Entrepreneurial activity is a vital part of any economy whether developed or developing. In South Africa the primary focus of the government has been on the development of previously disadvantaged communities and designing programs to encourage the participation of women in entrepreneurship. This study sought to profile South African female entrepreneurs as well as investigate their risk taking propensity in relation to other constructs. T-tests as well as ANOVAs were conducted on data obtained from 122 female entrepreneurs across South Africa. The results indicated that the female entrepreneurs in the current study were typically white, English speaking, married with children, were well educated and possessed previous working experience mainly in managerial positions. The results also indicated a significant difference in risk taking propensity according to age with entrepreneurs who are 35 years and younger having a higher risk taking propensity than those who are 36 years and older. However, no significant differences were found in risk taking according to entrepreneurial motivations, gender role orientation, level of education and previous experience. The practical implications of the study are discussed together with the limitations.

M.B.A. / Everywhere in the world, an increasing number of female entrepreneurs are becoming the pillars of economic growth and development. This exploratory research sought to investigate the barriers facing female entrepreneurs and to establish whether these barriers are exacerbated for women because of their gender. It focuses on the experiences and perceptions of female entrepreneurs in the urban formal sector of the Gauteng area of South Africa. Data for the study was gathered by a survey through questionnaires administered to 93 female entrepreneurs, the majority of whom were registered with either the South African Business Women's Association or The South African Women's Network. The literature review identified differences in female and male entrepreneurship related to personal demographics, business demographics and support structures. These differences could be explained by the barriers that female entrepreneurs face in their endeavours. The barriers are discussed under five main categories: social and cultural barriers, infrastructural barriers, educational and occupational barriers, role barriers, and behavioural barriers. Upon investigating these barriers amongst female entrepreneurs, results revealed that female entrepreneurs have to contend with socio-cultural, political, structural, economics, legal and personal barriers compared to men when they contemplate entrepreneurship. Although some barriers may be the same as those experienced by male entrepreneurs, the female entrepreneurs in this study perceived that they did indeed experience barriers that were specific to female entrepreneurs and that some barriers were exacerbated for them because of their gender. Thus, even if the Constitution of South Africa states that women and men have equal rights and the same entitlements for engaging in a career in society, reality proves that the experiences of female entrepreneurs in Gauteng are contrary to this - the current situation indicates that female entrepreneurship in Gauteng serves as a 'glass ceiling' for female entrepreneurial ambitions. Understanding the barriers facing female entrepreneurs can be beneficial to: females currently engaged in entrepreneurship, aspiring and emerging female entrepreneurs, and policy makers. This understanding can lead to more supportive policies and programmes for female entrepreneurs. Society, government, policy makers and women themselves thus need to work together to bring about changes required towards female entrepreneurs.

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Female entrepreneurs establishing new firms in Jordan mostly do not have adequate internal resources to help support the successful emergence and growth of their enterprise. Agreement has emerged among scholars that network ties are an effective source or route through which entrepreneurs are able to reach and obtain the resources necessary to assist their firm through its various stages development. Understanding more about how Jordanian female entrepreneurs engage in networking in order to establish and grow their firms, might help inform policy intervention as well as inform theory by identifying the model of network development in a field where there is a lack of studies and literature that explores the networking behaviour of female entrepreneurs, particularly in Eastern societies. Thus, this research investigates the development of networks for resource acquisition by exploring the experiences of female entrepreneurs in 14 technology-based firms in Jordan. It explores the structural characteristics and the content of their networks and how they have developed over time to deliver advantage in resource acquisition during the venture formation and early development stages. Rich qualitative data were collected utilising a two-stage, in-depth interview approach. Evidence is presented as to how changes in aspects of network structure, including diversity, reachability, density, centrality and the presence of strong and weak ties, yield different types of resources available to the entrepreneurs. The network structure of female entrepreneurs at start-up was characterised by business ties established within male-dominated networks. There was evidence of these women building new strong ties and reaching out through a small number of indirect ties. Typically there was a high degree of interconnectedness between different parts of the women’s networks, which were characterised by their density. These structural characteristics of the network enabled these women to reach and obtain human capital, financial resources and achieve legitimacy. As the female entrepreneurs grew their businesses there were changes in the network structure as it became characterised by a higher level of diversity in terms of types of tie. The prominence of male-dominated network ties continued, but there was a growing presence of weak ties; a decline in the level of network density; and the appearance of centrality, where women started to act as a broker between two other actors in their networks. These changes saw the women benefitting mainly in building network ties, including gaining access to new contacts of different types. The research revealed that professional business ties and access through these ties play an important role in venture creation and growth. These business ties are used to act as the gateway to resources rather than the personal ties identified in previous research. Further, in support of network-based research suggesting that the entrepreneurs’ network ties and their structural characteristics change overtime as the resource needs change, this research provides empirical evidence of the changing content (resources) that these structural characteristics provide through the start-up and early development stages. Therefore, the findings of this exploratory research on female technology entrepreneurs in Jordan contribute to theory development at the intersection of work on network processes, network development and entrepreneurship in Middle Eastern societies. The findings also have a number of implications for policy and practice, which are considered in the conclusions to the thesis.

