Aki Harima | Universität Bremen (original) (raw)

Papers by Aki Harima

Research paper thumbnail of Entrepreneurial Opportunities of Refugees in Germany, France, and Ireland: Multiple Embeddedness Framework

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

Recently, the entrepreneurial potential of refugees has received growing attention from scholars ... more Recently, the entrepreneurial potential of refugees has received growing attention from scholars and policymakers. However, the literature on refugee entrepreneurship suffers from the fragmentation of previous research findings, which has been mainly attributed to the fact that refugees have heterogeneous backgrounds. Tackling this challenge, this study conceptualized the framework for the multiple embeddedness of refugee entrepreneurs by applying and extending the concept of mixed embeddedness. Based on 50 semi-structured interviews with refugee entrepreneurs who relocated to Germany, France, and Ireland, we identified six patterns in which refugees’ multiple embeddedness and their actions as entrepreneurial agencies interacted to develop entrepreneurial opportunities: (i) value creation with homeland resources, (ii) acting as transnational middleman minorities, (iii) integration facilitation, (iv) qualification transfers, (v) homeland-problem solving, and (vi) creative innovation....

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora Business Model Innovation

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The injection of resources by transnational entrepreneurs: towards a model of the early evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

Research paper thumbnail of Dual Embeddedness and Entrepreneurial Activities of Second-Generation Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Multiple Case Studies with Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Germany

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

This article explores mutual relationships between embeddedness and second-generation ethnic entr... more This article explores mutual relationships between embeddedness and second-generation ethnic entrepreneurs. We apply an exploratory and inductive qualitative research design to investigate how a dual embeddedness of second-generation immigrants in the ethnic community and in mainstream society influence their entrepreneurial activities and vice versa. Based on multiple cases studies of Vietnamese second-generation ethnic entrepreneurs, we identify four causal relations between embeddedness and entrepreneurial activities: (a) resource mobilisation; (b) formation of entrepreneurial motivation; (c) feedback effect on embeddedness and (d) re-formation of dual identity. This research contributes to the research on ethnic entrepreneurship by showing novel causalities between socio-psychological factors and entrepreneurial activities of second-generation entrepreneurs.

Research paper thumbnail of Is this Transnational Entrepreneurship? Five Cases in Which It Is Hard to Say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

Scholars have lately started using the notion of ‘transnational entrepreneurship’. However, trans... more Scholars have lately started using the notion of ‘transnational entrepreneurship’. However, transnational entrepreneurship has not achieved the status of an independent research field in literature yet. Scholars and policymakers do not seem to have managed to address the clear-cut, distinctive nature of transnational entrepreneurship due to its conceptual ambiguity. This challenge calls for thoughtful consideration of the scope and range of the transnational entrepreneurship concept. Consequently, this study aims at critically reviewing the recent literature on transnational entrepreneurship in contrast to migrants’ entrepreneurial activities and international entrepreneurship to identify the current scholars’ underlying assumptions about this phenomenon and challenges them by demonstrating its heterogeneity with the presentation of five empirical cases. In these five cases, entrepreneurs conduct business in which transnationalism plays a certain role, yet differently. We contrast t...

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Business Model: Resource and Institutional Perspectives

Academy of Management Proceedings

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of cultural values on Vietnamese ethnic entrepreneurs in Germany

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation

Research paper thumbnail of Functional domains of business incubators for refugee entrepreneurs

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize business incubators and their support for e... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize business incubators and their support for entrepreneurial refugees. While the number of initiatives supporting refugees’ entrepreneurial activities has increased in recent years, we still know little about how they differ from other types of business incubators. Design/methodology/approach This case study investigates a business incubator in Hamburg, Germany, targeting enterprising refugees. For this paper, 14 in-depth interviews with program participants and incubation managers were conducted. Findings This paper inductively derives five functional domains of refugee business incubators: providing structured entrepreneurial knowledge; alleviating anxiety related to institutional differences; guiding through the process at the incubator and motivating participants; understanding and tapping into social capital in the host country; and providing soft support concerning personal matters. The findings show that business incubators c...

Research paper thumbnail of Co-Creation of Social Entrepreneurial Opportunities with Refugees

Journal of Social Entrepreneurship

Research paper thumbnail of Network Benefits for Ghanaian Diaspora and Returnee Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review

Research paper thumbnail of Motivation of Japanese Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurs

Studia i Materiały Wydziału Zarządzania UW, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Rich-to-poor diaspora ventures: how do they survive?

