Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Modern Stakeholder Theory Utilization
2.2. Barriers Facing Immigrant Entrepreneurs
3. Materials and Methods
- (1)
- Transcript: The authors made the transcripts in text and audio formats.
- (2)
- Familiarization with the data: To become familiar with the data and interview material, the researchers read the interviews in detail. In the case of any vague information, the researchers discussed the issue among themselves and, in a few cases, they called back the interviewees to clarify any ambiguities or uncertainties about the transcript or to ask further questions.
- (3)
- Coding Framework: The data were then coded into different categories.
- (4)
- Thematic charting: The content was presented in the form of specific themes.
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Descriptive Results
4.2. Interview Results
4.3. Perceived Barriers
4.3.1. Human Resources
“We could have needs in the future. It is hard to find qualified engineering personnel in Sweden. It is hard to find qualified analysts for good qualitative research; that is basically why it is difficult to grow—because there is a market, but there are so few people who have the knowledge.”
4.3.2. Internal and Financial Resources
“We are getting better and better. Because now we have won many contracts and have a lot of sub-consultants, which means we have to be better at business planning and budgets and how we take [them] in. We have so many hours to fill and we have to fill them with the right competence and the right people at the right cost so we can make a profit as well.”
4.3.3. Undercapitalization
”Some of them [procuring organizations] call for tenders for which they want us [suppliers] to have a credit statement from the bank. However, those of us that are new in business can only show recent numbers, so we have to produce our own account statement. It is only after the first annual report at the Swedish companies’ registration office that there are public numbers on your company’s performance. Then you have it black and white. But at the same time, a lot could have happened since that date, if we say that the numbers come to the registration office in May. If you do a procurement in February, the year after, there could have been contracts during that year that boosted your economy. So, you should always be allowed to show new numbers.”
4.3.4. Lead Time
“Most of the time, when something has happened, there has been a misunderstanding from the customer’s side, or when the client has many people in the organization and there is confusion about what is supposed to be done on the job. But that only requires a discussion, since it usually involves a misunderstanding. I cannot recall when there has been a problem.”
4.3.5. Communication and Marketing
4.3.6. Information about Tenders
4.3.7. Training and Support
4.3.8. Feedback
4.3.9. Competition
“Yes, that’s the biggest thing. It’s sort of hard to come in as an immigrant entrepreneur, here in the north of Sweden as someone who is not established. You haven’t gone to school with everybody, and on top of that it is hard to compete with people whose businesses are already established and it’s hard to compete with organizations that are bigger. It is definitely difficult.”
4.3.10. Pricing and Cost
4.3.11. Negotiation
”Regarding the private sector, it just feels as if we are more able to go in and speak to someone and establish a contact. In public procurement, it’s very much about formulating things the right way and having the right equation at the end. So, it doesn’t really feel like negotiation, because there are no backward and forward buttons. However, our talks with a private company in Stockholm a few days ago were more of a negotiation because we found out what they wanted, discussed the parameters, and eventually established a dialogue. So, if a problem persists, we have a chance to say that was not what they wanted, and suggest other options. Public procurement, on the other hand, is just a one-way communication.”
4.3.12. Performance Monitoring
4.4. Social Clauses
“In today’s procurement process, it doesn’t matter if you have any social clauses within the tender. At the end of the day, it boils down to the price. The one with the lowest price wins.”
