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Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Elise Stephenson and Sarah Furman

This paper aims to explore synergies between feminist, first nations and queer theories and social, circular and climate entrepreneurship, to build a framework for supporting…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore synergies between feminist, first nations and queer theories and social, circular and climate entrepreneurship, to build a framework for supporting climate just entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on an extensive qualitative review of the literature on gender justice, equality, social entrepreneurship, the circular economy, climate entrepreneurship and climate action, as well as theorising feminist, first nations and queer approaches to climate action through entrepreneurship.

Findings

Whilst climate change is a “threat multiplier” for existing gender (and other) inequalities, gaps remain in engraining gender equality and gender justice principles in social, circular and climate entrepreneurship. Through analysing the literature for critical gaps and theorising at the intersection of climate entrepreneurship and feminist, first nations and queer theories, the authors advocate that a framework for climate just entrepreneurship could play a pivotal role in combining proactive climate action and gender equality measures through entrepreneurship. It could also be a significant step towards ensuring entrenched, systemic inequalities are not perpetuated in nascent and rapidly evolving fields such as the circular economy, social enterprise and climate entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

The literature on climate entrepreneurship is burgeoning, yet key entrepreneurial concepts lack an explicitly feminist or gender lens approach, even whilst being inextricably linked to effective climate action. This paper seeks to rectify this gap by promoting climate just entrepreneurship as a model for effective climate action.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Book part
Publication date: 7 June 2024

Omolola Oluwakemi Ajayi, Oluwafemi Oluwabusuyi Olonibua, Tembi Maloney Tichaawa and Yekini Ojo Bello

Eco-entrepreneurship is a topical issue in academic and professional literature over the past decade. In Africa, it is a relatively new concept fast gaining momentum with wide…

Abstract

Eco-entrepreneurship is a topical issue in academic and professional literature over the past decade. In Africa, it is a relatively new concept fast gaining momentum with wide applicability and acceptance given its benefits in promoting consumer adoption of sustainable lifestyles, resilient environment, economic empowerment, and a win–win balance in the ecology and economy nexus. Amidst the growing impact of climate change and environmental degradation, eco-entrepreneurship has become a necessity, with emerging opportunities being in urban waste management, recycling, and renewable energy technologies. Regardless of the benefits of eco-entrepreneurship, regulatory and governance structures inform the viability of any initiatives. This chapter presents how political ecology structures intersect and impact eco-entrepreneurship in Africa. Given that nations’ approaches can differ, this study provides a case study synthesis of two major African economies namely Nigeria and South Africa. The authors document the predominant political orientation and attitude toward eco-entrepreneurship. First, the authors argue that the political environment is indifferent to the potential of the eco-entrepreneurial framework, hence applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Second is that the attention to eco-entrepreneurship by policymakers is economically inclined, they focus mainly on economic growth opportunities; equally, that eco-entrepreneurship offers opportunities for the protection of social and environmental integrity cannot be ignored. Third, is the bandwagon effect associated with eco-entrepreneurship initiatives, where the need to align with international bodies and states drives a Eurocentric concern? The authors conclude that fostering enabling policy environment can help enhance the productivity of current eco-entrepreneurial initiatives as well as attract new ones needed to explore eco-entrepreneurship benefits.

Details

From Local to Global: Eco-entrepreneurship and Global Engagement with the Environment
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-277-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2011

Xiuzhai Zhao

The purpose of this paper is to find out the causes of Chinese graduate entrepreneurship dilemma (both the Chinese graduate entrepreneurship rate and the Chinese graduates'…

1549

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out the causes of Chinese graduate entrepreneurship dilemma (both the Chinese graduate entrepreneurship rate and the Chinese graduates' entrepreneurship low success rate) and then to propose some suggestions to the dilemma.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is conducted on the basis of 20 graduate entrepreneurship cases to summarize the necessary qualifications for graduates to start new businesses and then uses Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's (GEM) theory of entrepreneurial climate to analyze the entrepreneurial climate faced by Chinese graduates.

Findings

This paper points out the internal and external causes of Chinese graduate entrepreneurship dilemma: the internal one is that most graduates do not have the qualifications for entrepreneurship; the external one is that the present entrepreneurial climate in China is poor, resulting in difficulties for Chinese graduates to start new ventures.

Practical implications

The paper proposes the following countermeasures to help Chinese graduates get out of the entrepreneurship dilemma: undergraduates actively participating in social practice activities, establishing and improving the entrepreneurship education system, perfecting government policies and creating a strong entrepreneurial culture, respectively.

Originality/value

Nowadays, there is much research into the causes of the Chinese graduate entrepreneurship dilemma from various viewpoints. However, an analysis of the causes using GEMs theory of entrepreneurial climate is rare. This paper analyzes the problem from this aspect.

