literature review of entrepreneurship essays

A Systems View Across Time and Space

• Open access
• Published: 06 July 2023

Fifty years of artisan entrepreneurship: a systematic literature review

• Uswatun Hasanah 1 ,
• Badri Munir Sukoco   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0416-1480 2 ,
• Elisabeth Supriharyanti 3 &
• Wann-Yih Wu 4  

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship volume  12 , Article number:  46 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Culturally based products and businesses have become increasingly common, drawing attention to artisan entrepreneurship. A small number of studies have comprehensively reviewed artisan entrepreneurship in terms of its antecedents and consequences, as is examined in this study. Specifically, this research looked at the factors that contribute to successful artisan entrepreneurship, managing environmental dynamism, markets, and institutional pressures. This study focuses on developing antecedents and consequences that may be used as a reference for the development of artisan entrepreneurship. A systematic literature review was conducted on 72 papers from the last 50 years from the first quartile of the Scopus database. This study identified that environmental, social, organizational, and individual factors could determine the development of artisan entrepreneurship and have consequences on social, organizational, and individual levels. This framework may aid artisan entrepreneurship and stakeholders in identifying the factors needed in the development of artisan entrepreneurship. The main elements of the resulting research agenda include suggestions for theory development, methodology, antecedents, and consequences.

Introduction

In recent years, artisan entrepreneurship has attracted increasing attention in entrepreneurship and management literature (Arias & Cruz, 2019 ; Hill, 2020 ; Igwe, 2018 ; Tregear, 2005 ). Increased interest in artisan entrepreneurship has been due to the expansion of creative industries and focus on goods and services that have a cultural component (Ratten et al., 2019 ), such as those using traditional skills, innovation (Hoyte, 2018 ; Marques et al., 2018 ; Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ), cultural identities, and social networks (Bhattacharjya et al., 2018 ; Brooker & Joppe, 2014 ; Hill, 2020 ; Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ; Sehnem, et al., 2020 ; Solomon & Mathias, 2020 ; Wherry, 2006 ; Wu et al., 2021 ; Tregear, 2005 ). Moreover, artisan entrepreneurship is a creative industry that connects people and cultures on a global scale (Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ).

Much artisan entrepreneurship is centred on the clothing and grocery industry because artisans prefer to create products tied to cultural heritage (Bravi & Murmura, 2021 ; Lindbergh & Schwarts, 2021 ; Tregear, 2005 ) to have an advantage (Brooker & Joppe, 2017 ; Kapferer, 2014 ; Wherry, 2006 ) and offer unique products, which are the distinguishing features of the market (Marques et al., 2018 ). However, a number of studies have discussed artisan entrepreneurship outside of clothing and food industries, looking at artisan products related to agriculture (Hilton, 2006 ; Torres et al., 2020 ). For example, Pret and Cogan ( 2018 ) focused more on understanding seven important themes in artisanal entrepreneurship, namely behavioural context, motivation, development, resources, diversity, and classification. Unfortunately, this study does not explore the antecedents related to factors that may be developed in response to market pressures nor the ability to survive in the midst of competition. According to Jones and Gatrell ( 2014 ), this systematic literature review is key in understanding existing knowledge and identifying new research directions.

The diversity of research that has emerged on artisan entrepreneurship is for several reasons. A number of studies have, for example, looked at artisan entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial products, and the direct or indirect relationship between tourism competitiveness, environmental impacts, and artisan activities (Arias & Cruz, 2019 ; Hoyte, 2018 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ; Salas-Vargas et al., 2021 ; Soukhathammavong & Park, 2019 ; Teixeria & Ferreira, 2019 ). Furthermore, much of the research on artisan entrepreneurship has found that there are stories in the works of artisans related to skills, innovation, motivation, and entrepreneurial personality (Hoyte, 2018 ; Marques et al., 2018 ; Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ;). Artisan entrepreneurship experiences challenges related to limited resources, cultural identity, policies, social networks (Bhattacharjya et al., 2018 ; Brooker et al., 2014 ; Hill, 2020 ; Sehnem et al., 2020 ; Solomon & Mathias, 2020 ; Tregear, 2005 ; Wherry, 2006 ; Wu et al., 2021 ), and economic and environmental change (Drummond et al., 2018 ; Friedrichs, 1976 ; Nason, 1984 ). However, the factors that enable artisan entrepreneurs to deal with environmental dynamics and the resulting consequences remain largely unknown, becoming the focus of this study.

Being responsive and proactive on the global market is important in artisan entrepreneurship achieving success (Bislimi, 2022 ; Blundel, 2002 ; Fuller, 2003 ; Paige & Littrell, 2002 ). In Western cultures, the production of artisan goods reflects the qualities of the community, embodying dignity, skill, integrity, self-confidence, and an emphasis on factors surrounding skills related to artisanal production (Teixeira & Ferreira, 2019 ). Therefore, a region may develop its competitiveness by taking advantage of its cultural heritage, social networks, and artisan products (Franceschi, 2020 ; Oral et al., 2021 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ; Salas-Vargas et al., 2021 ). However, without understanding factors that lead to the success of artisan entrepreneurship, there may be a lack of support for its development. Therefore, the research questions for this paper are as follows:

What factors enable artisanal entrepreneurship to deal with environmental dynamics and resulting consequences in existing literature?

What possibilities are available to future research to further develop and expand on existing literature in this field?

To answer these research questions, this research refers to a study conducted by Supriharyanti and Sukoco ( 2023 ) using Tranfield et al.’s ( 2003 ) method, namely a systematic review that involves conducting complete literature study through a scientifically replicable and transparent process. This method was undertaken on the Scopus database search for studies published between 1976 and 2023 with several criteria, such as only in the field of Business, Management, and Accounting, the first quartile, and English literature. A study assessment and in-depth analysis of each selected and extracted paper were also performed (Sweeney et al., 2018 ) to determine which specific papers and components were relevant to the study.

This research makes a number of contributions. Firstly, the study synthesizes existing studies on how artisan entrepreneurship develops (Hilton, 2006 ; Kapferer, 2014 ; Nason, 1984 ; Popelka & Littrell, 1991 ; Ramachandran et al., 2012 ; Sturmer, 1979 ; Tregear, 2005 ) by developing antecedents and consequences, expanding on the success factors of artisan entrepreneurship developed by Loarne-Lemaire et al. ( 2020 ), which focus more on antecedents in developing artisan entrepreneurship. This focus is different from that conducted by Pret and Cogan ( 2018 ), which focuses on understanding seven important themes in artisan entrepreneurship, namely behaviour context, motivation, development, resources, diversity, and classification. These findings offer insights into the antecedents related to factors that may be developed in response to market pressures, as well as an ability to survive amongst competition. According to Jones and Gatrell ( 2014 ), systematic literature reviews are important in understanding existing knowledge and identifying new research directions. For example, reviewing existing gaps in artisan entrepreneurship literature will motivate researchers with an interest in artisan entrepreneurship to conduct research, particularly in terms of artisan entrepreneurship in facing environmental dynamism with a quantitative approach.

Methodology

This study performed a systematic literature review, a method that involves the search for exhaustive literature studies through a transparent, scientifically replicable process (Tranfield et al., 2003 ) into a structured review that explores approaches widely used by reviewed articles such as methods, theories, publications, research problems, and countries (Paul & Criado, 2020 ). This process consisted of several stages, the first of which was exploration of the topic. The authors used their expertise to assess knowledge related to artisan entrepreneurship to define topics and concepts used as a key search (Bodolica & Spraggon, 2018 ) and identify research questions and objectives that would guide the literature search (Jocevski et al., 2020 ) as this study aims to determine what existing studies have examined.

