TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of strong ties in empowering women entrepreneurs in collectivist contexts
AU - Bastian, Bettina Lynda
AU - Wood, Bronwyn P.
AU - Ng, Poh Yen
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge their own constrains as authors to the study due to their own multi-national backgrounds (Asian, European, Asian Pacific, Christian and Muslim) which bring along their own cultural biases. However, as a multi-cultural group, they have continuously challenged and scrutinized their visions and perspectives throughout the research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2023/2/24
Y1 - 2023/2/24
N2 - Purpose: This study examines what social ties within collectivist settings mean for women's venturing and how these ties support women in gaining empowerment through their ventures. Design/methodology/approach: Thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were conducted to examine the influence of social ties in their ventures. Findings: The findings reveal that women in this context, contrary to most reported findings in the extant literature, both rely more on and find strong ties more conducive than weak ties in most of their entrepreneurial behaviours and activities. Results also show how the UAE's collectivist cultural norms shape social networks and inform individual decision-making, resource acquisition, well-being and self-efficacy as well as enhance women's empowerment through entrepreneurship. The women entrepreneurs were found to leverage their social ties for both power and action throughout their entrepreneurial journey consistent with their culture. Originality/value: A conceptual model, derived from the results of a qualitative study, illustrating the relationships between women entrepreneurs' use of social ties and the empowering capacities of venturing within a collectivist cultural context is developed. Based on these findings, the authors discuss the implications for policymakers and recommend avenues for future research, and research designs, on women entrepreneurs in collectivist contexts.
AB - Purpose: This study examines what social ties within collectivist settings mean for women's venturing and how these ties support women in gaining empowerment through their ventures. Design/methodology/approach: Thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were conducted to examine the influence of social ties in their ventures. Findings: The findings reveal that women in this context, contrary to most reported findings in the extant literature, both rely more on and find strong ties more conducive than weak ties in most of their entrepreneurial behaviours and activities. Results also show how the UAE's collectivist cultural norms shape social networks and inform individual decision-making, resource acquisition, well-being and self-efficacy as well as enhance women's empowerment through entrepreneurship. The women entrepreneurs were found to leverage their social ties for both power and action throughout their entrepreneurial journey consistent with their culture. Originality/value: A conceptual model, derived from the results of a qualitative study, illustrating the relationships between women entrepreneurs' use of social ties and the empowering capacities of venturing within a collectivist cultural context is developed. Based on these findings, the authors discuss the implications for policymakers and recommend avenues for future research, and research designs, on women entrepreneurs in collectivist contexts.
KW - Collectivist society
KW - Empowerment
KW - Social ties
KW - Women entrepreneurship
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U2 - 10.1108/IJGE-10-2021-0171
DO - 10.1108/IJGE-10-2021-0171
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147362055
SN - 1756-6266
VL - 15
SP - 122
EP - 146
JO - International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
JF - International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
IS - 1
ER -