Prelims

Half Title Page

DISADVANTAGED ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM

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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH

Series Editor, Volumes 1–6: Gerard McElwee

Volume 7 onward: Paul Jones

Title Page

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH - VOLUME 14

DISADVANTAGED ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM

EDITED BY

DAVID GRANT PICKERNELL

University of Portsmouth, UK

MARTINA BATTISTI

Grenoble Ecole de Management, France

ZOE DANN

University of Portsmouth, UK

and

CAROL EKINSMYTH

University of Portsmouth, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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First edition 2022

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80071-451-9 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80071-450-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80071-452-6 (Epub)

ISSN: 2040-7246 (Series)

Contents

Foreword

There is no doubt that the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem concept is rapidly gaining popularity both in academic and policy circles: a quick search in a major management, entrepreneurship, or regional development journal tells us this much. Likewise, organizations such as the OECD and national and regional policymakers continue to deploy the concept as a blueprint for helping to stimulate and support high growth entrepreneurship for wider economic development aims. Therein, however, lies the sticking point with these debates to date: they have been focused overwhelmingly on so-called high-growth entrepreneurship, and have been woefully lacking in their consideration of other types of entrepreneurs.

This has left a significant blind spot in our understanding of already existing entrepreneurial ecosystems, inhabited by real-life entrepreneurs, which in turn undermines the concept’s efficacy and tenancy in a policy toolkit. As this collection recognises, this is a concerning gap which needs to be addressed if we are to truly understand how to support entrepreneurial activity on a society-wide plane. This becomes even more urgent as the ongoing Covid-19 crisis has the potential to further entrench inequalities between rich and poor and has thrown up considerable challenges for entrepreneurs.

This large conceptual gap which exists in contemporary entrepreneurial ecosystem thinking is not going to be filled by one collection alone, but this book makes great progress in beginning to open our eyes and stretch our thinking around entrepreneurial ecosystems to consider groups, places, and perspectives that have so far largely been missing from the conversation. It also adds into the mix vital intersectional perspectives, which are no doubt crucial to the ecosystems discussion. Specifically, by elucidating the experiences of poor, woman, migrant, refugee, and social entrepreneurs, and by shining a light onto geographical contexts largely overlooked in the literature to date, such as deprived areas and regions in the Global South, the chapters in this book force us to think more broadly about who an entrepreneur is, what they do, and how an entrepreneurial ecosystem looks and functions. Specifically, contributions which unpack the motivations of in-poverty entrepreneurs, interrogate the issue of human capital in deprived areas, take an intersectional lens to studying women-migrant entrepreneurs, center social entrepreneurship in the debate and focus our attention on refugee entrepreneurs, are ideal examples of work that pushes us out of our comfort zone of studying the usual suspects, into new and exciting waters.

In addition to filling gaps in our theoretical conceptualization of entrepreneurial ecosystems, the collection of works in this book provide some tangible suggestions and lessons for better policy regarding entrepreneurial ecosystems, potentially useful for the public sector, NGOs and civil society actors who invest in projects and programs to support entrepreneurship. For example, by asking questions about what really drive in-poverty entrepreneurs, exploring the human capital dimensions of entrepreneurship in deprived regions, and exploring the experience of women migrants entrepreneurs, our knowledge about the realities for groups that have been largely overlooked by policy responses to entrepreneurship in the past is increased. Therefore, our ability to design good entrepreneurial support, and avoid the inappropriate application or wastage of precious public funds, is increased. By filling institutional voids impacting the most vulnerable members of society, such as through targeted support schemes and establishing specialized incubators, there is a great potential to create supportive environments for all kinds of entrepreneurs.

In this collection we see a broadening with regards scholarship on entrepreneurial ecosystems taking place. By collecting diverse contributions under the general theme of disadvantaged entrepreneurship, the kinds of entrepreneurs, and contexts of ecosystems, considered under the entrepreneurial ecosystem rubric is substantially advanced. As this collection points out initially, thus far the majority of work on under-represented groups in ecosystem works have focused on women entrepreneurs whereas the other groups dealt with in this collection, plus the intersectional view of them, are massively under explored. Thinking along the lines of layered “triple disadvantages” impacting women migrant entrepreneurs from poor countries, helps us to think about those most in need to support, and where the allocation of resources is likely to have high impact. With chapters ranging from empirical to theoretical, and displaying a range of methods of enquiry and analysis, we see that the possibilities for exploring disadvantaged entrepreneurship within ecosystems are huge.

