Description
With this detailed data concerning faith and entrepreneurship among the british african caribbean intersections.
Faith and entrepreneurship
among the British
African-Caribbean
Intersections between religious and
entrepreneurial values
Sonny Nwankwo and Ayantunji Gbadamosi
Noon Centre for Equality and Diversity in Business, University of East London,
London, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to explore how African-Caribbean Pentecostals use the platform of their
faith to reconstruct their entrepreneurial values and identities, improve entrepreneurial learning and
exploit the cultural resources of faith-based networks to promote and sustain their entrepreneurialism.
Design/methodology/approach – Methodological appropriateness rather than orthodoxy guided
the design of this study. Rooted in the context of discovery rather than veri?cation, focus groups were
assembled and used for data collection. Ideas generated by the groups were further explored in
narrative face-to-face interviews.
Findings – Findings indicate clear connections between motivation for entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial learning and religious orientation among
African-Caribbean entrepreneurs. Religious orientation was evident as a context moderator within
which relations of trust and ethnico-religious compatibility generate social capital which, in turn, helps
members to cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value – This paper offers refreshing insights into the transcendental logic of black
entrepreneurship, illuminating the interconnections between religion and enterprise. Such insights
afford tremendous opportunities to construct new sites of meaning or frame new explanations of
entrepreneurship among the population group – using religion as an important environmental
muni?cence.
Keywords Religion, Pentecostalism, Entrepreneurial values, Black entrepreneurship,
British African-Caribbean, London, Entrepreneurialism, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Reviews of the UK’s small business sector over the past three decades indicates a
growing presence of entrepreneurs from British ethnic minority groups (BMEs) in
general and, more recently, those from African-Caribbean (AC) communities (Ram and
Jones, 1998; Okonta and Pandya, 2007). Whilst the relative nascence of AC
entrepreneurship is noted (Oc and Tiesdell, 1999), it is described as one of the fastest
mutating phenomena, especially in London (Nwankwo, 2005). Paradoxically, this
phenomenon is still very much less understood, largely because of considerable
lacunae in both the knowledge and representation of AC entrepreneurship (used
synonymously with black entrepreneurship). However, scholars engaged in the study
of this phenomenon (e.g. Nwankwo, 2005; Okonta and Pandya, 2007) have provided
some fascinating insights that usefully help in characterising AC entrepreneurialism;
thus directing attention to newer developments.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1462-6004.htm
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Journal of Small Business and
Enterprise Development
Vol. 20 No. 3, 2013
pp. 618-633
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1462-6004
DOI 10.1108/JSBED-04-2013-0048
The motivation for this study is two-pronged and derives from a range of issues
manifesting themselves as black entrepreneurship in the UK is speci?cally focused.
First, Nwankwo (2003) established that theocentricism is embedded in discourses of
“being” and “becoming” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987) among AC entrepreneurs. This
re?ects a resistive position among the entrepreneurs as they strive to navigate the
tough terrains of entrepreneurship in the UK. However, confronted with overwhelming
person-speci?c and institutional constraints, recourse is frequently taken “divine
guidance” to cushion the harsh effects of the environment. Drawing upon this subject
position, the entrepreneurs use ritualised occasions (i.e. church activities) to build
self-sustaining networks linking ties of belonging with enterprise; with individual and
entrepreneurial features coalesced within a communitarian faith-based code of
solidarity. Against this backdrop, exploring the transcendental conditions of
entrepreneurship is necessary not only to tease out the ambivalent discourses of
entrepreneurship but also its transformative practices
The second reason for focusing the nexus between religious orientation and
entrepreneurship is because religion has become a “big business” in British AC
communities (Hunt, 2000). At individual levels, references to the Supreme Being, either
directly or indirectly, come naturally in narratives of entrepreneurial experiences. Also,
researchers have encountered extensive use of religious metaphors in ascriptions of
entrepreneurial intents, successes and failures (Nwankwo, 2003). Thus, the boundaries
between religion (especially black religious movements) and enterprise has become
progressively blurred, affording a legitimate premise from which to gain a deeper
understanding of the transcendental underpinnings of black entrepreneurialism.
Accordingly, this paper explores how black Pentecostal movements, the fastest
growing Christian denomination in the UK, mediate the entrepreneurial values of their
members. It explores how members use the platform of their religious orientation to
frame their entrepreneurial identity, evaluate the success of entrepreneurship, achieve
work-life balance (i.e. ?nding meaning and purpose in their lives), cope with the stress
of entrepreneurship, improve entrepreneurial learning, exploit the cultural resources of
faith-based organisations and networks to promote and sustain their
entrepreneurialism.
Conceptual background
Since the seminal work on Protestantism by Weber (1930), the connection between
religious values and enterprise culture has become more strongly established (Neusner,
1979; Kotkin, 1993; Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman, 1998; Anderson et al., 2000;
Mittelstaedt, 2002; Bellu and Fiume, 2004; Ecklund, 2005, Dana, 2010; Witham, 2010).
Dana (2010) usefully demonstrates how entrepreneurial agency operates within and
through a variety of religious contexts – religious values and beliefs are entwined with
cultural values and both in?uence the social appeal of entrepreneurship. Exploring the
economic embeddedness of religions, the concept of religion capital is revealed in
Witham’s (2010) preference-based interpretation of rational choice, which assumes that
people have well-de?ned preferences and beliefs about the world, and consequently
make choices instrumentally to accomplish the most preferred outcomes amidst
uncertainty conditions. Kuratko and Hodgetts (1998) provide a useful framework that
locates entrepreneurial motivation as an experiential process, suggesting that the
initial decision to behave entrepreneurially is the result of the interaction of a range of
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factors that encompass the individual’s personal characteristics, personal environment,
personal goal set, the relevant business environment, and the existence of a viable
business idea. The usefulness of the framework lies in its ability to combine the wider
environmental forces with the intrinsic motivational and social contexts of the
entrepreneur. These contexts are embedded in a complex web of religious traits,
including moral values and work ethics (Herriott et al., 2009).
Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman (1998) posit that religion is a synthesiser of
entrepreneurial meaning system – positively impacting the level of environmental
muni?cence for entrepreneurship. Following Weber (1930), Neusner (1979) argues that
it was religious instruction in the Calvinistic faith that led to the development of most
of what became the basis of modern industrial process. He explains Mormon doctrine
and covenant to be interlocked in two key factors – i.e. religion and enterprise. Also, in
his thesis on how tribes (encapsulating race, religion an identity) determine success in
the new global economy, Kotkin (1993) chronicled the growth of the Rothschild
business empire, in which the cementing factor was Judaism. Based on the extant
literature, the connection between religious and entrepreneurial values is
long-standing. This is increasingly evident in the rich and growing body of
literature on what makes entrepreneurs learn and how they learn (Rae and Carswell,
2001; Sardana and Scott-Kemmis, 2010) and what motivates or shapes their
entrepreneurial orientation (Rauch et al., 2009; Pearce et al., 2010). Whilst this
knowledge base is fairly stable, there are nevertheless tensions arising from research
that examines the subtle positioning of minority entrepreneurs through the lens of
orthodox religions (Mittlestaedt, 2002; Cleveland and Chang, 2009). Broadly, however,
despite the tensions and contradictions, religious orientations have a strong
explanatory power in relation to variations in work values (Parboteeach et al., 2009),
labour market opportunities and earnings (Lindley, 2002), and enterprise culture and
behaviour (Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman, 1998; Anderson et al., 2000; Bellu and
Fiume, 2004). Therefore, it is intellectually and practically desirable to seek a grounded
understanding of how the newly emergent AC religious sects peculiarly in?uence the
features of entrepreneurship among the population group.
Black Pentecostalism in the UK – a brief overview
For several decades, especially during the colonial era, African/Caribbean-based
missionaries were sent to train as clergymen in Britain and returned to the “colonies” to
preach the received wisdom. Christian religious activities in those countries were very
much tied to the activities of parent churches in England and Rome. However, the past
two decades have witnessed an explosion of Black Pentecostal churches not only in the
UK but also across Europe (Anderson, 1993; Hunt, 2000). These churches, spreading
rapidly on a global scale from West Africa, represent a different genre with a
distinctive set of doctrines and practices and an ethos that in many respects marks
them out as unique. In many ways, they are comparable to the American evangelical
movements (The Economist, 2005a, b) in globalising evangelism and, very importantly,
adapting their functions to become “entrepreneurial” themselves. Hunt and Lightly
(2001) argue that the importance of the “new” black African churches within the
framework of globalisation is not merely with reference to a unique expression of
African Christianity. “Rather, they are noteworthy in that they constitute international
ministries which have implications on a world-wide scale. As part of the increasing
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phenomenon of what might be termed ‘reversed proselitisation’, these new West
African churches have systematically set out to evangelise the world” (Hunt and
Lightly, 2001, p. 121).
