Title: Practices in operating a small business in a host community: a social capital perspective of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurship within the South African business context

Authors: Tinashe Tsungai Raphael Ndoro; Lynette Louw; MacDonald Kanyangale

Addresses: Department of Management, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa ' Department of Management, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa ' Graduate School of Business and Leadership, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

Abstract: This study explores how Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs who own small retail businesses in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa draw from their social capital to operate their small businesses. The study followed a qualitative research design in which 21 in-depth interviews were conducted. The findings show that the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs used different forms of social capital to operate their small retail businesses in the host business environment. Drawing from their social capital, the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs were able to respond to opportunities and challenges in the host business environment. Social capital embedded in relationships and networks between the Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs and different stakeholders was central to the operations of the small retail businesses.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises; immigrant entrepreneurship; social capital; networks; qualitative; Chinese; South Africa.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2019.096974

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2019 Vol.36 No.1/2, pp.148 - 163

Received: 24 Aug 2016
Accepted: 12 May 2017
Published online: 14 Dec 2018 *

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