The purpose of this research is to determine why some people in rural communities of Ghana establish new enterprises while others continue in traditional farming. Both individuals who have established their enterprises and those who have not were interviewed using interview schedules and recording of life stories, and the data was analysed qualitatively. Findings indicate that through social interaction rural entrepreneurs identify opportunities to acquire expertise, opportunity to apply the expertise to produce new goods and services, and opportunities to regenerate latent skills for new enterprise establishment as the main opportunities available for new enterprise establishment. These opportunities improve upon entrepreneurs' ability to use available technical innovations for new enterprise establishment. The research identified the following broad conditions that respondents met while establishing their new enterprises: opportunity recognition, resource mobilisation, information search, production/service delivery method selection, enterprise size selection and enterprise establishment. Activities that entrepreneurs undertake while establishing their enterprises are influenced by entrepreneurs' previous expertise, entrepreneurs' marital status, gender, the nature of parental support, availability of technological innovation in the communities among others. The research identified that factors that promote entrepreneurship among rural communities involved in this study are different from those of developed and urban societies. Factors such as relevant technological innovations, ready markets, availability of both financial and material resources, expertise from previous organisations and educational institutions promote new enterprise establishment in urban and developed societies. On the other hand, expertise from socialisation process, dependence on parental material and human resources, and the notion that one's own enterprise is the only means by which one can escape from subsistence livelihood are factors that promote entrepreneurship in the study societies. For the entrepreneurs within the study communities, it is not the recognition of social values embedded in technological innovations that motivates them to initiate entrepreneurial activities, rather it is the possession of relevant expertise (especially domestic expertise), parental encouragement, and the need to escape from subsistence livelihood.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:485502 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Boateng, Seth Dankyi |
| Publisher | University of Reading |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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