Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

Mota, Irisalva; Marques, Carla; Sacramento, Octávio

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-12-2019-0120

The process by which disabled individuals become entrepreneurs can be influenced by factors of different orders. Throughout their entrepreneurship careers and projects, disabled entrepreneurs may have to overcome multiple personal, social and political barriers. This study aims to review what we do (and do not) know about disabled entrepreneurs research to date.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review focused on analyzing 42 articles from two databases, namely, Web of Science and Scopus. After the articles were selected, they were grouped into thematic clusters.FindingsThe results were categorized into four areas, namely, entrepreneurs with disabilities, self-employment as an alternative to unemployment for people with disabilities, barriers faced by disabled entrepreneurs and the importance of education, training and/or orientation for these individuals’ entrepreneurship. The research verified that, in some cases, people with disabilities resort to self-employment and become entrepreneurs to avoid unemployment. Education and training’s positive role in how this process develops is clear as they empower individuals with disabilities and enable them to raise entrepreneurial attitudes.Originality/valueBased on the citation profile of articles on disabled entrepreneurs, the results contribute to a better understanding of the flow and main findings of scientific research on this topic over the past 15 years. The findings also include research tendencies that reveal the field’s emergent perspectives, which are of great importance to academics seeking to enhance entrepreneurial processes and policymakers interested in stimulating entrepreneurship education.

Ojo, Sanya; Nwankwo, Sonny

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-12-2019-0126

This paper aims to examine market-mediated transformative capacities of Black African Pentecostalism. It does this by exploring the interface between religion, culture and identity to generate a fresh interpretation of how marketing is ritualized among UK’s Black Africans on the platform of Pentecostalism.Design/methodology/approachMethodology is based on in-depth interviews with respondents drawn from the African Pentecostal movements in London, UK. This paper shows how adherents’ responsiveness to Pentecostal dogmas generated market advantages.FindingsThe paper reveals the interconnectedness of religion, faith and culture which, in turn, coalesced into a dense network that defines the reproduction, organization and approach to entrepreneurial marketing.Originality/valuePentecostal practices unveil the marketing notion of “Pentepreneurship”, which combines both spiritual and enterprise activities to formulate a fused space of engagement straddling the sacred and the secular. This fusion points to a unique platform of entrepreneurial marketing that bestrides ethno-cultural, religious and economic identities.

Kusemererwa, Christopher; Munene, John C.; Laura, Orobia A.; Balunywa, Juma Waswa

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-02-2020-0012

The purpose of this paper is to establish whether all the dimensions of individual learning behavior matter for self-employment practice among youths, using evidence from Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a correlational and cross-sectional type. A questionnaire survey of 393 youths was used. The data collected were analyzed through SPSS.FindingsThe results indicate that meaning-oriented learning behavior, planned learning behavior and emergent learning behavior do matter for self-employment practice among youths in Uganda unlike instruction-oriented learning behavior.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on self-employed youths who have gone through tertiary education in Uganda. Therefore, it is likely that the results may not be generalized to other settings. The results show that to promote self-employment practice among youths, the focus should be put mainly on meaning-oriented learning behavior, planned learning behavior and emergent learning behavior.Originality/valueThis study provides initial evidence on whether all the dimensions of individual learning behavior do matter for self-employment practice among youths using evidence from an African developing country – Uganda.

Karakara, Alhassan Abdul-Wakeel; Osabuohien, Evans

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-03-2020-0022

This study aims to investigate how ICT adoption enhances the innovativeness of informal firms in West Africa, using the cases of Ghana and Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the World Bank Enterprise Survey data 2014 for Ghana and Nigeria with binary logistic regression analysis to achieve this. Four different innovations are modelled. They include: first, whether a firm has innovated based on producing a new product or significantly improved product; second, whether a firm has innovated in its methods of production or services; third, whether a firm has innovated in terms of its organisational structure; and fourth, whether a firm has introduced a new and improved marketing method.FindingsThe results show that the use of email, cellphone and website has a positive impact on the four types of innovations modelled. However, these effects varied markedly between Ghana and Nigeria. Firms’ spending on research and development (R&D), firm giving its employees the chance to develop their ideas and when firm competes with others; all positively impact the four types of innovations. Thus, the study recommends that policies should be geared towards making firms have more access to ICTs to enable them to be more innovative to serve clients and the economy.Originality/valueThis study differs by concentrating on how the adoption of ICTs could help firms to introduce innovations into their companies in two West African countries, namely, Ghana and Nigeria. Thus, it complements literature on informal firms’ innovation efforts in West Africa.

