Cultural obstacles in growing entrepreneurship: a study in Singapore

Purpose – This paper seeks to identify the cultural obstacles or what discourages the setting‐up of businesses among Singaporeans. Design/methodology/approach – Focus group method. Findings – Four obstacles: being over‐compliant, too left‐brained, over‐pampered, and afraid of failing, are identified. They are assessed as stemming from two key trends: chiefly, a safe, orderly and affluent society and Singapore Government's father‐leadership style. Several recommendations are then made. Research limitations/implications – Limitation: time and costs constraints – otherwise more focus group sessions could have been held. Future research, if a budget permits, can employ separate recorders to take notes, freeing the researcher to facilitate the discussions, extracting more information. Practical implications – The paper implies the need for several cultural changes: Singaporeans can be more entrepreneurial by taking a paradigm shift, adopting the “backpack mentality”; embracing globalised thinking and networking; and tapping the melting‐pot edge. Originality/value – The article provides a continuing perspective on entrepreneurship in Singapore.