It is estimated that there are over 3,000 African Caribbean Pentecostal churches in
the UK. London, where about 49 per cent of the country’s African Caribbean
community lives, is also home to the highest number of black-led churches. The
Pentecostal church sector is estimated to control an economic base of £1.3bn, with a
membership base comprising approximately 30 per cent of the adult black population
living in London (Glory Times, 2003). Remarkably, while mainstream churches have
been experiencing a progressive decline in active church membership, black churches
have been growing exponentially. Figures from the Christian Research Association
show that in the ?rst ?ve years of the past decade, black church membership grew by
around 18 per cent, in contrast with a 5 per cent decline for churches nationally ( John,
2005; The Economist, 2005a, b).
Several reasons have been given for the rapid growth of black churches in Britain
(Hunt, 2000). Apart from providing a sense of identity and enriching a feeling of
solidarity, Hunt and Lightly (2001) argue that the churches have performed well in
their integrative roles, which encompass educational, social and commercial activities.
In this sense, they have become spaces where individuals may seek support from each
other or shield themselves from surroundings that are often hostile and demanding.
What is also unique about black Pentecostalism is the marked shift away from
salvation gospel (the holy matrimony of cruci?xion, resurrection and atonement that
cascades into spiritual understandings of sin, pain, death and renewal) to prosperity
theology (premised on health and wealth; an understanding that God abhors poverty
and God’s promise of generosity and life of abundance is claimable here and now).
Whilst salvation gospel is thrift-driven, and preaches denial of earthly pleasure in the
pursuit of God’s kingdom and atonement of sin through personal deprivation and
remorsefulness (pre-eminence of hell), Biema and Chu (2006, p. 48) posit that prosperity
theology treats “God as a celestial ATM”.
Rooted in the doctrinal tenets of prosperity theology, Pentecostal values are not only
strongly enmeshed with spirituality and success, but also promote the belief that
wealth and good living are assured by God and attainable in a believer’s lifetime. Thus,
given that religious values of a group provide its members with associated principles
by which they live, it is reasonable to argue that “believers will be strongly in?uenced
in their economic activity by the religion in which they have faith” (Drakopoulou-Dodd
and Seaman, 1998, p. 73). Essentially, the Pentecostal ethos, in light of the growing
membership within the British black population, provides a rich context for exploring
an aspect of black entrepreneurship that remains a little-charted area. According to
Vinten (2000, p. 209), “religious language has a role to play in pursuing the vision and
mission of the world of business, even if this may be regarded as a secularised or
post-modern version”.
Methodology
Methodological appropriateness rather than orthodoxy crucially guided the design of
this study. Three reasons underpinned this. First, previous studies of entrepreneurial
behaviours within AC communities highlight the endemic dif?culties in engaging the
target population and suggest “creative ways” of overcoming some of the problems
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(e.g. Nwankwo et al., 2005). Lessons learned from these studies (e.g. use of gatekeepers
and a personal contact network to negotiate access) helped in easing potential
dif?culties in accessing the sample. Second, the subject of religious orientation is
deeply ingrained in beliefs that naturally elicit emotive responses when overtly probed.
Rather than use validated measures of religious orientation in a positivistic way
(e.g. Bellu and Fiume, 2004), which sometimes leans toward the objecti?cation of
people, we followed the interpretive process. This approach is well adapted to
situations in which the key problem is understanding how individuals or a group
interpret events and experiences, rather than assessing whether or not their
interpretations conform to any construct of “objective reality”. Furthermore, the
approach is generally guided by the idea that people construct their own story about
what is true of themselves and that experience can only be understood through a
discursive analysis of such stories. Third, as this is intended as an exploratory study, it
was considered best to embed it into the discovery-oriented methodology (Mahrer,
1988). Drawing from this position, this research is ?rmly located in the context of
discovery rather than the context of justi?cation.
The research was conducted at two levels, using an idiosyncratic sampling
procedure. The ?rst level involved four focus groups conducted under the auspices of
?ve Pentecostal churches in London between March and November 2009. Personal
contact networks were used to recruit church pastors (leveraging their gate-keeping
role) who, in turn, facilitated access to their membership. The groups comprised a rich
mix of entrepreneurs from different sectors of the economy – IT and communications,
business services, manufacturing, catering, wholesale trade, retailing, transport and
miscellaneous services. Core themes generated during this stage were subsequently
explored through narrative face-to-face interviews at the second level. The second level
involved face-to-face interviews with 15 individuals (who have gone on to establish
their own businesses) selected on a convenience basis from the ?ve churches
represented in the survey. The entrepreneurs were drawn from the following sectors:
.
retailing;
.
business and professional services;
.
estate agency;
.
creative industry;
.
clothing and fashion; and
.
IT consultancy.
Each interviewee was met twice during a period of six months. The line of inquiry
focused on exploring the interconnection between faith values on the one hand and
attitude to entrepreneurship on the other. Attitudes to entrepreneurship, encompassing
entrepreneurship orientation variables, were probed using the thematic dimensions
established in the literature (e.g. Pearce et al., 2010; Rauch et al., 2009):
.
risk-taking;
.
competitive aggressiveness;
.
innovativeness;
.
proactiveness;
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.
performance; and
.
autonomy seeking.
Through the interactive process of documenting and interpreting experiences of
entrepreneurship alongside religious orientation within the sample population, the
chosen method of inquiry is appropriate and usefully contributes in developing a
situated understanding of the structures, meanings and discourses which shape and
explain how religious values in?uence the praxis of entrepreneurship.
Field data were analysed using an iterative strategy that cut across incidents (Miles
and Huberman, 1994) and reported using the connected narrative approach (Misler,
1990). The underlying motivation was to use ?eld data to draw speci?c implications
and contribute rich insight to the subject-matter of the research. Vignettes are liberally
used not simply to embellish the discussion but to maintain richness of context,
enhance transparency of the analysis and share authorship with respondents (Misler,
1990). Additionally, some members of the focus group and interviewees were allowed
to cross-check case notes as well as inferences consequently drawn. Miles and
Huberman (1994) recommend providing feedback to respondents as a means of validity
check as well as learning more about a phenomenon. To make sense of the data, a
grounded ?rst-order analysis was conducted, following interpretive guidelines, which
consists of selecting sections from the data, identifying key terminologies as provided
by the informants and developing ?rst-order categorisations that re?ect the
informants’ natural thematic categorisations, shared values, concepts and processes
(see, for example, Allard-Poesi, 2005). This meant comparing discursive structures, the
language used to describe entrepreneurial experiences and connections with the
religious orientation, the distinct religious dogmas and contexts that affects the way in
which entrepreneurial experience is languaged. The second-level analysis, dealing with
interview data, involved the identi?cation of overlapping characteristics that build
support for repeated patterns, i.e. thematic consistency.
Findings: emergent themes
A number of key themes emerged that encapsulate the thrust of this paper. These
include:
.
identity delineation;
.
networks and contacts;
.
ethics and restraints;
.
entrepreneurship versus spiritualism; and
.
institutional support and skills enhancement programmes.
While these re?ect the convergence of views of the research participants, verbatim
quotes are liberally used to amplify and support thematic threads – a way of providing
thick description of the phenomena.
Identity delineation
Narratives of entrepreneurship are couched in patterns re?ective of what Jones et al.
(2008) described as “positioning through divisioning” – that is, producing identities
based on in-group and out-group classi?cations. The liberal use of the pre?x “brother”
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or “sister” before given names is widespread in membership identi?cation. Apparently,
the issue of self-identity (as believers) is important to the entrepreneurs because it
accomplishes a number of objectives. First, it underlies the con?dence in
entrepreneurial undertakings and re?ect an approach to marking market boundaries
(e.g. what businesses to undertake and those to avoid), articulating market positioning,
risk taking, proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness. For them, achieving
success in entrepreneurship is something metaphorically akin to “a mission from God’.
Second, self-identity affords them a base for designing, initiating and strengthening the
relational contexts of entrepreneurship – the relational context appears to have deeper
meanings and produces real consequences for the entrepreneurs. The churches’ role as
a hub for entrepreneurial coaching, learning as well as dealing with the stress of
entrepreneurship, was seen as integral to Pentecostal ethos (e.g. “divine empowerment”
was the term that resonated in the interviews). Self-classi?cation as “believers” invokes
a distinctive personality that is more attuned to entrepreneurial success and sets
members apart from others who do not belong to the faith.
[. . .] we know that by faith all things are possible. It is what the word of God says . . . By faith,
I can decide to start a business and by faith I can make it a success. But a man probably with
myopic idea will say – How? How can you do that? But by faith we have brothers who have
done it and they are now successful. I am one of them.