Javaid, Omar; Shamsi, Aamir Feroz; Hyder, Irfan

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-03-2020-0023

There are many entrepreneurial communities in the Asian subcontinent, which are known for their economic resilience and religious orientation but have received limited attention in extant literature. These communities include Memon, Delhiwala, Chinioti, Ismaili and Bohri, which have been persistent in keeping their members economically stable, as many centuries, while also retaining their religio-sociocultural identity. This paper aims to add to the body of literature by documenting the possible factors, which contribute toward advancing socio-economic justice for the members of respective communities.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Eisenhardth research strategy within a social constructivist paradigm to process data from in-depth interviews, memos and documentary sources to explore the internal dynamics of three most prominent of these communities (Memon, Delhiwala and Chinioti) in Pakistan.FindingsThe findings reveal that the secret to their resilience is, perhaps, rooted in their religio-sociocultural communal norms, which may not just ensure effective wealth redistribution among the deserving segments of the society but may also enable its deserving members to achieve self-reliance through community-supported–entrepreneurial–activity. This study proposes that a culture of community-based–family–entrepreneurship coupled with the spirit of cooperation, sacrifice and reciprocity may eliminate the possibility of socioeconomic injustice.Social implicationsThe religious entrepreneurial communities may be seen as an alternate to free-market or state-driven methods to impart socioeconomic justice where needed. The voluntary inclination of entrepreneurs in such communities to facilitate those in need may, perhaps, reduce or even eliminate the need to involve state intervention to redistribute wealth through taxation, which may also eliminate the cost of the state bureaucracy, which is used for the collection and redistribution of taxes.Originality/valueThe findings add to the body of literature which could help similar communities to improve their socioeconomic stability in a just manner for all its members. Policymakers can also take notice of the religio-sociocultural norms at the source of socioeconomic justice within the respective communities to formulate policies conducive to sustaining such norms where necessary.

Dvouletý, Ondřej; Orel, Marko

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-04-2020-0052

This study aims to extend the existing body of literature on the individual-level determinants of self-employed persons with (employer entrepreneurs) and without employees (solo self-employed individuals) from the perspective of four post-communist economies (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).Design/methodology/approachThe methodological approach is based on the three harmonised waves (2005, 2010 and 2015) of the European Survey on Working Conditions (EWCS). Multi-variate logistic regression models are used to determine the individual-level differences among employees, solo self-employed individuals and job creators in the selected group of countries.FindingsThe results show significant differences among employees, solo self-employed individuals and job creators, especially when it comes to the role of age, gender, education, previous experience, number of working hours and their determination. Job creators in Visegrád countries have, on average, more years of experience, and higher levels of education (tertiary), than wage-employees.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a series of recommendations for future research on the role of family- and household-related characteristics, entrepreneurship-specific education and migration background.Originality/valueThe previous research on individual determinants of entrepreneurial engagement in Visegrád region was mainly based on the data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. This study offers a novel perspective based on the EWCS data.

Ziyae, Babak; Jusoh, Rosnani; Madadian, Hamidreza

2020 Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

doi: 10.1108/jec-04-2020-0054

Research studies on futures studies have recently gained significant attention to create a desirable future based on the environmental change. Futures studies follow discovery, invention, presentation, test and evolution of possible, feasible and desirable futures. The purpose of this study is to examine some important aspects of the relationship between futures studies and planning and to present a model where futures scenarios have been developed as an integral part of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the lens of dynamic capabilities theory and creative system theory.Design/methodology/approachBased on interpretive structural modeling and Delphi technique, the most important trends, proponents and uncertainties of the future of 10 Iranian petrochemical SMEs is identified and related innovative scenarios are presented.FindingsThe findings show four scenarios on the petrochemical industry including attracting investment, the presence of the private sector, attracting people's capital and sustainable development of the petrochemical industry.Originality/valueThe paper undertakes a first of its kind cross-disciplinary conceptual analysis to design Innovative Scenario Planning for SMEs. Despite the importance of scenario planning in SMEs, theories for understanding the nexus of entrepreneurial future studies remain underdeveloped. Therefore, there is still a theoretical gap and lack of research; hence, the current study tries to shed light on the topic and fill the gap in the entrepreneurship literature.