Israeli women entrepreneurs: An examination of factors affecting performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore determinants that influence women entrepreneurs’ performance in micro and small enterprises in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia, and in turn contribute to entrepreneurship-related literature mainly in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed an explanatory research design with agreement of primary data collection via a cross-sectional survey questionnaire followed by quantitative research approach. The sample of this study was 180 women entrepreneurs and selected using random sampling technique.FindingsThe findings of this study revealed that educational level, previous entrepreneurial experience, access to business training, access to finance, access to business information, government support, land ownership, and tax are significant in explaining women entrepreneurs’ performance in one hand. On the other side, however, age, marital status, access to market, and access to physical infrastructure are found to be insignificant variables in determining women entrepreneurs’ performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study used one time data for determinants like level of education, previous working experience, age, and profitability of the enterprise. Thus, due to frequent change in such variables, the study may not reflect the dynamics of the data, which would have a convincing influence on the conclusion. In addition, the research has only consisted of 180 samples. Moreover, such number may not represent the whole population of the entrepreneurs of Ethiopian MSEs. In future research, it is advisable to expand study factors, use interviews as a research tool, and make a comparison between women and men entrepreneurial performances.Practical implicationsThe paper might serve as an input for officials to consider such determinants and encourage an environment that increases women entrepreneurs’ performance. In addition, the study might help women entrepreneurs in addressing the factors affecting performance to take actions towards improving their performance and in turn contribute to job creation, wealth, innovation, and poverty alleviation.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on the determinants of women entrepreneurs’ performance in micro and small enterprises. Specifically, it tests the impact of educational level, age, marital status, previous entrepreneurial experience, access to business training, access to finance, access to business information, access to market, access to physical infrastructure, government support, land ownership, and tax on the performance of women entrepreneurs.

Many studies show that previous experience has a significant impact on the entrepreneurial opportunity identification in entrepreneurial progress. Taking Lugu Lake in Sichuan Province as a research case, this paper researches the previous experience’ affection on entrepreneurial benefit perception and cost perception through statistical analysis methods such as questionnaire, Levene test, Homogeneity test of variances, etc. The findings show that the entrepreneurial benefit perception is stronger than the cost perception, and is not affected by any previous experience. And the residents which without previous tourism business experience or previous entrepreneurial experience have strongest benefit perception and weakest cost perception. On the contrary, the inhabitants had previous tourism business experience and previous entrepreneurial experience and are objective and rational on the evaluation about benefit perception and cost perception. The previous tourism industry experience of the individual has a significant difference in the benefit perception of tourism entrepreneurship and the impact of tourism entrepreneurial cost perception. Similarly, the previous entrepreneurial experience plays the same role in entrepreneurial perception.

PurposeThis paper aims to refer to the knowledge transfer of entrepreneurial skills between digital incubators and nascent entrepreneurs. It questions the role of the context and of the richness of the ecosystems in which these women evolve, as defined by Welter and Baker (2021) on such an attempt.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on a qualitative study that refers to case studies of women nascent entrepreneurs who evolve into two different contexts – one rich zone and one deprived economic one of the French Parisian Region – and who integrated the same digital incubator.FindingsContext does partly matter: besides the “Where”, the “Who” and, moreover, the level of education and previous entrepreneurial experience really matters, and only educated women, whatever the other components of context, seem to be capable to receive the “best” knowledge transfer from incubators. Second, incubators can be considered as to be a knowledge hub that allow knowledge transfer not only from trainers and coaches to women nascent entrepreneurs but also among women entrepreneurs. This paper concludes with a discussion on the role of digital training and coaching in such knowledge transfers.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are limited to a specific place (the region of Paris). Therefore, women entrepreneurs evolve in more different contexts but the national entrepreneurial and institutional context remains the same. There should be need to explore the role of an incubator that evolves into more contrasted contexts.Practical implicationsIf results can be generalized, this means incubators should differentiate their services, teaching and coaching expertize according to the education level of nascent entrepreneurs: This is a plaidoyer against institutionalized incubators that claim to be capable of targeting any nascent (women) entrepreneurs.Social implicationsThis study is also a plaidoyer for more digital incubator to mix persons from different contexts, especially to welcome persons from more deprived economic zones.Originality/valueThe research reveals the role of context – and, some components of the context – intro coaching and training that are provided by online incubators. It contributes to the literature on knowledge transfer that is brought about by incubators. It also contributes to the literature in entrepreneurship by showing that some components among the others that define what we call “the context” matter more than others.

