EO modes in relation to significant roles
| EO mode | Representative quotations | Influencing family member: M = mother F = father P = professional | First-order categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proactiveness | A1. I took the best of him [i.e. his uncle], his sense of business, smelling good ideas, taking care of the employees – the way he approaches sales and customers was surprising. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) A2. Since I was a kid, I've spent a lot of my time in research centers, seeing my father, my mom, what they were doing. … I think the inspiration from my parents is how I've overcome obstacles in life to run a business, to be competitive. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) B1. In my personal assessment, I would always try to compare [myself with] what they did. At that time when I was younger, I tried to be better than them. With time, I came to understand that it was not for me to be better or not. It is about working together, so everyone helps one another and gets a better position or life. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) B2. I think about the businessman that my dad is right now, compared with how I looked at him when I left… My dad's company, my family's company, has been running for many more years than mine, so it has been helpful to compare my business with my dad's, it has given me realism. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) C1. Whatever idea I have, she [i.e. mother] is like “You're going to make it, you're capable.” (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) C2. My parents expected me to be successful, to find the path that suits me. Of course they pushed or told me to have my own companies, to do things by myself. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) D1. Our legal entity to connect with business partners in Mexico is still my family company … Their business partners are our friends who run companies in Mexico. We outsource software development there for the Swedish market. (Startup X, co-founder 2a) D2. We [i.e. the families in Sweden and Mexico] look for opportunities together. When we start a project in Mexico, we identify the needs and the technologies that we need, then we also know what we want to do here [in Sweden]. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) E1. To pay some kind of fair salary to people, not just trying to lower the price just to have business here, it was a combination [of hiring IT engineers in Mexico and selling the products in Sweden]. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) E2. The one who I work the most with is my mom … I talk about my challenges and we both try to give advice … what I face here in some cases helps in Mexico now. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) E3. When we have projects in Sweden, we try to see what benefits they can give for projects that we are running in Mexico. (Startup Y, co-founder 2b) F1. When I showed it to her, she said “I think you're doing something you like.” When we first created a business model – target, problems, and everything – she saw it, she said this is possible now. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) F2. He [i.e. my brother] just approached and said, “What do you think about this? Would you buy this? Would you – how much would you pay?” (Startup X, co-founder 3a) | Uncle as inspirer M + F as inspirers M + F as inspirers F as inspirer M as backer M + F as backers P as backer Home- and host-country families as backers P as partner M as partner Home- and host- country family as partner Spouse as partner Brother as partner | A. Business approach inspired by creative relatives in the home country B. Entrepreneurship realism by comparison with parents' home-country entrepreneurship C. Parents' moral support and expectations push the next generation to act D. Home-country backers enabling offerings E. Acting on business opportunities via bi-directional networks F. Identifying business opportunities through brainstorming with family members |
| Risk-taking | G1. Our parents, they didn't finish university … to have the competition in Mexico, they have succeeded in their own industry and in having their own business. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) G2. They [i.e. my father and uncle] made a lot of money. My father went bankrupt several times, but always managed. Nine years ago, my father was broke, had nothing. But he just started again from a low level. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) H1. He [i.e. my father] always told me to work in the company, learn from the mistakes, and then start a company of my own. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) H2. It's really difficult for them [i.e. parents] to understand that a permanent job here is a better opportunity, less risky than having a company. Having a company here means risky and expensive and complicated decisions … but for them that's not relevant. The perception is the opposite: you shouldn't be in a company or in a permanent job, better to have your own business. (Startup X, co-founder 2b) I1. In Mexico, I have all my contacts. When we go back to Mexico, we usually meet with all of them. I've met several potential suppliers because they are my friends. (Startup Y, co-founder 2b) I2. Due to my contacts, Mexico is a place that gives me projects – it's the place where I can get customers that are bigger than in Sweden. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) I3. Normally, we don't get a “no.” It's more like analyzing what we are trying to do. What they [i.e. professionals] normally try to say is that “I can only give you advice but I cannot make a decision because you are the one who knows the context.” What they try to do is to give the positive and negative sides, the risks, but we need to make the decision, assess the situation. … It pushes us to make the decision and take the responsibility. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) J1. And in Mexican culture you should be like your father – he's the businessman, he's running a company and doing different big projects. I just suppose you should do the same or even more. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) J2. In my personal point of view, I always compare with my parents' business and try to be better than them. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) K1. She [i.e. the entrepreneur's wife] is the manager of things. For example, when we were working together, there were seven to eight people, she was the project manager and checked if it worked and asked about the results – she's really good at that. