scholarly journals Immigrant entrepreneurs in rural England – An examination of the socio- cultural barriers facing migrant small businesses in Lincolnshire

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 676-694
Author(s):  
Dieu Hack-Polay ◽  
Justice Tenna Ogbaburu ◽  
Mahfuzur Rahman ◽  
Ali B Mahmoud

A growing body of literature recognises the crucial role played by immigrant entrepreneurs. However, certain socio-cultural barriers adversely affect their businesses in rural areas. Thus, this article examines the socio-cultural barriers facing immigrant entrepreneurs in Lincolnshire. Eleven semi-structured interviews were held with businesses owned by immigrants from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The findings identified migrant ethnocentrism, stereotypes, cultural differences and language differences as key socio-cultural barriers adversely affecting immigrant businesses in Lincolnshire. The research found that immigrant enterprises experienced growth issues, not just owing to the size of the market but also due to issues of embeddedness in the socio-economic nomenclature. The study found mixed embeddedness to be key to immigrant entrepreneurial success. This involves immigrant adaptation to develop relational embeddedness with the hosts, involvement with its social, structural and institutional frameworks. The study contributes to our understanding of the role of social, relational, structural and institutional embeddedness in steering fertile approaches to immigrant entrepreneurship in rural England which has been under-researched.

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
SONIYA BILLORE ◽  
AHMAD HJ ZAINUDDIN ◽  
NORASHFAH HANIM YAAKOP YAHAYA AL-HAJ ◽  
DAPHNE HALKIAS

The role of women in Japan was traditionally restricted to housekeeping and childrearing. Over the years, changes in Japanese lifestyle and attitudes have created new grounds for women to venture into small businesses. Although this new personality aspect of women has been accepted, by and large, in larger cities of Japan, it is yet to be accepted in rural areas. Given this background, it becomes even more challenging for a foreigner — an immigrant woman entrepreneur — to set up shop and conduct business in Japan. This study looks at the status of female immigrant entrepreneurs in Japan. Through a qualitative study, it explores the experiences and challenges female entrepreneurs must face before they achieve stability in their businesses. It highlights and draws attention to areas where changes in governance structure and social acceptance can be made so a more positive environment can be built up and the relationship between Japan and the immigrant entrepreneurs can be strengthened.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andrea Marie Tappmeyer

This study explores the concept of transnationalism through individual experiences of migrants from the community of Villa Sandino, Nicaragua that have become entrepreneurs as immigrants in the United States. Through semi-structured interviews, their unique entrepreneurial journeys and transnational engagement are examined using qualitative research methods. Both with-in and temporal cross case analyses were utilized to present a comprehensive investigation. Specifically, the determinants, motivations and strategies of these immigrant Latino entrepreneurs that participate in transnational engagement are observed. Also, the experiences of the immigrant entrepreneurs are explored to understand the local ecosystem and institutions that supports these individuals' entrepreneurial success in their receiving communities of San Francisco and Miami as well as investigate the concept of transnationalism from below.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe T.R. Ndoro ◽  
Lynette Louw ◽  
MacDonald Kanyangale

Orientation: There is a growing prevalence of entrepreneurial activity by immigrant entrepreneurs in different sectors of various economies across the world. Immigrant entrepreneurs seek to identify opportunities to grow and sustain their businesses in hostile business markets. Immigrant entrepreneurs use an array of channels of communication to gain insight of the opportunities in the market.Research purpose: The study sought to investigate the communication channels used by Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs to identify opportunities in the host community market.Motivation for the study: The study was undertaken given the dearth of research on the role of communication channels in enabling the identification of opportunities by immigrant entrepreneurs.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative research design was adopted in which purposive and snowball sampling were adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs operating small businesses in the South African context.Main findings: The results indicate that the immigrant entrepreneurs identified opportunities in the business environment through establishing channels of communication that manifested as networks with family members, customers, local employees and competitors. Building relationships through networks was key for the process of identifying opportunities.Practical/managerial implications: The study provides evidence that information about opportunities in the market is identified through dynamic channels of communication characterised by networks with different stakeholders.Contribution/value-add: Communication channels are pivotal in enabling the identification of opportunities in the business environment. Immigrant entrepreneurs actively create and sustain their relationships with various stakeholders in the business environment to be able to identify opportunities in the business environment.


