Healthcare providers have been encouraged to become entrepreneurs to fill a widening service gap in depleted rural areas. This paper explores how these entrepreneurs add value, finding a complex multidimensional process of value creation in rural healthcare. Taking a grounded approach, 40 health entrepreneurs were interviewed across the health settings of four European countries characterised by ‘mixed’ public–private healthcare. Through an institutional logic framing, the paper builds a novel process theory of value creation in a rural socio-spatial context. It identifies value creation elements, effects and diverging institutional logics characterised by polysemy and polyphony. Overlaid on the bio-physical layer, areas of healthcare value creation hybridity are identified, with implications for the resilience of rural communities and sustainability of rural healthcare enterprises. By presenting an agent-relative and pluralistic theory of rural healthcare entrepreneurship, the paper adds an understanding of multidimensional value creation and contributes to entrepreneurial context and everyday entrepreneurship debates. This paper deals with the provision of healthcare services in rural areas by non-state actors, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemics. It focuses on health entrepreneurship for community resilience in the face of economic and health crises. To fill a widening service gap, created through a withdrawal of the state actors, rural healthcare providers have been encouraged to become entrepreneurs and innovate to meet multiple needs. This research aimed to understand how these entrepreneurs add value, finding a multidimensional process of value creation in rural healthcare. Healthcare entrepreneurs find themselves at the intersection of conflicting goals, needing to perform multiple roles simultaneously. The main implication of this study is that rural healthcare entrepreneurs maintain healthcare standards while providing for their own needs, balancing financial viability and business sustainability, whilst caring for the resilience of their local community and environment.

PurposeThis study examines the questions "how do entrepreneurs operating in slums make sense of their environment?" and "how do entrepreneurs view entrepreneurship as emancipating?" This study extends research on social imaginary which represents how people make meanings and structures that guide individual and collective actions and values in the society.Design/methodology/approachBased on qualitative method, data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with 42 entrepreneurs and community leaders from Abuja slums of Nigeria. Through thematic analysis involving coding and recoding, 8 grounded first-order codes and 3 abductively derived second-order codes were identified.FindingsThe findings reveal two forms of entrepreneuring in the slums - individual and community-oriented (collective) entrepreneurship. This article proposes that social imagination of slum entrepreneurs is bound by situational conditions and emancipatory entrepreneuring may be driven by individual and collective aspirations and values. Entrepreneurs operating in slums create shared empowerment through collective emancipation, social and community embeddedness.Research limitations/implicationsThis article makes three key contributions to knowledge: proposing an empirically derived proposition of social imaginary of emancipation and entrepreneurship, responding to calls to bring indigenous voices to the forefront and adding to knowledge on slum entrepreneurship.Originality/valueFew studies examine social imaginary of emancipatory entrepreneuring from the context of the slum environment. This article contributes to advancement of United Nations - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 (No poverty), 10 (Reduced inequalities) and 11 (Sustainable cities and communities).

Purpose The paper argues that the Community Pharmacy (CP) is an example of a hybrid enterprise that spans across social fields. Using a Bourdieusian practice theory lens and longitudinal data, the research explores the role of these hybrid health enterprises in the marginal communities they serve. We pay regard to times of crises as the boundaries of these enterprises are challenged. Design/methodology/approach In longitudinal qualitative research, we undertook three rounds of interviews with the same CPs between 2020 and 2024 in provincial Greece. Greece provided rich context to explore the impact of the 2009+ Sovereign Debt Crisis and the 2019+ COVID-19 crisis on healthcare and entrepreneurship social fields. Thirty-three interview transcripts were translated, transcribed and analysed, identifying key themes. Findings As hybrid enterprises CPs take on a plurality of roles, with a public health identity central. They adapted to successive crises, demonstrating the resilience of these for-profit enterprises during difficult economic times and their ability to flexibly seize opportunities during challenging healthcare times. CPs maintain relational practices oriented on healthcare goods but take on other community-supporting practices that require high cultural capital. Originality/value The paper contributes to theory by recognising CPs as a unique form of everyday enterprise; extending Bourdieusian practice theory to explain changing practice within marginal rural communities; and considering how CPs may inherit cultural capital responsibilities vacated by other professionals. The paper has recommendations for policy that could help these critical everyday healthcare entrepreneurs and marginal communities survive.