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) K2. The objection [i.e. from a host-country family member] is always like “you have a lot of ideas but we don't have the time and budget to do everything, so prioritize this and continue, save the ideas for when you can.” (Startup X, co-founder 1a) L1. I didn't know how to set a price for something. We've basically always been really connected to our family. I always call my dad when I need to know how to do something. I realized that even though we are in different countries, Mexico and Sweden, the problems are similar – the same tax you pay in Sweden, you pay in Mexico. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) L2. Our parents are the bosses. They are always like “Do this and do this” – they try to give directions because they have the experience. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) L3. We have a lot of friends who have companies and opportunities to develop software in Mexico, and our legal entity to conduct those transactions to Mexico is still my parents' company. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) | M + F as inspirers F + Uncle as inspirers F as inspirer M + F as inspirers P as backer P as backer P as backer F as backer M + F as backers Spouse as partner Brother as partner F as partner M + F as partners M + F as partners | G. The previous generation shows that it is possible to take great risks H. Despite the problems, entrepreneurship is idealized by family in the home country I. Risk-reduction by back-up contacts in the home country J. Risk-taking is stimulated by comparison with parents' home-country entrepreneurship K. Risk-reduction by host-country family-based review L. Risk-reduction through home-country family firm solutions |
| Innovation | M1. In terms of the idea, I was always looking to my family business. To see the needs of dad's company, where is the main need for IT in this case, and try to offer the same here. To see what the person needs, my dad – he's the best example of someone around 50, 60 years old – what do they need? (Startup X, co-founder 1a) M2. My family has always been my connection to see what's going on in the market in Mexico. So I get ideas by seeing what the other IT companies are offering in Mexico. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) N1. I and my dad talk about our companies, what I do and the things that we do together … Basically we talk about that every time, I don't know, about three or four times per week. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) N2. I talk to my dad … I have a lot of acquaintances who do the exactly same thing [i.e. talk business with home-country family]. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) O1. I was a marketing coordinator in a company in Mexico, had contacts with different advertisement companies … Since I knew them before, they helped us to work with the creative design ideas. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) O2. We are operating in Mexico and Sweden because that reduces costs, the labor cost, which is really expensive here in Sweden. Basically, that's the innovative part [of the business concept]. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) P1. I think that the input we've been getting has been different depending on our family back in Mexico. My father, especially, has expertise in management, so he's always been kind of a mentor to me. We've talked about how to handle money inside the company and how to invest it. (Startup X, co-founder 1a) P2. A few products that we are going to launch soon – actually, about how to implement them – the ideas came from Mexico, from related people in Mexico. … My dad basically told me, “You know what, in Mexico they are doing this for the IT and this – why don't you implement it?” (Startup X, co-founder 1a) Q1. [Uncle's observation:] Everybody has money, even the three billion people who only earn two dollars per day. They will need to buy something. Besides, they can also become providers. You just need to channel that into the bucket. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) Q2. They [i.e. my parents] managed to have a company, we based ours on their ideas. I know people who don't have education but are quite smart … This led us to have our own development team where we develop promising people – we give them opportunities to create. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) R1. In Mexico, they not only know me, they also know my family and my family company, which has been operating for a long time. They have already done mega projects in Mexico. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) R2. They [i.e. my parents] came with the projects. We communicate and, of course, as we are growing, we tell them, “Now we can do this, now we can do that.” It's kind of collaboration in trying to grow the business. (Startup X, co-founder 1b) | F as inspirer Home-country family as inspirer F as inspirer F as inspirer P as backer P as backer F as backer F as backer Uncle as partner M + F as partners Home-country family as partner M + F as partners | M. Innovative ideas through home-country comparisons N. Close communication with home-country family about immigrant entrepreneurship O. Innovative networking with home-country professionals P. Strategic innovation through home-country family consulting Q. Creativity about untapped opportunities from home-country family members R. Growth through family-business-referred projects |
| EO mode | Representative quotations | Influencing family member: M = mother | First-order categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proactiveness | A1. I took the best of him [i.e. his uncle], his sense of business, smelling good ideas, taking care of the employees – the way he approaches sales and customers was surprising. (Startup Z, co-founder 3a) | Uncle as inspirer | A. Business approach inspired by creative relatives in the home country |
| Risk-taking | G1. Our parents, they didn't finish university … to have the competition in Mexico, they have succeeded in their own industry and in having their own business. (Startup Y, co-founder 2a) | M + F as inspirers | G. The previous generation shows that it is possible to take great risks |
| Innovation | M1. In terms of the idea, I was always looking to my family business. To see the needs of dad's company, where is the main need for IT in this case, and try to offer the same here. To see what the person needs, my dad – he's the best example of someone around 50, 60 years old – what do they need? (Startup X, co-founder 1a) | F as inspirer | M. Innovative ideas through home-country comparisons |
Source(s): Authors' own work
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