The second stage involved searching and filtering the literature by adopting a snowballing procedure (Wohlin, 2014 ), such as developing a start set and iteration by applying criteria to determine the appropriate article as follows:

The database used was Scopus because its content contains scientific publications from publishers around the world based on scientific criteria and rigour (Baas et al., 2019 ), and limited the number of analysed articles, as the review was targeted to including leading peer reviewed journals;

The period of 1976–2023 was chosen on the basis that, over the last 50 years, artisan publications have increased and Western countries such as the US, Germany, and Spain are active in developing culturally charged products, as evidenced by the existence of traditional technologies (such as looms) used to support business activities (Nason, 1984 );

This type of research source focuses on final articles and not conference papers because they are not comprehensive (Gonzalez-Albo & Bordon, 2011 );

First quartile journals (Q1) based on Scopus (sources) represent categorised journal prestige and prestige and effect of journals categorized as journal visibility in the academic community (Garcia et al., 2011a , 2011b ); and

Only papers in English were chosen as it is the most commonly used language for articles published in international journals and for global academia (Lopes, et al., 2021 ; Supriharyanti & Sukoco, 2023 ).

The following stage of the process involved searching for papers from publishers such as Sage Journal, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Emerald Insight, Wiley-Blackwell, and Elsevier (Fig.  1 ).

Research protocol

In the literature search and screening procedure, the authors developed an initial setting that would identify papers to generate an introduction related to the research questions by applying a keyword a search technique of “artisan” and abstracts that included this keyword. It was then necessary to conduct an iteration process to determine suitability. Each study deemed relevant was then discussed for a quality audit, which required determining the clarity of the research question, the appropriateness of the methodology and rigour used, the sample size selected, the specification of the theoretical framework and measurement approach, and the validity of findings. The studies chosen for the research include those on craft, fashion, and other products that carry an artisanal element. One example is in Salas-Vargas et al., ( 2021 ), in Environmental impact of Oaxaca cheese production and wastewater from artisanal dairies under two scenarios in Aculco, State of Mexico , in which entrepreneurial artisans created small batches of unique products manually and with tools only as support (Arias & Cruz, 2019 ). The majority of artisan entrepreneurship focuses on clothing and food ingredients, and creators prefer to produce because the products are tied to their cultural heritage (Tregear, 2005 ). In general, artisan entrepreneurship prioritizes craftsman skills and techniques that include local potential, culture, and authenticity.

The third stage of the process was assessment and study selection. In this phase, a literature search sampling and screening procedure was performed by reviewing each selected abstract and full text of the chosen studies. If the articles did not meet the predetermined criteria, they were excluded from the final dataset. Furthermore, to ensure objectivity, the study conducted a review with other authors to conduct independent selection and compare with one another.

The fourth stage of the research was literature analysis, which involved conducting an in-depth analysis of the selected studies to summarize the parts considered important and mapped them. The Excel spreadsheet table proposed by Sweeney et al. ( 2018 ) was used as a guide for analytical reading. A total of 72 articles were extracted based on their titles, journals, authors, years, research questions, phenomenon gaps, research gaps, methods, context, types of artisans, variables used, findings, theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for further research.

Results and discussion of results

This section describes the responses to the research questions through a structured review focusing on widely used definition, theories, methodologies, and constructs. This section further expands on results with an analysis of units, countries, themes, and leading researchers in the artisan entrepreneurship literature.

Overview of artisan entrepreneurship

Artisan entrepreneurship dates back to the seventeenth century, as presented by Friedrichs ( 1976 ) in his research on wool weavers in the German city of Nordlingen facing difficulties in dealing with economic and environmental changes. According to Nason ( 1984 ), environmental dynamism did not only occur in the seventeenth century, but also occurred in the following period, during which US commercial companies aimed to enhance the quality of handicrafts to adapt to market changes and open new markets abroad. The development of artisan entrepreneurship is currently increasing because artisan entrepreneurship is at the heart of the creative economy (Rashid, 2021 ), one of the subsectors of the creative industry (Pret & Cogan, 2018 ), and due to the expansion of creative industries and increased focus on homemade goods and services (Bislimi, 2022 ).

This creative industry has provided sustainable community development in the global economy (Arias and Cruz, ( 2019 ) and plays an important role in communities and social networks that depend on the local environment (Ratten et al., 2019 ). A number of countries in Europe (Hill, 2020 ; Ramadani et al., 2017 ) have paid particular attention to artisan entrepreneurship because it has had an impact on regional competitiveness and tourism development (Teixeira & Ferreira, 2019 ). Artisan entrepreneurship has emerged as a culture-based business related to tourism, culture, and regional development (Hoyte, 2018 ), playing a central role in the country’s economic development and protection of cultural heritage (Marques et al., 2018 ).

Solomon and Mathias ( 2020 ) define artisan entrepreneurship as work completed by individuals who emphasize manual production, independence above conglomeration, local community above scale, and value creation above profit maximization. The existence of artisan entrepreneurship is important because of the shift towards more culture-based businesses and increasing emphasis on local, handcrafted goods related to an area’s culture and tourism. Furthermore, products such as local food and handmade clothing related to the cultural heritage of entrepreneurs (Tregear, 2005 ) are becomingly increasingly in demand. Culture also determines the context and environment (i.e. place, time, and certain stimuli), in which social origins, culture, and shared traditions are maintained across generations, and artisan entrepreneurship develops identity from crafts or commerce (Hoyte, 2018 ).

Theoretical framework

To evaluate the development of artisan entrepreneurship research, it is important to consider the dominant theoretical and methodological tools used by researchers. Of the 72 articles reviewed, only 14 mention the theoretical framework; the rest describe concepts that refer to existing studies. The following is a description of the theoretical framework used in the research to date.

Sustainable Development Theory , as used by Nayak et al. ( 2022 ), assumes that the development should meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Keeble, 1988).

According to Value Capture Theory , despite different approaches used, all areas converge to the same central idea, involving the value captured from a consumer’s characteristics to develop an offer (Graciano, et al., 2022 ).

Socio-technical System Theory (Appelbaum, 1997), as used by Oral et al. ( 2021 ), assumes that a series of activities are a synergistic blend of human, technology, culture, work practices, and organizational structure with the aim of increasing artisans’ overall work-life quality.

Institutional Logic Theory , as one of the developments of institutional theory, assumes that how individuals respond to competition is based on five factors, namely ignorance, compliance, defiance, compartmentalization, and combinations. These five factors were also discussed in Lindbergh and Schwartz ( 2021 ), who found that there was tension between two institutional logics, namely combination and compartmentalization.

Dynamic Capability Theory was used by Tiwari and Korneliussen ( 2022 ) and also Torres et al. ( 2020 ) to explore interaction dynamics by developing socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) dimensions.

Social Practice Theory provides an analytical framework for Routine Deconstruction and Ritual interaction Theory. Wu et al., ( 2021 ) combines the Social Practice Theory with Ritual Interaction to explore artisanal routines consisting of three practices: cultural production; transmission; and operation.

Practice Theory explores how humans establish social interaction relationships in achieving a common goal with three cultural capitals: objectified; institutionalized; and embodied (Bourdieu, 1986, 1990). These relationships are integrated into the dynamic process faced by artisan entrepreneurship (Nicolini and Monteiro, 2017).

