DOI: 10.5176/2251-2038_IE13.39
Authors: Mosfeka Jomaraty and Jerry Courvisanous
Abstract: This paper reports on the first stage of a case study investigation on the growth experiences of women-owned small and medium-sized businesses for understanding women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. Adopting the epistemological stance of pragmatism, the study sees ‘belief’, ‘habit’ and ‘doubt’ as critical for researching this gender related entrepreneurship project. A conceptual framework is set up from literature review on women entrepreneurship. This framework provides the guide to explain growth aspects of women-owned firms of Bangladesh. The research aims to contribute to and enhance the existing body of literature on firm growth by identifying the influential factors behind women-owned firm growth and exploring their growth process mechanism in the context of developing countries.
The paper reports on eight successful growth-oriented firms in the manufacturing sector, from a larger study that adopts a multiple-case design covering sixteen SMEs, four from each context of small and medium manufacturing enterprises, as well as small and medium service enterprises. In this paper, SMEs are studied as the basis for firm growth from initial venture creation, while the sector concentration on manufacturing reflects the urban nature of the study in examining firms that exist in the capital city of Dhaka. Analysis of the data is guided by the conceptual framework. Data from in-depth interviews and supporting documents are used for the case studies and integrated with the theoretical framework. Themes are categorised and compared against the framework. Each of the eight cases consists of identifying the factors assisting growth and the growth process of the firm. Patterns are identified and matched with the framework for recognising the influential growth factors and growth processes undertaken by them.
This paper aims to address two neglected issues in relation to women entrepreneurship. One is the dearth of studies on women entrepreneurs in developing economies, especially in the context of the Diana International Project. The other is focusing on the successful women-owned growth ‘outliers’ who can shed light on the growth process and its success as first identified by Edith Penrose.
Keywords: SME, firm growth, women entrepreneurship, growth process, developing countries
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