Title: Entrepreneurial firms and their sustainability in a VUCA world

Authors: Meenakshi Gandhi; Manoj Joshi

Addresses: Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India ' Centre for VUCA Studies, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh 226028, India

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is a central theme of discussion, with 'entrepreneur' coined by Jean-Baptiste, implying one who undertook a new venture. This field has its genesis from the field of economics, sociology and economic history, agglomerating as an interplay between wealth creation, resource optimisation and economic development. It is interesting to posit 'do all entrepreneurial firms survive in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world with a discussion on their sustainability?' We identified select papers published between 2000 and 2019 and entrepreneurial firms incepted between 2000 and 2015 but reeling under VUCA, deploying qualitative method for examining various dimensions of VUCA. We undertook a typical case of iTiffin, incepted in 2013. iTiffin has struggled to capitalise the market in VUCA times, undergoing sustainability perspectives. Similarly, start-ups posed with vulnerability often fail to steer the rough waters of the VUCA environment. We triangulated, reducing biases and concretised evidence to address the subject.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; enterprise; entrepreneur; entrepreneurial firm; survival; sustainability; VUCA; iTiffin.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2023.133740

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2023 Vol.19 No.6, pp.542 - 561

Received: 14 Jan 2021
Accepted: 09 Feb 2021
Published online: 03 Oct 2023 *

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