Social Capital Theory forms the basis of the development of artisan entrepreneurship because it is assumed that resources contained in individuals and groups are connected in a network that benefits all other parties in said network (Ramadani et al., 2017 ).

Actor-Network Theory posits that everything in the social and natural world exists in a network of constantly changing and complex relationships (Blundel, 2002 ). Drummond et al. ( 2018 ) combine the theory with the Interaction Theory based on the assumption of how one understands another, focusing on the behaviour and environmental context in maintaining an entrepreneur's business network.

Congruity Theory assumes that the role of a country's information can influence the evaluation of its products and affect the authenticity of the products produced by artisans, as well as that of raw materials and craft skills.

Collaboration Theory assumes that the extent to which owners or managers collaborate, collaborations are carried out between organizations or between groups of artisans, not intragroup such as joining associations. Furthermore, there are differences for communities included in associations but not part of associations related to marketing activities (Alonso & Bressan, 2014 ).

Theory of Planned Behaviour posits that intentions are determined by three constructs: attitudes; subjective norms; and perceived control. It is assumed that consumers’ beliefs in buying artisan products are based on ethical content and the desire to support social issues (Ma Jin et al., 2012 ).

A Wealth of Nation assumes that, given an individual's need to fulfil personal interests and generate social benefits, artisan entrepreneurship has internal motivational power concentrated on one’s importance to society and personal relationships in business (Fuller, 2003 ).

Competitive Advantage Theory assumes that, in the context of artisan entrepreneurship, there are different strategies for achieving success. Artisans define success by traditional criteria such as profit and growth, as well as intrinsic factors such as personal satisfaction (Paige & Littrell, 2002 ) (Table 1 ).

Methodological approach

This paper presents methodological trends in artisan entrepreneurship research by reviewing the methods used in each study, which are broadly divided into qualitative, quantitative, and the mixed-methods approaches. Among the 72 articles reviewed, most employed a qualitative method with a case study approach. According to Parren and Ram ( 2004 ), qualitative methods are suitable for studying entrepreneurship and small businesses because they aid in in understanding complex situations. Furthermore, the case study approach has proven to be a useful method in providing a holistic picture in exploring and understanding meaning based on individual or group factors of social or human problems (Creswell, 2013 ). The philosophy and implications of case studies have received significant attention and have a considerable history in management literature (Perren & Ram, 2004 ).

In addition to qualitative methods, quantitative methods have been employed in a number of the reviewed studies, with the survey method most frequently being adopted. The use of this method is reasonable because surveys permit researchers to gain insights and are reliable and valid in assessing opinions, attitudes, and beliefs about behaviour and values, particularly cultural values (Ljubica et al., 2022 ). Larsson ( 1993 ) also explains that, with a survey, researchers may determine relationships among variables using hypothesis testing (Table 2 ).

Publication outlets

This systematic review found that articles related to artisan entrepreneurship literature were published in 38 first quartile journals, 19 of which were top-tier journals, with the majority being in the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research (12 articles). This journal is a leading publication on the development of entrepreneurship behaviour and one of the most highly tanked journals concerned with artisan entrepreneurship. The second-largest number of artisan entrepreneurship literature studies were found in the Annals of Tourism Research, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (four articles), followed by the Journal of Cleaner Production, Business History Review, (three articles). Furthermore, The Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Technology in Society, Tourism Management Perspectives, International Small Business Journal, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, British Food Journal, all had two articles. The following journals all had one article: Journal of Technology kin Society; Journal of Engineering and Technology Management; Journal of Knowledge Management; Journal of Business Venturing; European Journal of Marketing; Tourism Management; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; Management Learning; Journal Of Marketing Management; Journal Of Tourism and Cultural Change; Technological Forecasting & Social Change; Journal of Product & Brand Management; Journal of Business Research; Current Issues in Tourism; Journal of Global Fashion Marketing; Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice; Journal of Travel Research; European Business Review; Business Horizons; Tourism Review; International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management; Journal of Product Innovation Management; Journal of Management; Spirituality & Religion; Journal of Consumer Culture; Journal of fashion marketing and management, Futures; Journal of Small Business Management; Technovation; Business history; Journal of Management in Engineering; and Long Range Planning; Journal of Family Business Management; Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal; The International Journal of Logistics Management. Table 3 presents the publication outlets on the study of artisan entrepreneurship.

Countries under study

The most widely studied country was the US ( n  = 12) followed by the UK ( n  = 11). It is assumed that this finding is due to the use of traditional technologies such as looms used to support business activities. Nason ( 1984 ) states that Western countries actively develop culturally charged products. Europe and India ( n  = 5), Africa, Italy and Ireland ( n  = 4), Nigeria and Mexico ( n  = 3), Australia, Portugal, China, Brazil and Spanyol ( n  = 2) are followed by several countries, including Afghanistan, Sweden, Brazil, Laos, Spain, Japan, Thailand, New York, Denmark, Kosovo, German, Aland, Vietnam, Serbia and Croatia ( n  = 1). These findings indicate that studies in Western countries dominate publications of high repute (Q1) over regions such as Asia because varied cultural contexts lead to different motivations and entrepreneurial behaviour, and US commercial companies appreciate and purchase artisan products to a larger extent (Nason, 1984 ). Table 4 presents countries in which there have been studies into artisan entrepreneurship.

Authors in artisan entrepreneurship research

This review, to assess the extent of authors’ contribution to the development of artisan entrepreneurship literature, adopted the method used by Canabal and White ( 2008 ), which identified how many articles on artisan entrepreneurship were published by each researcher and weighted them based on the frequency with which papers were published. Table 5 presents the authors with the highest number of studies.

These findings suggest that the author that has contributed most significantly to the field is Littrell, followed by Ratten, whereas all other authors have conducted one study. These results indicate that there is still little research on artisan entrepreneurship conducted by researchers published in leading journals. Furthermore, studies into artisan entrepreneurship have been dominated by women. This finding is reasonable because the majority of artisans are female, and people tend to work with individuals that share characteristics such as gender (Trevino et al., 2018 ).

The results of this study suggest that much of the research on artisan entrepreneurship has been conducted by scholars, in which innovation is a theme often reviewed. This theme is reasonable because innovation is one of the main factors of increased turnover (Tiwari & Korneliussen, 2022 ; Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ; Marque, et al., 2018 ; Hoyte, 2018 ) (Fig.  2 and Table 6 ).

The theme of artisan entrepreneurship

Citation analysis

This study examined the most influential articles using a citation analysis of data retrieved from scopus.com consisting of the total number of citations. Documents were reviewed from 1976 to 2023, with the highest number of citations being 101 in 2002. This finding is reasonable because the three papers with the most citations were published in top-tier journals, namely the Journal of Small Business Management, Business Horizons, Entrepreneurship Theory, and Practice. High-status journals can provide the benefits of citing publications, as well as the perceived value of high status from journals not only rooted in positions within the academic community, but also placed within a wider ranking ecosystem (Salandra et al., 2021 ). Table 7 presents the most influential studies (Fig.  3 and Table 7 ).

