HR CHALLENGES IN WOMEN HEADED

ORGANIZAION IN BANGLADESH

BASED ON A STUDY AMONG THE WOMEN HEADED

ORGANIZATIONS IN BANGLADESH

HR CHALLENGES IN WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZAION IN BANGLADESH

BASED ON A STUDY AMONG THE WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZATIONS IN

BANGLADESH

Submitted ByX
ID: 2012Department of Business Administration
Course Code:
Semester:

Submitted ToM
Lecturer
East West University

EAST WEST UNIVERSITY

Dhaka, Bangladesh
November, 2015

Letter of Transmittal

Date, 2015
M
Lecturer
Department of Business Administration
East West University
Subject: Submission of the Project Paper on HR Challenges in Women Headed Organization
in Bangladesh.
Dear Sir/Madam,
It is a great pleasure for me that I have the opportunity to submit the project paper on HR
Challenges in Women Headed Organization in Bangladesh.
This research facility gave me an opportunity to gather knowledge from the practical working
environment and relate my theoretical knowledge with it. I have tried enough to furnish all the
materials, what I have achieved during the research period. I shall be highly grateful if you kindly
accept this project report.
Moreover, any shortcomings or fault may arise as my unintentional mistakes. I will whole
heartedly welcome any clarification and suggestion about any view and conception disseminated
through this dissertation report.
Sincerely yours,
K
ID: 2012Department of Business Administration
East West University

CERTIFICATE OF THE SUPERVISOR

This is to certify that the project report on HR Challenges in Women Headed Organization
is done by Kazi Fatima, as a partial fulfillment of requirement of Bachelor of Business
Administration degree from East West University. The Report has been carried out under my
guidance and is a record of the authentic work carried out successfully.

...
M
Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration
East West University

DECLARATION
I hereby do solemnly declare that the work presented in this dissertation/project/thesis has been
carried out by me and has not been previously submitted to any other
university/college/organization for an academic qualification/certificate/diploma or degree.
The work I have presented does not breach any copyright.
I further undertake to indemnify the University against any loss or damage arising from breach
of any loss or damage arising from breach of the foregoing obligations.

..
K
ID# 2012-1
Department of Business Administration
East West University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Around 50% of our population is women but they are the most disadvantaged group in our society.
Women are deprived when compared to men in virtually all aspects of life. Women around the
world are more likely to live in poverty, simply because they are women. Their unequal position
in our society means that they have less power, money, protection from violence, and access to
resources and decent employment. In Bangladesh the majority of working women still have not
been able to impose a controlling authority in mainstream production. Women entrepreneurs are
the new class who have accepted the challenges of life and have emerged as leaders in the
socioeconomic development. Women's economic empowerment is an inevitable part of
development discourse. Excluding women from the mainstream development program,
institutionalization of a sustainable development process is just unthinkable. People's long lasting
thrust for a participatory democracy in Bangladesh also requires a sustainable economic growth.
Nevertheless, this growth would always be untouchable without active and meaningful
participation of the country's women folks. Considering the existing reality a study was conducted
to explore the barriers of the women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. An entrepreneur is variably
defined as one who assumes the financial risk of the initiation, operation and management of a
business or undertaking; a person who assumes the risk to start a business with the idea of making
a profit; an individual who organizes and manages labor, capital, and natural resources to produce
goods and services to earn a profit, but who also runs the risk of failure; a business person who
accepts both the risks and the opportunities involved in creating and operating a new business
venture. In line with these different definitions, risk-taking and treading a fresh path are essential
features of entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs do not operate in isolation. They work under
the same macro, regulatory and institutional framework as their male counterparts. However, it is
necessary to dig deeper in order to understand the gender biases embedded in society which limit
women's mobility, interactions, active economic participation and access to business development
services. The business environment for women also reflects the complex interplay of different
factors that ultimately result in the disadvantaged status of women in society. Women in South
Asia remain far behind men in enjoying basic human rights, let alone participating with men on an
equal footing in economic activities. This study tried to focus the existing problems/constraints/
barriers of women entrepreneurs considering in all respects. The main issues covered by this study

