(Pictured: Dr Emiel Eijdenberg)

Dr Emiel Eijdenberg – Senior Lecturer in Business at James Cook University in Singapore – in collaboration with Dr Neil Thompson from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, has written a book about entrepreneurs’ creative responses to institutional challenges.

Most entrepreneurship research in emerging countries make use of macro-level or meso-level analyses of large surveys to examine the relationship between institutional environment and the role of entrepreneurship in social and environmental development. However, Dr Eijdenberg’s book takes a more unique approach.

After observing a need for a more in-depth understanding about the role and impact of entrepreneurial activities, Dr Eijdenberg and Dr Thompson decided that it was important to go straight to the source – obtain insights through personal experiences and stories from the experts and entrepreneurs themselves.

“The creation of this book did not happen overnight,” shared Dr Eijdenberg. Instead, the book was the result of extensive self-collected data, obtained from four focus group interviews with 60 entrepreneurship experts and experienced entrepreneurs in Tanzania and Zambia in 2017 and 2018.

Dr Eijdenberg said, “The personal experiences and stories of the experts and entrepreneurs offer nuanced and insider perspectives of the everyday struggles of Tanzanian and Zambian entrepreneurs.”

The book sheds new light on African entrepreneurship, showing that the dynamics of African entrepreneurship is ultimately a function of the institutional environment. The account highlights the need for complementary interventions, such as environmental regulations, environmental awareness promotion, better alignment of incentives and more comprehensive and robust social security systems. In addition, the book also contains socio-economic information related to entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For academics, students and practitioners, this book may prove to be a fascinating and relevant read to understand more about African entrepreneurship as a whole.

Check out Dr Emiel Eijdenberg’s staff and research profiles here.

For further information on areas of research strength in Business and future collaborative opportunities at James Cook University in Singapore, view our booklet here.

You may find the book “Entrepreneurs’ Creative Responses to Institutional Challenges: Insider Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa” here.

Contacts

Dr Emiel Eijdenberg [email protected]
Media: Pinky Sibal [email protected]