Top influential articles

Recent research framework

This section presents a conceptual framework that describes the antecedents and consequences of a systematically reviewed study into artisan entrepreneurship. The study used the framework developed by Pret and Cogan ( 2018 ), which focuses on seven main themes related to the study of artisan entrepreneurship: behaviour; context; motivation; development; resources; diversity; and classification. The antecedents and consequences were developed to describe the antecedents as inputs and consequences as outputs in an effort to develop artisan entrepreneurship. These findings were derived from 72 studies identified in the systematic review. Figure  1 presents a framework for the findings of this study in terms of the identified factors.

Antecedents in developing artisan entrepreneurship

This section groups antecedents in the development of artisan entrepreneurship into four categories, namely environmental, social, organizational, and individual factors. Innovation (organizational factor) has been reviewed and discussed in a number of studies, which makes sense because innovation in the craftsman sector, particularly in the traditions and capacities of craftsmen, in a technical domain, in empowering actors involved in new market trends, among other innovative characteristics that attract tourism, such as ensuring that the authenticity of the area and their cultural heritage do not disappear (Teixeira and Ferreira, 2019 ). Therefore, the ability to innovate in developing artisan entrepreneurship is a key factor. In some villages in Oaxaca, Mexico, artisans employ traditional techniques of producing textiles. Initially, artisans weaved textiles for use within their communities or local trade. Several artisan entrepreneurs in Teotitlan de1 Valle, Oaxaca, then developed tourism and export markets for their handmade textiles, and artisans have learned to understand market needs so that the products that they create meet these needs (Popelka & Littrell, 1991 ; Tiwari & Korneliussen, 2022 ).

Another antecedent frequently reviewed is cultural identity (social factors). Previous research has found how cultural heritage is increasingly important in different ways and at varying economic levels (Ratten et al., 2019 ; Teixeira and Ferreira, 2019 ), and that regions can develop competitiveness by taking advantage of their cultural heritage and artisan skills (Hill, 2020 ; Oral et al., 2021 ; Salas-Vargaz et al., 2021 ). Artisans are characterized as individuals who practise certain types of trades, in which manual techniques are preferred, such as textiles and metal tools (Moreno and Leiirell, 2001 ; Popelka & Littrell, 1991 ; Nason, 1984 ).

Consequences of developing artisan entrepreneurship

The consequences of developing artisan entrepreneurship are grouped into three categories, namely social, organizational, and individual consequences. Social consequences are based on the quality of one’s social life (Franceschi, 2020 ; Hill, 2020 ; Nayak et al., 2022 ; Ramadani et al., 2017 ). As found by Tregear ( 2005 ), artisans strike a balance between community involvement and commercial success with which they feel comfortable. Cooperation in the form of social collaboration may be used to create solutions related to the capital and funding system to enhance the creative economy business performance and increase the quality of artisans’ social life (Hill, 2020 ). Social identity is also the consequence of developing artisan entrepreneurship because it is focused on a common goal (socio-economic). After all, small businesses are the result of this focus (Fuller, 2003 ) and strengthening their social identity (Rytkonen, et al., 2023 ; Riddering, 2016 ) (Fig.  4 ).

Antecedents and consequences

This study employed a structured review, the results of which show that theory, methodology, and state require further discussion. Theoretically, there are limitations to the theories and phenomena explored. As well as the phenomenon of the demand to have the ability to innovate (Brooker & Joppe, 2014 ; Hagtvedt et al., 2019 ; Marques et al., 2018 ; Rashid & Ratten, 2021 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ), confronted with cultural identity (Cheah et al., 2016 ; Hilton, 2006 ; Kepferer, 2014 ; Nason, 1984 ; Ratten et al., 2019 ; Soukhathammavong, 2019 ; Wherry, 2006 ), methodologically, literature. Artisan entrepreneurship has largely been studied using qualitative methods to explore the phenomenon of artisan entrepreneurship as socially constructed and highly contextual knowledge of reality, as revealed with a comprehensive description (Solomon & Mathias, 2020 ) and explored by in-depth interviews through quantitative methods and primary and secondary data. The country with the largest number of studies on artisan entrepreneurship is the US, whereas Asian countries such as China, Thailand, Laos, and Japan, have been explored with a limited number of studies.

This study focuses on artisan entrepreneurship, which has mostly been studied in a Western context, where development is increasingly comprehensive. Most of the reviewed studies have explored different methods to develop artisan entrepreneurship. This study explores this field through the framework of antecedents and consequences. The results of the analysis show that there are a number of environmental, social, organizational, and individual factors. Organizational factors, specifically the ability to innovate, play a dominant role and have been more widely explored in the development of artisan entrepreneurship (Wu et al., 2021 ; Solomon & Mathias, 2020 ; Torres et al., 2020 ).

Main conclusions

This study explored artisan entrepreneurship literature, which has grown significantly in the last 50 years. The complex nature of artisan entrepreneurship has made this industry increasingly important over the last decade as an increasing number of people and organizations are interested in issues related to fostering a sustainable world for future generations. The proposed antecedents of artisan entrepreneurship include environmental, social, organizational, and individual factors. Organizational factors, particularly the ability to innovate, have played a dominant and widely explored role in the development of artisan entrepreneurship in the last fifty years. In addition to antecedents, there are consequences resulting from environmental dynamism, consisting of social, organizational, and individual consequences.

On each level, many factors can be explored or tested with theory. In terms of the consequences of artisan entrepreneurship, this review focused mostly on an organizational level. Future studies may explore new theories or refine existing theories on the individual consequences of artisan entrepreneurship. The proposed framework serves as a guide for scholars to conduct future researchers and assist business owners and managers in identifying factors needed by stakeholders who wish to ensure individual well-being.

The study also identified future research possibilities to develop, strengthen, and expand on literature in this domain. A small number of studies have used a theoretical lens to understand the phenomenon of artisan entrepreneurship. In general, researchers have used descriptive qualitative research methods in a limited number of developing countries. Although there are a number of studies and findings related to artisan entrepreneurship, it is still a new research field and requires further investigation.

This study’s recommendations are for future research concern theory, methodology, and research settings, as well as a developed framework. Due to the limited theoretical lens used in the study of artisan entrepreneurship, future studies should examine existing theories (such as Social Cognitive Theory, Stakeholder Theory, or Dynamic Competitive Theory). Developing a new theory based on artisan entrepreneurship may be challenging for future research. In terms of methods, this review found that exploratory studies have become a dominant method. Enriching the generalizability of the study of artisan entrepreneurship by using quantitative methods is a method achieved by expanding the respondents not only to business owners and managers, but also to artisans through a multi-level analysis. The use of the mixed-methods approach will also strengthen the findings of the Artisan Entrepreneurship Theory.

Theoretical implications

The complex nature of artisan entrepreneurship has made this industry increasingly important in the last decade as an increasing number of people and organizations are interested in issues related to fostering a sustainable world for future generations. These organizations are more dynamic than large organizations that are able to respond to the environment and change members’ values and beliefs to suit the environment (Bashokuh-E-Ajirlo et al., 2021). Artisan entrepreneurship must keep up with these dynamics by reconfiguring structures and processes by facilitating innovation and adapting to a rapidly moving business environment with organizational innovation capabilities because competitive advantage requires more than just ownership of assets (knowledge) that are difficult to imitate. This finding is in line with the concept of Dynamic Capability (DC) derived from Resource-Based View (RBV) to explain how organizations may deploy internal resources and capabilities to gain competitive advantage in a dynamic business environment.