are social, political and cultural environment for business women in Bangladesh, types of womenowned enterprises, training and capacity buildings and human resources. The study also focused
women's access to human resource management, business management, development, and the
issues related to business promotion. The study tried to explore the social perspectives of women
entrepreneurs, their conditions and position
In family. Overall perception of women entrepreneurs about existing business environment were
also tried to discover through this study. This is a qualitative study. I have tried to find out the root
causes of the existing problems of women entrepreneurs. 90% women entrepreneurs are facing
financial problems to start or run their business. In reality, this is not the main problem because
there are some opportunities (though it is so minimum) but due to the patriarchal mind set women
entrepreneurs do not get the existing facilities. In spite of the circular of the Bangladesh Bank,
women entrepreneurs did not get expected loan facilities from the bank. It is a miracle. On the
other hand, the leader of this society is male, maximum cases they are not gender sensitive at all.
So women entrepreneurs have no opportunity to appeal anywhere or any way. From this study it
is clear that, Capacity building of women entrepreneurs is essential to do business. Due to ensure
gender friendly business environment the positive mind set of male counterpart is essential. A long
term community based program on gender and women rights is needed to change the societal
mindset regarding women's rights. There after women entrepreneurs will get positive environment
to do their business and national development will be enhanced.

CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY

1.1 Background of the Study:
This project paper has been prepared to make a study on the HR Challenges in Women Headed
Organization as a part of the fulfillment of thesis program required for the completion of the BBA
program of the Human Resource major, Faculty of Business Administration at East West
University .The report was prepared under the supervision of -----------------, Lecturer, Department
of Business Administration, East West University. I am very much thankful to her for assigning
me such types of project work.

1.2 Objectives of the Study:

1.2.1 Board objective:
To explore the overall HR context of Bangladesh and women participation rate and
contribution in the particular sector.
Implicating the theoretical knowledge related to different process of Human Resource
Management course and to identify how women in Bangladesh in terms of working as a
HR professional faces different sort of obstacles and challenges.
1.2.2 Specific Objective:
To identify the different sectors and working criteria where women faces challenges as an
HR official.
To distinguish among the nature of the challenges and obstacles faced by women in
different aspects of HR practices.
To portray an optimum situation to overcome and subdue such challenges.

1.3 Scope of the Study:

The scope of this study is only the different sort of constraints prevailing in women headed
organizations in Bangladesh, its acuteness and how they are pulling back the women entrepreneurs
and career oriented professionals from accomplishing their respective tasks.

1.4 Methodology of the Study:

Both the primary and secondary data sources had been used in order to prepare this report. Direct
and face to face interview sessions information and analysis had been used as the primary data.
Online journals, scholar reports and other related materials have been used as secondary sources.
1.5 Limitation of the Study:
1. Identifying the HR challenges for women in Bangladesh is a vast concept for which the
information and case studies needed were not available.
2. The time span is not sufficient.
3. To make the report various experience are needed which I dont have.
4. Non availability and difficulty in accessing some preceding data.

CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Womens economic empowerment is an inevitable part of economic development discourse in any
development undertaking of a nation. Women empowerment depends on taking part in various
development activities. Therefore, the involvement of women in various entrepreneurial activities
has empowered them in social, economic and cultural fields. Despite recent progress in the
advancement and empowerment, women in Bangladesh still remain vulnerable to poverty and
social deprivations. Women entrepreneurs are in a less favorable position compared to men in case
of accessing for example commercial credit from formal financial service providers, more lucrative
markets, rather than the traditional local markets, technology and information to establish and grow
their businesses, national incentives in small enterprise development through gender blind private
sector development and fiscal policies and legislation and training and education for small
enterprise development. Contribution of women in the economy is very important for the growth
of socio-economic environment of Bangladesh. Without a meaningful and active participation of
women, half of the total population, in regular economic activities, a dynamic and sustainable
economy is impossible. In view of the need to bring the rural womenfolk in the development
stream of the country, both the Government, the NGOs and other related agencies have provided
ample opportunities to promote entrepreneurial skill among women. Income-generating activities,
credit facilities, skill training, market opportunities have all combined to pave the way for the
emergence of entrepreneurial development among women in rural Bangladesh. Bangladesh has
undertaken systematic reforms across all sectors in the last decade with an emphasis on the
initiatives to increase womens participation through laws, international conventions, and
affirmative actions to meet quotas to ensure womens participation. It appears that women have
brought a social and economic change; and opened up a new dimension in the business area
through their participation in different socio-economic activities in Bangladesh. In a World Bank
survey while starting an entrepreneurship business the following results regarding the associated
and related factors have come out, where the second major assistance required is the support
activities related to business management. Now that we have understood the significance of this
particular management activities it is also important to discuss the related challenges and obstacles
faced by women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

Figure 1: Type of assistance required

Marketing 13%
Access to
finance 37%
Legal/statutory
13%

Technology
17%

Business
management
20%

Source: Survey of World Bank on Entrepreneurship and Dissolving the Gender Gap, (2012)

Entrepreneurship is the key to the creation of new enterprises that energize and revitalize the
economy. Entrepreneurship serves as the catalyst in the process of industrialization and economic
growth. Women entrepreneurs can play a vital role in combating rural poverty. The emergence
and development of women entrepreneurship largely depends on the supporting conditions of
different factors such as economic, social, cultural, and psychological. To improve the socioeconomic status of the women in Bangladesh it is necessary to formulate appropriate policies, take
necessary actions and introduce effective measures to integrate the women in the mainstream of
the development process.

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW

Entrepreneurship has been approached from various perspectives by scholars of different
disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, anthropology, history and political
science (Bjerke, 2007). On the other hand, the field of female entrepreneurship is in an initial stage
of paradigm development. According to GEM (2011) and Khan (2004), the individual studies on
female entrepreneurship are fragmented and unrelated and describe only small segments of the
female entrepreneurial population. The theoretical tools developed in other areas are frequently
applied that are weak in validity and reliability. Coopers (1991) framework identifies three groups
of influences that affect the start-up and growth of new venture: antecedent influences (i.e. the
background factors such as family influence and genetic factors that affect motivation, skills and
knowledge), incubator experience (i.e. the nature of organization that the entrepreneur was
employed in just prior to starting a new venture-the skills learned there), and environmental factors
(e.g. economic conditions, access to venture capital and support services, role models etc.). Brush
& Hisrich (1991) explores the relationship between the Coopers (1991) antecedent influences
on women entrepreneurs including: personal background, educational and occupational
experiences, motivations, skills and knowledge and the growth of their venture (Kirzner, 1997).
Prior research indicates that male and female differ on some of the factors. As examples, females
have greater difficulties in acquiring venture capital, financial resources and skills (Aldrich, 1989;
Hurley, 1991). They also have fewer informal support systems and networks (Barberet. al., 1989)
as well as less direct, relevant experience than men (Stevenson, 1986). Other constraints faced by
female entrepreneurs include being accepted as female in business, lack of a role model, lack of
professional interaction, difficulties in gaining the confidence of their clients and suppliers, lack
of adequate training, and lack of related experience (Hisrich, 1989; Kent, 1988; Timmons, 1986;
Belcourtet al., 1991). A considerable number of studies have found that conflicts between personal
life and career pursuits are the most significant barrier that female entrepreneurs face (Belcourtet
al., 1991; Abir, 2007).