Successes in business transactions, wisdom for business ideas, and continuous
spiritual guidance in day-to-day running of businesses are favours from God to which
“good believers” are entitled.
[. . .] faith is helping . . . generally we use power of prayers to help solve business problems or
help through tough times.
[. . .] God said, above all things, that you may prosper, and when you prosper you need
wisdom . . . to go into business, you need wisdom; not just wisdom but the wisdom of God.
The wisdom that has been ordained by God, you can’t fault it.
Yes . . . being a believer, you go to church, you are listening, then your faith can push you to
say OK if I do this business . . . I can succeed because I know that with prayers, I will follow
the right path.
Networks and contacts
Evident in the narrative is a sense of communitarianism and solidarity that helps to
cushion the stress of entrepreneurship, whilst at the same time helping members to
navigate the rough terrain in entrepreneurial endeavours. Network ties, manifesting
themselves through well-nurtured behavioural tendencies such as reciprocity in
business relations, symbiotic patronage behaviours, word-of-mouth, targeted
sign-posting behaviours, all of which are driven by shared religious values, are
important entrepreneurial undercurrents. Thus, members are able to avail
themselves of different forms of support which in many instances are provided at
no costs.
I run a security company . . . on many occasions, the church has given us business, either
when there are programmes or by introducing us to external opportunities. I have also used
our forum to help many people in church when the need arises.
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This is a good platform for starting in business [referring to the church] . . . nurturing and
implementing start-up ideas . . . one of the key success factors is to have the necessary
contacts, mentors and those you trust who can hand-hold you. As one does not belong to any
social clubs, the church presents the only sustainable forum for networking.
The entrepreneurs noted that a higher level of trust inherent in intra-membership
interactions often provides useful opportunities to extend entrepreneurial boundaries.
For example, it was mentioned that funding and credit facilities are more easily
obtained where the parties involved are related through the church. This is because the
parties would expectedly subscribe to the scriptural injunction about uprightness in
every sphere of life, which, in turn, lowers the perceived risks normally associated with
such transactional relations.
Yes. What will come to mind is that if you want to do business with people from the church
chances that they are going to be reasonably truthful with you is high. You have that
immediate trust that you will be able to deal with these people.
You see . . . when you are dealing with a member, the platform will be different compared to
when you are dealing with an unbeliever. If an unbeliever walks up to me and talks about
starting a business, the immediate trigger in my brain will be: “Oh! You need to be at alert!”.
Ethics and restraints
Thick in the discourse of entrepreneurial behaviour is the frequent reference to moral
principles, ethical stances and a view of marketplace integrity that is decked in
religious values and metaphors. As “believers”, the research participants are overtly
sensitive to a set of ascribed behavioural imperatives in the form of doctrinal guides
(e.g. honesty, transparency, integrity, trustworthiness). These, in turn, guide attitudes
towards market prospecting, risk taking, innovativeness, competitive positioning and
performance evaluation. Hence, religious values evidently act as a synthesizer of
entrepreneurial relations.
[. . .] you get direction and focus as you do business. Surely, there are certain things we cannot
do in business. In I Corinthians: 6:9, the Bible says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the Kingdom of God?”.
There are differences in rules that govern ?nance and spiritual belief and in most cases they
are not in tune together. One is that while a rule in ?nance says abstain from spending today
so that you consume more in future but the spiritual rule says that if you spend more for God
today you will have more in future.
A key part of the belief system is that many non-Pentecostals would more easily
succumb to the utilitarian ideology (i.e. the end justi?es the means) which is not the
case with the believers because “every action has its own consequence”. This
worldview is important in choosing the type of business to undertake. As one research
participant puts it, “some businesses which are legal might not be morally right”.
[. . .] let me give you this example, I know that selling beer and cigarettes is not against the
law but I can’t trade on them. They are not my line and I can never compromise that.
It was also noted that the faith-based platform affords the opportunity to achieve
work-life balance, helping members to create meanings to their lives, leading a
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perceivably more ful?lling life through, for example, tighter control and ownership of
utility-maximizing personal preferences.
I believe that running one’s business should give one the opportunity to be ?exible; you can
schedule your time to give room for spiritual activities. Now I know I cannot open for
business on Sunday.
On the other hand, it was also noted that a feeling of guilt is engendered occasionally
when the research participants are unable to maintain an effective balance between
church and entrepreneurial commitments.
I have a property business that I run. I have some tenants and most of them are not in London.
And that means virtually I am away some weekends supporting my business . . . And you’ll
discover that you want to be in the church and you can’t make it. And you’ll feel that you are
just pursuing money but the church still needs money . . . but we just need to ?nd the right
balance. It’s a challenge in a way.
Actually, for committed people who have much to do in the church [e.g. a preacher] . . . your
time and attention may be needed all the time. Like me now, I have found out that pursuing
the goal of ?nancial stability reduces my time for church activities . . . it could be seen as
though one is drawing back a bit . . . like lukewarmness is setting in . . . that can be a strain
and I am trying to ?nd the balance, and at times guilt creeps in – understand what I mean?
Despite the apparent tensions, a point of convergence among the research participants
is an acknowledgement that both faith and entrepreneurship are intertwined in their
lives.
Spiritualism versus entrepreneurship
Probing more deeply the level of interconnections between faith-based values and
entrepreneurship, the research participants expressed the view that both are not
mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary. Rewards for entrepreneurship
afford them the resources to help and contribute to the growth of the church while
spiritualism offers them special opportunities for divine direction in their
entrepreneurial activities. When re?ecting on biblical passages that cautions against
excessive love of money, most were quick to stress that such notions were due to lack
of proper understanding of those scriptural passages by the people who interpret them.
Poor interpretation leads to misunderstandings of the context to which those passages
refer. Explanations were supported with several other biblical passages, to justify that
God is not against acquiring wealth because He Himself owns the wealth and cannot
deprive His children of the enjoyment arising from it:
[. . .] there have been some instances where some people, because of faith, say “because you
are going to church you should not really vigorously be pursuing money” . . . I believe that if
you go to church, you owe yourself the responsibility to do well in whatever you want to do.
. . . When you do well in your own business, you are able to either possibly in?uence people
around you within that church environment . . . you also want to be able to encourage as
many people as possible.
In the ?rst place, it is the will of God for believers to prosper . . . the scripture says it . . .
[quotes biblical passages]. So, for God, His will for His people is all round prosperity.
Prosperity of your soul, your body . . . there is this quotation that people say it is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God
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. . . Unfortunately, people . . . misunderstand what God meant. There is also, one wrong notion
. . . that those who have riches or wealth will not go to heaven and people say money is the
root of all evil . . . what the Bible is saying and what the church is saying centres on the love of
money. You see, there is a way you’ll love money so much that you can do anything to acquire
it. In the scripture, it is shown that money is the vehicle for the gospel . . . if there is no money
you can’t actualize . . . In fact, there are several scriptural passages we can use to support the
fact that God wants us to prosper. He promised us that He will give us wealth, the hidden
wealth in dark places; . . . You can be rich; you can enjoy prosperity here on earth and enjoy
prosperity in the kingdom of God.
Institutional support and skills enhancement programmes
The participants acknowledged the usefulness of having training programmes
arranged by the church to help them in running their businesses. Although such
schemes are not yet widespread, respondents cited some examples of how the churches
have factored entrepreneurial ideals into their programmes – to capacitate
entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs with management, bookkeeping and
opportunity recognition skills.
As for me, I am into IT support, I used to do properties. I will say the church really helped
with the advice I received in the meeting we had. Once I had the idea of starting up the IT
support business . . . and I spoke to Brother Felix, he said, “Brother, you are blessed, you’ve
got all these ideas, why not use them?”. This was just as a result of a brief meeting . . . I
believe that by the grace of God, it will go higher level.
Through the narrative discourses, the supporting role of the church is evident in areas
such as capacity development, continuous learning, access to ?nance, brokerage
services and a raft of other enterprise promotion initiatives. Examples were given of
Pentecostal churches that do run bespoke workshops and training events on enterprise
development and recruiting reputable consultants and well-established resource
persons as coaches. Hence, these Pentecostal churches are now becoming an
increasingly relevant enterprise promotion hubs and catalysts for skills enhancement
(through seminars, workshops and miscellaneous programmes).
Discussion
Evident from the narrative data are clear patterns relating to autonomy-seeking
behaviours, a sense that economic empowerment is made possible through divine
favours (i.e. a fundamental belief that actions guided by faith values are likely to be
“blessed” and, therefore, fruitful). Two important positions are also revealed. First,
members derive social, emotional, and spiritual bene?ts from the religious af?liation.