This review contributes to theory offering a specific framework for development by identifying the antecedents and consequences of artisan entrepreneurship. Artisan entrepreneurship creates an artisan economy that gives rise to collective power to achieve desired outcomes, due to social influence and cognition. This finding supports the research of Bandura ( 1997 ). The importance of the growth and development of artisan entrepreneurship is inseparable from roles such as government, craftsmen, consumers, social communities and the availability of financial aspects (financiers) in line with stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984 ).

Practical implications

This systematic review contributes to the understanding of research on artisan entrepreneurship to date and its impact on the development of artisan entrepreneurship. This review contributes to practice by offering a specific framework for development by identifying the antecedents and consequences of artisan entrepreneurship. For organizations, artisan entrepreneurship may be used to create managerial practices that focus on innovation. Because innovation is the most frequently discussed theme and antecedent in this literature review and today’s dynamic world, it may represent both a challenge and opportunity for organizations (Sukoco et al., 2019 ).

Organizations are required to continue to innovate and emphasize market orientation but not ignore cultural identity as an indicator of organizational performance. For individuals (artisans), through this practice, artisan entrepreneurship may evaluate and motivate other artisans to promote products. A number of artisan entrepreneurs in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, provide examples of craftsmen who have developed tourism and export markets for handmade textiles. Furthermore, artisans should learn to understand market needs so that they are able to create products that are needed (Popelka & Littrell, 1991 ), which, in turn, will positively affect the quality of life (Carter, 2011 ) of each artisan.

Policy implications

This research proposes a framework that may be used by the government as a policymaker in the national strategic plan, facilitating artisan entrepreneurship in developing local products using as model an optimized version of the existing “Bangga Buatan Indonesia” policy. Furthermore, the government must foster creativity in all aspects of welfare of the population (Gouvea et al., 2020 ) so that the state is able to develop a “One Village, one Product” policy, as has been done by Japan, which was initiated by the Governor of OITA Province, Morihiko Hiramatsu in 1979. The government can also grant legality or patent rights to artisan products to maintain adapted to regional uniqueness (local wisdom). Authenticity (distinctiveness/authenticity) is also an opportunity to be developed and to create a competitive advantage for artisan entrepreneurship, as suggested by Bhaduri and Stanforth ( 2017 ) and Cheah et al. ( 2016 ) because the authenticity of raw materials has a positive effect on the assessment of products made by Prada (famous brand) and Touche (Peruvian brand).

Limitations and future lines of investigation

This section presents follow-up research questions and future research directions based on the gaps in the findings to motivate scholars to conduct further research into artisan entrepreneurship (Table 8 ).

Theory—research direction

This study found that existing research on artisan entrepreneurship has not been particularly diverse, and there are still limitations in the use of theory. Only 13 articles have explicitly sought to expand on or develop a new theory. In the future, to recognize changes and developments in the study of artisan entrepreneurship, new theories should be at the core. This section offers a number of theoretical suggestions.

Firstly, artisan entrepreneurs have received increasing recognition, from the importance of the arts to economic development, as well as their role in society and regional development. There is also now a more significant emphasis on local and artisanal goods related to an area’s culture and tourism. Artisan entrepreneurship allows for the creation of a craftsman economy that revives cities and encourages the development of businesses that respect traditions within the community by incorporating a social mission in line with Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1997 ), in which people share belief in the collective power to achieve desired outcomes. This theory also explains that a person’s behaviour is, in part, shaped and controlled by one’s social networks (i.e. social systems) and cognitions (e.g., expectations and beliefs) (Bandura, 1997 ). These cognitions occur socially within organizational contexts, in which people work together to achieve the desired results and goals. Bandura ( 1997 ) argues that there is a reciprocal relationship between person, environment, and behaviour. Social Cognitive Theory is still rarely used in research into artisan entrepreneurship, which is in line with Crowley ( 2019 ), who argues that three main perspectives should be identified in the study of artisan entrepreneurship behaviour, one of which is the study of factors at the micro-level such as cognition as an antecedent to the behaviour of artisan entrepreneurship. Bird et al. ( 2012 ) state that entrepreneurial behaviour is shaped by cognition and affect. Therefore, future research should use this theory as a theoretical basis because its essence is that humans learn about models through observation and imitation, which are then used in their behaviour.

Secondly, the results of this review also show that the importance of the growth and development of artisan entrepreneurship cannot be separated from government, craftsmen, consumers, social communities, and availability of financial resources (investors), which is in line with Stakeholder Theory (Freeman, 1984 ). The main purpose of business based on this theory is creating for all stakeholders involved, both groups and individuals, who can influence or be influenced by business (Freeman, 1984 ).

The key element of stakeholder theory is humans as actors and their interactions in the process of value creation, alignment of values, norms, and ethics as a mechanism to develop within and among organizations (Freeman et al., 2020 ). Stakeholder Theory also covers normative cores to answer the following two questions asked by companies:

What is the purpose of the company?

To whom does management have an obligation?

To answer these two questions, it is important for future research to use stakeholder theory because business conception is more humanistic because it reflects awareness of the role, purpose, directions, and long-term impacts on society. Pret and Cogan ( 2018 ) argue that, in the craft community, a joint commitment to artisan entrepreneurship allows artisans to share knowledge and social-emotional support. The study of the behaviour of artisan entrepreneurship is also inseparable from the support of actors such as the government, trade associations, and special interest groups (Lounsbury & Glynn, 2001 ). Higher education institutions also have the responsibility to provide quality education in facilitating the innovation of knowledge for the development of entrepreneurship education (Wall and Maritz, 2021 ) and must reflect modern entrepreneurial educational methods and goals in specific cultural contexts and modify them to ensure the most reliable results (Fleck et al., 2020 ).

Thirdly, artisan entrepreneurship faces challenges, one of which is competition. The dynamics of competition will continue to play an important role in understanding the changing environment (Ketchen et al., 2004 ). Competitive action is a product of individuals’ perceptions, personalities, intentions, and motivations within organizations (Chen and Miller, 1994). Therefore, future research should adopt the Competitive Dynamics theory to understand how the dynamism and intensity of a business environment can lead to profit (Chen et al., 2010 ) in the context of artisan entrepreneurship.

Methodology—research direction

This review found 50 articles on artisan entrepreneurship used qualitative methods. This method is considered the most relevant because it is exploratory and seeks to explain “how” and “why” specific social phenomena occur, making it easier to understand social reality (Polkinghorne, 2005 ). However, a limitation of this method is that the findings cannot be generalized (Allen, 2019). Therefore, this section offers methodological recommendations for future research.

Firstly, subsequent research should adopt a quantitative approach. In a number of existing studies, researchers have tended to choose business owners or managers and ignored other workers on a technical level, such as artisans (craftsmen), who are key resources of artisan entrepreneurship (Marques et al., 2018 ). The results of this review suggest that research related to artisan entrepreneurship has been conducted in developing countries. Therefore, it is important to conduct research in developed countries and deepen the complexity of research by adding a selection of samples such as business owners, managers, and artisans. Further research should also use multi-level analyses to accommodate multiple levels of organizations such as individuals and organizations. Multi-level analysis researchers may compare responses from business owners on an organizational level and artisans on an individual level.

Secondly, of the 72 studies reviewed, only five employed the mixed-methods approach. Future research may adopt this approach because of the limited number of studies using it, using qualitative methods to build initial theory and then quantitative methods to test and expand on theory (Shah and Corley, 2006). Many studies on artisan entrepreneurship have used a qualitative approach to build a theoretical framework but have not proceeded with quantitative methods to test findings. Therefore, this paper suggests that future research studies use a mixed-methods approach, in which the researcher builds on the initial theory and conducts testing to strengthen findings.