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2017

Evanthie Michalena

The Pacific Island countries are culturally diverse, politically challenging, extremely vulnerable to climate change and natural disaster impacts, and financially heavily…

Abstract

The Pacific Island countries are culturally diverse, politically challenging, extremely vulnerable to climate change and natural disaster impacts, and financially heavily dependent on aid flows. This chapter examines barriers and opportunities for Green growth (GG) to flourish in a country with a practically non-existent real economy and which is currently under the threat of disappearance under water. It draws on a visiting experience and lessons from the literature and tries to investigate the role of innovation and entrepreneurship as poles of re-birth and local creativity. More particularly, I here discuss why a least developed country such as Kiribati might be the perfect location for dynamics of GG to get born and how, Kiribati, a country under threat and fear, can be transformed into a lighthouse of entrepreneurship which can give boost to the implementation of one of the most advanced energy technologies in the world. I also discuss how, ultimately, a “least developed economy” can secure scientific lessons, which are highly significant for the international knowledge society.

Details

Global Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Growth: Coopetition and Knowledge Dynamics within and across Firms
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-502-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 January 2023

David A. Kirby, Iman El-Kaffass and Felicity Healey-Benson

Although ethical custom has long recognized man’s responsibility to the environment, the contribution of traditional economic entrepreneurship to the sustainability challenge has

Abstract

Although ethical custom has long recognized man’s responsibility to the environment, the contribution of traditional economic entrepreneurship to the sustainability challenge has been limited. Indeed, it can be shown to have had a negative impact at times and although new business models have been introduced, addressing environmental, humane and social issues, questions have been raised about whether entrepreneurship and sustainability are compatible. Accordingly, this chapter proposes a new business model that integrates or harmonizes these four more traditional entrepreneurship models currently applied independently. The model is founded on general systems thinking and the principle of harmony. It is based on a case study of real-life commercial startup operation, SEKEM Holding in Egypt. The case, which is based on secondary data and non-participant observation, is discussed in detail as is the resultant proposed Harmonious Entrepreneurship model. A definition is provided together with three further case examples that exemplify and demonstrate the model in different geographical and sectoral contexts. Each is based on a “bleeding edge,” innovative technological solution to the problem being addressed and the study concludes that:

  • for entrepreneurship to address the sustainability challenge successfully a new entrepreneurship paradigm is needed that abandons the Friedman doctrine of being about making as much money as possible;

  • the paradigm should incorporate systems thinking and operate both ethically and in accordance with the harmony principle, ensuring that profit, people and planet are harmonized; and

  • the model can be implemented simultaneously, and not incrementally as previous research has suggested.

for entrepreneurship to address the sustainability challenge successfully a new entrepreneurship paradigm is needed that abandons the Friedman doctrine of being about making as much money as possible;

the paradigm should incorporate systems thinking and operate both ethically and in accordance with the harmony principle, ensuring that profit, people and planet are harmonized; and

the model can be implemented simultaneously, and not incrementally as previous research has suggested.

Details

Bleeding-Edge Entrepreneurship: Digitalization, Blockchains, Space, the Ocean, and Artificial Intelligence
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-036-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 November 2018

Pratim Datta, Jessica Ann Peck, Ipek Koparan and Cecile Nieuwenhuizen

While much has been debated about venture formation and demise, the behavioral dynamics of why entrepreneurs intend to continue and persevere post-startup have received scant…

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Abstract

Purpose

While much has been debated about venture formation and demise, the behavioral dynamics of why entrepreneurs intend to continue and persevere post-startup have received scant attention and scrutiny. Building upon the rich tapestry of entrepreneurial cognition, the purpose of this paper is to forward entrepreneurial continuance logic as a theoretical framework to empirically investigate the antecedents, contingencies and mediators of entrepreneurial continuance.

Design/methodology/approach

Using observations from surveying 156 practicing entrepreneurs across the USA, UK, South Africa and India, this research offers interesting findings.

Findings

Results surface attitudinal tensions between the transactional attitudes of entrepreneurial climate, entrepreneurial responsiveness and calculative commitment and the relational attitudes of affective and normative continuance. Specifically, the authors find that affect is the strongest direct predictor of continuance intentions but only in the absence of entrepreneurial responsiveness behavior.

Research limitations/implications

Entrepreneurial responsiveness, rather than commitment, is found to be a core continuance constituent, traceable as a positive influence on continuance as a direct antecedent, a moderator and a mediator.

Practical implications

The research reveals that entrepreneurs willing to seize and adapt to a changing entrepreneurial landscape are more like to continue with their ventures, but not just driven by strict underpinnings of affect and norms but by a strong sense of economic rationality.

