Local Development and the Creation of the Enterprise Culture

This thesis sets out to explore how cultural values of enterprise are negotiated between state sponsored bodies and their agents of limited economic, social and cultural capital, within a localised framework. More specifically, this qualitative research study centres the attention on one such government agency, namely the Northside Partnership, and investigates how this agency promotes and creates entrepreneurial activity within its catchment area; an area of high unemployment, social exclusion and marginalisation. A topical area of research, with limited knowledge and previous research opens up various avenues for this research study to explore. Data collection involves the administration of various qualitative research techniques which are used to explore the various interactions, processes, and strategies that are adapted by the agency to create an enterprise culture at local level. It highlights the current model used and examines its validity taking into account the resources of the agency’s clientele. This research study concentrates on obtaining data from two perspectives, that being, obtaining view points from both an agency, and a client perspective. In this task, this thesis provides an insight into the various factors, complimentary and conflicting, that play a role in the creation of a local enterprise culture within an economically deprived area of the Republic of Irelan