Title: Entrepreneurial characteristics in third generation small businesses in a VUCA world

Authors: Richa Yadav; Manoj Joshi; Ashok Kumar

Addresses: Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh – 226028, India ' Centre for VUCA Studies, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh – 226028, India ' Centre for VUCA Studies, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh – 226028, India

Abstract: Sweet houses as micro, small and medium-sized businesses are a flourishing business. The period between the 1980s and 1990s witnessed their genesis exhibiting entrepreneurial characteristics with few being family businesses. Some siblings went on to acquire professional education honing their characteristics. Hence, the entrepreneurial characteristics and higher education became the foundation of third generation small businesses. These firms are currently undergoing the challenges posited by volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business situation. How entrepreneurial characteristics were harnessed by generations in the small businesses to counter the VUCA challenges is the centre of this study! Few published papers on the subject theme between 2009 and 2019 were examined. The authors explored in Kanpur City (North India) and randomly identified 40 sweet shops in their third generation, reflecting continuity in their entrepreneurial characteristics, via qualitative case method of research, demonstrating our posit via the incumbent firm Thaggu Ke Laddu (TKL).

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneur; small business; entrepreneurial characteristics; third generation family business; VUCA; Thaggu Ke Laddu; TKL.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2024.140581

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2024 Vol.38 No.1, pp.41 - 55

Received: 24 Jul 2020
Accepted: 03 Nov 2020
Published online: 28 Aug 2024 *

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