Conceptualising Competitive Advantage in Coethnic Minority Micro- Businesses

Individual Human Factors (IHFs) are an important source of Sustained Competitive Advantage (SCA). However, little is known how they influence micro-businesses’ ability to achieve SCA because entrepreneurship literature has historically focused on large organisations only with scant attention to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and almost no attention to micro-businesses. We extend the Resource-based View of the firm (RBV) to bridge this research neglect and conceptualise the contribution of IHFs in ethnic minority micro-businesses. Underpinned by semi-structured cross- sectional interviews with founder-, owner-, and employee-managers, we developed the Culture-induced Entrepreneurship Model (CIEM). This model explains that while IHFs play important roles in achieving SCA, they are embedded in and shaped by the coethnic culture. Our study is amongst the first to invoke the RBV framework to conceptualise the impact of IHFs on SCA in micro-businesses. Our research has important implications for practice, policy-making, and theory."