The influence of contexts on entrepreneurial practices, a qualitative study

While it has long been recognised that access to various resources facilitates entrepreneurial processes, little is known about the influence of diverse contexts on the capital accumulation practices of entrepreneurs. Based on the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs, this thesis seeks to advance knowledge by developing a theory of practice which explains how embeddedness in multiple contexts affects entrepreneurs' resource management practices. Specifically, this study focuses on the effects of embeddedness in households and communities on the capital conversion and sharing practices of craft entrepreneurs. In doing so, it enhances understanding of entrepreneurs' social, spatial and temporal contexts. First, this study reveals a range of hitherto unidentified conversion processes, many of which involve the accumulation of multiple forms of capital, highlighting the complex nature of capital transformations. It also identifies a range of inhibitors and facilitators of these processes, which can be conversion-specific and can derive from household and community embeddedness. Second, the findings show that household members help entrepreneurs not only by providing free resources, but also by developing their psychological capital through boosting self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. Such emotional support is found to be particularly helpful in times of anxiety and stress and reliant upon household members' understanding of the entrepreneur. However, this study also demonstrates that household members' needs, problems and opinions can inhibit entrepreneurial practices, calling attention to the multifaceted relationship between business and family. Third, the data show the significant impact of embeddedness in communities upon entrepreneurs' actions. Participants are found to employ strategic actions to meet the expectations of community members and to conceal non-conforming traits and behaviours. Furthermore, it is revealed that community norms can lead entrepreneurs to share their various resources and engage in social entrepreneurial practices. Throughout, entrepreneurs' embeddedness within and negotiation between these social and spatial contexts is shown to be dependent upon their temporal contexts, further attesting to the considerable impacts of contexts upon entrepreneurs.While it has long been recognised that access to various resources facilitates entrepreneurial processes, little is known about the influence of diverse contexts on the capital accumulation practices of entrepreneurs. Based on the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs, this thesis seeks to advance knowledge by developing a theory of practice which explains how embeddedness in multiple contexts affects entrepreneurs' resource management practices. Specifically, this study focuses on the effects of embeddedness in households and communities on the capital conversion and sharing practices of craft entrepreneurs. In doing so, it enhances understanding of entrepreneurs' social, spatial and temporal contexts. First, this study reveals a range of hitherto unidentified conversion processes, many of which involve the accumulation of multiple forms of capital, highlighting the complex nature of capital transformations. It also identifies a range of inhibitors and facilitators of these processes, which can be conversion-specific and can derive from household and community embeddedness. Second, the findings show that household members help entrepreneurs not only by providing free resources, but also by developing their psychological capital through boosting self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. Such emotional support is found to be particularly helpful in times of anxiety and stress and reliant upon household members' understanding of the entrepreneur. However, this study also demonstrates that household members' needs, problems and opinions can inhibit entrepreneurial practices, calling attention to the multifaceted relationship between business and family. Third, the data show the significant impact of embeddedness in communities upon entrepreneurs' actions. Participants are found to employ strategic actions to meet the expectations of community members and to conceal non-conforming traits and behaviours. Furthermore, it is revealed that community norms can lead entrepreneurs to share their various resources and engage in social entrepreneurial practices. Throughout, entrepreneurs' embeddedness within and negotiation between these social and spatial contexts is shown to be dependent upon their temporal contexts, further attesting to the considerable impacts of contexts upon entrepreneurs

The importance of ‘fitting in’: collaboration and social value creation in response to community norms and expectations

This article explores the effects of embeddedness in communities upon entrepreneurial practices. Based on the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs, this study reveals that within certain contexts, such as craft communities, entrepreneurs are expected to exhibit high levels of camaraderie and generosity, which leads them to create social value by supporting their peers and freely sharing their resources. Entrepreneurs achieve ‘fitting in’ not only by learning accepted norms, but also by performing strategic actions which allow them to temporarily adapt their conduct to meet the expectations of community members. Thus, this study exposes a largely concealed element of social entrepreneurial practice. This article also reveals that embeddedness in communities can lead entrepreneurs to collaborate with potential competitors. Craft entrepreneurs share their economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital in order to support and help revitalise their communities, to perpetuate their respective industries and to sustain a genuine interest in hand-crafted products. They consider such supportive behaviour a social responsibility that is shared among community members and a task that is passed from one generation to the next. Thus, this article reveals that collaboration and social value creation can be embraced in response to community norms and expectations

The process of embedding a small firm in its industrial context

This article explores the activities involved in embedding a small firm in its industrial context. Inductive analysis of longitudinal, case study data collected from a small firm in the creative industries highlights the use of networks and networking as embedding mechanisms. Key emergent themes include the impacts of pre-embeddedness (defined as the sum of all cultural, social and symbolic capital accessible to the founding team prior to business start-up), the vision and network orientation of the founding team and their strategic use of networking. The interplay between these conditions and activities is revealed as important in building legitimacy, which is critical for embedding a firm in its industrial context. This article extends knowledge of embedding beyond the initial phase of new venture creation and highlights the emergent and evolving dynamics behind this process