Second, the entrepreneurs believe that religious values accord them a distinctive
entrepreneurial identity as well as assurances of God’s glory through both spiritual
and instrumental rewards. Also implicit is the belief that the glory of God, manifesting
itself through successful entrepreneurial undertaking, is an act of faith and a preserve
of the “believers”. To support this position, they highlight the bene?t of a trustful web
of networks that exists among members, which, in turn, facilitates their commercial
transactions. This position ?nd support in the literature (Korac-Kakabadse et al., 2002;
Carswell and Rolland, 2007; Herriott et al., 2009). Korac-Kakabadse et al. (2002) points
to role of religious values in strengthening communal cohesion and genuine
commitment to better relations among faith groups. In this study, we encounter
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narratives indicating that Pentecostals would more readily trust co-group members
than those considered to be outside the group. This reinforces a view of the strong
communitarian bond that exists, which also serves as a context moderator of
entrepreneurship. By and large, the notion that religious beliefs are important in
framing entrepreneurial values resonates soundly in entrepreneurial studies, but this
paper has added a different contextual treatment to enrich the literature base.
Furthermore, as noted from the narrative data, risk-taking behaviour is motivated
and emboldened by belief in God’s glory. As commonly associated with
entrepreneurship studies, especially those focusing on attribution factors, risk taking
is identi?ed as a distinct feature of entrepreneurial orientation. Nonetheless, in addition
to pro?tability, which often underpins the motivation for risk taking, an overriding
drive in the context of this study is the respondents’ religious value system. This seems
to strengthen the resolve to confront the murky and uncharted terrains of start-up
activities. Several biblical passages were used unambiguously to emphasise “heavenly
promises” of success in entrepreneurial actions. Invariably, such biblical injunctions
tends to act as a catalyst for action, not only in legitimising rent-seeking behaviours
but also positively linking same with performance (provided that the entrepreneurs
concerned have faith and a good relationship with God, who ultimately decides the
outcomes of all events). Two obvious implications arise from this. First, while a
positive attitudinal disposition to risk-taking is a key ingredient of entrepreneurship
(Barringer and Ireland, 2010) the crucial role of faith-based values in encouraging it is
indeed illuminating, and extends our understanding of the thematic area. Second, a
grounded explanation is partly provided for the growth of entrepreneurship within AC
sub-cultural units of the society, thus resolving some of the tensions raised in previous
studies (e.g. Nwankwo, 2005).
In relation to opportunity recognition and other dimensions of entrepreneurial
orientation (Hamidi et al., 2008), the literature indicates that entrepreneurs possess a
heightened ability and awareness for recognising and audaciously exploiting business
opportunities, using relevant set of skills (Pech and Cameron, 2006). Fascinatingly in
this study, whilst the respondents do not underplay the relevance of these facets but
their propensity towards entrepreneurship is not explainable solely on the ground of
skills-dependency paradigm. Rather, it depends on a more purposeful standing with
God. Again, scriptural quotes were liberally applied to rationalise how faith values
provides guidance towards starting and running a successful business.
Implicitly, as the link between religious entrepreneurial values becomes more
strongly established, the attendant role of the Pastors (especially in facilitating
entrepreneurial learning) becomes equally prominent. This, perhaps, explains the
near-hegemonic controlling powers of the Pastors and why “believers” tend to trust
their Pastors more than they do ?nancial/professional businesses advisers, even on
entrepreneurial matters.
Implications of the study
This paper offers a refreshing insight into the phenomenon of black entrepreneurship
by probing the web-like interconnections between entrepreneurship and religious
orientations among African-Caribbean entrepreneurs who are Pentecostals. There are
both theoretical and practical implications embedded in the paper. A prevalent notion
in policy circles is that black-owned enterprises tend to be more prone to failure crises
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than the norm. The reasons often given for this are well discussed in the literature
(e.g. Nwankwo, 2005). Consequently, there is a compelling need to explore different
avenues to reach and effectively engage the community with targeted business support
interventions. Faith-based platforms offer new sites of engagement. Obviously,
pursuing this strategic option would open up opportunities to construct new meanings
or frame new explanations of entrepreneurship among the UK’s African-Caribbean
communities – using religion as an important environmental factor (i.e. environmental
muni?cence). It may well be that relevant stakeholders targeting small businesses for
various interventions such as brokerage services, training, workshop and other skill
enhancement programmes could explore the use of faith-based forums to access an
otherwise hard-to-reach population group. There is nothing iconoclastic about this
view – it is already being promoted in relation to environmentalism campaigns
targeting marginal population groups (The Economist, 2009).
Theoretically, the paper responds to the growing emphasis in entrepreneurship
research that emphasises a process of producing entrepreneurship knowledge through
language and discourse ( Jones et al., 2008). It would be intellectually unhelpful to dash
for ?xed ontological assumptions in confronting the ambivalent and ambiguous
stances on entrepreneurship without due regard to contextual underpinnings (Welter,
2011). Following this position, this paper usefully contributes to developing an
understanding of faith-based discourses which shape and explain experiences of
entrepreneurship within a target population.
Conclusions
Against the backdrop of institutional constraints faced by the African-Caribbean in
growing and sustaining entrepreneurship in the UK, and the attendant policy measures
to scale-up survival rates of start-ups, this paper focuses on a factor that is less-talked
about but which, nevertheless, is proving to be a robust context moderator among
British black entrepreneurs. In this study, a distinct brand of religion was focused and
seen to provide the basis for entrepreneurial decisions and actions. Whilst the body of
literature exploring the impact of religion on entrepreneurship is robust, the level of
analysis is often at the ubiquitous concept of religiosity. Analyses at this level are
likely to ignore situated and concrete practices and interactions, idiosyncratic and
inter-subjectively created meanings that people attach to their entrepreneurial
experiences.
The paper ?nds that among the Pentecostals, the meaning of enterprise, how it is
approached and the reward it yields are interpreted through the prism of their religious
values. Seemingly, attributing entrepreneurial rewards or successes to self-effort is
seen as arrogance and ungratefulness to “the high power” who is the author of wealth.
Whist this position may challenge or tense up conventional notions of
entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs themselves are extremely relaxed and feel little
or no tension. This is probably settled in previous work but nevertheless re-validated
as the quote from one of Nwankwo’s (2003, p. 91) principal informers demonstrates: “It
was divine intervention that allows me to be what I am today . . . I don’t know anything
about this business before I started but divine guidance put me in the right direction.
Every morning, I pray to God to make me a kinder person, help me to be more
compassionate with people around me and keep me focused on the gift that HE has
given me”.
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Consequently, the church is positioned as a catalyst for entrepreneurship among the
African-Caribbean population – a legitimate and credible hub for promoting
entrepreneurial learning, training and all sorts of support intervention. Paradoxically,
despite the resurgence of policy attention to supporting minority businesses in the UK,
this angle of engagement has not been strongly explored. In practice, potential tensions
that are bound to arise in promoting faith-based modes of business support provision
(the classic secularism paradigm) cannot be ignored. However, it is worth pointing out
that faith-based organisations in modern Britain have been progressively integrated in
the provision of social/public goods (e.g. education) and used to promote social causes
(e.g. public health and environmentalism). Therefore, using faith-based platform to
promote entrepreneurship in hard-to-reach and economically under-represented
sub-populations appears increasingly promising and bound to be productive.
There are obvious limitations arising from this study. No attempt was made to
distinguish between religious and non-religious AC entrepreneurs. It is quite possible
that entrepreneurs of other faiths or non-religious entrepreneurs may exhibit similar
entrepreneurial values but anchored on some other existentialist paradigms. It is also
possible, following the sensemaking epistemological perspective, that meanings people
develop and attach to their entrepreneurial experiences are ?uid, unstable and
idiosyncratic. If this holds, it will be dif?cult to establish stable generalisations or
shared representation in entrepreneurial characterisations. Nevertheless, it would be
useful to conduct a comparative study that re?ects the diversity of belief systems and
religious orientations both within and across population groups. In particular, with the
growing schism within religious groups, it might be interesting to explore how
“new-age” religious movements in AC communities are capacitating and supporting
their members towards the overarching goal of economic empowerment and social
inclusion. Perhaps, in no distant future, this level of support will become a critical
measure of the contribution of religious sects to the society. This makes sense given the
progressive shift from secularisation theory towards “religious economies model”
which, as demonstrated by Pearce et al. (2010, p. 223), has increasingly seen the
application of rational choice theory to “explain human behaviour through standard
microeconomic assumptions of utility maximisation based on ?xed personal
preferences and an economic free market metaphor”. This angle of inquiry has huge
exploratory potentials.
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About the authors
Sonny Nwankwo is Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship Director of the Noon Centre for
Equality and Diversity in Business, University of East London. Sonny Nwankwo is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]
Ayantunji Gbadamosi is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Royal Docks Business School
and a member of the Entrepreneurship Research Group at the Noon Centre for Equality and
Diversity in Business.