There is renewed interest in female entrepreneurship as policy makers recognize the importance of social inclusiveness in economic development. Women’s involvement in entrepreneurship is applauded as a necessary precursor to economic growth of developing nations despite women under-representation among business owners. Many factors have been blamed for this under-representation among them, socialisation and lack of motivation in choosing entrepreneurship as a career option. In Kenya, women entrepreneurs have low levels of education; are in need of business knowledge and skills yet unable to pay for business development services; and are affected strongly by patriarchal structures especially the role of husbands. Yet, some few women own growing businesses that contribute towards wealth and employment creation. This study sought to determine how women learn to be entrepreneurial and to establish hindrances to female entrepreneurial learning process. A survey was conducted on 106 women micro-entrepreneurs in the Kenyan dairy processing industry. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings showed that majority (76.9%) of the micro-entrepreneurs went into business without any prior business skills. Only 5.5% of them had training in business-related fields before starting their businesses. Another 17.6% had learnt some business skills from previous employment. Social contacts and relations were important sources of business knowledge and skills for 68.7% of them. Rarely did the respondents engage in active search of business knowledge and skills. Probably an entrepreneurship development curriculum weaved through the entire school syllabus would help in entrenching an enterprising culture among women.

The study was conducted on women entrepreneurship and socio-economic growth in Malaysia. The study on women entrepreneurship in Malaysia was on Women entrepreneurship is said to be the emerging phenomenon of the 21th Century. It has been recognised that today women are as likely as men seeking business opportunities around them. Women entrepreneurs are able to contribute to socioeconomic development of the country. However, women entrepreneurs were found to encounter internal and external barriers to their business growth. Based on the literature review on entrepreneurship highlighted numerous constraints and barriers to women entrepreneurship which include amongst others gender-biased, lack of entrepreneurial and business skills, finance and even the personality characteristics of women. In this study there were four factors and barriers facing entrepreneurship growth were identified. They were personality traits, business skills, knowledge and training, the need for government support system and support systems that contribute to women entrepreneurship growth and the socio-economic growth of the country. In order to answer these four objectives, this study conducted a focus group method in order to clearly understand the phenomenon of women entrepreneurship in Malaysia. It has been informed the focus group approach is commonly used in social science research. A selected group of 10 key person women entrepreneurs answered the interview and discussion via online focus group discussion. The structured questionnaires were also distributed to the 10 entrepreneurs participated and responded in focus group discussion. The focus group discussion centred on four themes on women entrepreneurship development, women and its contribution to socio-economic growth, including household income, employment and society wellbeing. Data collection on entrepreneurial psychological factors, barriers to women entrepreneurship success and growth, government support systems and the social and economic growth of the country were gathered from the focus group discussion and were analysed using NVIVO software package. The results of the study were tabulated based on four themes and sub themes. In conclusion this research has established a woman entrepreneurship socio-economic model in Malaysia. A causal relationship model configured variables as a main guidance for entrepreneurship stakeholders and practitioners. This study was a phenomenological study on woman entrepreneurship and its effect on women socio-economic growth in Malaysia. The study provided implications to stakeholders in addressing women entrepreneurship problems and barrier to women business growth. It was recommended that further research on women entrepreneurship will be based on industrial and business sectors dominated by women.

