Entrepreneurial activities post-disaster: How to respond to the changing environment

Tohoku University, Graduate School of Economics and Management, 27-1 Kawauchi, Sendai, Japan

^* Corresponding author: michi@tohoku.ac.jp

Abstract

It is well-documented that entrepreneurial activities increase after disasters. However, as time passes and the effects of the disaster fade, it becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain how entrepreneurs who emerge in the aftermath respond to the changing environment and achieve business grow. To address this gap, this study examines the factors that support expansion and the strategies they employed to sustain such growth. In our research a combination of methods was adopted, namely a questionnaire survey and a case study. A questionnaire was administered to individuals who started businesses after the Great East Japan Earthquake in Japan. The survey suggests that there may have been a shift in motivation among individuals embarking on new business creation in the aftermath of a disaster. Their focus appears to have transitioned from being primarily social to being more self-oriented. Additionally, it seems that entrepreneurs who expand their businesses may also exhibit a tendency towards altruism. A case study highlights how one entrepreneur expanded his business by remaining altruistic and leveraging its unique conceptual ability to adapt to and transform its environment. The findings suggest that entrepreneurs who expand their companies tend to show social orientation and are supported by a return to the fundamentals of management, while offering new interpretations of their products and services with cooperative relationships with others.