Purpose This paper investigates how individuals' decision-making approach and perceptions of a game's cognitive realism affect the performance of virtual businesses in a web-based simulation game. Design/methodology/approach Survey data are collected from 274 business simulation game users and is analysed using the fsQCA technique. Findings The study identifies three alternative pathways to high and low performance in a business simulation game. Results indicate that a flexible decision-making approach exists in all high performance pathway solutions. Where a game is perceived to be realistic, a more focused decision-making approach is associated with high performance. However, where perceived cognitive realism is absent, a less focused experimental decision-making approach is employed, which increases the chances to achieve low performance. Finally, perceived cognitive realism and an experimental decision-making approach are found to be mutually exclusive for achieving high performance. Originality/value Whilst the learning benefits of web-based simulation games are widely acknowledged, the complex interplay amongst factors affecting performance in games is under-researched. Limited research exists on how perceptions of a game's cognitive realism interact with user decision-making approaches to affect performance.

This paper proposes and tests a new conceptual framing for franchisee performance that draws on institutional complexity to explore the interaction of corporate, market, and relational logics of performance. Extant research draws on corporate and market logics to explain performance; however, this does not explain individual franchisee performance in complex institutional environments such as Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) markets where relational logics may be more important, thereby limiting explanations of how franchisee outlets perform. Drawing on data from a network of 58 franchise outlets in the context of Kenya, we conduct a configurational analysis related to sales outcomes. We leverage fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to map out the conditions under which franchisees exhibit higher sales performance. Results show that three distinct configurations can lead to increased sales performance. Our results paint a nuanced picture of combinations of factors that result in franchisee success with relevance to the BoP context and beyond.

There is now consensus that entrepreneurial skills can be learned and entrepreneurship can be taught. Consequently, entrepreneurship programmes across all levels of education have rapidly expanded internationally, including in sub-Saharan universities where it is promoted to address the growing youth under- and unemployment challenge. However, previous research argues that a skills gap among entrepreneurship educators, primarily related to their subject knowledge and pedagogical toolbox, impedes the effective implementation of the subject. This chapter explores the challenges entrepreneurship educators experience in teaching the new subject in Higher Education. Interviews with 13 entrepreneurship educators were conducted and analysed using an inductive thematic approach. The study's results identified academic managers' lack of understanding of entrepreneurship education and their subsequent lack of active support for its implementation as a substantial factor limiting the practice of entrepreneurship educators in Higher Education. While macro-contextual factors and institutional context are now recognised as critical factors impacting entrepreneurial activity, the role and impact of academic managers as a contextual factor influencing entrepreneurship educators remains under-researched and literature on the topic remains limited mainly to the mandatory school context. Findings from this study intend to extend our understanding of academic managers as a contextual factor within the Higher Education context and entrepreneurship education.

PurposeExisting research of modern literature have shown that the phenomenon of digital entrepreneurship is lacking in robust theoretical foundations on several occasions. This article is a comprehensive literature study that focuses on the phenomena of digital entrepreneurship and offers views on the subject to provide insights into recent advancements in the area. Design/methodology/approachIn order to achieve a conception of the phenomena, using the PRISMA flow chart, the significant findings were organised into themes, contexts and approaches. A comprehensive evaluation of the relevant previous research was carried out. Both the Web of Science and Scopus were utilised to locate, extract, select and evaluate relevant papers based on the keywords found during the search. In the end, papers from 92 different publications that are indexed by SSCI were chosen for this investigation. FindingsThis comprehensive literature analysis was to identify current research routes on digital entrepreneurship. In conclusion, this study generates outcomes that describe the process by which digital entrepreneurship are recognised and discussed: digital business models; digital entrepreneurship process; platform tactics; technology adoption; entrepreneurship and digital business. Originality/valueBy setting the framework for additional research development and motivating scholars to pursue this issue, the study contributes to the understanding of the conceptualisation of digital entrepreneurship.

Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has consolidated over the past decades. This study ventures beyond traditional analyses that primarily focus on quantitative outcomes to investigate the foundational processes that can facilitate a range of socio-economic advantages. Recognizing a gap in the existing literature, which often correlates input factors with anticipated benefits yet struggles to unearth underlying mechanisms, our research offers a novel perspective through applying a network-centric service ecosystem lens grounded in a service-dominant logic. Utilizing a qualitative approach based on pragmatic abduction, 16 narrative interviews explored the experiences and perspectives of multiple entrepreneurial actors within a privately governed Spanish ecosystem. Findings present a conceptual model that bridges emphasis between structure and outcomes with those of agency and strategy. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are interactive hubs where entrepreneurs and various other business-related players collaborate in helping to create new companies and jobs in our communities. Traditionally, entrepreneurial ecosystem success is measured by looking at the number and growth rate of new startups. But is this the complete picture? In our study, we went deeper trying to understand not just what makes these ecosystems successful (like creating new startups), but also how they manage to do it. By interviewing 16 entrepreneurial ecosystem members in a privately governed Spanish ecosystem, we unraveled the processes and mechanics that help new businesses emerge and thrive. The key implication of this study is the recognition that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is composed of multiple actors who exchange services in search of multiple valued outcomes.

Entrepreneurs raise money from multiple funding sources over time; however, studies of entrepreneurial finance typically focus on a dyadic view based on Global North institutional scaffolds. Taking a contextualised approach that understands funding as situated in local conditions, this research explores the influence of an emerging economy context on a financing process that incorporates multiple sources. Based on analysis of 36 interviews with entrepreneurs and financiers in Thailand, the research offers a model that identifies emerging entrepreneur–financier relationships and strategies for navigating multiple logics. Accessing funding involves a process of deal-making that requires multiple foci of attention over time. This article advances institutional theory by reclassifying how entrepreneurs interact with heterogeneous resource holders. Divergent logical pathways of relational formation are found among various types of financiers, suggesting an underlying institutional logic is not universal. Instead, it depends on the habitual organising principles of the focal actors and strategies adopted to manage the requirements of multiple funders.

Local business associations can be important mechanisms for stimulating inter-firm cooperation leading to economic growth and development. However, previous research suggests that the unfulfilled expectations of their members can lead to low participation, high membership churn and network instability over time. As a departure from studies that have explored why local associations supply certain benefits and services, this paper draws on an original, demand side membership survey of local business associations to identify for the first time the bundles of benefits sought by members. Two bundles of benefits (instrumental and info-social) relating to thin and thick models of rational choice, respectively, are identified in explaining why firms join and remain part of associations. The relevance of these bundles to members was found to vary with business profile and length of membership, with the value of instrumental benefits reducing over time, whereas the demand for info-social benefits remained relatively stable. The findings have important implications for local strategies for sustaining business networks.

Purpose Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) seeks to understand the EO–performance relationship. However, at a strategic level, performance relates to a competitive advantage and comprises both value-added and efficiency measures. Following arguments that performance is context and strategy dependent, the paper argues that EO research needs to clarify and specify the type of performance relationship measured. Design/methodology/approach To explore the EO–performance relationship, the research considers the agricultural sector where policy has traditionally encouraged the maximisation of efficiency in production and has only recently promoted entrepreneurship, providing fertile ground to explore different approaches to measuring performance. A survey collected detailed accounting records and context specific EO for 282 commercial farms. The authors estimate two models (Heckman selection regression and stochastic production frontier) that examine the relationships between EO and value-added/efficiency performance outcomes. Findings The analysis confirms the EO–value-added performance relationship, with significant positive relationships for the EO components proactiveness and innovativeness and a negative relationship for risk. No EO–efficiency performance relationship was found, despite a robust analysis of technical efficiency using detailed accounting data. Originality/value The paper contributes to EO theory by problematizing performance and highlighting the importance of the type of performance measured. This paper contributes empirically with findings relating to a mature industry contributes to entrepreneurship methodology by outlining how EO–performance relationships can be measured in terms of productivity and technical efficiency.