In this study, we examine whether different types of regulations affect the composition of small business owners in U.S. states. We employ a national survey titled the “United States Small Business Friendliness Survey”. This survey asks small business owners their opinions on different types of regulations (i.e. “health and safety regulations”, “employment regulations”, “tax code”, “licensing regulations”, “environmental regulations”, and “zoning regulations”). The survey also asks business owners questions on their own characteristics like “position in the firm”, “previous entrepreneurial experience”, “gender”, “age”, “political view”, “education level”, and “race”. Our results show that each regulation category affects almost all categories of owner characteristics. The exceptions are the following: “Health and safety regulations” do not affect position in the firm, “employment regulations” do not affect gender and age, “tax code” does not affect position in the firm and age, “licensing regulations” and “environmental regulations” do not affect position in the firm and gender, and “zoning regulations” do not affect position in the firm, previous experience, and gender. “Health and safety regulations” affect gender, age, political view, education level, and race. “Employment regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, political view, education level, and race. “Tax code” affects previous entrepreneurial experience, gender, political view, education level, and race. “Licensing regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, age, political view, education level, and race. “Environmental regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, age, political view, education level, and race. “Zoning regulations” affect age, political view, education level, and race. Overall, our findings indicate that regulations affect the geographical choice of entrepreneurs. The states with a more favorable score in a certain area of regulation attract a certain group of entrepreneurs. Policymakers should consider these findings when devising their strategies to attract certain types of entrepreneurs to their states.

ABSTACT
 The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of human capital on business performance through women entrepreneurs in the tourism industry on the island of Lombok. The entrepreneur's capability of women entrepreneurs is an intervening variable in this study, which will link the level of education, business training, entrepreneurial spirit and previous experience to business performance. The data used is primary data by distributing questionnaires directly to women entrepreneurs in 5 districts and cities on the island of Lombok. And using secondary data taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics of West Nusa Tenggara and the Office of Women's Empowerment of West Nusa Tenggara Province.
 This study uses quantitative analysis methods, using Likert scale research instruments and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis tools, using PLS 3.0 to test hypotheses. The results of the analysis show that the variables of business training and previous experience have a positive and significant influence on women entrepreneur's capability. And women entrepreneur's capability has a positive and significant influence on the business performance of women entrepreneurs in the tourism industry on the island of Lombok. The findings in this study are the variables of business training (program design, presentation method, content and curriculum) and previous experience (length of business, business achievement and self-development) have an indirect effect on business performance (increase in sales, increase in company assets and business profitability). but through women entrepreneur's capability which includes initiative and proactiveness, knowledge and development of new products from women entrepreneurs in the tourism industry on the island of Lombok.

This present study aims to investigate the key factors that affect women's entrepreneurship in “small and cottage industries” within the Kathmandu Valley. Women's entrepreneurship is the dependent variable, while “economic, social, political, legal, technical, and individual factors” are considered as independent variables. The opinions of 156 respondents from 20 small andcottage firms were collected through a structured questionnaire as the primary source of data. Correlation coefficients and regression models were used to analyze the data and determine the significance and importance of each factor in influencing women's entrepreneurship in small and cottage industries in the Kathmandu Valley.The findings of the study indicate that economic factors have a positive influence on women's entrepreneurship. This suggests that the availability of capital and economic support leads to an increase in women's entrepreneurship. The results also reveal that social factors, such as support from family, friends, and society, have a positive impact on women's entrepreneurship.Additionally, political stability has a positive impact on women's entrepreneurship, implying that an increase in political stability can lead to an increase in women's entrepreneurship. The study also suggests that favorable laws and policies have a positive impact on women's entrepreneurship, as do technological factors, where access to highlevel technology is associated with an increase in women's entrepreneurship. Similarly, individual factors, such as a positive attitude toward work,have a positive impact on women's entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is considered as a critical factor for the economy of any country, as well as the engine of economic growth, since it leads to generate income locally or internationally and ultimately facilitates economic progression. It emphasizes not only the generating of income but also increasing living standards of the people and accelerating production, etc. Women Entrepreneurship has attracted the attention of the scholars, as being one of the crucial factors of economic growth of a country. Sri Lanka needs to pay high consideration on women entrepreneurship since more than half of the total population of the country consists of women. Women entrepreneurship generates new job opportunities to the society and influences the providing of innovative management solutions to the business world. Even though women entrepreneurship can be identified as having a large number of benefits and advantages, still there are barriers and challenges for women when they stand as entrepreneurs. The study is carried out as a literature review with the main objective of identifying the individual factors affecting the business performance of women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. According to the study, a large variety of individual factors such as human capital, social learning, financial capability, network affiliation, motivation goals etc. can be identified. The results of the analysis will be useful in implementing practical implications specially to women entrepreneurs, Small and Medium Enterprises, government institutions and regulatory bodies etc. by empowering women to engage with more entrepreneurial activities while overcoming their barriers successfully. With this insight, Sri Lanka is paving a new pathway towards a new growth era through the boosting of women entrepreneurship by ensuring to strengthen the role that women play in the economy.

