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Research Method Proposal Proper Final
Research Method Proposal Proper Final
Research Method Proposal Proper Final
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background:
Entrepreneurship pertains to the creation of new business ventures, product offerings or services or a new
venture entry into an existing industry. It is crucial to economic development and growth in the essence
that creation of industry generates employment, income, greater flow of economic resources and an
increase in net investment. With the ever dynamic nature of businesses, their subsequent growths,
expansion and diversification, entrepreneurs are increasingly being presented by a broad range of
challenges in Bangladesh. These include personal, professional, skill-based, technical, financial and
political challenges. An interesting and challenging aspect of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh pertains to
women entrepreneurs and their subsequent emergence in Dhaka through various small and medium
enterprises, startups and even the securing of top positions at various local and international companies.
However, given the patriarchal nature of the society, the lack of trust and goodwill in women to be
entrepreneurs, and the shortage of technical and managerial acumen present a host of challenges to
women. In most cases women working is socially frowned upon which presents a lack of opportunities,
let alone allowing women to take up entrepreneurship. Furthermore, even financial institutions are known
to hesitate in providing women entrepreneurs with financial assistance due to the pre-conceived
perception of women. Also, the primary role of women as home makers and their expanded responsibility
of the household present a host of challenges to them developing skills, pursuing higher education and
gaining managerial expertise. It is appalling that a single prejudiced notion of women sprouts
exponentially to areas of education, experience, financial, political and various social repercussions and
challenges to them as entrepreneurs.
1.2 Problems:
In Bangladesh, entrepreneurship for urban women is presented with a host of problems as listed below:
(a) Social stigma: Women entrepreneurs are generally frowned upon by society due to the patriarchal
mindsets of the people. They are perceived to be solely responsible for the household and
initiation of a business venture is not often met with patronage from family and peers. From a
general societal outlook, similar negative responses are observed when women initiate new
ventures.
(b) Lack of business opportunities: Due to the outcome of a male-driven society, urban women
entrepreneurs face difficulties in penetrating existing business sectors. They are mostly confined
to small and medium enterprises related to the household, such as boutiques, hairdresser parlors
and small handicrafts companies. Even for top management positions in service oriented
companies operating on a large scale, the number of women executives is minimal.
(c) Skills and competencies and work-life balance: As most urban women take care of the household,
education is hindered while maintaining the household and family. In cases where women do
complete the required level of education, they are met with the lack of managerial acumen and
practical business management due to their lack of exposure. Also, when setting up and operating
ventures, balancing work and family life poses an inevitable hindrance.
(d) Government policy: Corruption, bureaucracy and political instability are recipes for disaster for
any business and apply to women entrepreneurs as well. On the note of developing and nurturing
entrepreneurs, the government has no adequate policies for training women entrepreneurs unlike
its Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) which caters to male entrepreneurs mostly.
(e) Financial aspects:In the case of women urban entrepreneurs, financial institutions hesitate to
provide financial assistance. Furthermore, the unstable nature of the financial system of
Bangladesh, liquidity factors and banking sector challenges collectively affect financing
opportunities for women.
The above problems will be discussed and researched upon in the report.
1.3 Objectives:
1.3.a Broad objective: The objective of the report is to identify the challenges for women
entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh.
1.3.b Specific objectives: The specific objectives include:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
1.4 Hypotheses:
For objective I, the impact of education on women entrepreneurship:
Hypothesis: the level of education does not have an impact on entrepreneurship
For objective II, the social aspect and perception of women:
Hypothesis 1: women are differentiated in society when they want to start new ventures
For interviews and questionnaires, each individual will be assigned a code. This will allow us to make an
index of the respondents, and help us to keep track of them. We also plan to do data consolidation using
excel spreadsheet.
2.1a Primary Sources
The primary sources include the first-hand information we would gather from the subjected sample group.
The data collected directly from the women entrepreneurs by interviews and questionnaires are the
primary set of information we would be using for our research.
2.1b Secondary Sources
The secondary sources include a relevant set of sample that would give us information about the
subjected sample. Pertinent data could be collected from sources like employees, coworkers and families.
Other information sources would be the articles and journals our research would be using as reference.
