Entrepreneurship behaviour of African minorities in the UK: 'demystifying cultural influence'

The purpose of this study is to illuminate the role of culture (and feed in factors) on entrepreneurial orientation using a case illustration of two African social communities in the UK. The study uses a combination of in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 18 African (Nigerian and Eritrean) entrepreneurs in the UK, to understand their psychological mindset, critical cultural artefacts, and entrepreneurial orientation influence. While the criticality of the cultural influence is observed to be pronounced in both social groups, the extent of family influence, age-based generational differences, individualism/collectivism propensity, acculturation propensity and extended implication with regards to the utilisation of the various forms of capital (social, human and financial) and entrepreneurial performance, were found to be highly contingent upon the post-conventional culture artefacts. The limited focus on social groups explored, and the qualitative research design of the study are key limitations that could be interrogated further using quantitative research design protocols. The study may also be further developed by exploring additional culture artefacts beyond those conceptualised in this study, as these may influence entrepreneurial activity in other cultural enclaves.