Analysing the Barriers of Strategic Entrepreneurship: A DEMATEL Approach

Entrepreneurship research has developed in the last twenty years and now the focus is on Strategic Entrepreneurship (SE). SE can provide the sustainable growth of an organisation and increase its competitiveness globally. Despite these advantages, developing countries cannot reap the benefits of SE due to various barriers. Therefore, this study aims to identify and model the barriers of SE to the development of organisational management. Initially, the barriers of SE are identified through a literature review and further validated with a domain expert. The causal relationship among the barriers is modelled using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The result suggests that low awareness of SE, risk aversion, and low financial support are the major barriers in the development of SE that need to be mitigated. Further, this analysis also categorises these barriers into a cause-and-effect group. Six barriers belong to the cause group and the remaining four are part of the effect group. Knowledge of the barriers is helpful for policymakers to design development strategies and helps business development managers in the successive planning of the organisation. The understanding of the interrelationship among the barriers will help the organisation to remove these barriers in an optimal manner. The findings of the study will be helpful for top management and strategic planners to advance design thinking and strategic planning. The contribution of this research lies in the identification of barriers to SE and their causal relationships, which have been scarcely examined in the existing literature.