Author(s):  
Marcia Mkansi ◽  
Sander de Leeuw ◽  
Olatoye Amosun

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile application supported townshipand urban e-grocery distribution models that uses a software application (app) to bridge the infrastructural barriers, costs and complexities associated with e-grocery delivery operations in rural township areas. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative multi-case approach and semi-structured interviews, the study explored distribution practices of eight national emerging e-grocery retail businesses to demonstrate how mobile applications can facilitate South African urban and township e-grocery delivery models. Findings The study reveals how the need to scale the use of new mobile application innovations fuels value-added services that power new e-grocery distribution models. Of interest is how the application aggregates demand rapidly, respond to demand within a short lead time and how e-grocers use competitors’ stores as their fulfilment centres. The use of apps reveals a slow transformation of society towards an inclusive model that integrates different types of workers in an informal context. Practical implications The mobile application value-added service business model offers a new wave of scaling e-grocery retail to rural and township areas constrained by technological, economic and road infrastructure. The apps transcend e-grocery barriers and enables small businesses with limited resources to leverage e-grocery market opportunities that are unimaginable in townships and rural areas. Originality/value The innovative mobile platform-base model offers emerging contextual insight of a pull e-grocery distribution model that demonstrates the supply chain innovations for addressing under-resource and under-developed logistics infrastructure.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalowar Hossan

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the entrepreneurial success of rural women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Non-probability sampling specifically convenience sampling is used to draw the sample and data is collected using the self-administered survey. Regression analysis and descriptive statistics are used to analyze the data. The study discloses that motivational factors, government policy and financial support have significant influence on the rural women entrepreneurial success in Bangladesh. Due to lack of suitable training and proper development as well as ICT knowledge, the rural women of Bangladesh could not accomplish the achievement. Half of the total populations of Bangladesh are female and most of them live in rural areas. Therefore, the government and the policymakers in Bangladesh should develop the potential of rural women entrepreneurs by providing development facilities, proper training, and ICT knowledge.


Author(s):  
Aleksandra G. Balakhnina ◽  
Gulnara F. Romashkina

This article systematizes the legal framework, forms, and volumes of support for agriculture from the federal budget of Russia and the regional budget (on the example of the Tyumen Region). The authors have performed a detailed analysis of the directions of such support for 2016-2019. The historical, economic and social features of the relationship between the state and agriculture are shown. State support for agriculture is objectively necessary, and competent budget planning makes it possible to develop. However, the dominance of direct forms of spending support does not stimulate cost-effective and innovative activities, which in the future can bring the industry to a competitive level. There is very little and irregular support for social forms, the development of farming and other forms of private farming in rural areas. The authors conclude that the policy of state support is sufficiently provided by legislative acts, resolutions and state programs. Many programs are updated, and new versions are adopted even before the previous ones expire. Such strong volatility hurts strategic projects and agricultural initiatives. Less expensive forms of activity-mediation and trade turn profitable. Living conditions in the villages significantly stay behind in quality and opportunities, which leads to the human capital leaving rural areas. The authors propose to pay more attention to the development of indirect forms of support, to stimulate economic activity and small businesses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda A. Lee ◽  
Maia Ingram ◽  
Carolina Quijada ◽  
Andres Yubeta ◽  
Imelda Cortez ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Throughout the United States, low-wage, minority workers are disproportionately affected by occupational illnesses and injuries. Chronic exposure to hazardous chemicals at work can lead to serious illnesses, contributing to health inequities. In this article, we expand on theories of ‘responsibilization’ in an occupational health context to reveal how responsibilities for workplace chemical exposures are negotiated by workers and owners in Latinx-owned small businesses. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with a total of 22 workers and owners in auto repair shops and beauty salons – two high-risk industries – in Southern Metropolitan Tucson. Participants were asked about their insights into workplace chemical exposures and health. A qualitative analysis team with representation from all study partner organizations collectively coded and reviewed the interview data in QSR International’s NVivo 11 and identified overarching themes across the interviews. Results We identified three primary themes: 1) ambivalence toward risks in the workplace; 2) shifting responsibilities for exposure protection at work; and 3) reflections on the system behind chemical exposure risks. Participants discussed the complexities that small businesses face in reducing chemical exposures. Conclusions Through our analysis of the interviews, we examine how neoliberal occupational and environmental policies funnel responsibility for controlling chemical exposures down to individuals in small businesses with limited resources, obscuring the power structures that maintain environmental health injustices. We conclude with a call for upstream policy changes that more effectively regulate and hold accountable the manufacturers of chemical products used daily by small business workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692199686
Author(s):  
Borja Rivero Jiménez ◽  
David Conde-Caballero ◽  
Lorenzo Mariano Juárez

