Leading British Virgin Islanders towards private enterprise: A case study of entrepreneur motivation in a postcolonial territory

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to explore why British Virgin Islanders have failed to transform their entrepreneurial intent to action, and to offer prescriptions for leadership approaches that may better motivate entrepreneur activity in this context. The study employed a pragmatic research paradigm. Case and phenomena knowledge creation relied on both primary and secondary data. Personal interviews with a purposive sample of 25 prospective and nascent entrepreneurs provided case actor perceptions of the barriers to starting an enterprise in the British Virgin Islands. Administration of the GLOBE survey(c) of Society Culture and Leadership Effectiveness provided participant descriptions of British Virgin Islands culture and endorsed leadership approaches. Researcher participant observation and archival and secondary data contributed further understanding for the context-specific factors motivating and inhibiting indigenous enterprise. Problem understanding and knowledge creation relied on analytic generalization and consideration for rival explanations. Study findings indicated the presence of both explicit and implicit barriers inhibiting British Virgin Islander entrepreneurs. Prospective entrepreneur images of a high-risk, finite market undermined opportunity perceptions. Continued over reliance on foreign investor development initiatives marginalized indigenous enterprise and undermined indigenous images of development responsibility. Both leader and constituent failure to insure enterprise knowledge transfer undermined development capability images, further diminishing indigenous enterprise motivation. Context-specific development interventions proposed an integration of British Virgin Islander entrepreneur images, British Virgin Islander enterprise motivations, and transactional and transformational leadership approaches to affect an equitable development strategy as motivation for indigenous entrepreneurship.