Antecedents and consequences—research direction

Existing studies into the antecedents of artisan entrepreneurship have been divided into environmental, social, organizational, and individual factors. Although the number of factors is large, previous studies have been fragmented in terms of organizational factors. This fragmentation provides future research opportunities to integrate antecedents into empirical and conceptual research. For empirical research, this study suggests collecting data from internal and external stakeholders to explain stakeholder support (artisans, consumers, government, suppliers, and investors) in developing artisan entrepreneurship. Furthermore, it is important to view competitive dynamics (Chen & Miller, 2014 ) and understand stakeholders are part of the strength of the organization in determining the five dimensions of competitive dynamics, namely competitive objectives, ways of competing, list of actors, tools of action, and timing. These dimensions are useful in distinguishing the mode of competition, called relational competition (Chen & Miller, 2014 ), to remain both competitive and relational in the industrial ecosystem.

The consequences of artisan entrepreneurship are more focused on organizational consequences, which are largely concerned with maintaining and enhancing the performance of artisan entrepreneurship. Few studies have presented individual consequences. This focus is an opportunity for future research one of the consequences of individuals in the context of artisan entrepreneurship being individual well-being. Individual well-being is an individual consequence of organizational performance when artisan entrepreneurship maximizes performance (Loarne-Lemaire et al., 2020 ). Moreover, the welfare of members will affects decision-making to keep working (Carter & Sara, 2011 ). Maximum organizational performance will increase the quality of life of artisans and have a direct impact on their well-being.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article and its additional files.

Abbreviations

Socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization

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A Literature Review of Sociology and Entrepreneurship: The Development of an Entrepreneur

Introduction

This literature review is an attempt to gain better knowledge on the development process of the entrepreneur. According to two authors referenced from a study done by (Reynolds) “Entrepreneurship occurs at significantly higher rates than at any time in the last 100 years”. With this being said, I wanted to figure out what awakens the entrepreneurial mindset of individuals in society. Mentioned in a study done by Ruef (2010) a total of 4% of all adults which is approximately 1 out of 25 adults are starting up their own firm at any given time. Surveys show that there are many influencers in society that give individuals the awareness of attaining financial success on their own terms which can be broken down into three specific categories according to Ruef (2015). The three categories are autonomy seekers, Innovators, and organizers. All of which play big roles in the development of entrepreneurs in their start-up process. The start-up process is the process in which the entrepreneur is planning and organizing their business venture.

Definition of an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an individual who organizes and runs their own business with the awareness of the financial risk it will take to make a substantial income. According to Ruef which is also mentioned in the introduction, an entrepreneur can be described in three ways, Autonomy seekers, innovators, and organizers (2015). Entrepreneurs are those who can identify opportunity through economic development and innovate ideas that create a demand that businesses will need to succeed.

The Awakening of the Entrepreneur Mindset

Developmental process and influential forces.

In a study done by Alexander Ebner, he conducted research on entrepreneurship and how its affected by economic development. The study was conducted by evaluating the perspective of of institutional content and examining the aspects of relations and leadership in the community. Both of which are relevant to the organizational and technological dimensions of innovation, which also coordinates as entrepreneurial functions (Ebner 2005). In the examinations of this the study overt the development of the entrepreneur much appreciation is given to economist Joseph Schumpeter and his written works on “Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship”. Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship is the knowledge of individuals being able to exploit market opportunities through technical or organizational innovation. Research from the sociological economic perspective of this study finds that efforts in theorizing entrepreneurship in economic development is relevant to the development of the entrepreneur and is also influenced in institutions. Overall this study states that innovation and organizations are heavily influenced by economic development in communities. Ebner’s study is relevant to figuring out the development of the entrepreneur because it discusses how institutions and economic development influence how entrepreneurs are created based on demand from already established businesses and organizations.

In relevance to Ebner (2010), a previous study towards the Sociology of Entrepreneurship was conducted focusing less on the supply perspective and more on the demand perspective of entrepreneurial development. Patricia Thornton, a Sociology and Entrepreneurship professor at the University of Texas decided to conduct a study on what creates the entrepreneur as a whole. Thornton’s research revolved around the influence of firms, markets, and how, where, and why new enterprises were created (1999). The study showed that the development of entrepreneurs predominately occurs in towns and small cities that are growing rapidly. According to Thornton (1999) her research shows that evidence makes it clear that the entrepreneurial lifestyle is a mindset that only 4% of all adults develop. This statistic was also mentioned in the study done by Ruef (2010) who I mentioned in the introduction in regards to adults starting their own businesses. The results of her study show that with economic development in society innovation and organizations rise to meet the demand of established business mostly in rapidly growing areas, same as shown in Ebner’s Study.

Clusters and Entrepreneurial Development

In clear correlation to Thornton’s study, Hector O. Rocha gathered research on The Role of Clusters and if it influences the development of entrepreneurs. Thornton’s study had results stating that entrepreneurial development was influenced by rapidly growing cities and towns (1999), Therefore, to add to her findings; Rocha’s study goes more in depth about the role that clusters play in entrepreneurial development. The study on clusters were divided into three topics, including entrepreneurial development, clusters and development, and clusters and entrepreneurship. According to Rocha, the results show that entrepreneurship is positively associated with economic growth and development (2004). Based on his findings, results show that its necessary to say that entrepreneurship influences positive change in the economic and social structure of the economy (Rocha 2004). Though (Thornton 1999) and (Ebner 2010) suggest that economic development influences entrepreneurial development; Rocha’s study based on clusters show that its nearly impossible to create generalizations towards the entrepreneurial development based on the impact of clusters. Positive results were represented in his findings, but limitations were also a factor based on different levels of analysis of rapidly growing towns and cities. This study appears to be credible when it comes to the facts the were mentioned in his study which were based on previous studies directed at his particular topic, but what weakened his study was that some of his findings were based more on his personal opinion. For example, a quote that devalues the study states “Due to conceptual and methodological constraints, it (seems) that” (Rocha 2004). This quote, from the reader’s perspective, seems like he took an educated guess on this particular topic. Instead he could’ve made it more factual by stating that there was no evidence that supported one or more sub topics in his study.

Sociology and Entrepreneurship

Based on the previously reviewed studies, it can be concluded that entrepreneurship is the process in which individuals can identify opportunities through economic development and innovate ideas through those who’ve already created businesses. This can result in new business start-ups which serve the demand for already existing businesses. The Sociology aspect comes into play by being able to recognize certain groups and how they develop, maintain, and take part in economic stability through sociological concepts and theories.

A study done by Martin Ruef describes the entrepreneur in three ways also mentioned in the introduction being Innovators, Autonomy seekers, and Organizers. He wanted to give the reader an understanding of sociology and entrepreneurship development. In his written works, his studies show how analysis from statistics and previous studies link mechanisms of the three views to entrepreneurial outcomes on different levels (Ruef 2015). Ruef’s written works also expands on how social networks and relationships help innovate new business ideas which encourage personal freedom and the receiving of support for organizing ideas. The premise of the works written by Ruef (2015) is to show statistics and how successful business ventures were created through social networks which sparked ideas to meet what is in demand in economic development.

