The Entrepreneurial Self-Image: Lonely Rider or Social Team Player? Comparing Entrepreneurs in Tanzania and Indonesia

Abstract

In most of the mainstream literature, entrepreneurs are portrayed as extremely individualistic actors. A study to validate this interpretation was carried out with entrepreneurs from two countries-Tanzania and Indonesia. The author in this paper draws out the conclusion that the ’lonely rider’ image is not only found in the literature, but also actually seen among entrepreneurs. It seems to be a common feature that entrepreneurs attach very little importance to relationships with other actors in their social environment. However, while analysing the ’historical records’ on how these entrepreneurs established their enterprises it was seen that entrepreneurs in both countries did exploit their personal relations with friends, colleagues and family members and that too to a substantial degree. It is in this context, the author argues, that the network perspective which emphasises the role of individual relations as social capital presents a more accurate image of entrepreneurs and their enterprises. Although many similarities were found between Tanzanian and Indonesian entrepreneurs regarding their utilisation of these networks, some basic differences were also noted. This paper is based on a qualitative case study approach. The author has used interviews as his main data collection technique.