SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper explores the factors that enable so-called “immigrant entrepreneurs” to achieve sustainable long-term business development in overseas markets through a case study of a pioneering immigrant entrepreneur in the United Kingdom. The research question for this paper is as follows: Is the company continuing to grow sustainably by developing new sales channels and diversifying its business, and by creating locally-originated innovations? In particular, with immigrant entrepreneurs, in the process of expanding the scope of their business from targeting their fellow countrymen to include local markets, do they somehow demonstrate their strength in integrating the resources of both countries, leading to the creation of new innovations? In doing so, does the environment in which immigrant entrepreneurs find themselves, and the people-to-people relationships they build there, play an important role in developing local markets and creating innovations that can be used globally? Based on the results of this analysis of pioneering cases, we conclude with suggestions for Japanese entrepreneurs who wish to start businesses in overseas markets. The methodology will be a semi-structured interview method. The interviews will be conducted from the following analytical perspectives: We will focus on the resources and advantages they brought from Japan, what resources and advantages they used locally, and what the relationship is between the mobilization, utilization, and integration of such resources and their success in the local market. How do they create value by combining the resources of their country of origin (Japan) with those of their country of residence (UK)? How does the combination of resources mobilized from the respective networks (business ecosystems) in the two countries relate to innovation creation, and how is long-term management was achieved on the basis of locally built advantages?