Learning the Chinioti way: exploring the legacy of a family business community leaders’ success based on the entrepreneurial mindset and values of Chinioti Sheikhs

Abstract

The Chinioti Sheikh community ranks among the most successful business communities in Pakistan, yet literature is almost barren of any study that aims to understand the success model of such business communities in the country. The purpose of this paper is twofold: one is to understand the factors that make Chinioti Sheikhs a successful business community in Pakistan and second is to comprehend the role of entrepreneurial mindset and values in the contribution of entrepreneurial success for Chinioti Sheikhs in particular and other entrepreneurs in general. The study is qualitative in nature and utilizes two research methods i.e., cumulative case study and focus group for the purpose of triangulation and profound understanding. The study takes help of the book 'Kamyab Log' for analyzing cases of Chinioti Sheikh entrepreneurs and in the second phase of research, a focus group is conducted of subject experts and entrepreneurs. The findings reveal that there are a number of factors that influence success of a venture. For Chinioti Sheikhs, these factors are a combination of collective traits shared among all members of community as well as individual traits, which include a value-infused personality traits plus entrepreneurial mindset of that individual entrepreneur.

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“…The trait of perseverance and determination also affirms a previous study of Chang (2017) who found through personal interviews with successful entrepreneurs that all her participants cherished and advocated these traits. On the other hand, while it is conveniently assumed that an entrepreneur is a risk-taker, we found evidences from the findings that the Chinioti Sheikh entrepreneurs as well as others believe in taking calculated risks, a finding underlined by Chell (2008). Similarly, a common characteristic found in all Chinioti Sheikh entrepreneurs was that they started small; thus, most of their characteristics corresponded with three out of five principles of effectuation (Sarasvathy, 2001), i.e., bird in hand (in terms of starting with their means), affordable loss (in terms of taking calculated risk), and crazy quilt (forming partnerships and taking help from community members).…”

“…Many scholars have tied entrepreneurial success to psychological factors such as personal satisfaction (Chong, 2012), high self-efficacy (Chen et al, 1998), locus of control and need for achievement (Chell, 2008;McClelland, 1965). Some studies have found that entrepreneurs with a persistent mindset tend to be visionary leaders, even if they come from non-family businesses .…”