Loneliness among the elderly has become a pressing issue in Western societies. In the Spanish context, the problem of the so-called “empty” Spain disproportionately affects this population group—elderly individuals living in rural areas with low population density, and therefore at higher risk of social exclusion and isolation. We introduce here a mixed-method, quantitative-qualitative research protocol, triangulated with technological tools, designed to improve both data acquisition and subsequent data analysis and interpretation. This study will take place in a rural locality in the Extremadura region (Spain), chosen according to a particular socio-demographic profile. The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale will be used on a cohort of 80 people over 65 years old. Within this cohort, a smaller sample of 20–30 individuals will be selected for semi-structured interviews about their beliefs and experiences of loneliness. Finally, data gathered from technological tools (smartbands, Bluetooth sensors) will allow us to monitor social interactions and to map daily loneliness/interaction patterns. Data will be triangulated by analyzing and comparing the empirical material gathered through these different methods and tools. Strict adherence to ethical standards for data protection and handling will be essential through data collection and analysis. As well as providing insights into the phenomenon of loneliness in old age, the use of different methods and tools for data collection will provide the basis for an epistemological reflection on the scope and limits of each one of these methods.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 728-728
Author(s):  
H Shellae Versey

Abstract Homelessness is a reality for a growing number of Americans living in small towns and rural areas. However, unlike in cities, housing instability may be less visible. Using a photo-elicitation method (i.e., Photovoice), this study explores the meaning of place and obscured visibility to currently and formerly homeless older adults living in a small town in central Connecticut. Participants (N = 27) were recruited from a local service agency, given cameras and asked to photograph areas around town that were meaningful to them. Photographs were developed and followed by in-person, semi-structured interviews with participants in which photos and experiences during the project were discussed. Primary themes included belonging, generativity, social isolation, and place-making as meaning-making. The study culminated in a community photography exhibition in which photographs from the project were displayed in public spaces around town. Implications for community-based interventions to reach homeless groups in rural areas are discussed. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Qualitative Research Interest Group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjing Zhu ◽  
Binsheng Luo ◽  
Ben La ◽  
Ruijie Chen ◽  
Fenggui Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Salar is a Turkic-speaking Islamic ethnic group in China living mainly in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (Xunhua or Xunhua County), Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Salar people are skilled in horticulture and their homegarden (HG) management. They are regarded as the first people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to practice horticulture, especially manage their HGs, traditional farming systems, and supplementary food production systems. Traditional knowledge of Salar people associated with their HGs always contributes significantly to the local livelihood, food security, ornamental value, and biodiversity conservation. The cultivation of different plants in HGs for self-sufficiency has a long tradition in China’s rural areas, especially in some mountainous areas. However, Salar traditional HGs have not been described. The present paper aims to report the features of Salar HGs mostly based on agrobiodiversity and its ecosystem services. Methods The methods used in this work included semi-structured interviews and participatory observation. A total of 60 households in three townships, 9 villages were surveyed. There are 4–12 family members in each household, aged from 20 to 86 years old. The homestead size is between 200 and 1200 m2. Plant species cultivated in Salar HGs were identified according to Flora of China. Based on a comprehensive survey of Salar HGs and related to background data, we identified and characterized the most important services and functions provided by Salar HGs. Results According to primary production systems, there are 4 different types of Salar HGs, including ornamental focus, product focus, dual-purpose and multi-purpose. In total, 108 (excluding weeds and bonsai) plant species were recorded in Salar HGs, within 43 plant families. The most important and frequently used plants are Rosa chinensis, Armeniaca vulgar, Prunus salicina, and Ziziphus jujuba. About 4 to 32 plant species were recorded in each homegarden. We found that the Salar HGs, as a typical agroecosyste, prossess multiple servcices and functions that directly benefit households according to the field investigation. Conclusion This paper reveals the floristic diversity of Salar HGs. It presents useful information in the homegarden agroecosystem of Salar people, such as HG types and species diversity in Salar HGs. Ecosystem functions and services research suggested that the Salar HG agroecosystem provides agroecosystem services mainly related to supply and culture services. Salar HGs are important as food supplement resources, aesthetics symbol, and cultural spaces.


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