Nature of work : Bachelor Thesis, 10 credits Enterprising and Business Development Number of pages : 68 pages Title : EBW-phenomenon - The Driving Forces Behind Businesswomen in Nybro Author : Leonnie Tabanan Ingholt Examiner : Richard Nakamura, Växjö University, Sweden Mentor : Pernilla Nilsson, Växjö University, Sweden Date : May 30, 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine the business communication needs and problems of women in entry-level, middle, and upper management positions in Texas. A questionnaire was completed by sixty-eight female managers (twenty-one entry-level; forty middle; and seven upper). Female managers were asked to indicate the frequency of use and the importance of fourteen types of written and seven types of oral business communication, the importance of twenty-seven skills or knowledge, and the frequency with which they consider thirty-two skills or knowledge as problem areas. Data were also collected for the same number of male managers and were used to further interpret and complement the data on female managers. Results for female managers as a total group and male managers as a total group were evaluated by performing chi-square tests.

Since abolition, women have used the media to bring attention to causes and injustices in society. Issues faced by these women are some of the same issues faced by women in public relations today and possibly the future. This paper is the history of the women of pre-professional public relations in relation to their use of the media to bring about change and communicate with an audience. It also discusses the evolution of the public relations profession as it pertains to the parallel issues that the women of the first wave faced in relation to the second wave, or professional era. The paper will then synthesize these two eras in public relations and discuss the future of women in the profession as seen by researchers and women practicing at this time.

Women as the previously disadvantaged species have been encouraged to open businesses all over the world. Some businesses that are owned by woman succeed some fail. It is evident that the rate at which the women respond to this call is positive judging by the number of businesses that are owned by women in the country. The ventures that are owned by woman some are new some are old but all of these woman entrepreneurs do encounter challenges, it is a fact. The fact that there is a success or failure means that these women encounter a number of challenges within and outside their business. The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by women in entrepreneurship. A sample of 10 women entrepreneurs participated in the study. These women were chosen systematically using probability approach whereby a list of women entrepreneurs was obtained from the Durban Chamber of Commerce. Interviews were conducted as the instrument for collecting data. Data was analysed using tables and graphs. The results yielded by this study showed that indeed women do encounter some challenges in their entrepreneurial activities. Furthermore, it was discovered from the study that the majority of challenges emanate from a lack of education and a lack of skills and development. It is important for our government to intervene by formulating programmes that will address the exact needs of women entrepreneurs and it is essential that there be follow up on the service providers so as to track the satisfaction of women in entrepreneurship and whether the programmes are achieving what they set out to achieve. Finally this study provides the recommendations based on this study which are meant to address the challenges facing women in entrepreneurship. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The South African government has set a target of reducing unemployment by fifty percent by the year 2014. In order for government to achieve this target, more attention needs to be given to female entrepreneurs. This is due to the fact that women in South Africa make up half the business force and their contributions have not been adequately nurtured. The South African government is aware of the significance that female entrepreneurship has had on the growing economy of the country. As a result, many initiatives have been undertaken by the South African government, including business start-up training and advice as well as mentoring and coaching programmes. Thus, the aim of this study is to critically evaluate the role of female entrepreneurs and their contribution to economic growth in KwaZulu-Natal. The study will further analyse the role played by the South African government in terms of promoting female entrepreneurship, specifically relating to access to finance and training programmes. A ‘snowball’ sample of fifty female entrepreneurs was selected from the central business region of KwaZulu-Natal to complete the questionaire who were in business for more than three years. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data in order to reveal whether there were any significant relationships between training programmes instituted by the government and success of the small to medium owned businesses as well as the access to financial support and start-up costs. Research in this study have shown that there are a number of challenges which hindered the growth of female entrepreneurs including shortage of skills, limited access to start-up capital, lack of mentorship and government assistance as well as insufficient family support. Although the government has assisted organisations to assist female entrepreneurs in terms of mentorship and training programmes, more needs to be done in terms of building awareness of these programmes. The government needs to be more proactively involved in the promotion and advertisement of these programmes as well as sponsoring training programmes for women. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