Our understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystems, in both their structures and practices, shifts from a type of best practice model, towards one which is more appreciative of sub optimal operating environments and outcomes, moving us away from the high-growth discourse which has dominated discussions to date. By pushing the entrepreneurial ecosystems concept out of its comfort zone we are forced to ask the big questions of why do we need well functioning entrepreneurial ecosystems in all places, and who benefits. We may not find all of the answers in these pages but we certainly find some clues and hints that set us off on the right path, and it is exciting to see how the field of entrepreneurial ecosystem research is constantly broadening and challenging our norms and assumptions about entrepreneurship in place. My own hope is that this collection is read, cited, and reflected upon by those within the “core” of entrepreneurial ecosystem research, so that it can herald a real shift in the predominant thinking away from only high-growth entrepreneurship in a small handful of places and sectors, and that the field will advance in a more critical and inclusive manner which will help to establish support for entrepreneurial ecosystems that are aimed towards helping the many and not only increasing the wealth and privilege of the few. Also, galvanizing those hidden or under-supported communities of entrepreneurs could have a great potential for regional development, as more of the entrepreneurial and growth potential within society is actualised.

About the Contributors

Petri Ahokangas is a Professor of Future Digital Business at the University of Oulu. He has specialised in high-technology, digital, and software businesses, with a focus on the impact of business models, ecosystems and strategies, and the internationalisation of wireless telecommunication enterprises regarding, for example, 5G and 6G solutions and services.

Robert Allen is a Senior Lecturer at Cranfield University. Current research focuses on social psychology and organisational behaviour, where he is working on the perception–behaviour link of conscious mimicry, use of impression management, perception of expertise, neurodiversity, social enterprises, and effects on behaviour of threat/stress within the workplace.

Raushan Aman is a Doctoral Candidate at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu. She holds a master’s degree in Project Management from the Royal Holloway University of London in the UK. Her current research interests focus on female entrepreneurship, highly-skilled immigrants and their integration, immigrant entrepreneurship, migrant women entrepreneurship, minority entrepreneurship, gender diversity and inclusion, entrepreneurial or entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Elaine Arici is a Senior Lecturer in the Management Department at Nottingham Trent University. Her PhD in Education (from the University of Nottingham) focuses on mentoring approaches to technological innovation within CPD contexts, change agent roles in technological innovation, and utilising activity system analysis and contradiction in the innovation process.

Ahmad Arslan is an Associate Professor at Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Finland. His earlier research has been published in prestigious academic journals like British Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, International Business Review, International Marketing Review, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change, among others. He holds several editorial board memberships and is a Senior Editor of International Journal of Emerging Markets (Emerald).

Wee Chan Au is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management, Monash University Malaysia. Her research interests lie in work and well-being, publishing in international journals, and presenting at several international conferences. She has also undertaken several empirical studies about work and well-being of working adults, migrant domestic workers, women entrepreneurs, and academics.

Martina Battisti is a Professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management. Her research is centred on small business and entrepreneurship particularly factors contributing to growth and innovation. Her work has been published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, British Journal of Management, Small Business Economics, and International Small Business Journal, among others.

Zoe Dann is an Associate Dean (Students) and Senior Lecturer in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation and making learning authentic, as an enterprise educator.

Desislava Dikova is a Professor of International Business at Vienna University of Economics & Business and the Head of the Competence Center for Emerging Markets and CEE. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of East-West Business, Senior Editor of European Management Review, and Editor of Journal of International Management.

Andreana Drencheva is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Sheffield University Management School. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship as a social process and its micro-foundations in human action. Embedded in this research is active collaboration with incubators, accelerators, and support organisations to co-create services, programmes, and tools for (potential) (social) entrepreneurs.

Carol Ekinsmyth is a Principle Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth. She is an Economic Geographer with interests in work/labour, particularly entrepreneurship and self-employment in the creative industries. She is especially concerned with intersections of the economic and the social at the level of the working practices of individuals and households.

Maria Elo is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, a Professor at the Belt and Road Institute of International Business at Shanghai University, an Adjunct Professor at Åbo Akademi University and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Turku. She cooperates with multiple universities and acts as a migration fellow at the Institute of Migration Finland. Maria works in the area of international business, entrepreneurship and migration with topics such as internationalization, human stickiness, resources of skilled migrants and returnees, migrant and diaspora entrepreneurship, transnational and family businesses, diaspora networks in international business, diaspora investment and remittances. Maria is a senior editor of European Journal of International Management. She has published books and articles, for example, in Journal of World Business, Journal of International Management, Journal of International Business Policy, Industrial Marketing Management, Regional Studies, Journal of International Entrepreneurship and International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

Kostas Galanakis is an Associate Professor in Innovation Systems at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. His research has been published in journals such as Technovation, Omega, and Regional Studies. His current stream of research explores the transition towards a sustainable energy and mobility future led by local actions and practices.

Laura Galloway is a Professor of Business and Enterprise at Heriot-Watt University. Much of her research focuses on peripherality, regionally, and demographically, including examination of minority entrepreneurship and enterprise’s role in reducing social and economic barriers, entrepreneurship education, rural entrepreneurship, and motivations for starting and continuing to be in business.

Aki Harima is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen. Her research focuses on transnational entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems, particularly in emerging countries. Her recent work has been published in, for instance, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research.

