Exploring Entrepreneurial Capabilities for International Entrepreneurship: A Study of International Entrepreneurship Sense-making Narratives in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study aims to identify key Entrepreneur Capabilities (EC) of international entrepreneurs and recognize the significance of such ECs in the digital disruptive technology industry in Sri Lanka. Most theories and experiments are established in developed countries, and sometimes those may not be applicable in emerging countries. Reviewing and exploring narrations of successful entrepreneurs assist in recognizing their unique processes and identifying how socio-cultural and economic factors of their native country shape the international entrepreneurial process. The interviews were carried out with industry leaders who became international entrepreneurs early in their career and a qualitative case study method was used in this study. The data was triangulated using secondary documents. Universally applicable thoughts that they generated through unusual integration, cross-cultural understanding and discipline and maturity could be considered as the main themes that emerged. Relationship building capability that was supported by passion, risk acceptance and locus of control and honesty was another theme that emerged. The entrepreneurial capability was further supported by inspirational leadership, pro-activeness and opportunity utilization, language and communication ability, and flexibility. Moreover, ECs that were developed from childhood gradually supported to build the mindset of the competent international entrepreneur. The childhood experiences,

Cartwheel or Ladder? Reconsidering Sinhala Caste

“…Transient capitals were established along the way in protected rock fortresses (Dam̆badeniya, Yāpahuwa, Dädigama, and Kurunägala) and upland Gampoḷa, before consolidating in the fifteenth century at Kōttē near the coast, where the Portuguese would find them in 1505; and during the sixteenth century, at Senkaḍagala Nuvara (Kandy) in the highland interior. Historians describe those centuries as unsettled and unstable: political power and administration were fragmented (C. R. de Silva 1995a; K. M. de Silva 2016[2005]: 113–14), local rulers (“petty chiefs”) gained autonomy (Kulasuriya 1976), and immigration from the mainland increased (Roberts 1980: 37).…”

“…Outside the Kandyan Kingdom, pre-colonial society is less well-documented because almost all indigenous archives were destroyed in warfare (K. M. de Silva 1995: 3). But after first the Portuguese (1505–1658) and then the Dutch (1658–1796) gained control of the coasts, they quickly created new records to identify group-based service obligations they could enforce for their own support and profit (Dewasiri 2008: 5, 32–33, 86; Rogers 2004a: 54–57; Strathern 2008: 101–4).…”

“… 14 Sixteenth-century Portuguese sources suggest roughly 750,000 inhabitants island-wide: 400,000–450,000 in the western and southwestern coastal areas; and 100,000–150,000 on the Jaffna Peninsula; leaving 150,000–250,000 for the Kandyan Kingdom, which had large stretches of uninhabited territory (C. R. de Silva 1995a: 37–38). …”