Renaissance of the Phoenician Merchants : Entrepreneurs of Lebanese origin and their way of doing business in Sweden

Sammanfattning: The past economic dictate of large-scale production has worn out; the era of the managed economy has eventually come to an end. Instead, entrepreneurship is taking over as the new driver of worldwide economic development. Today, the people from the Lebanon have become an allegory for successful entrepreneurial endeavours abroad. Existing theories demonstrated that the experiences arising from migration enhance the ability to discover entrepreneurial opportunities. However, only a few academic sources actively discussed and explored the phenomenon of Lebanese entrepreneurship, thus leaving a gap for research. On these grounds, the purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of how entrepreneurs of Lebanese origin engage in entrepreneurial activities in Sweden. The country of Sweden is facing a major transformation in its economic structure. Previously dependent on the export of raw materials, Sweden is now moving towards a knowledge-intensive economy, a shift that naturally results in an increase of entrepreneurial activities. In the theory chapter, various sub-concepts of entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial process as well as the definition of a diaspora and its characteristics are explored. The following research question was elaborated: How does the entrepreneurial process of entrepreneurs with Lebanese origins, building up their economic activities in Sweden, look like? In order to gather the necessary empirical data to address the research question, four semi-structured interviews were conducted. In the analysis chapter, the collected data was scrutinized and matched with frameworks and theories extracted from the theory chapter. The final chapter contains the conclusion and limitations of this study, and makes suggestions for further research. This thesis contributes to existing research by providing information about the entrepreneurial process of immigrants, when setting up a business in Sweden. The main implication of this thesis constitutes that each entrepreneur has pursued their unique entrepreneurial path. Similarities were detected in the willingness to contribute to the Swedish society by proving their capabilities and the shared affiliation to their Lebanese heritage. Variances were found in the entrepreneurial processes as well as in the reasons for their involvement in entrepreneurial activities. To illustrate, some of the surveyed entrepreneurs discovered an entrepreneurial opportunity, whereas others created opportunities through their deliberate action.