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of To Try or Not to Try? A Story of Diaspora Entrepreneurship

Progress in International Business Research, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Network Dynamics of Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurship: Multiple Case Studies with Japanese Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of The role of diaspora entrepreneurs in start-up ecosystem development - a Berlin case study

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Research paper thumbnail of Entrepreneurial Opportunities of Refugees in Germany, France, and Ireland: Multiple Embeddedness Framework

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

Recently, the entrepreneurial potential of refugees has received growing attention from scholars ... more Recently, the entrepreneurial potential of refugees has received growing attention from scholars and policymakers. However, the literature on refugee entrepreneurship suffers from the fragmentation of previous research findings, which has been mainly attributed to the fact that refugees have heterogeneous backgrounds. Tackling this challenge, this study conceptualized the framework for the multiple embeddedness of refugee entrepreneurs by applying and extending the concept of mixed embeddedness. Based on 50 semi-structured interviews with refugee entrepreneurs who relocated to Germany, France, and Ireland, we identified six patterns in which refugees’ multiple embeddedness and their actions as entrepreneurial agencies interacted to develop entrepreneurial opportunities: (i) value creation with homeland resources, (ii) acting as transnational middleman minorities, (iii) integration facilitation, (iv) qualification transfers, (v) homeland-problem solving, and (vi) creative innovation....

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora Business Model Innovation

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of The injection of resources by transnational entrepreneurs: towards a model of the early evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

Research paper thumbnail of Dual Embeddedness and Entrepreneurial Activities of Second-Generation Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Multiple Case Studies with Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Germany

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

This article explores mutual relationships between embeddedness and second-generation ethnic entr... more This article explores mutual relationships between embeddedness and second-generation ethnic entrepreneurs. We apply an exploratory and inductive qualitative research design to investigate how a dual embeddedness of second-generation immigrants in the ethnic community and in mainstream society influence their entrepreneurial activities and vice versa. Based on multiple cases studies of Vietnamese second-generation ethnic entrepreneurs, we identify four causal relations between embeddedness and entrepreneurial activities: (a) resource mobilisation; (b) formation of entrepreneurial motivation; (c) feedback effect on embeddedness and (d) re-formation of dual identity. This research contributes to the research on ethnic entrepreneurship by showing novel causalities between socio-psychological factors and entrepreneurial activities of second-generation entrepreneurs.

Research paper thumbnail of Is this Transnational Entrepreneurship? Five Cases in Which It Is Hard to Say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies

Scholars have lately started using the notion of ‘transnational entrepreneurship’. However, trans... more Scholars have lately started using the notion of ‘transnational entrepreneurship’. However, transnational entrepreneurship has not achieved the status of an independent research field in literature yet. Scholars and policymakers do not seem to have managed to address the clear-cut, distinctive nature of transnational entrepreneurship due to its conceptual ambiguity. This challenge calls for thoughtful consideration of the scope and range of the transnational entrepreneurship concept. Consequently, this study aims at critically reviewing the recent literature on transnational entrepreneurship in contrast to migrants’ entrepreneurial activities and international entrepreneurship to identify the current scholars’ underlying assumptions about this phenomenon and challenges them by demonstrating its heterogeneity with the presentation of five empirical cases. In these five cases, entrepreneurs conduct business in which transnationalism plays a certain role, yet differently. We contrast t...

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational Business Model: Resource and Institutional Perspectives

Academy of Management Proceedings

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of cultural values on Vietnamese ethnic entrepreneurs in Germany

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation

Research paper thumbnail of Functional domains of business incubators for refugee entrepreneurs

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize business incubators and their support for e... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize business incubators and their support for entrepreneurial refugees. While the number of initiatives supporting refugees’ entrepreneurial activities has increased in recent years, we still know little about how they differ from other types of business incubators. Design/methodology/approach This case study investigates a business incubator in Hamburg, Germany, targeting enterprising refugees. For this paper, 14 in-depth interviews with program participants and incubation managers were conducted. Findings This paper inductively derives five functional domains of refugee business incubators: providing structured entrepreneurial knowledge; alleviating anxiety related to institutional differences; guiding through the process at the incubator and motivating participants; understanding and tapping into social capital in the host country; and providing soft support concerning personal matters. The findings show that business incubators c...

Research paper thumbnail of Co-Creation of Social Entrepreneurial Opportunities with Refugees

Journal of Social Entrepreneurship

Research paper thumbnail of Network Benefits for Ghanaian Diaspora and Returnee Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review

Research paper thumbnail of Motivation of Japanese Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurs

Studia i Materiały Wydziału Zarządzania UW, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Rich-to-poor diaspora ventures: how do they survive?

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of To Try or Not to Try? A Story of Diaspora Entrepreneurship

Progress in International Business Research, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Network Dynamics of Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurship: Multiple Case Studies with Japanese Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of The role of diaspora entrepreneurs in start-up ecosystem development - a Berlin case study

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business