Will They or Won't They?: Understanding Nascent Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Emergence Through Authentic Leadership Behaviours

Introduction

In the field of entrepreneurship, there is a variety of emerging schools of thought. The social entrepreneurs, for example, seek to address society’s wicked problems through innovation and creativity (Crawford et al., 2020b). Sustainable entrepreneurs provide innovative creations that consider their sustainable development (Rowlands et al., in-press), whereas classical understandings of entrepreneurship link innovation with profit and place social ramifications as afterthoughts (Schumpeter, 1982). Whatever the driving force is behind the phenomena of entrepreneurship, social good, sustainable development, financial gain, and fame can all offer a spark to the dormant candle of nascent entrepreneurs. One’s potential for enterprising lacks specific encapsulation in theory. Moreover, the spark of these intentions, as well as the associated antecedent behaviors needs further exploration (Reynolds & White, 1992). With the potential for improving the understanding of entrepreneurial emergence and its ramifications, the authors believe that it is important to identify the enablers of nascent entrepreneurs, who emerge acting ethically.

Scholars have only recently begun to deeply explore entrepreneurship and the behaviors that foster it. Social entrepreneurship enhanced through authentic leader behaviors (ALBs) has been theoretically linked to the sustainable growth and development of ecotourism (Knox et al., in-press; Rowlands et al., in-press). To further explore the effects of ALBs on fostering entrepreneurship, one may address the COVID-19 pandemic and the methods in which the Australian State and Federal Governments are responding. For instance, the Victorian Government (2020) is creating jobs amid the pandemic, calling on individuals to work as public servants to assist in the maintenance of the Victorian society. This initiative is poignant as many thousands of Victorians may lose their jobs across many industries during the crisis (Victorian Government, 2020). The ethical challenges faced by the global society in the past such as the Global Financial Crisis and 9/11 have led to rapid theoretical and empirical progress, encouraging the development of strong leaders (Crawford et al., 2020a). Positive behavioral development has been demonstrated to aid organizations in facing unprecedented obstacles such as these (Luthans & Avolio, 2003); with many industries altering their daily operations to remain ethical, the necessity for strong leadership and innovation is at its peak.

There is a genuine need to understand the enablers of ethical behavior in emerging entrepreneurs, now, more than ever. To this end, this Chapter focuses on emergence and intentions. The authors begin with an explication of what exactly an entrepreneur is, followed by an investigation into the phenomena of nascent entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurial emergence. Next, the authors explore the theories of authentic leadership and authentic followership, highlighting their significance in improving the development of positive organizational ethics. The following synthesis brings this all together, discussing the potential effects of ALBs on nascent entrepreneur’s and their emergence, as well as the possible implications, for the purposes of exploring the research question:

Critical Review Method

The aim of this Chapter is to provide a critical exploration on nascent entrepreneur and their emergence. The literature on this topic tends to describe the authentic leader, the authentic follower, transformational leadership, social entrepreneurship, ethical leadership, and entrepreneurial emergence. The challenge posed to this chapter is the lack of literary synthesis between these disparate areas of inquiry. The data collected, cannot be generalized because of its qualitative and exploratory nature, and thus presents limitations for the Chapter. As such, the authors consider a critical review method, concentrating on identifying and analyzing the key elements of different literatures as they relate to the research question. In doing so, the authors intend to first focus on a critical review of the different sections of the literature identified in their independence. The authors have a focus on the literature as it relates to the broad research question. The aim of which is to develop a synthesized understanding of the topic in the discussion to improve the ethical emergence of entrepreneurs.