Problems of political unrest: women in small businesses in Bangladesh

PurposeWhereas the extant literature on women's entrepreneurship is almost exclusively focused on developed nations, the effect of many context-specific issues of other countries on ventures of women has been overlooked. The study aims to reveal how political unrest, a common feature of the developing nation, can significantly affect the experiences of women in small businesses of that region.Design/methodology/approachThis feminist research is conducted on Bangladesh, which is one of the most politically unstable countries in the world. The study conducts interviews with women to explore the adverse effect of political unrest on their small firms.FindingsThe feminist research reveals some problems of women business-owners concerning political unrest in this highly patriarchal context. It also discloses how political chaos challenges the government initiative in financially supporting women business-owners.Practical implicationsPolicymakers of developing nations can be benefitted by taking into account the problems of women business-owners concerning political unrest, specifically the access to debt financing issues while designing policies for women's empowerment.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the women's entrepreneurship scholarship with reference to political unrest, a contextual issue of developing nations. Whereas the existing studies mostly concentrate on holding women individually liable for the limited scale of their business operation, this research potentially challenges the view by drawing upon political unrest as an external factor that negatively affects their ventures. The study further advances the prevailing knowledge by critically unveiling some gender-specific problems of women business-owners regarding political unrest.

Women of Enterprise

During the 1980s and 1990s, Avon had successfully built its reputation as “a company of women and for women.” Avon, along with the Small Business Administration, created a Women of Enterprise awards program that highlighted the success of women business owners outside of direct sales. Through this program, Avon engaged in a popular conversation about women’s ability to “have it all.” Recognized for its women-friendly management policies, organizations such as Catalyst held Avon up as an example of a company where women had shattered the glass ceiling, even though Avon continued to name men to lead the corporation, prompting the defection of several high-ranking women in its global organization. When Andrea Jung became CEO in 1999, Avon had reached its zenith as a direct sales company, but it could not succeed against the fundamental challenges presented by internet marketing.

Postfeminism, hybrid mumpreneur identities and the reproduction of masculine entrepreneurship

Mobilising postfeminism as an analytical device, this article re-examines how women business owners discursively engage with the identity of the mumpreneur. Drawing on interviews with women business owners, this article reconceptualises the compatibility between motherhood and entrepreneurship associated with the mumpreneur, in terms of a hybrid identity that interlinks feminine and masculine behaviours connected to home and work. Study data reveal the discursive practices present in interview accounts – choosing family and work, strategic mumpreneurship and enhancing the business without limits – which draw on postfeminist discourses to constitute hybrid entrepreneurial femininities associated with the mumpreneur category. The article contributes to the gender and entrepreneurship literature, in particular, the scholarship on mumpreneurship, by first, showing how engagement with the mumpreneur identity is implicated in the reproduction of masculine entrepreneurship; second, demonstrates how encounters with the mumpreneur contribute to the creation of a hierarchy of entrepreneurial identities which reinforces the masculine norm; and third considers how the mumpreneur as a hybrid identity mobilises entrepreneurship in children in gendered ways. While the emergence of the mumpreneur as a contemporary entrepreneurial identity has positively impacted how women’s entrepreneurship is viewed, the study demonstrates that it has not disrupted dominant discourses of masculine entrepreneurship or gendered power relations in the entrepreneurial field.

Growing Women Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries in South Africa

This chapter interrogates the potential of women entrepreneurship as an economic strategy to address unemployment and job creation. The chapter focusses on creative industry to demonstrate that creativity and innovations can activate entrepreneurship among women in South Africa. It is through entrepreneurship that entrepreneurs transform their innovative and creative ideas into business enterprises and job creation. Although female entrepreneurship for economic development is recognised internationally, it lags behind those of men especially in the number of women business owners and the size of businesses including access to economic resources. The chapter argues that entrepreneurs are central in boosting the economy and the optimal use of their skills, innovative new ideas that sustain entrepreneurial creative projects. The chapter makes use of a visual profile, participant observation, case studies, and face-to-face interviews with women involved in creative industries such as bead making, pottery, traditional dress-making, and traditional dance.

A Study on Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurial Intention among Small Business of Women Entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic

Entrepreneurship refers to establishing of a brand-new business to take advantages from brand-new chances. Entrepreneur is the vital element of entrepreneurship and also now women in Czech Republic are additionally effective in this as they have qualities preferable for entrepreneurship advancement. Entrepreneurship is a much ideal profession for women than regular work. Females are thought about an important human resource of the country and every state need to try to utilize them as arbitrators of economic growth and also advancement. Empowerment of women has actually become a vital concern in current times. This write-up manages empowerment of country females via entrepreneurship as well as the benefits entrepreneurship among the small company. "Economic empowerment of females resulted in development of household as well as Neighborhood". This principle purpose of the research study is to identify the economic empowerment of women business owners. The example size of the study is 100 respondents. The data collected went through online form structured questionnaire as well as the devices utilized for analysis percentage analysis and also ANOVA test. This declaration is confirmed by a cumulative small business entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic.

Preserving cultural heritage through the valorization of Cordillera heirloom rice in the Philippines

For centuries, heirloom rice varieties have been grown on the terraces of the Cordillera Mountains of Luzon, Philippines, terroirs known for their significant historical, cultural, and aesthetic values. However, heritage heirloom rice farming is gradually being abandoned, mainly because of its lower productivity and the struggle of the sector to create a sustainable niche market for heirloom rice by branding its cultural, social, and nutritional values. We propose several demand-side intervention strategies for the valorization of heirloom rice. To support the development of a segmented marketing strategy for heritage farming, we provide evidence on urban consumers’ willingness to purchase heirloom rice. We interviewed 500 urban consumers from Metro Manila in July–August 2015, who placed a purchasing bid on a kilogram of heirloom rice. Consumers’ bids averaged PHP 72.61 kg−1 (USD 1.60 kg−1), which is less than half its current market price. This explains why heirloom rice struggles to gain market share in urban markets in the Philippines. Given this bid price, we estimate a potential market size of PHP 20.3 billion (USD 443 million) that could be created for heirloom rice and tapped into by heritage farmers. Findings further indicate that women, business owners, and consumers who buy packaged rice and eat pigmented rice are willing to pay more for heirloom rice. Finally, our evidence suggests that proper information framing will be necessary to create demand and support the valorization of heirloom rice to preserve cultural heritage and in situ biodiversity of rice landraces in the Philippines.

The Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Business Performance: A Comparative Study of Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurs by Gender

Entrepreneurship is known, contribute to the economic growth locally as well as globally. To make entrepreneurship play its economic role, entrepreneurs are oriented by different factors and perform differently in their business. This lead the researchers to investigate the entrepreneurial orientation considering necessity and opportunity factors among women and men business owners and their owned businesses in Huye District. This was done to find out the effect of such orientation on their business performance and to examine the significance of cross-gender differences with regard to the variables under study. For achieving the above objectives; structured questionnaire and documentary review techniques were used to collect data. From total population of 1787 business owners identified from 11 sectors in Huye District, researchers sampled 327 respondents. Random and convenience sampling techniques were used. The results showed that both males and females are more opportunity oriented than necessity oriented. Study shows that business owned by males perform better than business owned by females regarding both financial and non-financial performance aspects. It was also found out that there are no significant differences in both levels of entrepreneurial orientation and business performance across gender. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between entrepreneurial orientation of women and men business owners and their business performance. Based on these findings, it recommends that the Government of Rwanda (GoR) should focus training and sensitization for women to increase their involvement in business and improve the performance of existing women business owners. Improving entrepreneurship program by MINEDUC should also be given consideration especially at primary and secondary levels/educations to prepare potential entrepreneurs.