2.2 Sample Size
The sampling technic used on a broad scale is non-probability sampling followed by a combination of
quota and convenience sampling. Initially the samples will be divided by the quota system creating three
different tiers namely small enterprises like boutiques and bakeries, medium and rising businesses like
beauty parlors and event management companies, and the third tier will focus on large scale established
businesses. Due to a large portion of the women being involved in business in the informal sector it will
be difficult to determine the best sample size, so initially we shall start with a sample of 50 women
entrepreneurs. Also to ensure that the sample is more representative of the population we shall try to
choose women entrepreneurs from different localities and in as diverse industries as possible.
2.3 Sample Frame
For the purpose of our research it is impossible to know the sample frame mainly due to the reason that
women are more involved in the informal sector as we have mentioned before.
Complex
Simple Variable
Variable
Personal challenges
Education
Value (Qualitative/
Source
Quantitative)
Q.
Techniques
No.
Of
Highest Level Of
Illiterate (no
Questionnaire
Research
Descriptive
Education
traditional schooling)
Interview
statistics
Primary school
Up to class 10 (SSC)
Up to class 12 (HSC)
Under graduation/
Bachelors
Graduation/ Masters
Concentration
(Qualitative)
Business (Finance,
Questionnaire
Descriptive
Field Of Study
Marketing,
Interview
statistics
Accounting etc.)
Science
Arts
Technical subjects
Islamic studies
(madarasa)
Quality Of
(Qualitative)
Educated abroad
Questionnaire
Descriptive
Education
Local public
Interview
statistics
institution
Local private
institution
(quantitative)
Skills
Rank skills in
Managing workforce
Questionnaire
Descriptive
Managing resources
Interview
statistics
challenging to
Maintaining
least challenging
financials
Inspiring employees
Networking
Adapting to changes
Maintaining
interpersonal
relationships
Time management
(Qualitative)
Skills acquired
Education
Questionnaire
Content
from
Training
Interview
Analysis
Interview
Content
Experience
(Qualitative)
Lack Of
Due To Religious
Networking
Constraints
Analysis
Due To Cultural
Norms
Lack of opportunity
Lack of time
(Qualitative)
Personality
Which of these
Need for
traits
factors do you
achievement
feel is a
Risk taking
challenge to
propensity
you?
Passion
Innovativeness
Self-efficacy
Leadership
Intelligence
Focus
Adaptability
Decisiveness
Intuition
Perseverance
Setting
Working for
Questionnaire
Content
priorities
working
achievement and
Interview
Analysis
Questionnaire
Content
recognition
Working for benefit
of family
working to reduce
boredom
working to make
some money
(Quantitative)
Rank in
Family
accordance of
Work
importance
Analysis
(Qualitative)
Importance of
Gives priority to
work as
work only
Questionnaire
Content
Analysis
perceived by
family
Culture
The society
(Quantitative)
Strongly agree
believes that
Mostly agree
women should
Agree
Disagree
Mostly disagree
Questionnaire
Descriptive
statistics
Strongly disagree
(Quantitative)
Religion
No. of women
No. Of Muslims
entrepreneurs
No. Of Hindus
form different
No. Of Christians
religious groups
No. Of Buddhists
Questionnaire
Descriptive
statistics
No. Of Other
Religions
(Quantitative)
Family
Primary
Managing general
responsibilities
household activities
Interview
Content
Analysis
towards family
Rearing children
Looking after other
family members e.g
parents, in-laws etc.