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doc_598584896.pdf
With this detailed data concerning faith and entrepreneurship among the british african caribbean intersections.
Faith and entrepreneurship
among the British
African-Caribbean
Intersections between religious and
entrepreneurial values
Sonny Nwankwo and Ayantunji Gbadamosi
Noon Centre for Equality and Diversity in Business, University of East London,
London, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to explore how African-Caribbean Pentecostals use the platform of their
faith to reconstruct their entrepreneurial values and identities, improve entrepreneurial learning and
exploit the cultural resources of faith-based networks to promote and sustain their entrepreneurialism.
Design/methodology/approach – Methodological appropriateness rather than orthodoxy guided
the design of this study. Rooted in the context of discovery rather than veri?cation, focus groups were
assembled and used for data collection. Ideas generated by the groups were further explored in
narrative face-to-face interviews.
Findings – Findings indicate clear connections between motivation for entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial learning and religious orientation among
African-Caribbean entrepreneurs. Religious orientation was evident as a context moderator within
which relations of trust and ethnico-religious compatibility generate social capital which, in turn, helps
members to cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value – This paper offers refreshing insights into the transcendental logic of black
entrepreneurship, illuminating the interconnections between religion and enterprise. Such insights
afford tremendous opportunities to construct new sites of meaning or frame new explanations of
entrepreneurship among the population group – using religion as an important environmental
muni?cence.
Keywords Religion, Pentecostalism, Entrepreneurial values, Black entrepreneurship,
British African-Caribbean, London, Entrepreneurialism, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Reviews of the UK’s small business sector over the past three decades indicates a
growing presence of entrepreneurs from British ethnic minority groups (BMEs) in
general and, more recently, those from African-Caribbean (AC) communities (Ram and
Jones, 1998; Okonta and Pandya, 2007). Whilst the relative nascence of AC
entrepreneurship is noted (Oc and Tiesdell, 1999), it is described as one of the fastest
mutating phenomena, especially in London (Nwankwo, 2005). Paradoxically, this
phenomenon is still very much less understood, largely because of considerable
lacunae in both the knowledge and representation of AC entrepreneurship (used
synonymously with black entrepreneurship). However, scholars engaged in the study
of this phenomenon (e.g. Nwankwo, 2005; Okonta and Pandya, 2007) have provided
some fascinating insights that usefully help in characterising AC entrepreneurialism;
thus directing attention to newer developments.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1462-6004.htm
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Journal of Small Business and
Enterprise Development
Vol. 20 No. 3, 2013
pp. 618-633
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1462-6004
DOI 10.1108/JSBED-04-2013-0048
The motivation for this study is two-pronged and derives from a range of issues
manifesting themselves as black entrepreneurship in the UK is speci?cally focused.
First, Nwankwo (2003) established that theocentricism is embedded in discourses of
“being” and “becoming” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987) among AC entrepreneurs. This
re?ects a resistive position among the entrepreneurs as they strive to navigate the
tough terrains of entrepreneurship in the UK. However, confronted with overwhelming
person-speci?c and institutional constraints, recourse is frequently taken “divine
guidance” to cushion the harsh effects of the environment. Drawing upon this subject
position, the entrepreneurs use ritualised occasions (i.e. church activities) to build
self-sustaining networks linking ties of belonging with enterprise; with individual and
entrepreneurial features coalesced within a communitarian faith-based code of
solidarity. Against this backdrop, exploring the transcendental conditions of
entrepreneurship is necessary not only to tease out the ambivalent discourses of
entrepreneurship but also its transformative practices
The second reason for focusing the nexus between religious orientation and
entrepreneurship is because religion has become a “big business” in British AC
communities (Hunt, 2000). At individual levels, references to the Supreme Being, either
directly or indirectly, come naturally in narratives of entrepreneurial experiences. Also,
researchers have encountered extensive use of religious metaphors in ascriptions of
entrepreneurial intents, successes and failures (Nwankwo, 2003). Thus, the boundaries
between religion (especially black religious movements) and enterprise has become
progressively blurred, affording a legitimate premise from which to gain a deeper
understanding of the transcendental underpinnings of black entrepreneurialism.
Accordingly, this paper explores how black Pentecostal movements, the fastest
growing Christian denomination in the UK, mediate the entrepreneurial values of their
members. It explores how members use the platform of their religious orientation to
frame their entrepreneurial identity, evaluate the success of entrepreneurship, achieve
work-life balance (i.e. ?nding meaning and purpose in their lives), cope with the stress
of entrepreneurship, improve entrepreneurial learning, exploit the cultural resources of
faith-based organisations and networks to promote and sustain their
entrepreneurialism.
Conceptual background
Since the seminal work on Protestantism by Weber (1930), the connection between
religious values and enterprise culture has become more strongly established (Neusner,
1979; Kotkin, 1993; Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman, 1998; Anderson et al., 2000;
Mittelstaedt, 2002; Bellu and Fiume, 2004; Ecklund, 2005, Dana, 2010; Witham, 2010).
Dana (2010) usefully demonstrates how entrepreneurial agency operates within and
through a variety of religious contexts – religious values and beliefs are entwined with
cultural values and both in?uence the social appeal of entrepreneurship. Exploring the
economic embeddedness of religions, the concept of religion capital is revealed in
Witham’s (2010) preference-based interpretation of rational choice, which assumes that
people have well-de?ned preferences and beliefs about the world, and consequently
make choices instrumentally to accomplish the most preferred outcomes amidst
uncertainty conditions. Kuratko and Hodgetts (1998) provide a useful framework that
locates entrepreneurial motivation as an experiential process, suggesting that the
initial decision to behave entrepreneurially is the result of the interaction of a range of
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factors that encompass the individual’s personal characteristics, personal environment,
personal goal set, the relevant business environment, and the existence of a viable
business idea. The usefulness of the framework lies in its ability to combine the wider
environmental forces with the intrinsic motivational and social contexts of the
entrepreneur. These contexts are embedded in a complex web of religious traits,
including moral values and work ethics (Herriott et al., 2009).
Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman (1998) posit that religion is a synthesiser of
entrepreneurial meaning system – positively impacting the level of environmental
muni?cence for entrepreneurship. Following Weber (1930), Neusner (1979) argues that
it was religious instruction in the Calvinistic faith that led to the development of most
of what became the basis of modern industrial process. He explains Mormon doctrine
and covenant to be interlocked in two key factors – i.e. religion and enterprise. Also, in
his thesis on how tribes (encapsulating race, religion an identity) determine success in
the new global economy, Kotkin (1993) chronicled the growth of the Rothschild
business empire, in which the cementing factor was Judaism. Based on the extant
literature, the connection between religious and entrepreneurial values is
long-standing. This is increasingly evident in the rich and growing body of
literature on what makes entrepreneurs learn and how they learn (Rae and Carswell,
2001; Sardana and Scott-Kemmis, 2010) and what motivates or shapes their
entrepreneurial orientation (Rauch et al., 2009; Pearce et al., 2010). Whilst this
knowledge base is fairly stable, there are nevertheless tensions arising from research
that examines the subtle positioning of minority entrepreneurs through the lens of
orthodox religions (Mittlestaedt, 2002; Cleveland and Chang, 2009). Broadly, however,
despite the tensions and contradictions, religious orientations have a strong
explanatory power in relation to variations in work values (Parboteeach et al., 2009),
labour market opportunities and earnings (Lindley, 2002), and enterprise culture and
behaviour (Drakopoulou-Dodd and Seaman, 1998; Anderson et al., 2000; Bellu and
Fiume, 2004). Therefore, it is intellectually and practically desirable to seek a grounded
understanding of how the newly emergent AC religious sects peculiarly in?uence the
features of entrepreneurship among the population group.
Black Pentecostalism in the UK – a brief overview
For several decades, especially during the colonial era, African/Caribbean-based
missionaries were sent to train as clergymen in Britain and returned to the “colonies” to
preach the received wisdom. Christian religious activities in those countries were very
much tied to the activities of parent churches in England and Rome. However, the past
two decades have witnessed an explosion of Black Pentecostal churches not only in the
UK but also across Europe (Anderson, 1993; Hunt, 2000). These churches, spreading
rapidly on a global scale from West Africa, represent a different genre with a
distinctive set of doctrines and practices and an ethos that in many respects marks
them out as unique. In many ways, they are comparable to the American evangelical
movements (The Economist, 2005a, b) in globalising evangelism and, very importantly,
adapting their functions to become “entrepreneurial” themselves. Hunt and Lightly
(2001) argue that the importance of the “new” black African churches within the
framework of globalisation is not merely with reference to a unique expression of
African Christianity. “Rather, they are noteworthy in that they constitute international
ministries which have implications on a world-wide scale. As part of the increasing
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phenomenon of what might be termed ‘reversed proselitisation’, these new West
African churches have systematically set out to evangelise the world” (Hunt and
Lightly, 2001, p. 121).