The expatriate literature has highlighted many individual and organizational factors which effect expatriate job performance and adjustment but the role of some individual and organizational factors is still not clear and/or has been ignored by past researchers. For example, the role of direct and indirect support has not been well conceptualized in past studies. In addition, only a few studies have explained the importance of self-efficacy, cultural sensitivity and social networking in the related expatriate literature. Furthermore, the role of previous international experience has conflicting results in past research. The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical grounding and highlight the importance of those individual and organizational factors which have been ignored by past researchers. In this regard, researchers have reviewed journals/articles from different databases, books, and magazines. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework based on the gaps in the literature and suggests propositions. The proposed conceptual framework provides a theoretical grounding for individual and organizational factors that includes individual factors (self-efficacy, previous international experience, cultural sensitivity, and social network) and organizational factors (direct and indirect support). This paper suggests that expatriate adjustment (work, general, and interaction adjustment) mediates the relationship between individual factors (self-efficacy, previous international experience, cultural sensitivity, and social network), organizational factors (direct and indirect support), and expatriate job performance (rated by peer and supervisor). The proposed framework is developed based on past theoretical and empirical studies in order to cover the gap and contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of the literature. Based on the proposed framework, this paper invites researchers to empirically test the suggested propositions in order to further strengthen and develop understanding about individual and organizational factors as predictors of expatriate adjustment and job performance.

Entrepreneurship has come a long way since its inception around a century ago, but women’s entry into this field is not very primitive. The era of COVID 19 brought about a new milestone in the way businesses have been operating since so many years. With the advent of pandemic, the businesses got disrupted and entrepreneurs had no choice but to operate their businesses from home through digital platforms. Slowly and gradually many business processes started running through online mode. During this phase many women entrepreneurs in India and abroad also shifted towards this new mode of doing business. Women entrepreneurs specially benefitted from this online set up and in a short span of time many women entrepreneurs started operating their business through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn etc. due to ease of operation and low-cost involvement. Toady social media is a popular platform among women entrepreneurs to show their creativity and business skills while earning profits. There are some challenges also which women face while operating on social media. But these can be dealt with by safe and smart usage of these platforms. The objectives of this paper are to know about the various social media platforms used by women entrepreneurs in India, to examine the benefits to women entrepreneurs of business through social media and to investigate the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in business through social media in our country. Therefore, we can say that the future of business through social media is very bright for women entrepreneurs not only in India but through out the world.

