A phenomenological study of culture and cultural beliefs on ethnic minority micro-business leaders in London.

Micro-businesses are critically important for the economy with London seeing thegreatest number of new start-ups in the UK in recent years. Approximately 20% of microbusinessin London are owned by ethnic minorities and despite research exploringsuccess factors for micro-businesses in general, there is little understanding of specificfactors that impact on success of ethnic minority owned microbusinesses. Organisationalculture guides how organisational decisions are made and how employees interact witheach other and in micro-businesses the leader plays an influential role in shaping theorganisational culture. National culture and religion may influence the organisationalculture of ethnic minority-led micro-businesses through it leader, with calls seen in theliterature to develop a greater understanding of those influences. Taking aphenomenological approach, the lived experiences of 15 ethnic minority leaders inLondon from a range of sectors were examined using Interpretive PhenomenologicalAnalysis. Using paternalistic leadership theory as a theorical lens, findings highlighted therole that religion played in guiding decisions around both their lives and their businessesand were centred around morality benevolence and authority. These findings contributeto practice by highlighting the need for business support, especially policies aroundfinancial support, consider the impact of religion on decision making. From a theoricalperspective the study also develops paternalistic leadership theory to emphasise the roleof religion as a cross cutting influence in the dimensions of morality, benevolence, andauthority when applied to ethnic minority leaders.