It is estimated that there are over 3,000 African Caribbean Pentecostal churches in
the UK. London, where about 49 per cent of the country’s African Caribbean
community lives, is also home to the highest number of black-led churches. The
Pentecostal church sector is estimated to control an economic base of £1.3bn, with a
membership base comprising approximately 30 per cent of the adult black population
living in London (Glory Times, 2003). Remarkably, while mainstream churches have
been experiencing a progressive decline in active church membership, black churches
have been growing exponentially. Figures from the Christian Research Association
show that in the ?rst ?ve years of the past decade, black church membership grew by
around 18 per cent, in contrast with a 5 per cent decline for churches nationally ( John,
2005; The Economist, 2005a, b).
Several reasons have been given for the rapid growth of black churches in Britain
(Hunt, 2000). Apart from providing a sense of identity and enriching a feeling of
solidarity, Hunt and Lightly (2001) argue that the churches have performed well in
their integrative roles, which encompass educational, social and commercial activities.
In this sense, they have become spaces where individuals may seek support from each
other or shield themselves from surroundings that are often hostile and demanding.
What is also unique about black Pentecostalism is the marked shift away from
salvation gospel (the holy matrimony of cruci?xion, resurrection and atonement that
cascades into spiritual understandings of sin, pain, death and renewal) to prosperity
theology (premised on health and wealth; an understanding that God abhors poverty
and God’s promise of generosity and life of abundance is claimable here and now).
Whilst salvation gospel is thrift-driven, and preaches denial of earthly pleasure in the
pursuit of God’s kingdom and atonement of sin through personal deprivation and
remorsefulness (pre-eminence of hell), Biema and Chu (2006, p. 48) posit that prosperity
theology treats “God as a celestial ATM”.
Rooted in the doctrinal tenets of prosperity theology, Pentecostal values are not only
strongly enmeshed with spirituality and success, but also promote the belief that
wealth and good living are assured by God and attainable in a believer’s lifetime. Thus,
given that religious values of a group provide its members with associated principles
by which they live, it is reasonable to argue that “believers will be strongly in?uenced
in their economic activity by the religion in which they have faith” (Drakopoulou-Dodd
and Seaman, 1998, p. 73). Essentially, the Pentecostal ethos, in light of the growing
membership within the British black population, provides a rich context for exploring
an aspect of black entrepreneurship that remains a little-charted area. According to
Vinten (2000, p. 209), “religious language has a role to play in pursuing the vision and
mission of the world of business, even if this may be regarded as a secularised or
post-modern version”.
Methodology
Methodological appropriateness rather than orthodoxy crucially guided the design of
this study. Three reasons underpinned this. First, previous studies of entrepreneurial
behaviours within AC communities highlight the endemic dif?culties in engaging the
target population and suggest “creative ways” of overcoming some of the problems
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621
(e.g. Nwankwo et al., 2005). Lessons learned from these studies (e.g. use of gatekeepers
and a personal contact network to negotiate access) helped in easing potential
dif?culties in accessing the sample. Second, the subject of religious orientation is
deeply ingrained in beliefs that naturally elicit emotive responses when overtly probed.
Rather than use validated measures of religious orientation in a positivistic way
(e.g. Bellu and Fiume, 2004), which sometimes leans toward the objecti?cation of
people, we followed the interpretive process. This approach is well adapted to
situations in which the key problem is understanding how individuals or a group
interpret events and experiences, rather than assessing whether or not their
interpretations conform to any construct of “objective reality”. Furthermore, the
approach is generally guided by the idea that people construct their own story about
what is true of themselves and that experience can only be understood through a
discursive analysis of such stories. Third, as this is intended as an exploratory study, it
was considered best to embed it into the discovery-oriented methodology (Mahrer,
1988). Drawing from this position, this research is ?rmly located in the context of
discovery rather than the context of justi?cation.
The research was conducted at two levels, using an idiosyncratic sampling
procedure. The ?rst level involved four focus groups conducted under the auspices of
?ve Pentecostal churches in London between March and November 2009. Personal
contact networks were used to recruit church pastors (leveraging their gate-keeping
role) who, in turn, facilitated access to their membership. The groups comprised a rich
mix of entrepreneurs from different sectors of the economy – IT and communications,
business services, manufacturing, catering, wholesale trade, retailing, transport and
miscellaneous services. Core themes generated during this stage were subsequently
explored through narrative face-to-face interviews at the second level. The second level
involved face-to-face interviews with 15 individuals (who have gone on to establish
their own businesses) selected on a convenience basis from the ?ve churches
represented in the survey. The entrepreneurs were drawn from the following sectors:
.
retailing;
.
business and professional services;
.
estate agency;
.
creative industry;
.
clothing and fashion; and
.
IT consultancy.
Each interviewee was met twice during a period of six months. The line of inquiry
focused on exploring the interconnection between faith values on the one hand and
attitude to entrepreneurship on the other. Attitudes to entrepreneurship, encompassing
entrepreneurship orientation variables, were probed using the thematic dimensions
established in the literature (e.g. Pearce et al., 2010; Rauch et al., 2009):
.
risk-taking;
.
competitive aggressiveness;
.
innovativeness;
.
proactiveness;
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.
performance; and
.
autonomy seeking.
Through the interactive process of documenting and interpreting experiences of
entrepreneurship alongside religious orientation within the sample population, the
chosen method of inquiry is appropriate and usefully contributes in developing a
situated understanding of the structures, meanings and discourses which shape and
explain how religious values in?uence the praxis of entrepreneurship.
Field data were analysed using an iterative strategy that cut across incidents (Miles
and Huberman, 1994) and reported using the connected narrative approach (Misler,
1990). The underlying motivation was to use ?eld data to draw speci?c implications
and contribute rich insight to the subject-matter of the research. Vignettes are liberally
used not simply to embellish the discussion but to maintain richness of context,
enhance transparency of the analysis and share authorship with respondents (Misler,
1990). Additionally, some members of the focus group and interviewees were allowed
to cross-check case notes as well as inferences consequently drawn. Miles and
Huberman (1994) recommend providing feedback to respondents as a means of validity
check as well as learning more about a phenomenon. To make sense of the data, a
grounded ?rst-order analysis was conducted, following interpretive guidelines, which
consists of selecting sections from the data, identifying key terminologies as provided
by the informants and developing ?rst-order categorisations that re?ect the
informants’ natural thematic categorisations, shared values, concepts and processes
(see, for example, Allard-Poesi, 2005). This meant comparing discursive structures, the
language used to describe entrepreneurial experiences and connections with the
religious orientation, the distinct religious dogmas and contexts that affects the way in
which entrepreneurial experience is languaged. The second-level analysis, dealing with
interview data, involved the identi?cation of overlapping characteristics that build
support for repeated patterns, i.e. thematic consistency.
Findings: emergent themes
A number of key themes emerged that encapsulate the thrust of this paper. These
include:
.
identity delineation;
.
networks and contacts;
.
ethics and restraints;
.
entrepreneurship versus spiritualism; and
.
institutional support and skills enhancement programmes.
While these re?ect the convergence of views of the research participants, verbatim
quotes are liberally used to amplify and support thematic threads – a way of providing
thick description of the phenomena.
Identity delineation
Narratives of entrepreneurship are couched in patterns re?ective of what Jones et al.
(2008) described as “positioning through divisioning” – that is, producing identities
based on in-group and out-group classi?cations. The liberal use of the pre?x “brother”
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or “sister” before given names is widespread in membership identi?cation. Apparently,
the issue of self-identity (as believers) is important to the entrepreneurs because it
accomplishes a number of objectives. First, it underlies the con?dence in
entrepreneurial undertakings and re?ect an approach to marking market boundaries
(e.g. what businesses to undertake and those to avoid), articulating market positioning,
risk taking, proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness. For them, achieving
success in entrepreneurship is something metaphorically akin to “a mission from God’.
Second, self-identity affords them a base for designing, initiating and strengthening the
relational contexts of entrepreneurship – the relational context appears to have deeper
meanings and produces real consequences for the entrepreneurs. The churches’ role as
a hub for entrepreneurial coaching, learning as well as dealing with the stress of
entrepreneurship, was seen as integral to Pentecostal ethos (e.g. “divine empowerment”
was the term that resonated in the interviews). Self-classi?cation as “believers” invokes
a distinctive personality that is more attuned to entrepreneurial success and sets
members apart from others who do not belong to the faith.
[. . .] we know that by faith all things are possible. It is what the word of God says . . . By faith,
I can decide to start a business and by faith I can make it a success. But a man probably with
myopic idea will say – How? How can you do that? But by faith we have brothers who have
done it and they are now successful. I am one of them.