Shuangfa Huang is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Portsmouth. Current research examines entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability, focussing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). His work has been published in Small Business Economics, Journal of Business Research, and Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review.

Laura Jackman is an Assistant Professor at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. She teaches Entrepreneurship. Her entrepreneurship research focuses on marginalised groups with a particular interest in self-employment, in-work poverty, and the benefits of system/social policy and qualitative social research.

Paul Jones is a Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Swansea University, and Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. He is particularly interested in entrepreneurial research in developing world contexts and has had entrepreneurship projects with the Nigerian government, European Union, Higher Education Academy, and Knowledge Exploitation Funds.

Carolin Jürgens is a Master’s Student in the Master of Science in Business Studies at the University of Bremen.

Samppa Kamara is a Junior Researcher at the Department of International Business, Oulu Business School, Finland. He holds an MSc degree in International Business Management from the University of Oulu. He regularly serves as an Assistant Teacher at Oulu Business School. His areas of interest include entrepreneurship, international business, and BOP markets.

Isla Kapasi is a Lecturer in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the University of Leeds, UK. Her current research concentrates on disadvantaged and marginalised entrepreneurship applying a critical management studies lens.

Andreea Mihut is a PhD (‘Stealing Stories’? Investigating Language, Narrative, and Power in the Contemporary Scottish Criminal Courts) candidate at the University of Edinburgh, Her current research interests focus on courtroom procedure, desistance from crime, childhood trauma and crime, restorative justice, language and power, narrative identity, performativity, discourse/conversation analysis.

David Pickernell is a Professor of Small Business and Enterprise Development at the University of Portsmouth. Current research focuses on enterprise development policy and roles of universities in innovation and enterprise. His work has been published in British Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Journal of Business Research, and Omega.

Anorth Ramalingam is a Master’s student in the Master of Science in Business Studies at the University of Bremen.

Anthony Samuel is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Strategy at Cardiff University, and his multidisciplinary research navigates the complex interfaces between place management/marketing, social enterprises, sustainable business practices, and ethical consumption. Recently, his research has concentrated heavily on responsible, ethical, and sustainable business practices.

Rebecca Stirzaker is an Associate Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway. Research interests include entrepreneurship and innovation in context, entrepreneurship in peripheral contexts, and social entrepreneurship. Current research projects include collaborative innovation within rural contexts, self-employment motivations within contexts of UK poverty, and drivers of social entrepreneurship in Scotland.

Dan Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Business Strategy at the University of South Wales. His recent research has focussed on corporate social responsibility in non-profit organisations and social enterprises.

Robert Thomas is a Teaching Fellow in Marketing and Strategy at Aston Business School. His recent research work has focussed on the social and personal drivers of co-creation and antecedents of cybersecurity in social enterprises.

Piers Thompson is a Professor of Local and Regional Economic Development at Nottingham Trent University. His most recent research has been focussed on entrepreneurship and regional competitiveness. He has published in journals including Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, International Small Business Journal, Environment and Planning A, C. Small Business Economics, and Regional Studies.

Allan Villegas-Mateos is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at HEC Paris in Qatar. His research focuses on entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging economies. His work has been published in the Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies and the International Journal of Entrepreneurship. He is a Member of the business honour society Beta Gamma Sigma.

Gareth R. T. White is a Professor of Operations Management at the University of South Wales Business School. He is also a Professional Mechanical Engineer with experience of automotive, civil and military nuclear engineering, FMCG, non-profit and SME manufacturing industries, holding several patents in automotive safety-critical systems and Formula 1.

Tenzin Yeshi is pursuing his PhD at the University of Bremen under the Chair of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (LEMEX) since June 2018. He completed his education at the Tibetan Children’s Village School (TCV) in India. He earned a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Economics. His current research interest includes ‘Refugee and Displaced entrepreneurship’.

Jian Li Yew is the Managing Director of Citrine Capital, a firm that aims to achieve both financial returns and positive societal impact through investment activities. Envisioning a world where knowledge, action and capital complement, Jian dedicates her career to the impact sector.

Roch Zarembski is a Master’s student in the Master of Science in Business Studies at the University of Bremen.

Prof. Dr. Xiaotian Zhang is an expert in the internationalization of higher education. He held several senior leadership positions at the QS World’s Top 500 universities in Asia and Europe. His managerial experiences include Associate Vice President (International) of Shanghai University; Director-General of SHU Global in Shanghai; Vice-Rector and Head of Estonian Business School in Finland; Member the Board of Directors of Sino-European School of Technology of Shanghai; Vice-Rector and Chairman of University Council at the University of International Business in Almaty; and Honorary Dean of Higher School of Economics and Business at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University among others. As an academic, Xiaotian is SHU Professor of International Business and EU Jean Monnet Professor of Entrepreneurship. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tartu in 2013.

Yuxi Zhao is Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Her research examines entrepreneurship in deprived areas. It focuses on the psychological and environmental explanations of why residents of such areas choose to, or choose not to, engage in such behaviours.