Cultural values and innovation in indigenous entrepreneurship: a case study from Indonesia

This study aims to identify the mechanisms through which cultural values affect innovation in indigenous entrepreneurship, particularly in Indonesia, situated in the Global South. We examine two cases of long-established hand weaving activities in Lombok, using qualitative research methods. Our findings show that cultural values reflecting high levels of integration among actors commonly found in homogenous societies, act as social capital in promoting innovation by facilitating the transfer of new knowledge and encouraging collective learning among the economic actors. However, the entrepreneurs' past time orientation and their embeddedness as evident in values such as preserving tradition and respecting collective existence restrains their ability to embrace change. We identify that their lack of future orientation prevents innovation through opening up new markets. However, this outlook encourages them to respond to current market trends.