Social Networks and Entrepreneurship

In the research studies done by Arent Greve and Janet W. Salaff, they based their study globally on social networking activities of entrepreneurs. The reasoning of this study was to find if networking influenced entrepreneurial development. What the study conducted by Greve and Salaff (2003) showed was that entrepreneurs access people in their social networks to discuss ideas and how to start and successfully run their own businesses. Their results showed that their studies varied based on a few categories. The categories revealed in their research was by analyzing number of partners in developmental business meetings, and the time they spent networking. According to Greve and Salaff (2003) “Entrepreneurs who network and talk with more people for advice during the planning phases of business development are much more successful than those who spend less time and try to work by themselves.” Overall their research results showed that all countries have very similar networking patterns for business ventures. The only difference between countries and networking patterns were the size of discussion groups, times spent meeting, and some countires such as India and Korea didn’t have women present in the business meetings.

Similar to the study done by Greve and Salaff (2003), Martin Ruef has written works over his study on “entrepreneurial groups”. The reasoning behind his study of entrepreneurial groups was to figure out if individuals or groups had more success with start-ups and the impact on economic development. Ruef’s Study revealed that entrepreneurial groups are the leading force behind entrepreneurial start-ups. His written works eradicate the myth of individuals single handedly enhancing market places. Ruef (2010) Provides theoretical frameworks for the understanding of activities and their outcomes based towards entrepreneurial groups. Ruef’s research results show that groups of entrepreneurs who do business and organize ideas together excel much faster and at a higher rate than lone entrepreneurs. This study’s strength is the research done showing how groups are able to attain success much faster and easier through the social cohesion theory.

In terms of the social cohesion theory, research done by Milan Zafirovski shows that her study is very relatable to Ruef (2010) Study on entrepreneurial groups. They both provide results from their studies that as a group, entrepreneurial endeavors are much more likely to be successful than single entrepreneurs. In Zafirovski’s study, she took an unconventional approach. She uses the view points of of conventional economic wisdom. Her study results show that social circumstances influence the development of entrepreneurs. According to Zafirovski “Entrepreneurship presses an eminently social character and is subject to the operation of definite societal processes” (2010). The main purpose of Zafirovski’s research was to provide a general understanding that as an entrepreneur, business endeavors will be based towards niche markets that through the influence of social sciences and social networks will be able to be identified. Through social sciences and social circumstances entrepreneurs are able to identify opportunity through each other to build businesses that meet the demands of economic developments. (Zafirovski 2010) and (Ebner 2010) had very similar results that were found in their research towards entrepreneurs being able to identify what’s in demand.

Social Sciences Entrepreneurship Correlation

In a study done by sociologist Richard Swedberg, he proposed an argument stating that social sciences are under looked in the business relam of society and social institutions (Swedberg 2000). Though previous studies examined based towards his research show that social sciences are discredited in business, recent studies including his own show that social sciences are experiencing a sustained increase in entrepreneurship (Swedberg 2000). This is a result of the interest of economist and sociologist in institutions. Even with the increase of social sciences implemented into the business realm of society, Swedberg mentions that there is still a large handful of business professors who feel social sciences have no relevancy to entrepreneurship. Therefore, they argue that it shouldn’t be taught along side entrepreneurship or business in general. Business professors who are critics of social sciences believe that due to the definition of “how” an entrepreneur is formed makes their argument credible. Two critics mentioned in Swedberg’s study state that “Entrepreneurial development is formed by either individual on their own or through organizations, pursue opportunities without regard to resources they already control” (Swedberg 2000).

The critics in Swedberg (2000) study also believe that individuals can be taught how to identify opportunities with out the influence of sociological concepts. Swedberg’s argument is that social sciences relevance to the business realm of society is mistaken. He argues that even though you can train someone to detect opportunity, through insititutions, social sciences still play a major part in entrepreneurship development (Swedberg 2000). This is because individuals must be able to understand, identify, and find target groups of people for their entrepreneurial endeavors. As social sciences are the scientific studies of human society and social relationships, its crucial as an entrepreneur to have an understanding of the concepts and terminologies that are taught in social sciences in institutions. According to Swedberg, with the understanding of human society and social relationships, an entrepreneur is destined to have much more success than one who doesn’t understand social sciences. The strength of his argument far exceeded the possible weakness’s, because his arguments was based on facts correlating the basic building blocks of building a business and how social sciences are implemented into the process of entrepreneurial ventures.

Sociology of Entrepreneurship and Culture

An international perspective.

In the research conducted by Kathleen Eisenhardt and Naushad Forbes, they took an international approach to understand the development of entrepreneurs culturally. Their studies were based out of Japan, Great Britain, The United States, and India. This study was done to examine capital incubator companies, social and technical volatility, and supportive culture (Eisenhardt and Forbes). The mentioned topics were three most common topics that supported their study which resulted in them finding them there were high rates of entrepreneurial endeavors based around technology around the world. This study also revealed that technology based entrepreneurs were the ones who had the most influence towards innovation for pre-entrepreneurs. The moral of (Eisenhardt and Forbes) study was to show that even though start-ups start out small, they have a much bigger advantage over their larger competition. This is because start ups are able to identify new niche markets that are too small for larger companies more established companies to notice. This study is very relevant to the study done by Zafirovsk (2010) because both speak on how niche markets need to be identified which can be easily identified with an understanding of social sciences.

Ethnic Entrepreneurship

In this study focused on entrepreneurship and ethnicity, Gamal Ibrahim and Vaughan Galt based their research on previous research done on ethnicity and business ventures. Their study shows that new institutional and neo-classical economists fail to provide an adequate explanation of differences between ethnic groups and rates of forming businesses (Ibrahim and Galt 2011). Previous studies mentioned by Ibrahim and Galt state that much explanation in terms of culture and entrepreneurship were because of pre-determined exo and endo-geneous factors. Endo-geneous factors are individuals whom are dependent on outside variables to determine an outcome. Exo-geneous factors are individuals whom are not dependent, and not affected by outside variables. (Ibrahim and Galt 2011) find that non-white entrepreneurs are classified as endo-geneous because they typically rely on outside factors to determine their outcome with their entrepreneurial endeavors. White entrepreneurs are classified as exo-geneous because they typically don’t depend on outside factors to determine their outcome and studies show they’re more independent in terms of relying on others. This study reveals that minority groups who pursue entrepreneurial ventures try and identify what lacks in the community. Stated by Ibrahim and Galt (2011) “Whatever lacks in the economic development, minorities identify as a business opportunity.”.

In a study done on the cultural perspectives of entrepreneurial development, entrepreneurs are seen as outliers of society engaging with creative forces that cause innovation and new ideas for technology. Though, this is an accurate description of an entrepreneur the cultural aspect is typically over looked according to (Daines et al. 2008). There study on culture and entrepreneurship shows that racial groups have different values than each other and based on their environment and social circumstances they identify opportunity differently.

The main premise of this study is to show how racial groups use sub categories of social capital and human capital to their advantage to excel in entrepreneurial ventures. Bonding and bridging social capital is at play when determining the difference between racial groups. Bonding social capital is what forms amongst groups of people who are alike and have similar values and morals, this is a crucial factor for “getting by” according to (Daines et al. 2008). Bridging social capital is what forms when people who are unalike and have different values, according to (Daines et al. 2008) this is a crucial step for “getting ahead” as an entrepreneur. This study reveals that minority groups rely on social capital in terms on entrepreneurial success and lean more towards the bonding characteristic. Evidence shows that minority groups rely more on each other for success sticking to those who have similar interests and values. Non-white entrepreneurs typically use human capital and lean more towards the bridging characteristic. According to (Daines et al. 2008) it’s a societal norm for whites to own business and have the “boss” roll. Therefore, minorities have to rely on their social networks to deter oppression and the thought that minorities can’t be successful in a society dominated by white privilege.

