Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Role of Citizens

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies of Entrepreneurship in Africa ((PSEA))

  • 288 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of citizens in the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa. Very often, citizens blame their governments for what goes wrong. This chapter acknowledges that citizens are part of the problem as well as the solution. Whether a country is entrepreneurial or not depends on its citizens. It is the people, their capacity to tolerate risk and embrace uncertainty that determine whether entrepreneurship will take root in their community or not. Hence, to make a positive impact, citizens must change their value system, attitudes, and actual behaviors. For example, in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, citizens must reevaluate their attitudes toward entrepreneurship and failure, encourage family entrepreneurship, and reduce the forced solidarity tax.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Beugré, C. D., & Das, N. (2013). Limited capital and new venture creation in emerging economies: A model of crowd-capitalism. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 78(3), 21–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin, S. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40(3), 437–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhide, A. (1994, March–April). How entrepreneurs craft strategies that work. Harvard Business Review, 150–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruwer, J. P. (2012). The entrepreneurial mindset profile of South African small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the Cape metropole. African Journal of Business Management, 6(15), 5383–5388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C. (2006). The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, M., Gubert, F., Koriko, O., Lay, J., & Nordman, C. J. (2013). Kinship ties and entrepreneurs in Western Africa. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 26(2), 125–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynie, J. M., & Shepherd, D. A. (2007). Exploring the entrepreneurial mindset: Feedback and adaptive decision-making. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 27(6), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynie, J. M., Shepherd, D. A., Mosakowski, E., & Early, P. C. (2010). A situated metacognitive model of the entrepreneurial mindset. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(2), 217–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences on work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institution and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ireland, R. D., Hitt, A. M., & Simon, G. D. (2003). A model of strategic entrepreneurship: The construct and its dimensions. Journal of Management, 29(6), 963–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, F. H. (1921). Risk, uncertainty, and profit. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, S. L., & Thomas, A. S. (2000). Culture and entrepreneurial potential: A nine country study of locus of control and innovativeness. Journal of Business Venturing, 16(1), 51–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nafziger, E. W. (1969). The effect of the Nigerian extended family on entrepreneurial activity. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 18(1), 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newland, K., & Tanaka, H. (2010). Mobilizing diaspora entrepreneurship for development. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, USAID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peredo, A. M., & Chrisman, J. J. (2006). Toward a theory of community-based enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 309–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platteau, J. P. (2000). Institutions, social norms and economic development. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, D. A. (2003). Learning from business failure: Propositions for grief recovery for the self-employed. Academy of Management Review, 28(2), 318–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, D. A. (2004). Educating entrepreneurship students about emotion and learning from failure. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(3), 274–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, D. A., Patzelt, H., & Haynie, J. M. (2010). Entrepreneurial spirals: Deviation-amplifying loops of an entrepreneurial mindset and organizational culture. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(1), 59–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1985). Human nature in politics: The dialogue of psychology with political science. American Political Science Review, 79(2), 293–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211(4481), 453–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wennekers, S., Thurik, R., Van Stel, A., & Noorderhaven, N. (2007). Uncertainty avoidance and the rate of business ownership across 21 OECD countries, 1976–2004. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 17(2), 133–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf Jr., C. (1955). Institutions and economic development. American Economic Review, 45(5), 872–873.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zacharakis, A. L., Meyer, G. D., & DeCastro, J. (1999). Differing perceptions of new venture failure: A matched exploratory study of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business Management, 37(3), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buame, K. S. (1996). Entrepreneurship: A contextual perspective. discourses and praxis of entrepreneurial activities within the institutional context of Ghana. Lund: Lund University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, M. D., & Edmondson, A. C. (2001). Confronting failure: Antecedents and consequences of shared beliefs about failure in organizational work groups. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(2), 161–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardon, M. S., Stevens, C. E., & Potter, D. R. (2011). Misfortunes or mistakes: Cultural sense making of entrepreneurial failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(1), 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kallon, K. M. (1990). The economics of Sierra Leone entrepreneurship. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiggundu, M. N. (2002). Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa: What is known and what needs to be done. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 7(3), 239–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mantere, S., Aula, P., Schildt, H., & Vaara, H. (2013). Narrative attributions of entrepreneurial failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(4), 459–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, R. G. (1999). Falling forward: Real options reasoning and entrepreneurial failure. Academy of Management Review, 24(1), 13–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, R. G., & MacMillan, I. (2000). The entrepreneurial mindset. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware, USA

    Constant D. Beugré

Authors
  1. Constant D. Beugré
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Beugré, C.D. (2017). Role of Citizens. In: Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Studies of Entrepreneurship in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56894-6_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation