Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore how context as an antecedent to entrepreneurial digital competencies (EDCs) influences digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The data comprises semi-structured interviews with 16 digital entrepreneurs, as owner-managers of small digital businesses in Cameroon.

Findings

The results reveal the ways in which EDCs shape the entry (or start-up) choices and post-entry strategic decisions of digital entrepreneurs in response to context-specific opportunities and challenges associated with digital entrepreneurship.

Research limitations/implications

The data comes from one African country and 16 digital businesses thus the research setting limits the generalisability of the results.

Practical implications

This paper highlights important implications for encouraging digital entrepreneurship by focussing on institutional, technology and local dimensions of context and measures to develop the entrepreneurial and digital competencies. This includes policy interventions to develop the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, transport and local distribution infrastructure, and training opportunities to develop the EDCs of digital entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

Whereas the capabilities to adopt and use ICTs and the internet by small businesses have been examined, this is among the first theoretically sensitised study linking context, EDCs and digital entrepreneurship.

Citation

Ngoasong, M.Z. (2018), "Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 483-500. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-01-2017-0014