ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS NOT JUST A WESTERN CONCEPT

Abstract

For most of us, the western world is where everything worthwhile happens! This home bias extends to concepts and practices that make the world go. Entrepreneurship has become such a concept. The September 2014 issue of the Journal proves otherwise. Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Asia, Africa and even in America’s old nemesis: Cuba. It exists not only in developed economies (Korea), but in economies whose development path has not been designed yet (Lao PDR). It offers hope even to those who find themselves born into extreme poverty, the slums of Mumbai. If it works there, why not in Brazil’s favelas? Why not in Myanmar or Mali? What is stopping us from putting it to work and allow the poorest to dream and believe? The first article of this issue is U.S.-based, but the theoretical framework used could be applied elsewhere. Do Women Fare Better in Female-Owned Businesses? is the questions asked by Pat Roberson-Saunders, Raymond Smith and Rajni Goel. The authors use a human resource management (HRM) framework to extend to female-owned businesses Kanter’s homosocial reproduction thesis that increased numbers of women in positions of management would increase hiring and advancement of women. Results show that, at each step in the HRM process, female business owners fulfill expectations by hiring, promoting and retaining significantly more women than male business owner counterparts. In addition, there were significant differences between minority and non-minority female business owners in the proportion of co-racial managers. Moreover, Whites and Blacks showed a significant preference for co-racial managers, while Hispanics and Asians did not. Dianne Welsh, Gyu Kim, Esra Memili and Eugene Kaciak investigate the determinants of Korean female entrepreneurs’ firm performance. The Influence of Family Support and Personal Problems on Firm Performance: The Case of Korean Female Entrepreneurs examines the impact of personal problems and family support and their interaction effects on firm performance. The authors find empirical support for the negative effects of personal problems on firm performance and positive moderation effects of family support on this link. They then discuss implications and future research potential. The article by Chandralekha Ghosh and Samapti Guha addresses one of the challenges faced by a group of microenterprises operating in an adverse and almost destitute Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship Vol. 19, No. 3 (2014) 1401002 (3 pages) © World Scientific Publishing Company DOI: 10.1142/S108494671401002X