Encouraging sustainable entrepreneurship in climate-threatened communities: a Samoan case study

Abstract

South Pacific island states are at the forefront of climatic changes that have precipitated severe environmental events. These small countries also face economic and social challenges that require entrepreneurial solutions. We develop a model of how external factors and chance events impact on sustainable opportunity recognition and exploitation in this context. We assess the efficacy of this model in an in-depth study of Women in Business Development Incorporated, a non-governmental organization that helps women and families in Samoa to establish sustainable enterprises. Our findings make a significant contribution to the emerging literature on entrepreneurship, sustainability and resilience in at-risk communities by showing how key organizational capabilities are necessary for coping with exogenous shocks in this context. The findings have important implications for research, policy and practice.

Keywords::

• climate change
• social entrepreneurship
• community enterprise
• sustainability
• resilience

Notes

^1. CIA. The World Factbook. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ws.html

^2. NZ Treasury. Overview of the New Zealand economy. Available at: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/overview

^3. Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Samoa country brief. Available at: http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/samoa/samoa_brief.html

^4. As at January 2012, Adi had enabled more than 1,500 families to access economic opportunities to support themselves – effectively strengthening Samoa's economy and offering its youth an alternative to emigration. Adi is widely recognised for her wisdom and leadership and people from across the Pacific and beyond speak of her extremely highly. [http://www.aid.govt.nz/media-and-publications/development-stories/june-2012/]

^5. It is worth noting that social embeddedness is also a feature of institutional theory (DiMaggio and Powell 1983; Hall and Taylor 1996; Karlsson and Honig 2009).