2019-Stoyan Stoyanov


Identity Adaptation and Network Embeddedness among Migrant Entrepreneurs


Dr Stoyan Stoyanov, University of Bath

Project summary: Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, yet migrant entrepreneurs are often challenged by the liabilities their foreignness brings and struggle to become embedded within local business environments. This study examines how migrant entrepreneurs (MEs) orchestrate - form, repair, maintain and dismiss - their identity in order to achieve knowledge integration with host country business partners. Drawing on social identity theory, the study seeks to reveal the embedding processes of migrant entrepreneurs, and understand how they develop the identity orchestration capability that facilitates business network entry and knowledge integration.