The creative and cultural economy in East Africa is central to regional future growth. However, visual artists appear to lack the supporting institutions commonplace in the Global North and there is a lack of understanding concerning how they make a living. This chapter addresses this question, exploring data collected as part of an interdisciplinary research project. Through 21 interviews and action research with 60 participants in Kenya and Uganda, we explore how artists construct sustainable livelihoods both through and for art. We then recommend areas for future development.

Contemporary representations of entrepreneurship only reflect the past and present, not the utopian or dystopian futures that entrepreneurial behaviours may create. Given calls for alternative narratives of entrepreneurship that challenge the orthodoxy, there is a need to critique the multiple simultaneous representations of entrepreneurship and their potential impact on our future. Using Baudrillard's concept of simulacra, this paper proposes a new epistemological way to interrogate future entrepreneurial reality through a radical hyper-real frame and an empirical deviation from the norm. The paper introduces and critiques representations that contribute an entrepreneurial imaginary based on contemporary discourse. Through viewing and coding for entrepreneurial behaviours observed in the top-30 Zombie movies, a deviant simulacrum that is far from our field is constructed. This is used to generate a new empirically derived taxonomy that challenges existing entrepreneurial representations and suggests the impossibility of a single entrepreneurial reality. Through this deconstruction, we highlight how entrepreneurial behaviours take on alternative meaning when explored through other realities. By comparing the Zombie genre as simulacra with extant entrepreneurial simulacra, we critically challenge our entrepreneurial system of meaning, providing a perspective where entrepreneurial behaviour may lead to different outcomes depending on the reality pursued.

Drawing on current development practice and literature on Entrepreneurial support organizations (ESO), such as accelerators, incubators, and labs, this chapter explores how refugees in Uganda are supported through entrepreneurial approaches. Following an exploratory method, interviews were conducted with proprietors and managers of ESO in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The findings show that while the majority of these organizations purport to follow an innovation discourse, in reality, they support refugees through a mixture of inclusion, resilience, and innovation-led approaches. Inclusion-led approaches focus on basic language skills, establishing peer relationships, and access to survival essentials. Resilience-led approaches nurture livelihood skills, building community ties, and access to seed-corn grants. Innovation-led approaches develop entrepreneurial skills, establishing extra-local connectivity and access to micro-finance. This chapter highlights the critical importance of inclusion and resilience-led approaches in developing supportive ESO for refugees.

What drives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter export markets? This study introduces a configuration approach using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to show that, contrary to previous findings, export intention does not depend on any one managerial characteristic, but rather on the interplay of these attributes. Using a sample of 180 Algerian non-exporters, findings suggest that firms’ export intention is determined by two distinct combinations of managerial attributes, namely: (export perception*entrepreneurial orientation) and (export perception*international orientation*foreign knowledge*Age). In line with the emerging resource orchestration view, such findings hold significant implications for both theory and practice.

In this paper, we revisit the entrepreneurship and poverty relationship under a eudaimonic perspective that brings together conversion factors, and future prosperity expectations. Based on an fsQCA of changes in life circumstances of 166 farm households in rural Kenya, we explore how different combinations of conversion factors enable distinct forms of entrepreneuring in the pursuit of prosperity. Results show that strong entrepreneurship-enabled future prosperity expectations result from three combinations of enabling conversion factors shaping up three varieties of entrepreneurial endeavors: family-frugal, individual-market, and family-inwards, which show a much more diverse and counterintuitive reality. Our research contributes to literature by revealing and theorizing on a split picture portraying the many ways in which farmers, acting as everyday entrepreneurs, exploit real opportunities in seemingly identical impoverished communities. It also reveals a central disconnect between entrepreneurship, life-satisfaction and financial improvements when assessed against expectations of future prosperity. In doing so, this paper responds to calls for a better understanding of the processes whereby entrepreneurship can distinctively improve current and future life circumstances, and the many ways in which this may happen.