An Entrepreneurial Journey: Entrepreneurial Responses to Adversity

Throughout their lives, people face adversity and have to respond. Whether this adversity comes as a natural disaster, an organizational crisis, or a disruptive technology, for those facing adversity, the changed conditions are generally characterized by high uncertainty and time constraints and tend to be highly consequential. These contextual attributes are also common with entrepreneurial action. Indeed, entrepreneurial responses to challenging situations appear to facilitate individuals’ resilience or recovery and often help those confronting adverse events.

While adversity is often thought of in terms of an event that captures people’s attention (both that of those affected and of scholars), it can also be chronic. Chronic adversity refers to negative conditions that began long ago, continue in the present, and are unlikely to end passively (or even with modest effort) in the future.

For example, chronic adversity includes enduring poverty for many people living in developing countries throughout the world, groups of people who face ongoing discrimination and prejudice, and individuals without a homeland. While the chronic nature of such adversity does not mean it cannot be resolved, many people who face chronic adversity attempt to improve their lives within their adverse contexts rather than overcoming the underlying (and, many times, institutional) constraints.

In such cases, individuals can harness entrepreneurial action as a tool to improve their lives despite facing chronic adversity. In this presentation I will discuss the use of entrepreneurial action as a tool in response to adversity.

The event is sponsored by Norrlandsnavet
Norrlandsnavet is a center for business development in northern Sweden in collaboration with the Kamprad Family Foundation and Luleå University of Technology. We give small and medium-sized companies in northern Sweden the opportunity to develop their business with the help of research and education.

• Participators will recieve a free lunch. Register here. Opens in new window.

Deadline for registration is 16 May!