Envy and jealousy in entrepreneurial activities: existence and nature, causes, effects and management

Abstract

Envy and jealousy arising out of human emotions have received limited attention in the entrepreneurship literature. This paper explored the nature and existence of envy and jealousy, as well as their causes, effects and management in entrepreneurship. A qualitative case study design and convenience sampling were used to select four CEOs of entrepreneurial firms in Ghana. Interviews were conducted to understand the phenomenon from the respondents’ viewpoints. Thematic analysis was done to guide the Ghanaian narrative of envy and jealousy and their nexus with firms’ success or otherwise. The paper found that envy and jealousy are different phenomena that exist in entrepreneurial activities, their nature is suggestive and manifest changes in demeanour where a normal characteristic of frowning deepens into a scowl, gossip, apathy and “eye service”. Envy and jealousy were caused by perceived favoritism arising out of lack of transparency, selfishness, greed and nepotism. Envy and jealousy lead to increased labour turnover, loss of revenue and sometimes sabotage but positively make the envied person resilient and hardworking. It, therefore, requires skillful strategies to attenuate the negative effects of envy and jealousy through education, transparent communication, discipline, friendliness and firm and fair management strategies. This paper provides better insights to help keep businesses alive by way of awareness creation to encourage entrepreneurs to consider envy and jealousy as possible factors that can destroy companies. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to provide insight into the phenomenon of envy and jealousy in the field of entrepreneurship using Ghanaian narratives.