Painting the full picture : the conversion of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital

This article explores how and why entrepreneurs convert their available economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital. We utilise Bourdieu’s theory of practice as a conceptual framework to explore the lived experiences of 10 craft entrepreneurs. This study reveals that transforming capital is a natural and enjoyable process, with our findings highlighting the convertible, multifaceted nature of different forms of capital. We also uncover previously unidentified forms of capital conversions and demonstrate that the conversion process can involve multiple forms of capital. Furthermore, our findings show that craft entrepreneurs give no primacy to economic capital, whose transformations form part of a larger process of capital conversion

Collaborating to perpetuate an industry : a social responsibility

This study investigates how and why different communities affect the practices of entrepreneurs. Based on the lived experiences of 10 cultural entrepreneurs in rural communities, the findings highlight the overlapping nature of social fields. This study reveals that embeddedness in certain contexts, such as creative communities, can lead entrepreneurs to share their various resources with industry members to help one another and to advance the cultural field as a whole. Participants consider such practices a social responsibility and a task that is passed from one generation to the next. Thus, their behaviours are more altruistic and supportive towards potential competitors than might be assumed based on exiting research. It is argued that this difference is a consequence of field-specific rules and norms, which can override conventional market-driven logics

Exploring the impact of household and family on craft entrepreneurs

Household and family members have a strong influence on entrepreneurial behaviours and practices. However, entrepreneurship scholars have largely overlooked the impact of household and family on entrepreneurs' abilities to access resources and pursue opportunities. Thus, this chapter draws on prior geographical research to inform its analysis, as extant studies in human and cultural geography explore the relationship between households and home as spaces of (social) production and consumption

Entrepreneurial capital : exploring the perspectives of craft entrepreneurs

This paper explores the importance of entrepreneurial capital for small firms in the craft industries. Specifically, it adopts Bourdieu’s (1986) perspective on capital and investigates the interplay between different forms of capital and also between entrepreneurial capital and experiences of entrepreneurship. This study draws on the emerging body of research on entrepreneurial capital (Erikson, 2002; Firkin, 2003), which highlights the crucial role that non - financial resources play in facilitating firms’ successes (Bhagavatula et al., 2010; Davidsson and Honig, 2003). To date, little attention has been paid to the convertible, multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial capital (Shaw et al., 2008). This paper seeks to address this research gap by exploring the perspectives of craft entrepreneurs. Craft firms are especially relevant to this study as they are regarded as under - researched (Tregear, 2003) and restrained by limited financial resources (Burns et al., 2012). This paper adopts a multiple - case study approach and analyses craft firms in two rural areas (south - west Scotland and north - east England). In answer to the call for more methodological and paradigmatic diversity (Grant and Perren, 2002; Neergaard and Ulhøi, 2007), we chose to embrace an interpretivist perspective and conduct a phenomenological inquiry (Cope, 2005). Thus, the theoretical propositions we develop are grounded in the lived experiences of the participating entrepreneurs. Our study highlights the importance of social, cultural/human and symbolic capital to small firm owners and illustrates the fundamental role of these non - financial resources in supplementing craft entrepreneurs' economic capital. Our findings also reveal that the entrepreneurial capital possessed by and available to entrepreneurs is multifaceted and convertible. Furthermore, our empirical evidence shows that craft entrepreneurs are willing to share their capital in order to help one another and advance the industry as a whole. Our findings suggest that small firm owners will benefit from recognising the convertible nature of their entrepreneurial capital. Additionally, we propose that entrepreneurs who seek to produce expensive and specialised craft items acquire high levels of social, cultural and symbolic capital to facilitate their sales. Our findings will be of interest to educators and policymakers as they will be able to support entrepreneurs in expanding their entrepreneurial capital. This paper draws on rich empirical evidence to contribute to the academic debate on entrepreneurial capital. It also adds to the limited amount of business research conducted on firms in craft industries. Our study will be of practical value to small firm owners in general and craftspeople in particular as they will be able to learn from the advice derived from the lived experiences of the participants in this study

Entrepreneurial ideation : exploring the role of creativity

Creativity is key to producing novel and useful ideas that can be turned into viable business opportunities. However, little is known about how entrepreneurs employ creativity to develop ideas over time. In this paper, we address this research gap by exploring the perspectives of entrepreneurs in creative industries

Why context matters : the influence of embeddedness in multiple communities

Embeddedness in a context provides entrepreneurs with opportunities and set boundaries to their actions. However, little is known about how and why multiple contexts and their associated logics of practice affect entrepreneurs. We address this research gap by exploring the lived experiences of 10 cultural entrepreneurs based in rural communities

Fields of power : exploring the perspectives of women entrepreneurs in rural communities

This paper explores the importance of fields of power for women entrepreneurs in rural communities. Specifically, we employ Bourdieu's (1977; 1984; 1986) theory of practice and investigate the interplay between field characteristics relating to habitus and entrepreneurial capital and their impact on entrepreneurial behaviours and practices