TY - JOUR
T1 - On the question of entrepreneurial breakthrough or failure in Africa
T2 - a framework for analysis
AU - Yeboah-Assiamah, Emmanuel
AU - Hossain, Farhad
AU - Mamman, Aminu
AU - Rees, Christopher J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2023/6/6
Y1 - 2023/6/6
N2 - Purpose: Having the right intent, aspiration, ability and attitude to become an entrepreneur has become the mantra in the extant literature to be driver of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise (SME) growth. Why would zealous and ambitious individuals with all rightful attributes so required of entrepreneurs have to fizzle out few years after venturing into business or SMEs? Perhaps these same individuals may relocate to other jurisdictions and would establish successful firms even beyond their imaginations. Beyond the individual’s entrepreneurial attributes, there are other external countervailing forces which either “enable” or “impede” entrepreneurial drive and SME growth processes. Adopting the theory of planned behavior, this study conceptualizes a systems framework to analyze how SMEs either flourish or fail in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The study relies on secondary sources of data. It adopts a critical stage review of secondary data. Findings: The study argues that the interplay of “internal factors” and “external factors” of prospective entrepreneurs provides a useful framework to explain the general SME outlook of an economy. The study postulates that many internally driven prospective SME entrants (with entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and aspirations) mostly in the developing economies may have their dreams shattered because of obstructive external ecological elements which tend to frustrate new business entrants as well as existing ones. Originality/value: With the aid of a framework, this study conceptualizes a comprehensive framework to analyze how SMEs either flourish or fail in developing countries.
AB - Purpose: Having the right intent, aspiration, ability and attitude to become an entrepreneur has become the mantra in the extant literature to be driver of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise (SME) growth. Why would zealous and ambitious individuals with all rightful attributes so required of entrepreneurs have to fizzle out few years after venturing into business or SMEs? Perhaps these same individuals may relocate to other jurisdictions and would establish successful firms even beyond their imaginations. Beyond the individual’s entrepreneurial attributes, there are other external countervailing forces which either “enable” or “impede” entrepreneurial drive and SME growth processes. Adopting the theory of planned behavior, this study conceptualizes a systems framework to analyze how SMEs either flourish or fail in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The study relies on secondary sources of data. It adopts a critical stage review of secondary data. Findings: The study argues that the interplay of “internal factors” and “external factors” of prospective entrepreneurs provides a useful framework to explain the general SME outlook of an economy. The study postulates that many internally driven prospective SME entrants (with entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and aspirations) mostly in the developing economies may have their dreams shattered because of obstructive external ecological elements which tend to frustrate new business entrants as well as existing ones. Originality/value: With the aid of a framework, this study conceptualizes a comprehensive framework to analyze how SMEs either flourish or fail in developing countries.
KW - Enabling environment
KW - Entrepreneurship
KW - Institutions
KW - Regulations
KW - SMEs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152968384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/AJEMS-05-2022-0184
DO - 10.1108/AJEMS-05-2022-0184
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85152968384
SN - 2040-0705
VL - 14
SP - 289
EP - 312
JO - African Journal of Economic and Management Studies
JF - African Journal of Economic and Management Studies
IS - 2
ER -