Successes in business transactions, wisdom for business ideas, and continuous
spiritual guidance in day-to-day running of businesses are favours from God to which
“good believers” are entitled.
[. . .] faith is helping . . . generally we use power of prayers to help solve business problems or
help through tough times.
[. . .] God said, above all things, that you may prosper, and when you prosper you need
wisdom . . . to go into business, you need wisdom; not just wisdom but the wisdom of God.
The wisdom that has been ordained by God, you can’t fault it.
Yes . . . being a believer, you go to church, you are listening, then your faith can push you to
say OK if I do this business . . . I can succeed because I know that with prayers, I will follow
the right path.
Networks and contacts
Evident in the narrative is a sense of communitarianism and solidarity that helps to
cushion the stress of entrepreneurship, whilst at the same time helping members to
navigate the rough terrain in entrepreneurial endeavours. Network ties, manifesting
themselves through well-nurtured behavioural tendencies such as reciprocity in
business relations, symbiotic patronage behaviours, word-of-mouth, targeted
sign-posting behaviours, all of which are driven by shared religious values, are
important entrepreneurial undercurrents. Thus, members are able to avail
themselves of different forms of support which in many instances are provided at
no costs.
I run a security company . . . on many occasions, the church has given us business, either
when there are programmes or by introducing us to external opportunities. I have also used
our forum to help many people in church when the need arises.
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This is a good platform for starting in business [referring to the church] . . . nurturing and
implementing start-up ideas . . . one of the key success factors is to have the necessary
contacts, mentors and those you trust who can hand-hold you. As one does not belong to any
social clubs, the church presents the only sustainable forum for networking.
The entrepreneurs noted that a higher level of trust inherent in intra-membership
interactions often provides useful opportunities to extend entrepreneurial boundaries.
For example, it was mentioned that funding and credit facilities are more easily
obtained where the parties involved are related through the church. This is because the
parties would expectedly subscribe to the scriptural injunction about uprightness in
every sphere of life, which, in turn, lowers the perceived risks normally associated with
such transactional relations.
Yes. What will come to mind is that if you want to do business with people from the church
chances that they are going to be reasonably truthful with you is high. You have that
immediate trust that you will be able to deal with these people.
You see . . . when you are dealing with a member, the platform will be different compared to
when you are dealing with an unbeliever. If an unbeliever walks up to me and talks about
starting a business, the immediate trigger in my brain will be: “Oh! You need to be at alert!”.
Ethics and restraints
Thick in the discourse of entrepreneurial behaviour is the frequent reference to moral
principles, ethical stances and a view of marketplace integrity that is decked in
religious values and metaphors. As “believers”, the research participants are overtly
sensitive to a set of ascribed behavioural imperatives in the form of doctrinal guides
(e.g. honesty, transparency, integrity, trustworthiness). These, in turn, guide attitudes
towards market prospecting, risk taking, innovativeness, competitive positioning and
performance evaluation. Hence, religious values evidently act as a synthesizer of
entrepreneurial relations.
[. . .] you get direction and focus as you do business. Surely, there are certain things we cannot
do in business. In I Corinthians: 6:9, the Bible says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the Kingdom of God?”.
There are differences in rules that govern ?nance and spiritual belief and in most cases they
are not in tune together. One is that while a rule in ?nance says abstain from spending today
so that you consume more in future but the spiritual rule says that if you spend more for God
today you will have more in future.
A key part of the belief system is that many non-Pentecostals would more easily
succumb to the utilitarian ideology (i.e. the end justi?es the means) which is not the
case with the believers because “every action has its own consequence”. This
worldview is important in choosing the type of business to undertake. As one research
participant puts it, “some businesses which are legal might not be morally right”.
[. . .] let me give you this example, I know that selling beer and cigarettes is not against the
law but I can’t trade on them. They are not my line and I can never compromise that.
It was also noted that the faith-based platform affords the opportunity to achieve
work-life balance, helping members to create meanings to their lives, leading a
Religious and
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625
perceivably more ful?lling life through, for example, tighter control and ownership of
utility-maximizing personal preferences.
I believe that running one’s business should give one the opportunity to be ?exible; you can
schedule your time to give room for spiritual activities. Now I know I cannot open for
business on Sunday.
On the other hand, it was also noted that a feeling of guilt is engendered occasionally
when the research participants are unable to maintain an effective balance between
church and entrepreneurial commitments.
I have a property business that I run. I have some tenants and most of them are not in London.
And that means virtually I am away some weekends supporting my business . . . And you’ll
discover that you want to be in the church and you can’t make it. And you’ll feel that you are
just pursuing money but the church still needs money . . . but we just need to ?nd the right
balance. It’s a challenge in a way.
Actually, for committed people who have much to do in the church [e.g. a preacher] . . . your
time and attention may be needed all the time. Like me now, I have found out that pursuing
the goal of ?nancial stability reduces my time for church activities . . . it could be seen as
though one is drawing back a bit . . . like lukewarmness is setting in . . . that can be a strain
and I am trying to ?nd the balance, and at times guilt creeps in – understand what I mean?
Despite the apparent tensions, a point of convergence among the research participants
is an acknowledgement that both faith and entrepreneurship are intertwined in their
lives.
Spiritualism versus entrepreneurship
Probing more deeply the level of interconnections between faith-based values and
entrepreneurship, the research participants expressed the view that both are not
mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary. Rewards for entrepreneurship
afford them the resources to help and contribute to the growth of the church while
spiritualism offers them special opportunities for divine direction in their
entrepreneurial activities. When re?ecting on biblical passages that cautions against
excessive love of money, most were quick to stress that such notions were due to lack
of proper understanding of those scriptural passages by the people who interpret them.
Poor interpretation leads to misunderstandings of the context to which those passages
refer. Explanations were supported with several other biblical passages, to justify that
God is not against acquiring wealth because He Himself owns the wealth and cannot
deprive His children of the enjoyment arising from it:
[. . .] there have been some instances where some people, because of faith, say “because you
are going to church you should not really vigorously be pursuing money” . . . I believe that if
you go to church, you owe yourself the responsibility to do well in whatever you want to do.
. . . When you do well in your own business, you are able to either possibly in?uence people
around you within that church environment . . . you also want to be able to encourage as
many people as possible.
In the ?rst place, it is the will of God for believers to prosper . . . the scripture says it . . .
[quotes biblical passages]. So, for God, His will for His people is all round prosperity.
Prosperity of your soul, your body . . . there is this quotation that people say it is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God
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. . . Unfortunately, people . . . misunderstand what God meant. There is also, one wrong notion
. . . that those who have riches or wealth will not go to heaven and people say money is the
root of all evil . . . what the Bible is saying and what the church is saying centres on the love of
money. You see, there is a way you’ll love money so much that you can do anything to acquire
it. In the scripture, it is shown that money is the vehicle for the gospel . . . if there is no money
you can’t actualize . . . In fact, there are several scriptural passages we can use to support the
fact that God wants us to prosper. He promised us that He will give us wealth, the hidden
wealth in dark places; . . . You can be rich; you can enjoy prosperity here on earth and enjoy
prosperity in the kingdom of God.
Institutional support and skills enhancement programmes
The participants acknowledged the usefulness of having training programmes
arranged by the church to help them in running their businesses. Although such
schemes are not yet widespread, respondents cited some examples of how the churches
have factored entrepreneurial ideals into their programmes – to capacitate
entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs with management, bookkeeping and
opportunity recognition skills.
As for me, I am into IT support, I used to do properties. I will say the church really helped
with the advice I received in the meeting we had. Once I had the idea of starting up the IT
support business . . . and I spoke to Brother Felix, he said, “Brother, you are blessed, you’ve
got all these ideas, why not use them?”. This was just as a result of a brief meeting . . . I
believe that by the grace of God, it will go higher level.
Through the narrative discourses, the supporting role of the church is evident in areas
such as capacity development, continuous learning, access to ?nance, brokerage
services and a raft of other enterprise promotion initiatives. Examples were given of
Pentecostal churches that do run bespoke workshops and training events on enterprise
development and recruiting reputable consultants and well-established resource
persons as coaches. Hence, these Pentecostal churches are now becoming an
increasingly relevant enterprise promotion hubs and catalysts for skills enhancement
(through seminars, workshops and miscellaneous programmes).
Discussion
Evident from the narrative data are clear patterns relating to autonomy-seeking
behaviours, a sense that economic empowerment is made possible through divine
favours (i.e. a fundamental belief that actions guided by faith values are likely to be
“blessed” and, therefore, fruitful). Two important positions are also revealed. First,
members derive social, emotional, and spiritual bene?ts from the religious af?liation.
