A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, March 31st 2016 / The purpose of this research is to understand female entrepreneurship from the perspective of the female entrepreneurs themselves. Much of the literature in this field has been in the context of developed countries, and relatively little research has explored the entrepreneurial experiences of women entrepreneurs in developing countries. The study followed the interpretive approach utilising a social constructivist theoretical perspective, which sought to understand female entrepreneurs in terms of their subjectively constructed reality. Forty-three purposively selected female entrepreneurs, whose businesses had transitioned from the informal economy to the formal economy, were both observed and interviewed in depth. The data were analysed using principles of constant comparison and coding, then used to formulate theoretical propositions of female entrepreneurship. During the coding process, care was taken to safeguard the language and voice of the interviewees from the raw data through to the contribution to theory. This study reveals that female entrepreneurs’ initial identities evolve through unshackling themselves from the imposed patriarchal structures into new identities. Their initial identities were disenfranchised and shaped by their historical context. The female entrepreneurs engage in a process of balancing through their own agency; this shift is essential to their functioning as successful entrepreneurs. The circumstances and motivation for these female entrepreneurs typified the intentions of other female entrepreneurs; they were compelled to juggle their family considerations with the demands of their entrepreneurial activities. Notably, they relied on their personal expertise, and augmented their personal financial resources with bootstrapping instead of relying on debt. In addition, the study indicates that family, religion, and community are the driving forces sustaining the commitment to entrepreneurship amongst these women; it is not profit alone, although income is important to sustain those who rely on their support. The results indicate a strong association between historical context - understood in terms of cultural traditions - and female entrepreneurial activities. Culture and family can either be a constraint on, or an enabler of female entrepreneurship in a developing country context. In summary, the study may be helpful to current and future entrepreneurs as it examined the personal lived experiences as well as the contextual influences of these courageous women. / MB2016

La tesi è finalizzata a indagare l’efficacia dell’imprenditoria sociale quale strumento di contrasto a situazioni di grave povertà e disagio sociale nei paesi in via di sviluppo. Particolare attenzione è rivolta alle principali sfide derivanti dal molteplice sforzo di promuovere lo sviluppo socio-economico locale, garantire la sostenibilità economica delle iniziative e - talvolta - tutelare l’ambiente naturale. La prima parte della tesi fornisce un framework teorico sull’imprenditoria sociale, con specifico riferimento ad alcuni aspetti critici della sua stessa essenza, alle sue potenzialità nella lotta alla povertà e ai caratteri distintivi del suo processo di implementazione. La seconda parte presenta due analisi empiriche sviluppate con il metodo dei casi e afferenti, rispettivamente, gli ambiti del non-profit e del for-profit. La prima esamina i processi di identificazione delle opportunità e di costruzione del business model, al fine di mettere in luce le divergenze esistenti tra le prospettive sociale, economica ed ambientale, e di comprendere come coniugarle; la seconda identifica alcune cruciali variabili - interne ed esterne - che incidono sul processo di implementazione ed implicano la necessità di conciliare finalità, approcci e strumenti tipici degli ambiti filantropico e imprenditoriale, ai fini di una efficace creazione di valore socio-economico. / The thesis aims at investigating social entrepreneurship attitude to truly act as a crucial tool in the fight against deep poverty and social disadvantages in developing countries, with a particular focus on the main challenges faced by social entrepreneurial organizations in their attempt to promote local social-economic development, while ensuring their own economic viability, and (sometimes) preserving global environment. The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical framework about social entrepreneurship landscape, with specific attention to some crucial aspects of its essence, its potentiality against poverty, and some distinctive features of its implementation process. The second part presents two empirically-based analyses carried out by using case-study method, respectively from the for-profit and the not-for-profit domains. The former investigates the processes of opportunity recognition and business model design, with the aim to highlight the divergences among social, economic, and environmental perspectives, and to understand how to combine them; the latter identifies some crucial - internal and external -variables affecting the implementation process and implying the need for a mix between charitable and business aims, approaches, and tools, for a successful blended value creation.