Entrepreneurship through Bricolage: a study of displaced entrepreneurs at times of war and conflict

ABSTRACT

War and conflict brings about adverse changes for those who are displaced. How do entrepreneurial individuals respond to such adversity to either set-up, or continue with their existing entrepreneurial endeavours that would improve their own livelihood or that of others who have been affected? Whilst previous studies have found local knowledge, networks and resources to be crucial in the development of ventures in the war and conflict context, alienation from mainstream society within the host location often means that to succeed, those who are displaced require alternative strategies and approaches. Through examining the entrepreneurial ventures of six internally displaced entrepreneurs in Pakistan, our study identifies that entrepreneurial individuals find different ways to adapt to the new order, with both internal and external bricolage becoming the key strategies deployed to either re-establish their previous businesses or to develop new endeavours in the host location. To compensate for lack of local knowledge, networks and resources, we found that entrepreneurs followed closely their previous paths in their bricolage attempts, relying on reconfigurations of their pre-existing competencies, as well as utilizing pre-established and clandestine networks.

KEYWORDS:

• Entrepreneurship
• bricolage
• war and conflict
• displaced population

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Abdur Redman, from the Institute of Management Science, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Pakistan, for being a gatekeeper who facilitated this research. We would also like to thank the participants of the Migration and Diaspora Entrepreneurship Conferences, held at the University of Bremen, Germany, for their insightful feedback on an earlier draft of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.