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Artisan entrepreneurs create social value by engaging in community business practices. Research has shown that the motives of artisan entrepreneurs differ based on the way they are embedded in society. This is due to artisan practices varying significantly. As such, it is useful to analyze the existing body of research with the aim of opening up new opportunities. To date, there has been limited research on artisan entrepreneurship compared to other sub-types of entrepreneurship. This is unusual as artisan entrepreneurship is an interesting topic. This chapter therefore seeks to ascertain what is lacking in the current research and what needs to be done. This will be conducted through a critique of the existing research, which leads to a discussion on the managerial implications of artisan entrepreneurship.

Artisan businesses in Africa have distinct ways of being that make them peculiar to manage when compared to non-artisanal enterprises. Artisan businesses are often developed on the basis of tacit knowledge that is passed on from one generation to the next through an apprenticeship model. Furthermore, these businesses are often driven by an intersection of necessity motives (the need for the artisan to make a living) and opportunity (the honing of a valued handicraft that can be monetized). The challenge for artisanal businesses of this nature is therefore broadly twofold: firstly, the sustainability of the enterprise due to knowledge transfer challenges; and secondly, the motivation of artisanal apprentices who are preoccupied with meeting their livelihood needs over the opportunity to practice a craft. This case study presents an insight into how these challenges playout but also an insight into how these challenges can be overcome. Kazuri Beads have survived these challenges for over 40 years and therefore is an ideal showcase of how an artisan business can be established, grown and sustained in the long run.

Wine has been considered an artisan product for a long period of time. This is due to the cultural heritage and history that goes into the production process. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the role of wine artisans in the global economy in terms of tourism and the esthetic cognition apparent in rural landscapes. To do this, the role of customers as co-creators of the wine experience is discussed, which helps to understand the evolving nature of the wine industry. The way artisan forms of wine are being produced because of eco-innovation reasons are stated. This enables more information to be obtained about the nature of wine artisan entrepreneurship. Theoretical and practical implications are stated together with suggestions for future research.

Traditional artisans are the worst victims of globalisation and corporate entry into their local economy and hand-driven production processes. For their rehabilitation, protection, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, embedded, inter alia, in the built environment, a suitable framework need to be crafted within the broad domain of mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) envisaged under The Indian Companies Act, 2013. Conceived in the above backdrop, the study attempts to situate traditional artisans as stakeholders worthy of development interventions under CSR. For want of studies and notable interventions in the above context, few small CSR cases are reviewed and a number of worthwhile areas of interventions are proposed in terms of a wish list, drawn from the socio, economic, educational, employment and cultural milieu of traditional artisans. It is found that they come under the discretionary category of stakeholders, who possess the attribute of legitimacy, but they have no power to influence the firms and no urgent claims. The study points to the necessity for establishing a National Artisans’ Rehabilitation and Development Fund, besides artisan-friendly sharpening of the schedule of CSR activities in the Indian context.

This chapter claims that there are characteristics of the institutional structure of some indigenous societies that in some cases prevent economic development by complicating the emergence of extra-family networks (social capital), and the transition from personal to impersonal exchange; this is illustrated in the context of the Wayúu people from the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia. They have a strong tradition of craft production, which has changed much in recent years due to exigencies of Wayúu and non-Wayúu consumers. Foreign elements, such as commercial brands, are commonly included today in their traditional crafts, sometimes even replacing conventional motifs. However, artisans behave strategically – selling different designs to different markets. The main economic difficulties of the Wayúu artisans are related to the lack of commercialization of their products. From an institutional analysis perspective, the absence of extra-family social and commercial networks in locations relatively far from markets, it is argued, is one of the factors explaining these problems. It is suggested also that the promotion of cooperatives should be attempted from the bottom-up given the particular legal characteristics of this society.

Those who know it, believe it

Those who don’t know it, don’t believe it

We who know, believe it

– Old Wayúu proverb

Henna, a vegetable dye made from ground henna leaves that is used by Moroccan women to create temporary designs for the hands and feet, has become a profitable tourist sector service in the past decade. The social organization and relations of tourist sector henna artisans in the Marrakesh area are closely tied to how the spaces where they work are socially constructed and re-constructed. The artisans’ assertive public behavior directed at strangers is socially disapproved, and highlighted in interactions between the artisans and representatives of the state as well as guides and shopkeepers. Artisans working in public squares organize into multi-function cooperative groups in order to preserve claim to a given space, share supplies and skills, and provide a peer group in and through which reputation is maintained. Alternative spatial arrangements, such as work in herb shops and independent henna shops, correspond with greater conformity to gender norms.

Artisan entrepreneurship is a new and emerging area of entrepreneurship study. This means literature on the topic is still relatively sparse, so more attention is required on addressing issues of content, context and method. This chapter focuses on future research trajectories on artisan entrepreneurship that will help to refine the field. This includes analyzing the way artisan entrepreneurship can be researched from an organization, team and individual level. Specific ideas related to new research tracks are stated that help to direct researchers to new and novel topics.

Entrepreneurship is recognized by many as a solution to environmental and social challenges of today’s society. However, it has also been criticized since it may maintain the capitalistic demands of growth and efficiency in an unsustainable way. In this chapter, we challenge the current conception of entrepreneurship that aims for societal change by tracing what, how, where, and with whom such entrepreneurship is performed. Furthermore, we take inspiration from the idea of diverse economy by Gibson-Graham and introduce the concept of alternative entrepreneurship to explore how it takes shape, changes its contours, and both challenges and propels contemporary capitalism. In this chapter, we present three ethnographic cases of the unfolding of diverse entrepreneurial activities: (1) the case of Oria, who contributes to social justice through fair trade; (2) the case of artisan food producers who contribute to biological diversity and a rural livelihood; and (3) the case of the DiE project/NEEM NGO, which contributes to social inclusion through entrepreneurial empowerment and the development of a microcredit program. We find that the alternative entrepreneurs are not constrained by organizational forms or by a limited number of economic and non-economic activities that target societal challenges. The alternative entrepreneurs move between different organizational forms such as non-profit and for profit, as well as, undertaking business and voluntary practices to achieve societal change. Finally, we conclude that the ethnographic tracing of alternative entrepreneurship allows previously unsighted activities to become more visible and brings attention to possibilities of creatively destroying overly narrow conceptions of entrepreneurship.

Within relatively short time since its emergence, COVID-19 pandemic has attracted impressive academic attention. This chapter in its modest complement of existing studies focused on artisans' disposition and adherence to preventive measures of coronavirus disease in Osun State, Nigeria. The participants according to its findings demonstrated their knowledge of public health advice for controlling COVID-19 such as maintaining social distancing, using face masks in public spaces and adhering to personal hygiene measures. It further revealed that these artisans sourced for ‘perceived’ alternatives public health measures that their financial situation could accommodate and violated the strict lockdown regulations introduced by the government due to inherent economic rewards from going to their places of works. These thus exposed the poor investment profiles of most African nations as well as unhealthy institutional capacity, which cannot carry people along with government policies. A situation of this nature will have untoward effects on social fabric of the society and overall developmental processes.