Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the important process of how entrepreneurial identity is formed and constructed, with the perspective that entrepreneurial identity is social and dynamic, constantly shaped by various life episodes and human interactions, rather than static and unchanging. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study comprises 30 in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrants in West Canada. These immigrants had been employed professionals under the “Skilled Workers” immigration category but later became entrepreneurs. None of the entrepreneurs in this study had prior business ownership experience, and many of them said that they had never thought about running businesses until they came to Canada. Findings A process model of entrepreneurial identity construction is presented. This paper advances the literature on entrepreneurship through the identification of three stages in the development of entrepreneurial identity: identity exploration, entrepreneurial mindsets building, and narrative development. Originality/value This study has important implications for the understanding of the exploratory and discovery mode of entrepreneurial identity construction. This study also moves away from the contextual and structural hypotheses as the sole explanations for the high rate of self-employment among immigrant entrepreneurs, and provides a useful starting point for a deeper understanding of the agency of immigrant entrepreneurs.

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are one of the most commonly referenced cultural models in the literature, but it has also been criticized for its inflexibility in terms of allowing for cultural changes over time. In this study, we focus on one salient dimension of national culture, long-term orientation (LTO), to investigate cultural change over time. Using the LTO scale developed by Bearden et al. ((2006) A measure of long-term orientation: development and validation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 34(3): 456–67), we conducted a survey in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Turkey, and collected 1,452 valid responses. Our study provided new evidence on LTO national ranking and cultural change. We found the countries surveyed no longer appear to be in the same relative positions as when Hofstede first published his results in the 1980s, or his more recent results based on data from the World Value Survey (WVS). Implications for practitioners, academics, and students in the cross-cultural management field are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the linkages between two theories of firm performance, aspiration theory and the resource-based view (RBV), possible ways in which these theories may interact, and how the culture from which the firm originated can be a factor in how the firm may react to Schumpeterian shock issues suggested in RBV of the firm. Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes a theoretical approach. Findings – Firms generally look to firms sharing their own cultural backgrounds when selecting similar others. However when the environment is no longer beneficial to firms sharing these goals and objectives, the focal firm may consider firms from other cultural backgrounds when forming aspiration levels. Research limitations/implications – Empirical studies would be necessary to verify these finding: do firms show a preference to firms from their own cultural backgrounds when choosing firms to serve as reference groups for goals and objectives? Would Schumpeterian Shocks cause firms to seek other firms outside of their own culture to set new goals and objectives? Practical implications – Firms should be aware of their own possible biases when deciding which firms to base its goals and objectives on, and widen the cultural scope of their competitive views to include firms from other cultural backgrounds, diversifying their repertoire of strategies and improving the survivability of the organization. Originality/value – The combination of different managerial theories is not common in management literature, and the author was unable to find an article combining the RBV, Aspiration Theory and cultural theories. If management theories are valid, then it is important to understand the relationships between these theories.

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