State Female Entrepreneurs

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the state female entrepreneurs with an emphasis on female entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia. The paper will employ a qualitative approach to try and understand how female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia have managed to start and manage their enterprises. The reasons that motivated women to take this approach in the business world will be interrogated, the challenges that face them and the means used to mitigate those problems will also be investigated. This thesis will look at the internal and external barriers that are faced by female entrepreneurs. The factors that form the conventional support network for women in business around the globe will be analyzed in a bid to show the to which they have been applied in Saudi Arabia. Using established research literature, the common problems faced by female entrepreneurs are well stated, this paper will go further to show how progress has been achieved and the factors that have facilitated a resurgence of entrepreneurship in this Middle Eastern country.

Female Entrepreneurship In Saudi Arabia

Female entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia could the next frontier for the improvement of the Middle Eastern economy. A sector long overlooked due to the conservative nature of the Islamic society (Elamin & Omair, 2010), men have traditionally been looked upon to lead the way in business. However, recent development point to a paradigm shift as more Saudi women are making their mark in the business world.

The female entrepreneurs need to be supported by the Saudi government to facilitate them to catch up with the global marketplace. The start-up culture is one of the likely candidates for a quick transition of women from the hitherto cultural curtain into a fast paced business environment. This paper will look into the current state of affairs regarding the participation of women in business and how they can be assisted to better their position. The lessons offered by the female trailblazers will be taken into context to form a general strategy that can be applied by women from other parts of the world.

Literature Review

The is a wealth of literature that has made an extensive investigation concerning entrepreneurship. When analyzed, this literature offers multiple concepts about what brings about entrepreneurship and an even wider array of the reasons that motivate people to follow this path. This paper is concerned with a distilled definition of entrepreneurship, the factors that motivate entrepreneurs and what hinders them in their endeavors.

Stevenson (1986), states that entrepreneurship is a result of adaptation to a change in the state of economy. According to the literature, this change results in two types of adaptation: creative and adaptive. According to Stevenson (1986), an economy that changes due to population increase by accommodating the expanded labor pool illustrates the adaptive economy. It goes on to explain that an economy that responds to the need for more job opportunities by facilitating the establishment of new business enterprises is an example of a creative economy.

From the assertion of what types of economy can be defined as a result of the way they respond to a change in workforce demands, Stevenson (1986), then derives the definition of entrepreneurship as an approach to business that innovates the way business processes are carried out or invents new business approaches.

Adler (1993), investigates the reasons why entrepreneurs are driven to veer away from employment in typical business setups and start their own establishments. The study looks into the reasons that a man or woman may abandon expected career paths and establish his or her own practice. With a similar assertion, Weeks (2009) focuses on the traits of female entrepreneurs and finds that financial independence is the prevailing motivator for women to delve into their own business establishments.

Sadi & Al-Ghazali (2010) and Jamali (2009) both investigate the state of business in the North African, South Asian, Eastern Europe and Middle East regions, from their female respondents point of view. While Jamali (2009) investigates the female entrepreneur in Northern Africa, the points noted are that: the convergent global economy has offered new insights for the women from traditionally closed societies. As is the case of women from Laos, Sri-Lanka, Northern Nigeria and Morocco, Jamali (2009) states that there is a new upsurge in the desire by women from these areas to make for money and enjoy their craft while they are at it.

Walker & Joyner (1999), notes the importance of the female entrepreneurs' families in providing a support system for females who choose this path to financial freedom since they are faced with a higher pressure in their quests than their male counterparts, thus supporting Stevenson (1986) findings of the extra challenges that face women entrepreneurs in any society. While the added challenge of a generally non-entrepreneurial society in some of the developing nations will negatively impact the women's efforts, it has been recently observed that female entrepreneurs have taken up the task of training their own workforce (Metcalfe, 2007; Metcalfe, 2008). This will serve as one of the basis points for this paper as connects the extra talents that women have to employed in order to establish their enterprises.

Moaddel (1998), Doumato (1999) and Rice (1999) have researched into the impact of religion on entrepreneurial practices. While Islam encourages people to share their wealth with the less privileged and especially members of the extended family, the capitalistic virtues that are inherent in an entrepreneur clash with this views leading to an extra hindrance on entrepreneurship in general. This paper will be concerned with how women have managed to maneuver amidst a biased religious value-set to setup their businesses.

Increased empowerment occasioned by an increasingly educated female population has enabled women to be bolder in business (Hamdan, 2005). The use of ICT has made it possible for women to engage in business more conveniently according to a research by Mathew (2010). This has given rise to success stories from regions previously associated with low levels of women in business, which points to a change in the status quo. Roggenkamp & White (1998) investigate the case of nurses who have managed to use their training to establish a viable business model hence succeeding against formidable odds in the Health Enterprise sector. This paper will use evidence of this nature to show how female entrepreneurship can flourish business sectors that have little evidence of successful private enterprise.

Research Question

This paper attempts to offer