(Qualitative)
Lack Of
Family
Support
Restriction on
Questionnaire
Descriptive
working hours
and Interview
statistics
Questionnaire
Descriptive
And
statistics
Interview
And
Geographical
restrictions
Restrictions on
working environment
Acceptance of career
Peers, co-
(Qualitative)
Not co-operative
workers and
Industry
Ignoring authority
Content
Lack of faith in
Analysis
abilities
Gender
discrimination
(qualitative)
The Financial
Generating
Challenges
Capital
Getting loans
Amount of loan
Types of loans
Questionnaire
Descriptive
And
statistics
Interview
And
Content
Source of loans
Analysis
(qualitative)
Business type
Questionnaire
Providing
Financial
Descriptive
statistics
Collateral
Assistance To
Women
Trust
Other Financial
(qualitative)
Credit facilities
Questionnaire
Descriptive
services
Consultation
Interview
statistics
Financial
Lack Of
(Qualitative)
Computing Expenses
Questionnaire
Descriptive
Manageme
Technical
And
statistics
nt
Prowess To
Keeping Track Of
Interview
And
Manage
Inventory
Content
Finances
Analysis
Good Investment
Opportunities
Other Pertinent
Financial Decisions
(Quantitative)
Nature Of
Issues regarding
By Women In The
Businesses
Small
Business Environment
Enterprises Run
Interview
Descriptive
Questionnaire
statistics
Limited Workforce
By Women
Leads To Overtime
Lack Of Authority
Difficulty in
expanding
(qualitative)
Scope For
Difficulty In
Business
Operating Large
Developme
Scale Business
nt
Money Management
Balancing Quality
And Growth
Questionnaire
Descriptive
And
statistics
Interview
And
Content
Analysis
Lack Of Capital
Investment
Lack of opportunity
for expansion
(qualitative)
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3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Entrepreneurship can be defined as the creation of new products or processes (Schumpeter,
1961), new ventures (Gartner, 1985) or the entry into new markets (Lumpkin & Dess,
1996).Regardless of its description, it is widely believed that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs
themselves are essential for the growth and development of any economy (Carre & Thurik,
2005). Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who
initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise (Goyal, 2011). According to Doing
Business 2014Bangladesh ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business
category, which is lower than the regional average for South Asia of 121, but higher than that of
India 134. The number of new businesses opening up is increasing every year. In 2012 alone
9135 local limited liability companies started operations. Due to the improvement in business
policies, development of infrastructure, availability of micro credit, support for women
entrepreneurship and scope for social business has resulted in a boost in entrepreneurial activity.
However entrepreneurs still have to face numerous challenges. Research using multiple
regression model on variables that have an impact in entrepreneurship show tendency of taking
risk, need for achievement, education and environment for starting business, job security are
statistically significant in determining the intention of students who want to become
entrepreneurs where except job security, the other variables are found to be positively co-related
(Uddin & Bose, 2012).
The most significant effect on entrepreneurship is possibly that of the characteristics of the
entrepreneurs themselves. The individual characteristics include attributes like the age,
personality, education, managerial know-how, industry experience as well as the social skill set
of the entrepreneur. According to Yusuf (1995) personal qualities and traits, such as selfconfidence and perseverance, have been suggested to affect firm success. In their study of new
small firms, Duchesneau and Gartner (1990) found that lead entrepreneurs in successful firms
were more likely to have been raised by entrepreneurial parents, to have had a broader business
experience and more prior startup experience. The personal attributes of the entrepreneur
determine the motivation and objectives, which in turn determine the firms performance. The
process is mediated through the markets in which the entrepreneur operates and the managerial
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practices which he or she employs. The dynamic element is incorporated by the possibility that
the business success may reinforce or revise the entrepreneurs motivation and objectives.
According to Lumpkin and Dess (2001), the concept of entrepreneurial orientation consists of
five dimensions: autonomy, innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, and competitive
aggressiveness. Among these the fifth dimension, competitive aggressiveness, reflects the
intensity of a firms efforts to outperform the industry rivals .High performing, entrepreneurialoriented firms are successful in exploiting business opportunities. Before opportunities can be
exploited, they must be recognized. Shane (2000) has discovered that people recognized the
opportunities related to the information and knowledge, they already possess. He also has
noticed that entrepreneurs can and will discover opportunities through recognition rather than
through search.
Entrepreneurial readiness in this study refers to self-efficacy. The term self-efficacy, derived
from Banduras (1977) social learning theory, refers to a persons belief in his or her capability to
perform a given task. According to Ryan (1970), self-perception plays an important role in the
development of intention. Intentions and their underlying attitudes are perception-based.
Accordingly, they will vary across historical and cultural contexts. Cromie (2000) stated that
self-efficacy affects a persons beliefs regarding whether or not certain goals may be attained.
The attitude provides the foundation for human motivation (Pajares, 2002) and personal
accomplishment: unless people believe that their actions can produce the outcomes they desire,
they have little incentive to act or to persevere in the face of adversities.
A research by Charney and Libecap (2000) found that entrepreneurship education produces selfsufficient enterprising individuals. Furthermore, they found that entrepreneurship education
increases the formation of new ventures, the likelihood of self-employment. Similarly, the
educational background of the entrepreneur and revealed that 72% of the successful
entrepreneurs had a minimum level of technical qualification, whereas most (67%) of the
unsuccessful entrepreneurs did not have any technical background (Sinha, 1996).