<p>The project identifies how the female owners of small and medium sized businesses deal with the issue of work and family balance in Vietnam – a developing country in Asia.</p>

<p>Title: Female entrepreneurs in Sweden and Thailand – differences and similarities in motivation.</p><p>Problem: Female entrepreneur is an interesting topic in the entrepreneurship field of study since there are a few numbers of researches that show that female-owned businesses are gradually becoming an important factor to contribute growth in the global economy. The study of ‘how’ to start business and ‘how’ to keep the business successful and sustainable in global business world is the focus in most of the research. Still, what motivates an entrepreneur to start business is one interesting topic for further and deeper study in the field of entrepreneurship and especially female entrepreneurship. In addition to the motivation of becoming an entrepreneur, other factors that could have possibility in influencing the motivation as well as similarities and differences on motivation when comparing in nationalities are interesting to focus on in the study.</p><p>Aim: To describe the motivational factors for entrepreneurs, with focus on female entrepreneurs, and compare these factors with female entrepreneurs in Sweden and Thailand.</p><p>Method: Relevant literature review and conceptual framework were selected from entrepreneurship field, including male and female entrepreneurs, motivation and entrepreneurial motivation. Interview, both personal interview and e-mail interview, and questionnaire were used in data collection for the empirical data part. With application of literature review, conceptual framework, and empirical data, the analysis and conclusion parts are concluded and lead to the answer of the research question.</p><p>Result: Swedish and Thai female entrepreneurs are similar in motivation of starting the business in term of pull factors, such as need for independence, want to be one’s own boss, need for autonomy, and want for self-achievement. While we have no evidence that education background and career experience had an influence on the motivation of an entrepreneur to start the business, we did find however, that family background showed a result with some weight in influencing motivation from a majority of the respondents in the study.</p>

Title: Female entrepreneurs in Sweden and Thailand – differences and similarities in motivation. Problem: Female entrepreneur is an interesting topic in the entrepreneurship field of study since there are a few numbers of researches that show that female-owned businesses are gradually becoming an important factor to contribute growth in the global economy. The study of ‘how’ to start business and ‘how’ to keep the business successful and sustainable in global business world is the focus in most of the research. Still, what motivates an entrepreneur to start business is one interesting topic for further and deeper study in the field of entrepreneurship and especially female entrepreneurship. In addition to the motivation of becoming an entrepreneur, other factors that could have possibility in influencing the motivation as well as similarities and differences on motivation when comparing in nationalities are interesting to focus on in the study. Aim: To describe the motivational factors for entrepreneurs, with focus on female entrepreneurs, and compare these factors with female entrepreneurs in Sweden and Thailand. Method: Relevant literature review and conceptual framework were selected from entrepreneurship field, including male and female entrepreneurs, motivation and entrepreneurial motivation. Interview, both personal interview and e-mail interview, and questionnaire were used in data collection for the empirical data part. With application of literature review, conceptual framework, and empirical data, the analysis and conclusion parts are concluded and lead to the answer of the research question. Result: Swedish and Thai female entrepreneurs are similar in motivation of starting the business in term of pull factors, such as need for independence, want to be one’s own boss, need for autonomy, and want for self-achievement. While we have no evidence that education background and career experience had an influence on the motivation of an entrepreneur to start the business, we did find however, that family background showed a result with some weight in influencing motivation from a majority of the respondents in the study.

The project identifies how the female owners of small and medium sized businesses deal with the issue of work and family balance in Vietnam – a developing country in Asia.

From a social constructionist understanding of social reality, this research explores how the female entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurship are represented in official discourses. From the view point of post-structuralist feminism, this research takes the position that discourses are linguistic practices that create truth effects. It finds that the texts on the official website, including the policies and the female entrepreneurs¡¦ stories, have the potential to reproduce the stereotype of gender.

Magister Commercii - MCom / One major contribution to entrepreneurship in the past decade is the introduction of social media, which has changed the way in which businesses are operated. It is argued that using social media has signalled a departure for many businesses from the tradition of word-of- mouth advertising of products and services. Furthermore, it has been suggested that social media has become a crucial mechanism of promoting products owing to its potential of reaching many people as well as being cost effective. Following this line of thought, it can be argued that social media platforms can revolutionize communication among individuals and businesses by increasing their networking circle. This study aimed to establish how female- owned Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in the fashion retail sector in Cape Town use social media for both business and social networking purposes. The study used a qualitative research design where data were collected through semi-structured interviews and unobtrusive methods. These techniques were preferred because they allowed for an in-depth understanding of social media networking strategies. The findings highlight that social media contributes towards enhancing the existing business networks and the working activities of the female entrepreneurs; with both weak and strong ties playing a vital role towards cementing these connections.