Women’s Business Ownership: Operating within the Context of Institutional and In-Group Collectivism

Journal of Management 43 (7), 2037-2064, 2017

57 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2019

See all articles by Amanda Bullough

Amanda Bullough

University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business & Economics

Maija Renko

DePaul University

Dina Abdelzaher

University of Houston, Clear Lake

Date Written: 2017

Abstract

The development of women’s entrepreneurship has positive implications for societal and economic growth. In this study we examine the effects of culture and, more specifically, collectivism on women’s businesses. With a mixed-method and multilevel approach, we conducted a quantitative country-level analysis followed by a qualitative study of women entrepreneurs. Our results indicate that collectivism at the in-group level (family and close friends and colleagues) is a particularly important predictor of women’s business ownership. Furthermore, it is a balance of both collectivism and individualism at the in-group level that is most conducive to women’s business ownership. Institutional collectivism (at the societal-level) acts as a background condition that influences the way in which in-group collectivism directly impacts women’s business ownership. More specifically, when engaging in business development, women are primarily influenced by their in-groups. The freedom to pursue individual goals, combined with support from the in-group, provides the most beneficial environment for women to develop businesses, especially in societal-level cultures at the extreme ends of the collectivism spectrum – highly collectivistic or highly individualistic. A better understanding of these cultural factors should help with designing better business development training programs for women entrepreneurs and properly advising policy makers.

Keywords: collectivism, culture, women’s businesses, women’s entrepreneurship, gender and entrepreneurship, women’s business ownership, women business owners, collectivism and entrepreneurship, collectivism and women’s entrepreneurship, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, individualism

Suggested Citation

Bullough, Amanda and Renko, Maija and Abdelzaher, Dina, Women’s Business Ownership: Operating within the Context of Institutional and In-Group Collectivism (2017). Journal of Management 43 (7), 2037-2064, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3460206 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3460206

Amanda Bullough (Contact Author)

University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business & Economics ( email )

Newark, DE 19711
United States

Maija Renko

DePaul University ( email )

1 E. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL
United States

Dina Abdelzaher

University of Houston, Clear Lake ( email )

2700 Bay Area Blvd. Box 42
Houston, TX 77058
United States

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