Abstract/Description
Pakistani female entrepreneurs have received increasing attention in recent years as part of various initiatives. However, home-based female entrepreneurs still seem to be relegated to the background and have not received sufficient attention in academia or industry. In order to ensure that these female entrepreneurs are not only understood but also facilitated (if possible), it is crucial to understand how they function. These entrepreneurs are very often one of the key – yet unfortunately seldom acknowledged - enablers of economic activity. Given Pakistan‟s economic issues, these unsung heroines need to be nurtured. It is hoped that this case-based paper will go some way in focusing the research spotlight on these entrepreneurs.
Design Methodology: A single case has been presented with information gathered via multiple semi-structured interviews and formal and informal chats. This was an ideal approach to use during the exploratory phase of research, as the researchers wanted to get an all-round picture of what home-based female entrepreneurship entailed. The home-based entrepreneur in question was involved in various entrepreneurial ventures and ran these ventures from her home. As such, she was an ideal subject in order to explore this area. Her name and associated details have been fictionalized in order to safeguard anonymity and confidentiality. Once the data was collected, discourse analysis was utilized.
Findings: Although home-based female entrepreneurs face many difficulties, they manage to overcome these through perseverance and sustained efforts. They have limited knowledge about certain aspects of their businesses and rely heavily on male support to accomplish their goals. They prefer – for various reasons - to not get their businesses registered with any regulatory authority and this is also one of the reasons they do not acquire formal office space. However, they derive their inner strength through their families despite having conflicting demands on their time and multi-tasking seems to play a pivotal role in their daily routines.
Limitations: This is a case-based paper revolving around a single case study. There is extremely limited predictive usage of this type of research, but it does fulfill its role in terms of exploratory research. Of course, the research focuses on a Pakistani entrepreneur and it can be expected that home-based female entrepreneurs located in areas where the socio-cultural contexts are different 3 will go through different experiences. Hence generalisability is also limited; however, the transferability of learnings from this case does overcome the generalisability issues.
Implications: This case has highlighted an important area of female entrepreneurship – home-based entrepreneurs. It can be viewed as an attempt to understand this type of entrepreneurial activity in detail. A rich set of data has been gathered and analyzed. The researchers strongly urge fellow researchers to conduct detailed research in this area to further understand the motivations, issues, challenges, and concerns of these entrepreneurs and how to overcome them. This will not only be important in terms of understanding female entrepreneurs specifically, but may also shed some light on the concept of entrepreneurship in general.
Location
Room S2
Session Theme
Session 5b: Parallel Sessions: Society and Marketing
Session Type
Event
Session Chair
Dr. Pervez Ghauri, Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
Session Moderator
Mr. Jami Moiz
Start Date
6-5-2012 12:25 PM
End Date
6-5-2012 12:55 PM
Recommended Citation
Salman, F., & Rashid, A. G. (2012). Parallel Session: Home-based female entrepreneurs in Pakistan: an exploratory case study. International Conference on Marketing. Retrieved from https://ir.iba.edu.pk/icm/2012/day2/8
Included in
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons
Parallel Session: Home-based female entrepreneurs in Pakistan: an exploratory case study
Room S2
Pakistani female entrepreneurs have received increasing attention in recent years as part of various initiatives. However, home-based female entrepreneurs still seem to be relegated to the background and have not received sufficient attention in academia or industry. In order to ensure that these female entrepreneurs are not only understood but also facilitated (if possible), it is crucial to understand how they function. These entrepreneurs are very often one of the key – yet unfortunately seldom acknowledged - enablers of economic activity. Given Pakistan‟s economic issues, these unsung heroines need to be nurtured. It is hoped that this case-based paper will go some way in focusing the research spotlight on these entrepreneurs.
Design Methodology: A single case has been presented with information gathered via multiple semi-structured interviews and formal and informal chats. This was an ideal approach to use during the exploratory phase of research, as the researchers wanted to get an all-round picture of what home-based female entrepreneurship entailed. The home-based entrepreneur in question was involved in various entrepreneurial ventures and ran these ventures from her home. As such, she was an ideal subject in order to explore this area. Her name and associated details have been fictionalized in order to safeguard anonymity and confidentiality. Once the data was collected, discourse analysis was utilized.
Findings: Although home-based female entrepreneurs face many difficulties, they manage to overcome these through perseverance and sustained efforts. They have limited knowledge about certain aspects of their businesses and rely heavily on male support to accomplish their goals. They prefer – for various reasons - to not get their businesses registered with any regulatory authority and this is also one of the reasons they do not acquire formal office space. However, they derive their inner strength through their families despite having conflicting demands on their time and multi-tasking seems to play a pivotal role in their daily routines.
Limitations: This is a case-based paper revolving around a single case study. There is extremely limited predictive usage of this type of research, but it does fulfill its role in terms of exploratory research. Of course, the research focuses on a Pakistani entrepreneur and it can be expected that home-based female entrepreneurs located in areas where the socio-cultural contexts are different 3 will go through different experiences. Hence generalisability is also limited; however, the transferability of learnings from this case does overcome the generalisability issues.
Implications: This case has highlighted an important area of female entrepreneurship – home-based entrepreneurs. It can be viewed as an attempt to understand this type of entrepreneurial activity in detail. A rich set of data has been gathered and analyzed. The researchers strongly urge fellow researchers to conduct detailed research in this area to further understand the motivations, issues, challenges, and concerns of these entrepreneurs and how to overcome them. This will not only be important in terms of understanding female entrepreneurs specifically, but may also shed some light on the concept of entrepreneurship in general.
