Socio-cultural elements of the Marwari business community in India

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the elements of the Marwari business community’s sociocultural context, which influence entrepreneurial behaviour. The entrepreneurial behaviour of the Marwari community is interrogated in the context of the wider indigenous entrepreneurship literature. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative approach in exploring the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and effectual entrepreneurial behaviour of a sample of Marwari entrepreneurs. An exploratory, qualitative content analysis method was adopted to highlight the emerging insights into traditional entrepreneurship. Findings The study identifies unique, traditional Marwari behavioural constructs such as Sakh and Samai and the role it plays in trust-based business relationships. Overall, the study finds that although the Marwari practices and ecosystem enable a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial and business process, they do not facilitate creative innovation or entrepreneurial experimentation as seen within modern start-up incubation ecosystems. Research limitations/implications The study took a conscious decision to restrict further data collection upon saturation and used a purposeful sampling technique to increase the richness of this study rather than enlarge the sample and dilute the quality of the data. Practical implications The study identifies nuances of Marwari’s traditional practices that have come to determine their effectual tendencies that support business growth and sustainability. The study, however, finds that the restrictiveness of the Marwari ecosystem practices on fluency of doing business rather than creative innovation and thought experimentation risks the longevity of the traditional ecosystem advantage enjoyed by the Marwaris for centuries. Social implications The study broadens the understanding of the uniqueness of traditional business communities, which are comparatively marginalized in mainstream entrepreneurship research. Via this study, it is seen that the Marwari form of entrepreneurship is collectivist rather than individualist in nature, which differentiates them from their Western counterparts. This helps to explain why entrepreneurs tend to behave differently; hence, achieving a universal definition of entrepreneurship remains a challenge. Originality/value While the relationship between the sociocultural aspects of communities and their entrepreneurial behaviour is known, the role of the constituent elements of the Marwari sociocultural context and influence on business is unclear. This study takes the lead in identifying such elements of the Marwari sociocultural construct and argues how these elements can play a role in the Marwaris demonstrating tendencies of effectual behaviour.