Urban and Local Influence

Research based on entrepreneurship development is typically reviewed through local areas for formations of new businesses. This study done by (Glaeser, Rosenthal, and Strange 2009) show that local environments influence entrepreneurial endeavors such as how individuals make choices and determine what’s in demand. Similar to Ebner (2010), both determine how individuals are influenced to create new firms based on local demands. This study also relates with work done by (Daines et al. 2008) because both studies examine how urban and local areas economic development influence the awakening of the entrepreneurial mindset. According to (Glaeser, Rosenthal, and Strange 2009) their findings show that there are hidden agendas created during economic developments that future entrepreneurs will be able to identify, creating opportunity that has a demand for existing businesses.

The Entrepreneur Personality

In a study done by Paul D. Reynolds, he attempts to provide an understanding of the personality of entrepreneurs and the development process. In his research he finds that entrepreneurs are competitive and understand that to make ends meet they must hustle. According to (Reynolds) Entrepreneurs are very quick to identify opportunity through the economic development, impacts of society, and attention to societal characteristics. Reynolds study reveals that those who are able to fully understand the key characteristics of society and create opportunity through social networks have the mindset of the elite. The elite is a very small percentage of people whom have the most power by building empires based around the needs and demand of economic developments. Reynolds study on the personality of entrepreneurs shows that the most successful entrepreneurs are very humble and usually seize opportunity through ways that help other people succeed.

According to research done by (Korunka, Frank, and Lueger 2003), a study was conducted on the personality of entrepreneurs in relevance to research done by (Reynolds). This study was conducted to discover what variables influence the personalities and awareness of entrepreneurs. The three common variables revealed from their findings were the influence of the environment, resources, and the start-up process. Their study was conducted by creating a questionnaire to measure the configuration of business owners’ personalities. Included in the questionnaire were topics on personality traits, environment, and organizing events and activities. Though the entrepreneur mindset is common amongst entrepreneurs, giving people the ability to dive into the unknown knowingly having many risks involved (Korunka, Frank, and Lueger 2003), many still differed in personalities according to their questionnaire. Their results revealed that not all business owners who lacked in public speaking skills or event organizing were just as successful as those who excelled in those particular areas. Their study found that, where business owners lack specific abilities, they hire people who excel in those areas to make up for it.

David Goss, a sociology and entrepreneurship professor conducted a study referring to work done by Joseph Schumpeter. Goss (2005) states that Joseph Schumpeter’s work has been considered very influential towards the entrepreneurial development. This statement was also referenced in studies done by Swedberg (2000). Though Schumpeter’s work plays a major role in entrepreneur development, his insights on sociology and entrepreneurship get very little attention. According to Goss, his research shows on Schumpeter’s work reveals that his writing show that true entrepreneurs have a lot of mental strength and will power which help them with social control and being able to face consequences with them having little to no affect on their well being.

Sociology and Entrepreneurship Developmental Conclusion

Based on my research on Sociology and Entrepreneurial Development, my findings conclude that sociology as a social science is positively associated with the development of an entrepreneur. Through all of the articles reviewed, each individual article had some form aspect of social science implications in their studies contributing to entrepreneurial development. Though, what was recognized was that social sciences were lightly used when explaining the implications of them in multiple articles. This literature review concludes that entrepreneur development is solely and directly correlated with innovation during economic development processes through social networks. Through Social Networks individuals are able to figure out the demands of society through sociological implications. Many factors such as the environment, resources, and social networks influence how individuals seize opportunities. The main goal for any entrepreneur according to research already done should be to remain humble and to not venture alone(Reynolds). Also in appreciation to the written works of Ruef(2010) entrepreneurs excel much faster and achieve much more success working in groups. Therefore, if an entrepreneur has an idea the best thing they can do in their start-up process is to create a social network of individuals on the same mission as them.

Future Implications

For future studies, it would be very beneficial to learn if entrepreneurial behaviors can be recognized in child hood. None of the articles, and very little research has been done on the entrepreneurial developments in childhood. Due to technology advancing rapidly, the younger generations have much more knowledge on how to use applications and devices better than adults. Studies on how new technology is creating opportunity for younger generations and how the economy is affected by young entrepreneurs would help fill in some of the grey areas in regards to future entrepreneur development.

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• Ebner, Alexander. 2005 “Entrepreneurship and economic development: From classical political economy to economic sociology”, Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 32 Iss: 3, pp.256 – 274
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Pregnant Nigerian entrepreneur arrested for writing scathing review of tomato puree: ‘I was messed up’

What a saucy comment.

A pregnant Nigerian mom was arrested and tossed in jail for making an online post criticizing a local brand of tomato puree, reports said.

Chioma Okoli, 39, is facing up to a year behind bars for allegedly breaching Lagos’ cybercrime law, after she said a can of tomato sauce by Nigerian brand Erisco Foods was too sweet in her social media comment.

The mom of three remarked on Facebook last September to her 18,000 followers. She said she picked up the Erisco’s Nagiko Tomato Mix because her store was out of the brand she typically bought.

“I went to but Tin tomatoes yesterday that I will use to make stew, but didn’t see my favourites, so I decided to buy this one. When I opened it, I decided to taste it omo! Sugar is just too much! Haa biko let me know if you hav used this tin tomato before because this is an ikegwuru situation!” Okoli wrote.

The post, which included an image of the product, generated friction between Okoli and other social media users and gained over 3,000 comments.

“Stop spoiling my brother product, if you don’t like it, use another one than bring it to social media or call the customer service Erisco Foods Limited,” one person wrote.

In response, Okoli replied: “Help me advise your brother to stop ki–ing people with his product; yesterday was my first time using it, and it’s pure sugar. Tueh!”

A week after making the post, on Sept. 24, Okoli was arrested, according to CNN.

Okoli, who is pregnant with her fourth child, told CNN she was arrested at church by a plainclothes cop.

“I was put in the cell around 6 p.m. There were no seats, so I stood all through till the next day. My legs were inside the water (that came from the jail cell’s leaking roof). Sometimes, I squatted to reduce the pressure on my legs. I was thinking about my children who were at home. I was talking to myself. I would think, I would pray, I was messed up,” she said.

She was released the following day on bail on the condition that she apologize — which her attorney says she only agreed to under duress. She has not issued an apology.

The Nigeria Police Force accused Okoli of using her Facebook “with the intention of instigating people against Erisco Foods,” according to legal filings viewed by CNN.

Police later noted in a March 7 statement that their investigation has “unearthed compelling evidence indicating Mrs. Chioma’s alleged role in the violation of extant laws, particularly those related to the proper use of the cyberspace.”

If she is found guilty, Okoli could face up to three years in jail or a fine of 7 million naira ($5,000), or both.

Okoli was also charged with conspiring with two other individuals “with the intention of instigating people against Erisco Foods Limited.” If convicted of this charge she could face a seven-year prison sentence.

She is also being sued by Erisco for over $3 million. The company claims it is defending its reputation after her comments “resulted in several suppliers deciding to disassociate” with the brand.

Okoli says she plans to file a counter-suit against the police and food company.