thesis
The entrepreneurial brew investigating the reflexive duality of drivers and determinants to antrepreneurship – a comparative analysis of the Ethiopian and Rwandan coffee markets
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Abstract
Entrepreneurship is an interdisciplinary process regarded to have the potential to create wide
ranging socio-economic impact, however the fuller understanding of entrepreneurs operating
within emerging markets or developing economies remains somewhat ambiguous. As such,
this study examined entrepreneurship through the interdependence of the individual and
context, examining the unique notion of co-evolution and reflexivity to and from
entrepreneurial action and institutional elements within a specific context. Creating a more
comprehensive understanding of the duality of the entrepreneur and operational context
within an emerging market, this study addressed three main objectives, investigating: the
individual internal characteristics, or drivers, of the entrepreneur; the influences from
external dynamics and institutions, or determinants, on entrepreneurial outlook and action;
and finally, if and how entrepreneurial action can be reflexive to and from existing
institutions as both co-evolve within operational structures.
The conceptual framework developed for this research was informed by Structuration
Theory, which interprets entrepreneurship as a co-evolving construction of structure, agent
and social system, providing a theoretical outline for the empirical analysis of
entrepreneurship as a reflexive interdependent duality. Research used the coffee sectors of
Ethiopia and Rwanda to structure the investigation of entrepreneurs given the similarly linear
formations of each marketplace. Use of the respective coffee markets provided a framework
for detailed analysis of entrepreneurship occurring across a range of entrepreneurial
classifications and different business models across the coffee industries, comprising
Smallholder Producers, Processors and Exporters. This comparative analysis further
examined the entrepreneurial phenomenon within opposing economic systems of market
liberalization and political embrace, using participatory qualitative and quantitative methods
to collect and analyse data, and interpret results.
Empirical analysis between the internal construct of Entrepreneurs and Non-Entrepreneurs
revealed inherent differences as well as varying strengths and weaknesses of the tested
drivers across the different business types. Comparative analyses of operational contexts
found multiple elements to influence entrepreneurship and revealed situations of
entrepreneurial constriction and entrepreneurial dynamism. Examination of entrepreneurship
as an interdependent whole demonstrated the reflexive nature of entrepreneurial action on
systems and structures, revealing both positive and negative outcomes of reflexivity and
additionality.
This thesis identified, demonstrated and explored entrepreneurship as a multifaceted,
composition of the interdependence of the entrepreneur and operational context; with
entrepreneurship found to have the potential for introducing change, only if embraced
through the appropriate systems