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
6. Limitations and Future Research
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Item No. | Methodological steps | Details |
---|---|---|
1 | Data type | Primary |
2 | Data Collection | November 2016 and April 2017 |
3 | Interview technique | Telephone, face to face |
4 | Criteria | At least 51% owned by immigrants |
5 | Questionnaire/survey | Semi-structured interviews |
6 | Duration | Half an hour, on average |
7 | Number of companies | 22 |
8 | Number of questions | 42 |
9 | Number of categories | 20 |
10 | Categorizing and coding | 3 levels |
Establishment Year | Turnover (TKR) | Gender | Age | Education Level | Origin | Job Position | Full-Time Employee | Other Employees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | 300–499 | Male | 50 | MSc | Croatia | Owner | 0 | 0 |
2008 | 500–700 | Male | 40 | PhD | New Zealand | Owner | 2 | 3 |
1996 | 500 | Male | 53 | MSc | Finland | Owner | 0 | 0 |
2008 | 1563 | Male | 39 | University courses | New Zealand | Owner | 14 | 19 |
2014 | 540 | Female | 38 | MSc | Iraq | Co-owner | 0 | 0 |
2009 | 2615 | Female | 27 | BSc | Russia | Co-owner | 0 | 0 |
2011 | 3655 | Male | 30 | HVE | Iran | Owner | 0 | 8 |
1975 | 158 | Female | 44 | BSc | Russia | Director | 15 | 0 |
2013 | 1006 | Female | 36 | BSc | Turkey | Owner | 2 | 2 |
2013 | 4124 | Male | 32 | BSc | Albania | Owner | 6 | 1 |
2001 | 3000–5000 | Male | 32 | High school | Italy | Co-owner | 4 | 0 |
2012 | 645 | Male | 31 | BSc | Iran | Sub-consultant | 1 | 0 |
1999 | 7500 | Male | 40 | MSc | Iran | Owner | 20 | 0 |
2014 | 1358 | Female | 60 | BSc | Romania | Director | 0 | 0 |
2013 | 1006 | Female | 36 | BSc | Turkey | Owner | 2 | 2 |
2006 | 6856 | Male | 40 | BSc | Germany | Owner | 20 | 7 |
2009 | 1431 | Male | 60 | BSc | Chile | Owner | 3 | 1 |
2012 | 5930 | Female | 53 | MD | Iran | Owner | 6 | 10 |
2000 | 600–1000 | Male | 55 | MSc | Finland | Owner | 0 | 0 |
2012 | 400–500 | Male | 45 | university courses | South Africa | Owner | 1 | 0 |
2016 | 500 | Female | 51 | BSc | Chile | Co-owner | 0 | 1 |
2002 | 6000 | Male | 45 | MBA | India | Owner | 12 | 0 |
Categories | Perceptions | ||
---|---|---|---|
Performance | Performance monitoring | ||
Human resources | Lack of skilled managers | Lack of qualified personnel | |
Internal and financial resources * | Financial support/loan | Business planning skills | Request for proposal skills |
Undercapitalization | Being undercapitalized | ||
Lead time | Long lead time improving quality problems | ||
Communication and Marketing ** | Advertising to public sector | Public sector knowing about supplier | Information on supplier capabilities |
Information about tenders *** | Getting information about bid | Information on supplier capabilities | |
Training and support + | Training programs Other training sources | Technical assistance | Advice/support to attend Type and helpfulness of materials |
Feedback | Feedback on rejected proposals | ||
Competition ++ | Competition among suppliers | ||
Pricing and Cost +++ | Cost competitiveness | Price competitiveness | Profitability of private sector compared to public |
Negotiation | Supplier’s negotiation power in public sector compared to private |
Barriers | Suggested Solution |
---|---|
Human Resources | Hiring temporary staff for contracts Joint ventures Government providing staff from their career agencies |
Internal and Financial Resources Undercapitalization | Private loans Regional growth fund projects Start-up funds Set-aside programs or reserved contracts |
Lead time | Using technology to enhance quality in shorter time Government financial support for quality enhancement Establishing regional support agencies |
Communication and marketing | Using governmental advertising agencies Government support for providing technology requirements in communication Communication through informal trusted networks Community-based intermediaries |
Information about tenders | Using social media and the Internet Using a combination of different information-sharing channels A database of immigrant entrepreneurs for information sharing A single platform for information about all government tenders focusing on regions with a high share of immigrant SMEs |
Training and support | University-based training and assistant programs Holding training programs for public procurement staff Holding training programs at unions Offering free training Governmental and non-governmental business assistance agencies |
Feedback—performance monitoring | Face-to-face feedback sessions after each tender Providing detailed feedback to each participant after each tender Regular and periodical reports from the winners Periodical inspections and visits Regular feedback on their process and performance |
Competition—Pricing and cost | Joint ventures Forming trade unions and associations Forming networks of small and large enterprises Announcing smaller tenders Moving the focus from price to social issues |
Negotiation | Set-aside programs or Reserved contracts Joint ventures Using trade unions and associations Implementing flexible public procurement policies for minorities |
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Kordestani, A.; Sattari, S.; Peighambari, K.; Oghazi, P. Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091584
Kordestani A, Sattari S, Peighambari K, Oghazi P. Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden. Sustainability. 2017; 9(9):1584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091584
Chicago/Turabian StyleKordestani, Arash, Setayesh Sattari, Kaveh Peighambari, and Pejvak Oghazi. 2017. "Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden" Sustainability 9, no. 9: 1584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091584