Second, the entrepreneurs believe that religious values accord them a distinctive
entrepreneurial identity as well as assurances of God’s glory through both spiritual
and instrumental rewards. Also implicit is the belief that the glory of God, manifesting
itself through successful entrepreneurial undertaking, is an act of faith and a preserve
of the “believers”. To support this position, they highlight the bene?t of a trustful web
of networks that exists among members, which, in turn, facilitates their commercial
transactions. This position ?nd support in the literature (Korac-Kakabadse et al., 2002;
Carswell and Rolland, 2007; Herriott et al., 2009). Korac-Kakabadse et al. (2002) points
to role of religious values in strengthening communal cohesion and genuine
commitment to better relations among faith groups. In this study, we encounter
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narratives indicating that Pentecostals would more readily trust co-group members
than those considered to be outside the group. This reinforces a view of the strong
communitarian bond that exists, which also serves as a context moderator of
entrepreneurship. By and large, the notion that religious beliefs are important in
framing entrepreneurial values resonates soundly in entrepreneurial studies, but this
paper has added a different contextual treatment to enrich the literature base.
Furthermore, as noted from the narrative data, risk-taking behaviour is motivated
and emboldened by belief in God’s glory. As commonly associated with
entrepreneurship studies, especially those focusing on attribution factors, risk taking
is identi?ed as a distinct feature of entrepreneurial orientation. Nonetheless, in addition
to pro?tability, which often underpins the motivation for risk taking, an overriding
drive in the context of this study is the respondents’ religious value system. This seems
to strengthen the resolve to confront the murky and uncharted terrains of start-up
activities. Several biblical passages were used unambiguously to emphasise “heavenly
promises” of success in entrepreneurial actions. Invariably, such biblical injunctions
tends to act as a catalyst for action, not only in legitimising rent-seeking behaviours
but also positively linking same with performance (provided that the entrepreneurs
concerned have faith and a good relationship with God, who ultimately decides the
outcomes of all events). Two obvious implications arise from this. First, while a
positive attitudinal disposition to risk-taking is a key ingredient of entrepreneurship
(Barringer and Ireland, 2010) the crucial role of faith-based values in encouraging it is
indeed illuminating, and extends our understanding of the thematic area. Second, a
grounded explanation is partly provided for the growth of entrepreneurship within AC
sub-cultural units of the society, thus resolving some of the tensions raised in previous
studies (e.g. Nwankwo, 2005).
In relation to opportunity recognition and other dimensions of entrepreneurial
orientation (Hamidi et al., 2008), the literature indicates that entrepreneurs possess a
heightened ability and awareness for recognising and audaciously exploiting business
opportunities, using relevant set of skills (Pech and Cameron, 2006). Fascinatingly in
this study, whilst the respondents do not underplay the relevance of these facets but
their propensity towards entrepreneurship is not explainable solely on the ground of
skills-dependency paradigm. Rather, it depends on a more purposeful standing with
God. Again, scriptural quotes were liberally applied to rationalise how faith values
provides guidance towards starting and running a successful business.
Implicitly, as the link between religious entrepreneurial values becomes more
strongly established, the attendant role of the Pastors (especially in facilitating
entrepreneurial learning) becomes equally prominent. This, perhaps, explains the
near-hegemonic controlling powers of the Pastors and why “believers” tend to trust
their Pastors more than they do ?nancial/professional businesses advisers, even on
entrepreneurial matters.
Implications of the study
This paper offers a refreshing insight into the phenomenon of black entrepreneurship
by probing the web-like interconnections between entrepreneurship and religious
orientations among African-Caribbean entrepreneurs who are Pentecostals. There are
both theoretical and practical implications embedded in the paper. A prevalent notion
in policy circles is that black-owned enterprises tend to be more prone to failure crises
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than the norm. The reasons often given for this are well discussed in the literature
(e.g. Nwankwo, 2005). Consequently, there is a compelling need to explore different
avenues to reach and effectively engage the community with targeted business support
interventions. Faith-based platforms offer new sites of engagement. Obviously,
pursuing this strategic option would open up opportunities to construct new meanings
or frame new explanations of entrepreneurship among the UK’s African-Caribbean
communities – using religion as an important environmental factor (i.e. environmental
muni?cence). It may well be that relevant stakeholders targeting small businesses for
various interventions such as brokerage services, training, workshop and other skill
enhancement programmes could explore the use of faith-based forums to access an
otherwise hard-to-reach population group. There is nothing iconoclastic about this
view – it is already being promoted in relation to environmentalism campaigns
targeting marginal population groups (The Economist, 2009).
Theoretically, the paper responds to the growing emphasis in entrepreneurship
research that emphasises a process of producing entrepreneurship knowledge through
language and discourse ( Jones et al., 2008). It would be intellectually unhelpful to dash
for ?xed ontological assumptions in confronting the ambivalent and ambiguous
stances on entrepreneurship without due regard to contextual underpinnings (Welter,
2011). Following this position, this paper usefully contributes to developing an
understanding of faith-based discourses which shape and explain experiences of
entrepreneurship within a target population.
Conclusions
Against the backdrop of institutional constraints faced by the African-Caribbean in
growing and sustaining entrepreneurship in the UK, and the attendant policy measures
to scale-up survival rates of start-ups, this paper focuses on a factor that is less-talked
about but which, nevertheless, is proving to be a robust context moderator among
British black entrepreneurs. In this study, a distinct brand of religion was focused and
seen to provide the basis for entrepreneurial decisions and actions. Whilst the body of
literature exploring the impact of religion on entrepreneurship is robust, the level of
analysis is often at the ubiquitous concept of religiosity. Analyses at this level are
likely to ignore situated and concrete practices and interactions, idiosyncratic and
inter-subjectively created meanings that people attach to their entrepreneurial
experiences.
The paper ?nds that among the Pentecostals, the meaning of enterprise, how it is
approached and the reward it yields are interpreted through the prism of their religious
values. Seemingly, attributing entrepreneurial rewards or successes to self-effort is
seen as arrogance and ungratefulness to “the high power” who is the author of wealth.
Whist this position may challenge or tense up conventional notions of
entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurs themselves are extremely relaxed and feel little
or no tension. This is probably settled in previous work but nevertheless re-validated
as the quote from one of Nwankwo’s (2003, p. 91) principal informers demonstrates: “It
was divine intervention that allows me to be what I am today . . . I don’t know anything
about this business before I started but divine guidance put me in the right direction.
Every morning, I pray to God to make me a kinder person, help me to be more
compassionate with people around me and keep me focused on the gift that HE has
given me”.
Religious and
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Consequently, the church is positioned as a catalyst for entrepreneurship among the
African-Caribbean population – a legitimate and credible hub for promoting
entrepreneurial learning, training and all sorts of support intervention. Paradoxically,
despite the resurgence of policy attention to supporting minority businesses in the UK,
this angle of engagement has not been strongly explored. In practice, potential tensions
that are bound to arise in promoting faith-based modes of business support provision
(the classic secularism paradigm) cannot be ignored. However, it is worth pointing out
that faith-based organisations in modern Britain have been progressively integrated in
the provision of social/public goods (e.g. education) and used to promote social causes
(e.g. public health and environmentalism). Therefore, using faith-based platform to
promote entrepreneurship in hard-to-reach and economically under-represented
sub-populations appears increasingly promising and bound to be productive.
There are obvious limitations arising from this study. No attempt was made to
distinguish between religious and non-religious AC entrepreneurs. It is quite possible
that entrepreneurs of other faiths or non-religious entrepreneurs may exhibit similar
entrepreneurial values but anchored on some other existentialist paradigms. It is also
possible, following the sensemaking epistemological perspective, that meanings people
develop and attach to their entrepreneurial experiences are ?uid, unstable and
idiosyncratic. If this holds, it will be dif?cult to establish stable generalisations or
shared representation in entrepreneurial characterisations. Nevertheless, it would be
useful to conduct a comparative study that re?ects the diversity of belief systems and
religious orientations both within and across population groups. In particular, with the
growing schism within religious groups, it might be interesting to explore how
“new-age” religious movements in AC communities are capacitating and supporting
their members towards the overarching goal of economic empowerment and social
inclusion. Perhaps, in no distant future, this level of support will become a critical
measure of the contribution of religious sects to the society. This makes sense given the
progressive shift from secularisation theory towards “religious economies model”
which, as demonstrated by Pearce et al. (2010, p. 223), has increasingly seen the
application of rational choice theory to “explain human behaviour through standard
microeconomic assumptions of utility maximisation based on ?xed personal
preferences and an economic free market metaphor”. This angle of inquiry has huge
exploratory potentials.
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About the authors
Sonny Nwankwo is Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship Director of the Noon Centre for
Equality and Diversity in Business, University of East London. Sonny Nwankwo is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]
Ayantunji Gbadamosi is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Royal Docks Business School
and a member of the Entrepreneurship Research Group at the Noon Centre for Equality and
Diversity in Business.
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