Rao, Dorasammy R (2004) Culture and entrepreneurship in Fiji's small tourism business sector. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

The roles of culture and entrepreneurial disposition in entrepreneurship have been widely researched. Some researchers have concluded that an individualist culture fosters entrepreneurial disposition and entrepreneurship while a collectivist culture retards them. Others have argued that collectivism does not have much bearing on these two factors. The present research explored entrepreneurship in Fiji's small tourism business sector by focusing on the roles of cultural values and entrepreneurial disposition displayed by the three ethnic groupings. The question of whether successful Fijian entrepreneurship could develop by a fusion of collectivism and entrepreneurial principles was also explored. Ninety-nine respondents from the private, public and semi-public organisations participated in the qualitative survey and a further sixty-two people participated in the quantitative survey. One hundred and twenty-three students took part in the quantitative component of the research. The results of the qualitative data showed that individualism contributed to the entrepreneurial disposition of entrepreneurs belonging to the Indo-Fijian and Others categories, but the quantitative data produced mixed results. Other significant factors that have influenced entrepreneurship amongst these groups include exposure to good educational facilities, risk-taking skills, hard work and perseverance, sound financial management, ability to raise capital, values of materialism and capitalism, prudent business planning, skills of savings and investment, good management skills, and building investment capital. It was found that Fijian entrepreneurship was considerably impeded by collectivism and associated behaviour, and they showed more success in collective capitalism. Other factors that have stifled Fijian entrepreneurship include poor education, lack of hard work and commitment, poor financial management, absence of material culture, inability to raise venture capital, short term planning perspective, and a lack of ability to save funds for future investment. Students from the three ethnic groupings were found to exhibit different degrees of entrepreneurial disposition, but generally displayed similar values of individualism and collectivism. Based on these findings, a reconceptualised model of entrepreneurship was proposed, which shows the interaction of various specifiable contextual variables which influence entrepreneurship.

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