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The role of women in black family business in South Africa

Family businesses are major contributors to economies around the world. It is also recognised that family businesses are critical to entrepreneurship, socio- economic development and industrialisation around the world. Women in family business are major contributors to the success of the family business around the world. Limited research is available on the role of women in family business. The research conducted yielded similar results for South Africa. The impact of family business on entrepreneurship and the economy, with respect to socio- economic development, has placed great interest in family business studies in South Africa. This study focused on the role of women in black family business in South Africa. This research found that women in black family business focus on bringing softer skills to the business which are beneficial for people management. In their capacity as managers in the family business, women tend to take on a supportive role to the spouse; they tend to focus on ensuring a harmonious and peaceful culture in the work place. Women in family business have a dual role of ensuring business success and quality family life. They prefer to work in the shadow of their male counterparts. Challenges faced by women in black family business have been identified as the lack of inclusion in strategic decision- making, lack of decision-making career opportunities and the lack of consideration for succession within the business, a lack of business mentorship and ambiguity of roles in the business and in the family. It has been found that the role of women in black family business may be enhanced going forward. This may be done through educational programmes or workshops for management skills for women, networking opportunities and support groups, counselling on work/family management strategies, and spousal sharing of responsibilities in the work- family management relationship. A suggested area for future research is the impact of culture in family business in South Africa.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:27048
Date January 2016
CreatorsMrara,Lulama
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, MBA
Formatvii, 87 leaves, pdf
RightsNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

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