Impact of Personal Networks of Ethnic Minority Female Entrepreneurs on Growth Construct: Blend of Egocentric and Narrative Analysis

Abstract

The paper aims to explore and explain the content and structure of personal networks of immigrant and British-born Pakistani female entrepreneurs for business growth. Pakistani female entrepreneurs represent a distinct segment of ethnic minority entrepreneurs as they represent an interesting blend of socio-economic, religious and socio-cultural traits. This research study underscores the interactional dimension of personal networks and its impact on the growth of their business. It is mainly the contents and interactions within a network that determines the quality of a network and its influence on relevant aspects of network members. In order to explore the meaning and perceptions attached to relationships and their use for entrepreneurial ventures’ growth, an egocentric network analysis is applied to narratives of Pakistani female entrepreneurs (the ego). Narratives were collected through in-depth interviews with ‘name generator’ questions. Egocentric network analysis was carried out using sociograms to explore the formation and nature of network ties. By generating an in depth understanding of the distinctive use of personal networks for growth of business by Pakistani female entrepreneurs the paper provides in depth knowledge and understanding of a particular ethnic minority group that will be of use to business owners (Pakistani female entrepreneurs), academic researchers and policy makers.