Learning to Return: Integrating Energizing Organizational Learning and Hardipreneurship for the Entrepreneurial Reintegration of Returning Migrant Workers
Keywords:
return migration, migrant reintegration, hardipreneurshi, energizing organizational learning process, entrepreneurial learning, conceptual framework
Abstract
Many returning migrant workers invest their savings in small businesses, yet a large share of these ventures stagnate or close within a few years. Existing explanations emphasize financial capital, skills acquired abroad, and institutional support, but pay less attention to how returnees learn to run a business after return and how they persist when the business is under pressure. This conceptual paper addresses that gap by integrating two constructs developed by Indonesian management scholars: the Energizing Organizational Learning Process (EOLP), an interactive learning mode built on goal oriented learning, updating oriented interaction, and intra-team learning exchange, and Hardipreneurship, a construct of entrepreneurial hardiness developed for migrant reintegration. Using a theory synthesis approach, the paper proposes the Learning-to-Return framework and six propositions. The framework argues that energizing learning in returnee communities builds hardipreneurship, which in turn sustains returnee enterprises, and that this relationship is shaped by community leadership and the quality of institutional support. The paper outlines implications for reintegration programs and a qualitative research agenda.
References
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Yulianeu, A., Bagis, F., Wihuda, F., & Sutarmin. (2026). Energizing organizational learning to strengthen managerial capability of cluster-based MSMEs. Journal of Society, Community and Business Development, 4(1).
Yulianeu, A., Ferdinand, A. T., & Purnomo, R. (2021). Transformational leadership and energizing organizational learning: Empirical model for improving community-based eco-tourism performance in Indonesia. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 38(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.30892/gtg.38419-753
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Yusuf, M. N., & Yulianeu, A. (2023). Energizing organizational learning and organizational performance: Human capital theory perspective. Quality–Access to Success, 24(192), 82–93.
Zuhaena, F., Cahyo, H., Balafif, A. G. S., Rahmawati, A. S., & Tiyas, A. S. (2025). Hybrid community empowerment for Indonesian migrant workers: Strengthening financial and entrepreneurial capacity in Malaysia and Thailand. CITAKARYA Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 3(4), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.63922/citakarya.v3i04.3653
Bagis, F., Adawiyah, W. R., Pramuka, B. A., & Wibowo, U. D. A. (2026b). Hardipreneurship in disruptive times: Developing and validating a construct for migrant reintegration. Scientific Culture, 12(1), 2061–2078.
Bagis, F., Pramuka, B. A., Adawiyah, W. R., Wibowo, U. D. A., Umairoh, J. P. M., & Prayoga, O. (2025). Hardipreneurship: A novel conceptual framework for migrant reintegration in the era of economic disruption. Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Economics, Management, and Accounting (ICSEMA), 1(1), 3942–3949.
Becker, G. S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Bullough, A., Renko, M., & Myatt, T. (2014). Danger zone entrepreneurs: The importance of resilience and self-efficacy for entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(3), 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12006
Cassarino, J.-P. (2004). Theorising return migration: The conceptual approach to return migrants revisited. International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 6(2), 253–279.
Collins, R. (1993). Emotional energy as the common denominator of rational action. Rationality and Society, 5(2), 203–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463193005002005
Cope, J. (2005). Toward a dynamic learning perspective of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(4), 373–397. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2005.00090.x
Falah, A. S., Yulianeu, A., & Sobari, H. (2023). Energizing organizational learning process: Role model for increasing MSME performance in Indonesia. Nusantara Journal of Management Business, 1(1), 41–50.
Homans, G. C. (1950). The human group. Harcourt, Brace.
Jaakkola, E. (2020). Designing conceptual articles: Four approaches. AMS Review, 10(1–2), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-020-00161-0
Kobasa, S. C. (1979). Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.37.1.1
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Klein, K. J. (2000). A multilevel approach to theory and research in organizations: Contextual, temporal, and emergent processes. In K. J. Klein & S. W. J. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions (pp. 3–90). Jossey-Bass.
Maddi, S. R. (2006). Hardiness: The courage to grow from stresses. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(3), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760600619609
Mardhotillah, A., & Sofhani, T. F. (2024). The creation of community-based enterprise in Indonesian return migrant workers: The role of internal and external factors. Indonesian Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 10(1), 192. https://doi.org/10.17358/ijbe.10.1.192
Muksin, N. N., Purnamasari, O., & Jumail. (2026). Mediated group communication for sustainable entrepreneurship: Insights from former Indonesian migrant workers in Lombok. Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1697535. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1697535
Politis, D. (2005). The process of entrepreneurial learning: A conceptual framework. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(4), 399–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2005.00091.x
Sutarmin, S., Yulianeu, A., Darmawan, A., & Kurniawan, A. A. (2023). Driving sustainable change: Green transformational leadership, job crafting, and work engagement in frugal eco-innovation. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 18(12), 3883–3893. https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.181220
Wahba, J. (2026). Return migration and economic development: Opportunities and challenges. World Development, 198, 107225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107225
Wahba, J., & Zenou, Y. (2012). Out of sight, out of mind: Migration, entrepreneurship and social capital. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 42(5), 890–903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2012.04.007
Whetten, D. A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 490–495. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308371
Yulianeu, A. (2022). Membangun model energizing organizational learning process untuk meningkatkan kinerja organisasi (studi empiris pada UMKM Bordir Tasikmalaya) [Building an energizing organizational learning process model to improve organizational performance (an empirical study of embroidery MSMEs in Tasikmalaya)] [Doctoral dissertation]. Universitas Jenderal Soedirman.
Yulianeu, A., Bagis, F., Wihuda, F., & Sutarmin. (2026). Energizing organizational learning to strengthen managerial capability of cluster-based MSMEs. Journal of Society, Community and Business Development, 4(1).
Yulianeu, A., Ferdinand, A. T., & Purnomo, R. (2021). Transformational leadership and energizing organizational learning: Empirical model for improving community-based eco-tourism performance in Indonesia. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 38(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.30892/gtg.38419-753
Yuniarto, P. R. (2018). Indonesian return migrants entrepreneurships at home village: Knowledge production and living strategy. Jurnal Kependudukan Indonesia, 13(2), 89–102. https://doi.org/10.14203/jki.v13i2.314
Yusuf, M. N., & Yulianeu, A. (2022). Transformational leadership, energizing organizational learning process, and organizational performance at embroidery MSME in District Tasikmalaya. Jurnal Iqra': Kajian Ilmu Pendidikan, 7(1), 309–325. https://doi.org/10.25217/ji.v7i1.1747
Yusuf, M. N., & Yulianeu, A. (2023). Energizing organizational learning and organizational performance: Human capital theory perspective. Quality–Access to Success, 24(192), 82–93.
Zuhaena, F., Cahyo, H., Balafif, A. G. S., Rahmawati, A. S., & Tiyas, A. S. (2025). Hybrid community empowerment for Indonesian migrant workers: Strengthening financial and entrepreneurial capacity in Malaysia and Thailand. CITAKARYA Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 3(4), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.63922/citakarya.v3i04.3653
Published
2026-11-07
How to Cite
Yulianeu, A., Fatmah Bagis, Faizal Wihuda, & Sutarmin, S. (2026). Learning to Return: Integrating Energizing Organizational Learning and Hardipreneurship for the Entrepreneurial Reintegration of Returning Migrant Workers. International Journal of Education, Vocational and Social Science , 5(04), 4879-4896. https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.7418
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