‘The person with maximum knowledge will win the race’: conceptualizing knowledge in micro-businesses

Muhibul, Haq and Davies, Julie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6875-3100 (2023) ‘The person with maximum knowledge will win the race’: conceptualizing knowledge in micro-businesses. Journal of Small Business Management, 61 (2). pp. 295-321. ISSN 0047-2778

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Abstract

The concept of knowledge and the process of knowledge sharing in ethnic minority micro-businesses remains neglected in contemporary debates even if their role for economic development is recognised. Drawing on a culturalist view, we explore how knowledge is defined and shared in a local niche market. Thematic analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 32 owner-managers and 11 employee-managers reveals that, contrary to studies on larger firms, local knowledge creation and sharing narrowly based on ethnic strengths are valuable sources of competitive advantage. Our study has implications for researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in exploring, supporting and integrating ethnic minority micro-businesses.