Social implications

Entrepreneurial continuance is an important behavioral phenomenon with substantial socio-economic consequences. Given the scant attention paid to entrepreneurial continuance – symptomatic of broader downstream effects of entrepreneurial survival and positive socio-economic spillovers, the authors embark on a systematic investigation of continuance intention as post-startup behavior.

Originality/value

The paper explains post-startup entrepreneurial behavior in several ways. First, while affective commitment, a relational attitude, still drives continuance intentions, calculative commitment, a transactional attitude, is a significant contender. Interestingly, the nature of contemporary entrepreneurship disregards continuance behavior based on norms. Second, entrepreneurial responsiveness needs to be cautiously examined in relationship to commitment and continuance. Entrepreneurial responsiveness, a transactional attitude, positively influences continuance; however, in the presence of a relational attitude such as affective commitment, the interplay reduces continuance intentions. Third, perceptions of entrepreneurial climate are found to trigger more opportunity-seeking behavior among entrepreneurs, which in turn increases an entrepreneur’s intention to continue.

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

David A. Kirby and Felicity Healey-Benson

This study aims to develop an entrepreneurial business model capable of addressing and preventing the exploitation and inequality that traditionally have resulted from…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop an entrepreneurial business model capable of addressing and preventing the exploitation and inequality that traditionally have resulted from entrepreneurship, particularly in emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses systems thinking, the first law of cybernetics, and the principles of harmony to formulate a systemic solution to the problem, which it exemplifies via six purposefully selected short cases drawn from diverse industry sectors and economies.

Findings

This paper demonstrates how the conventional model of entrepreneurship, often associated with colonial exploitation and resultant inequalities, can be transformed into a triple bottom line model—harmonious entrepreneurship – that integrates the traditional economic, eco-, humane, and social approaches and creates a synergy where profit, planet, and people are in harmony. The model challenges the profit maximisation/shareholder value doctrine of business success.

Research limitations/implications

Only six cases are presented here, and there is a need for further research in different political-economic contexts and industry sectors. Also, the way entrepreneurship is taught needs to change so that it addresses the sustainability challenge in general and the problem of inequality in particular.

Practical implications

There needs to be a change in the entrepreneurial mindset and the way entrepreneurship is taught and potential entrepreneurs are trained if entrepreneurship is to address the sustainability challenge in general and the problem of inequality in particular.

Originality/value

This is a novel approach to the study of entrepreneurship and its impact on inequality that shows how it can ameliorate and/or prevent inequality, particularly in emerging economies, by adopting a more holistic approach to business success and supplanting “having and needing” with “being and caring”.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 September 2022

Helen M. Haugh and Bob Doherty

The common good refers to contextual conditions that contribute to human wellbeing and flourishing, such as prosperous communities and environmental sustainability. In this paper…

Abstract

The common good refers to contextual conditions that contribute to human wellbeing and flourishing, such as prosperous communities and environmental sustainability. In this paper, we consider how entrepreneurship impacts society by investigating the generalized outcomes of social entrepreneurship on the common good. From a qualitative study of ten large and profitable social enterprises in the United Kingdom, we theorize how social entrepreneurship contributes to the common good in the short and long term. We also conjecture how some commercial practices undermine the common good and further, explain how the common good performs as a conceptual anchor for social entrepreneurship.

Details

Entrepreneurialism and Society: Consequences and Meanings
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-662-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2015

Samuel Adomako, Albert Danso and Ernest Ampadu

Previous scholarly studies on institutions tend to create a sombre picture of institutions by ignoring to examine the antecedents of formal and informal institutions. The purpose…

Abstract

Purpose

Previous scholarly studies on institutions tend to create a sombre picture of institutions by ignoring to examine the antecedents of formal and informal institutions. The purpose of this paper is to overcome this limitation by proposing a conceptual framework of the antecedents of formal and informal institutions of entrepreneurial climate in a less developed market setting.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds on a comprehensive survey of the literature on institutions by using a synthesis thematic methodology to identified key scholarly studies which have been published in previous theoretical and empirical studies and proposes a conceptual framework of the role of formal and informal institutions in defining entrepreneurial climate in a developing economy’s context.

Findings

The findings of the paper suggest that political factors and economic factors define formal institutions whilst socio-cultural factors define informal institutions. These factors rooted in political, economic and socio-cultural factors have a major influence on the rate and nature of entrepreneurial activity in a developing country setting.

Practical implications

This paper contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and intuitional theory by focusing on the antecedents of formal and informal institutional factors that shape entrepreneurial climate in Ghana.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review that explores the nature of entrepreneurial climate and proposes a conceptual framework of the role of formal and informal institutions in defining entrepreneurial climate in Ghana.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 42 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 8000