Purpose Research on women-owned business is more extensive in developed countries than in developing countries and such one cannot compare the results. This paper aims to examine the motives of women in Tanzania (a less developed country) to start their own businesses and the challenges they faced in running their businesses. Design/methodology/approach Based on 400 response to a semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interview with 20 female entrepreneurs. Subsequently, descriptive and factors analysis were performed to analyze the data Findings Based on survey responses, the primary reason for starting a business was to create employment for the woman herself. Other motives include supplementing income and enabling women to be able to do the kind of work they wanted to do. According to the factor analysis, female entrepreneurs are driven more by push factors than pull factors. The most serious problems faced by female entrepreneurs are lack of access to finance, gender-related problems and social and cultural commitments. Research limitations/implications The sample was selected from urban areas of only three regions, out of 26 regions in Tanzania. Researchers may extend the study to other regions; also, the non-probability sampling method used in this study essentially means that there is a limitation to the extent to which the research findings can be generalized to the rest of the population of female entrepreneurs in Tanzania. Practical implications Policy makers, financial institutions and all organization that have a stake on development on female entrepreneurs in Tanzania should design policies and programs that encourage and promote the creation and growth of businesses. Collective efforts from the government, public and private institutions and NGOs are needed to eliminate the challenges, especially gender-related problems. Practical implications By studying female owner-managers’ motivations and constraints, the author suggests that to a greater extent, gender-related problems, social and cultural commitments and access to finance and networks are the constraints faced by female entrepreneurs. Originality/value The research on female entrepreneurs in the context of Tanzania is scarce, this study responds to a need of better understanding women motivations and constraints. By studying these factors, this study shows that startup motives and constraints faced by female entrepreneurs are unique to different contexts.

Advancing nursing entrepreneurship in the 21st century.

Background: Informal women entrepreneurs in the rural villages of North-West strive to progress from poverty to prosperity. There is a growing appreciation that the conditions that support women’s ability to start and grow ventures may be different from those that help men and therefore there is a need to examine the motivational factors affecting women’s enterprise development.Aim: The study aimed to identify the motivational factors of women in the Mahikeng area to start informal enterprises, the barriers they experience and their developmental business needs.Setting: The study focussed on informal women entrepreneurs in the rural villages of Mahikeng in the North-West province.Methods: In total, 80 face-to-face questionnaires were completed with women entrepreneurs. A principal component analysis of 15 items of the total questionnaire was performed on the data to determine which items could be reduced and transformed into new components.Results: ‘Destitute conditions’, ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit’ and ‘Passion for Product’ emerged as the three underlying motivational factors. The component ‘Destitute conditions’ was ranked as the most important reason for starting an informal business. The need to transcend impoverished conditions (a push factor) and the need for self-determination (a pull factor) were almost equally strong amongst the 80 participants. ‘Lack of financial and business skills’ was ranked as the biggest obstacle to keeping the business running. Ninety-one per cent of the women entrepreneurs reported that they had never received any training from the government or the private sector.Conclusions: Access to basic infrastructure, training, funding and business networks will enable self-efficacy behaviour of women entrepreneurs in the Mahikeng district to move beyond poverty. Recommendations included the establishment of a regional database of informal women entrepreneurs, the improvement of basic facilities and infrastructure and access to microloans as well as training by the formal sector.

The paper presents the results of the study of individual entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, the achievement dimension and the theory of planned behavior dimensions, depending on seven variables: the respondents' gender, their age, the educational level of the respondents, the ownership structure of the enterprises, the respondents' previous experience in entrepreneurship, their perceived job performance, and their perceived finances. The specificity of the research is that the respondents are employed persons. The sample included 540 respondents from 72 organizations in Serbia. Data analysis was performed via a t-test. A statistically significant difference in the influence of the observed variables exists in most cases, except for the variable-the respondents' level of education. Thus, four of the seven hypotheses were fully confirmed, two were partially confirmed, while one hypothesis was rejected. The profile of an employed person who, potentially, has the greatest chances of becoming an entrepreneur is the following: a younger man with a high school diploma (a degree does not have such a significant impact), who is employed in a private company, has previous entrepreneurial experience, is successful at work and has adequate finances.