show no support for the association between Self-transcendence values and nascent entrepreneurship. Our findings highlight that some values are more conducive to driving or inhibiting nascent entrepreneurship. Investigating the effect of individual cultural orientations on nascent entrepreneurship in the lens of personal values benefits us to comprehend individual motivations toward entrepreneurship, and will light many features of entrepreneurship behavior at the individual level and within and across cultures.

Exploring the intricate relationship between national culture and entrepreneurial intentions, this study digs into the effect of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the entrepreneurial landscape within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and non-OIC countries. Revealing a nuanced interplay, the research underscores how cultural dimensions such as power distance, masculinity, long-term orientation and indulgence shape entrepreneurial intentions, casting shadows over intent in OIC nations and conversely fostering positivity in non-OIC counterparts. This study’s findings resonate with policymakers and entrepreneurs, advocating for the cultivation of cultural environments that foster and celebrate entrepreneurship–a cornerstone not only for economic growth, job creation and innovation, but also for holistic sustainable development.

The chapter portrays the GCC region starting with its history. It overviews the evolution of the region and particularly the establishment of the GCC. Furthermore, it depicts the overall economic profile of the region and its socioeconomic development since its inception. It ends with the content description of the whole book.

This chapter aims to illustrate the different environmental factors and their impact on entrepreneurship in Qatar. Despite its economic prosperity and governmental efforts to foster entrepreneurship Qatar still has not achieved its full potential in this regard. The analysis of the situation of entrepreneurship in Qatar shows no insurmountable difficulties at the macro-level. The problems are rather due to culture generated personality traits that are common among Qatari people. In fact, the fear of failure and the aversion towards risk and stress are negatively impacting entrepreneurial intentions among the population. The example of Qatar shows that a favourable economic situation does not necessarily promote entrepreneurship. The Qatari government is making huge efforts to optimise the legal and economic situation in order to reduce business risk and facilitate start-ups. However, it still has to invest more in human development in order to make Qatari people aware of the opportunities that their country is offering for innovative business ideas.

One of the countries where tradition and modernity meet is Qatar. From a very poor country in the 20^th century to ultra-modern in the 21^st century, Qatar became a place in which visitors, workers and business people can find what they look for. The richness of the country’s diversified business outlook and culture appeals various stakeholders to stay, visit and do business in this country. In this line, the chapter portrays fundamental information on Qatar, its traditional doing of business through bazaars, the current context of business pursued in this country and the future regarding the country’s business stand up.

Stories are integral parts of our being and living and have immense power to harm or to heal. The time is right to advance a new process that we call story-bridging, because of where society is now poised, and because of a prevailing culture of vehement separation and polarization, with attendant false-storying. Story-bridging taps into the power of story. It is a process of engaging sensitively and positively with others where there are opposing views (at all levels: individual, community, organization, institution, nation-state), where there have been negative impacts on society, the economy, the environment, and our essential connectedness. Story-bridging is a process of creating, refining and sharing stories in a way that ignites connections and fosters exciting possibilities.