Investigating Entrepreneurship Among Nigerian Retired Military Veterans

The condition of survival within the Nigerian Armed Forces, in terms of post-retirement career options, has inadvertently produced a growing number of ex-service members (veterans) who turned to entrepreneurship to earn income and remain active. However, against the alleged failure of entrepreneurship in this group, this chapter sets out to investigate the nature and characteristics of veteran entrepreneurship. Through the application of case study methodology, the study reveals that veteran entrepreneurship does not differ significantly to civilian entrepreneurship. Veteran entrepreneurs confront the same challenges as their civilian counterparts while veterans' military backgrounds and military training appear to have both facilitating and inhibiting effects on veteran entrepreneurships in Nigeria.

Counselling and Psychological Strategies for Improved Entrepreneurial Tendencies in the Nigerian Military

This chapter examines post-retirement career pathways of ex-service personnel in the Nigerian military via entrepreneurship activities. One of the measures taken to assist ex-service personnel get adjusted into the civil life is the establishment of vocational training, which helps to facilitate viable entrepreneurial events. However, there are psychological issues that must be tackled in order to effectively transit into entrepreneurship. The chapter, therefore, looks at these issues to address the concept of entrepreneurship and its tendencies in the Nigerian military. The findings suggest that objectives and components of entrepreneurship education being advocated should be given to personnel early enough and throughout their military career.

Military Enterprises and Entrepreneurship

The main aim of this chapter is to advance a structure for understanding the notion of military-run enterprise/entrepreneurship. The chapter appraises the macro-level of military entrepreneurship rather than the micro-level (e.g., veteran, military families, or military intrapreneurs) to uncover the paradoxes underpinning this genre of military entrepreneurship. Through a critical review of literature, the presence of “extrepreneurship,” which represents a crossbreed idea located between the concepts of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, is revealed. Extrepreneurs manage/operate for-profit spin-off organizations on behalf of their non-profit parent organizations to generate incomes/profits, among other requirements.

The Studies on Veteran Entrepreneurship in the Past Decade in China

To have a thorough understanding of the current state of veteran entrepreneurship in China, a literature mapping was made on the basis of 235 related articles and research literature published in the past decade (from 2010 to 2019), which are open to the public and available on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Via combing through the above findings, the authors tried to unlock a phase with prominent rise of corresponding research papers and its possible reason, reveal the leading research power and their correlation, and also explore a potential research trend in the future. On the basis of the overall context and generalization of the status quo and limitations of this field during the past 10 years, reference and guidance can be provided for future study and policy making.

Transformation of Russian Military Enterprise in the Geopolitical During the Putin Era

Vladimir Putin's annual address as president in 2006 neatly summaries the reason why Russia had to press forward with long-overdue reforms of its armed forces. Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was still left with an oversized military organization built for large-scale mobilization and the demands of the Cold War, but highly ineffective for the type of conventional military conflicts that Russia was most likely to become involved in. The rationale behind Russia's reforms of the armed forces were thus clear long before the war in Georgia, which has often been pointed to as the reason why the reforms were launched in October 2008. President Vladimir Putin's current period runs out in 2024, when he is due to step down, according to the constitution. Given the fact that the current political system has been carefully crafted for almost 20 years, it is evident that there is uncertainty about its future. First, it no longer produces wealth for the population. For five years in a row, the real disposable income has been decreasing.

Entrepreneurship Innovations and Knowledge Economy

This chapter aims to provide fresh insights into entrepreneurship innovation to the retirees of the Nigerian military from the perspective of an ex-serviceman (a retired military person). The chapter's methodology focused on the articulation of experiences and meanings, which is guided by the events in the author's life, recounting life circumstances and events located in a specific time and space. Consequently, the chapter examines the entrepreneurial opportunities for retired Nigerian military personnel vis-a-vis the challenges faced by veterans when engaging in entrepreneurship. The chapter also discusses the entrepreneurship issues to be considered before becoming an entrepreneur. The chapter further postulates on information and communication technology (ICT) skills as key requirements for those who want to become an entrepreneur in post-service life. Finally, it is suggested that prior knowledge on innovative entrepreneurship before the start of a business results in successful sustained retirement income.

Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship as Innovation Source in the Defense Industry and Military

Many military-related innovation approaches can be followed, such as doctrinal, tactical changes, and innovations in the organizational structure of military units. These approaches examine innovation in its historical context and flow. Defense industries of the countries are an indicator of their power in the international arena and develop new war weapons, systems, and equipment with innovation. Innovations turn it into economic power. Militaries are the most important customers of the defense industries. From the design of the products to the feedback of the last user, the defense industry, and military are in mutual interaction. Military culture, which is shaped in the light of the experiences gained with blood on the battlefield and has its dynamics, is one of the main phenomena in the acceptance of innovations and shaping the culture of military innovation. In this chapter, the authors examine the contribution of the defense industry and military employees to innovation in these innovation processes and the organizational acceptance processes offered to the use of these innovations.

Military Veterans “Sign Up” for Franchising

The franchise business model has proven particularly attractive to veterans. When former soldiers become franchisees, they sign up to follow the game plan of the franchisor, but they must apply their own personal aptitudes, skills, and training to ensure their entrepreneurial venture succeeds. This chapter explores the practitioner and academic literature to identify why franchising is attractive to veterans as well as how the franchise sector encourages those with prior military experience to enlist. The chapter also examines whether veterans are satisfied with their decision to become franchisees and identifies which franchise systems are rated “best” for veterans. Finally, the chapter offers thoughts about global research that is needed to help franchise systems be a gateway for veterans to pursue their dream of business ownership.

Organizing for Innovation in the Armed Forces

Innovation is one of the main factors in driving any organization's effectiveness and sustainable competitiveness. Lack of innovation may affect organizations in several different ways, from lost opportunities for being more efficient, improve processes, and sometimes decrease of staff morale, with negative impact on development of organizational knowledge as well as values and culture. Innovation can also provide new forms of doing things, fuelling internal processes, either operational, logistical, or administrative ones. Highly innovative organizations usually make jobs more fulfilling, and ultimately contribute in making the world a better place. Therefore, driving innovation is crucial, and that needs an appropriate framework in order to promote the desirable involvement from the whole organization. By following a logical thinking process, one ends up at a pragmatic and more deployable model backed by cause and effect logics.

The Fallacy of the Idea of Military Entrepreneurship

In this chapter, the author argues that the mainstream Occam's razor narrative of military entrepreneurship as a successful income earning second career for veterans only rings true in intellectual circles. This is based on a presupposed reality that veterans lack challenges building a second career. He uses existing literature to show that contrary to the mainstream narrative, military entrepreneurship is not a smooth-sailing path to a veteran's second career. Entrepreneurs face the same challenges irrespective of whether they are veterans or civilians. Military training might equip someone with discipline, focus, tenacity, and calculated risk avowal approach or risk taking that a civilian may not have, yet it may not ensure entrepreneurial success. A veteran's military background and training, if anything, may be rather inhibiting than facilitating of entrepreneurship. It's a fallacy to stipulate otherwise.