From a sociological perspective, societal upheaval is considered to have extensive impact on the
making of new entrepreneurs. Societal disruptions which affect family life may influence the
choice of non-traditional career paths. If the family of the entrepreneur does not seem to fit in
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society or is seen to be different, then their children may feel the need to create a new niche for
themselves. Some studies indicate that entrepreneurs are more likely to come from ethnic,
religious or minority groups (Bates, 2011; Smallbone, Kitching&Athayde, 2010). The sociocultural environment of Bangladesh presents both positive and negative forces for the
development of entrepreneurship in the country. Bangladesh offers a large pool of easily
trainable employees at relatively cheaper price. The occupational and geographic mobility of
labor is also observed to be one of the favorable conditions for labor market. However,
Bangladesh can be regarded as a country upholding collectivism, uncertainty avoidance,
power respect and masculinity, which are commonly believed to be less friendly for
entrepreneurship development (Azim, 2008).
Based on a large-scale data set of nearly ninety thousand workers in India, it has been found that
religion shapes the entrepreneurial decision. In particular, some religions, such as Islam and
Christianity, are found to be conducive to entrepreneurship, while others, such as Hinduism,
inhibit entrepreneurship (Audretsch, Boente & Tamvada, 2007). In addition, the caste system is
found to influence the propensity to become an entrepreneur. Individuals belonging to a
backward caste exhibit a lower propensity to become an entrepreneur, suggesting a link between
religion and economics. Women run businesses of a much smaller scale, but in specialized
business like boutiques, beauty parlors and handicrafts women are generally seen to
succeed (Billson, J. M., 2005, p 75).
A major setback in the development of entrepreneurs is the unstable state of the political
environment which directly impacts negatively on the economic policies (Anitie). Another issue
is the provision of supporting infrastructure that could help the business. It is recorded that one
of the main items in the social infrastructure agenda is power supply (Stern & Cleveland, 2004).
In case women the most significant barrier to success in their ventures is the exclusion from
the informal interaction networks (Irons and Moore, 1985) a challenge that is prevalent in
every level of development.
The dominant patriarchal culture in the Bangladesh & Asia where the man is believed to be
the bread winner of the family, leaving the woman to just domestic chores is a formidable
challenge to the development of women entrepreneurship (Roomi, 2008).If the woman is
seen doing some sort of work, she is believed to be taking the position of the head of the
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family. A study done by the ILO (Karim, 2001)on women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh
revealed some major challenges to be lack of training opportunities, credit facilities,
institutional setup, cultural barriers, and a crisis among concerned parties. The lack of
credit facility die to the financial institutions lack of trust in women to pay back and lack
of collateral in many cases or due to the fact that some of the women may not be fully
grounded in their knowledge of the business is a major obstacle. Other challenges include
emotional vulnerability and wanting to please everyone, inferior educational background,
fear of failure and the combined pressure of managing a home and a business.
The availability of and access to finance is an important aspect to the growth and development of
a nation (Beck &Demirg-Kunt, 2008). The disparity between savings and investment leads to
financial constraints being a major challenge for entrepreneurs of all stages in Bangladesh. Like
many other countries there have been intensive policy debates over the issue to provide a
foundation for long term development. Despite all the efforts the development seems to be a
stagnant one and access to finance has been sought out as the major impediment in its growth
(Haque & Mahmud, 2003). The loans received from formal sources make up only for the
working capital which is about one third of the total demand. The most important source of
financing is the informal sources such as loans from friends and family followed by trade credit.
Although women entrepreneurs are known to repay loans swifter it is still a challenge for
women to get adequate financing as they usually receive smaller loans (Agier & Szafarz,
2011). The back to back letter credit is popular in our country in the garments sector but not in
the SMEs. In spite of allowing the refinancing facility of Bangladesh Bank since 2004 to
encourage growth of SMEs, the commercial institutions have only extended about 20.6% of
their funds to SME sector which falls way short from the demand (uzZaman& Islam, 2011).
Even if the loan interest rate for women enterprises in Bangladesh is lower (10%) than that
of SMEs (13%) this is still higher than that in neighboring countries like India (5-6%)
(Parvin et al, 2012).
The active and constant support of the Government and related institutions is necessary to
encourage and support entrepreneurs in their ventures. The MCCI suggests that instability of
government policy and lack of adequate financial support are two most important problems in
the process of entrepreneurship development, especially in the case of women. The government
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