Entrepreneurial leadership in a developing economy : a study in Nigeria

The dynamic nature of the business environment and the challenges faced byentrepreneurs and owner managers has led practitioners and academics to embraceentrepreneurial leadership. The concept of entrepreneurial leadership has beenformulated by merging the fields of entrepreneurship and leadership. Although muchwork has been done in the individual fields of entrepreneurship and leadership, thedomain of entrepreneurial leadership lacks focus and empirical work. Whileresearchers and practitioners have acknowledged the importance of entrepreneurialleadership in organisations, this field still remains in a state of infancy, andconsiderable scholarship is still required.The aim of this research project was to examine entrepreneurial leadership in adeveloping economy, to understand the challenges entrepreneurs face, and todetermine the entrepreneurial leadership skills which are important for success in adeveloping economy environment. Specifically, the focus of this research was onentrepreneurial leadership within the retail pharmacy sector in Nigeria. This studywas guided by an interpretivist–constructionist perspective. By adopting a qualitativeapproach, the lived experiences of the retail pharmacy entrepreneurs could beunderstood. Semi-structured interviews were the mode of data collection, and datawas triangulated via three sources: entrepreneurs, employees, and literature. Thisstudy identified key findings which provide more theoretical insights intoentrepreneurial leadership.From the study results, a vivid picture of entrepreneurial leadership was formed,which in turn provides the basis for an empirical skill-based model of thisphenomenon in a developing economy. The findings of this study show the factorsand conditions necessary for entrepreneurial leadership in a developing economy. Inthis study, the role of culture, attributes, experience, resources, family dynamics andfollowers for understanding entrepreneurial leadership in an organisation areconsidered. In addition, the challenges which entrepreneurs face in running theirbusinesses in this context are examined. The findings of this study have implications in theory and practice. Its resultsprovide an empirical, skill-based framework on entrepreneurial leadership in adeveloping economy, a subject area for which there exists a lack of backgroundliterature. In practice, the findings of this study serve as a useful reference forpractitioners and policy makers of the skills and other factors required for people tosucceed as entrepreneurial leaders.