Does the Innate Culture make all Failures to Entrepreneurs? An Existing Context Specific Problem

Abstract

Complementing Ireland et al., (2003) inference of „regardless of the size of the entrepreneurial venture, strategic entrepreneurial aspects (advantage seeking and opportunity seeking behaviors) are important‟, we set out to assess whether less entrepreneurial behavior in Sri Lanka has an impact from the innate culture? This working study interviewed 127 entrepreneurs in two districts in Sri Lanka and Geert Hofstede‟s six dimensional cultures were assessed. We came to know that selected entrepreneurs of two districts hold the characteristics of being collective, high power distant, feminine, low uncertainty avoidance, long term oriented and Indulgent. We concluded that, innate culture hinders entrepreneurship in relation to power distance. Though a large number of entrepreneurial ventures started as solo entrepreneurial ventures in Sri Lanka, the distance of power between the owner and the subordinates may act as a restraining factor in the process of expansion. We generalized our findings and different implications were made and finally some research directions were proposed. Importantly, we propose that, despite the relationship of cultural inheritance and entrepreneurship, strategic entrepreneurial aspects are of paramount importance to secure entrepreneurship in a country. Simply put, it provides a clear basis for sustainable entrepreneurship and it clearly differentiates a mere business venture.