Few studies on female entrepreneurship have focused on preventure women and their training needs. This study used four years of data collected from a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in a large mid-western city. The information needs sought by pre-venture females were compared with those of women who were already business owners. The groups were compared to determine training need differences before and after seeing an SBDC counselor. Male clients also were included.Data were obtained from two sources: A Small Business Administration counseling request form to be completed before counseling, and a SBDC counseling form which is a record of items discussed during the counseling session. Of the usable surveys, 553 were female and 276 were male.The three information needs most requested by pre-venture women were: Information on SBDC services (including start-up information), sources of capital, and the business plan. In counseling sessions, the business plan was the most discussed topic. Educational opportunities were the second most discussed.The next six information needs were rated closely together: Sources of finance; legal structure; industry information; business license; business name; and tax information.Little difference was found between the requested needs of pre-venture women and women in business. A greater percentage of the women in business discussed assistance in marketing, record keeping, accounting, advertising, and financial analysis. Further, women in business required more detailed information than did pre-venture women.No difference was found between African-American and white women on the amount of time spent with a counselor. Significantly more African-American women requested information on the business plan, government procurement, and international trade than did white women No difference was found in rank order comparisons of requested training needs between the two groups.Significantly more males than females requested information on bidding, sources of finance, advertising, government procurement, accounting/record keeping, and personnel. Similar gender differences were found in topics discussed during counseling. These differences may be due to the type of business started rather than gender. Rank order comparisons of training needs requested by males and females were identical.More research needs to be done with pre-venture entrepreneurs. Follow-up studies need to identify those who did or did not actually start businesses and the determinants of their decision. / Department of Educational Leadership

Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1986. / Bibliography: leaves 220-224. / Photocopy. / Microfiche. / xv, 224 leaves, bound 29 cm

In summary, the original contribution to knowledge of this research-based thesis lies in the fact that, as far as can be determined from published sources, this is the first exploration into an area of complex cultural behaviour and family business enterprise, notably within the Singapore context and Chinese women managers. / The purpose of this study was to provide an exploratory study on the possible influence of the Chinese culture on Chinese women managers who are managing their family owned businesses in Singapore, to make a contribution to the research literature in the area of research design and to generate suggestions for future research. / There was only limited research literature published in this area. A review of this limited literature on the Chinese culture and Chinese women managers failed to provide a clear perspective on the use of any specific method to determine the cultural influence on Chinese women managers. Moreover, most of this available literature was not written by a Chinese Singaporean for the Chinese women in Singapore, whereby the proper contextual interpretations may be necessary to form a more complete understanding of the possible issues facing these women managers. / Since culture is not easily quantifiable and can be altered by the exposure to external factors, the research was designed to explore only a portion of the Chinese women managers in Singapore using a list of questions. By limiting the research to lower educated Chinese women with only one business outlet in Singapore, the researcher has intentions to keep the research participants in one homogenous group as much as possible. It is probable that the other categories of Chinese women managers such as the higher educated or those with multiple business outlets may exhibit similar behavioural patterns as those of the targeted group for this research. However, there is a risk that the behavioural pattern of this other group may be dissimilar and their inclusion may skew and distort the research findings. / A preliminary survey was carried out on a group of research participants using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was derived in order to ensure a uniform interview process for each research participant. The sample size was kept small based on a sampling technique known as purposeful sampling. The 'negotiated outcome' method was used, whereby the findings from the interviews were shared with the research participant in order to obtain their concurrence and to correct any error in the interpretation of the data. The information from this initial survey was analysed in order to identify commonalities and a second questionnaire was constructed based on the findings from the initial survey. / The second survey, or verification study, was carried out in a series of interviews on another set of research participants. Again, the purposeful sampling method was used to keep the sample size small and, thus, to keep the data manageable. The data from the verification survey was summarised and analysed. From the analysis, it was found that there were at least two aspects of the Chinese culture that was found to have an influence on the Chinese women managers. These two aspects are a) Greener Pastures for their Children and b) Lower Education Expectations. / In the first case, it was found that most of the Chinese women managers did not have any intention to hand over their business to their children, citing a common reason, that is the expectation that their children will fare better if they were to seek their career elsewhere instead of staying within the family business and perpetuating it. It was argued that the primary reason for this behaviour was that the Chinese women managers had earlier set low targets for their businesses and is subsequently discouraging their children from taking over the business out of motherly concern. / If the Chinese women managers have set lower business goals for themselves, and then expecting their children to pursue their career elsewhere because of this, it will mean there was no plan to maximize the business in the first place. And, if there was no plan or desire to maximize the business, then the ability of the business to achieve its full potential will not be possible. / The second finding was that many of these Chinese women managers had lower education expectations of themselves compared to their male siblings. This was likely to be an old cultural artifact that the Chinese women have failed to discard from the end of the Han dynasty. But by keeping to this mindset, the Chinese women are limiting themselves from attaining the highest academic achievements, and as a result they are being limited from experiencing their full potential. / This belief and practice is still observed in Singapore in this day and age. It this is allowed to propagate, future generations of Chinese Singapore women may be brought up with similar mindsets. This will have long term and far reaching impacts on the economy of the nation because a portion of the female population would not have been given the opportunity to pursue their academic qualifications to the maximum. / It is important, therefore, that the findings of this research be made known to the Chinese women in Singapore so as to create an awareness of this part of the Chinese culture that is silently propagated. This awareness will create a consciousness that, if proper assistance is provided, enable the present generation of Chinese Singaporean to nurture their children differently in order to avoid propagating such mindsets. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005