Exploring the antecedents of entrepreneurship success in information technology firms in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

We examine four antecedents of IT entrepreneurship success in Nigeria. Particularly, two of the investigated antecedents are general human capital factors (i.e., having experience with entrepreneurial parents and business training) and the other two (IT education and spirituality) are specific to IT entrepreneurship and the Nigerian context. In a quantitative study of 167 IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria, we found that the general factors are more important determinants of success among IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria than the specific ones. There is corroboration between our findings and the developed economy literature which provides ample evidence of a positive relationship between having experience with entrepreneurial parents and entrepreneurship success. Before our findings, limited knowledge existed on the complexity of this orthodoxy in developing markets such as Nigeria. Our result did not show any significant correlation between formal education in the IT field and IT entrepreneurial success. Our paper contributes to the discourse on the antecedents of entrepreneurship success by focusing on IT entrepreneurship from a developing country context. This is particularly critical when one considers the importance of IT entrepreneurship towards economic diversification in Nigeria. The unique theoretical contribution of our paper lies in its introduction of the specific antecedents (constructs), IT-education and spirituality, even though they were not found as significant determinants of entrepreneurship success in the Nigerian context. Our findings imply that national entrepreneurial policy should be tailored to exploit the inherent benefits of experience with entrepreneurial parents and effectively blend it with factors such as business school education and other forms of relevant training in the areas of social competence.

KEYWORDS:

• Nigeria
• success
• IT entrepreneur
• entrepreneurial parents
• information technology
• emerging economy

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Akinyele Okeremi

Dr Akinyele Okeremi the founding and incumbent Chief Executive Officer of Precise Financial Systems Ltd., a company he co-founded with a capital of less than $60 in 1994. He is an Adjunct Professor of Business Strategy at the Nobel International Business School Accra, Ghana. Okeremi holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Swiss Business School, Zurich, Switzerland having previously obtained a Master of Applied Business Research from the same institution. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science (with Economics) from the Obafemi Awolowo University and a Masters in Business Administration. He is an alumnus of the Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah

Professor Kwasi Amoako-Gyampa is Professor of Supply Chain and Operations Management, Department of Information Systems & Supply Chain Management, Bryan School of Business & Economics, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA. He obtained his PhD in Operations Management from the University of Cincinnati. He has an MBA from Virginia Tech, a Masters in Metallurgical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science & Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering (Honors) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. His research interests are in Managing Technology & Innovation, Operations Strategy, Project Management, and Supply Chain Management.

Livingstone Divine Caesar

Professor Livingstone Divine Caesar has extensive experience in lecturing at the graduate and undergraduate levels in Australia and Ghana. Dr Caesar brings enormous wealth of experience to the boardroom of any organization. He is an experienced, Australian-trained management consultant and a seasoned academic with over 18 years combined experienced in both the higher education sectors and international business. He is currently a consultant to diverse organizations in the following areas: project logistics, international business, trade contract formulation and negotiations, management processes and proposal/bid evaluation. Dr Caesar holds a PhD in Management and Commerce from the University of Tasmania, Australia and has an MSc in Shipping and Transport from the Netherlands Maritime University, Rotterdam. He has helped in restructuring and reengineering of the supply chains of many supply organizations.