Major studies of western nations reveal that although the main reasons for establishing an
enterprise are similar for male and female, some differences have also been found. According to
Lavioe (1992), potential for financial gain is not the primary motivating factor for female
entrepreneurs rather they are more likely to initiate a new venture for the challenge and opportunity
for self-fulfillment. While the others (Bjerke, 2007; Birth, 1999 & 2001; Berard & Brown, 1994)
have suggested that females are more likely to start an enterprise for control over the quantity and
quality of the work and as a way of coping with the glass-ceiling. Most probably for these
reasons Abir (2007) and Storey (2008) assert that women entrepreneurship is not an easy task in
Bangladesh. "Becoming an entrepreneur is an evolution of encountering, assessing, and reacting
to a series of experiences, situations, and events produced by political, economic, social and
cultural changes" (Casson, 1997).
It is thus evident that almost all of the research on this issue is done in the developed world. Given
the differences in economic, cultural and technological environment between a developing nation
like Bangladesh and the developed world, it is likely that some of the findings are not applicable
to the developing world in general and that of Bangladesh in particular. For example, the research
in developed nation does not consider religion as a constraint but religion is a big factor for women
in Bangladesh. The women of Bangladesh have more social responsibility than their counterpart
in the developed world. Given the complexities in the social environment and administrative
structure, women's entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is more challenging.

CHAPTER 4: WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZATIONS IN BANGLADESH

AND ITS BACKGROUND
Today, more women are breaking free from the traditional, gender-specific roles and venturing
into the business world. Not only are they holding high corporate positions but they are also
successful women entrepreneurs who own almost half of all businesses in many countries. The
passion for their ideas, the desire to become their own boss, and the need to address philanthropic
causes they are now more interested in having their own businesses. Before the 20th century,
women operated businesses as a way of supplementing income. In many cases, they were trying
to avoid poverty or replacing the income from the loss of a spouse. At the time, the ventures that
these women undertook were not thought of as entrepreneurial. Many of them usually had to bow
to their domestic responsibilities. The term entrepreneur is used to describe individuals who have
ideas for products or services that they turn into a working business. In earlier times, this term was
reserved for men.
Women became more involved in the business world only when the idea of women in business
became palatable to the general public. However, this does not mean that there were no female
entrepreneurs until that time. In the 17th century, Dutch Colonists who came to what is now known
as New York City, operated under a matriarchal society. In this society, many women inherited
money and lands and, through this inheritance, became business owners. One of the most
successful women from this time was Margaret Hardenbrook Philipse, who was a merchant, ship
owner, and was also involved in the trading of goods. During the mid-18th century, it was popular
for women to own certain businesses like brothels, alehouses, taverns, and retail shops, among
others. Most of these businesses were not perceived with good reputations because it was
considered shameful for women to be in these positions. Society frowned upon women involved
in such businesses because they detracted from the women's supposed gentle and frail nature.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, more women came out from under the oppression of societys
limits and began to emerge into the public eye. Despite the frowns of society, women like Rebecca
Lukens flourished. In 1825, Lukens took her family business of Ironworks and turned it into a
profit-generating steel business. In the 1900s, due to a more progressive way of thinking, and the
rise of feminism, female entrepreneurs began to be a widely accepted term and although these
women entrepreneurs serviced mostly women consumers, they were making great strides. Women
gained the right to vote in 1920, and two years later, Clara and Lillian Westropp started the
institution of Womens Savings & Loan as a way of teaching women how to be smart with their
money. As each change in society happened, female entrepreneurs were there, becoming more
influential. With the boom of the textile industry and the development of the railroad and telegraph
system, women like Madame C. J. Walker took advantage of the changing times. Walker was able
to market her hair care products in a successful way, becoming the 1st African American female
millionaire. Carrie Crawford Smith was the owner of an employment agency opened in 1918 and,
like Madame C. J. Walker, sought to provide help to many women by giving them opportunities
to work.
Home-based businesses helped to solve a good part of the problem for those women who worried
about being mothers. Lillian Vernon, while pregnant with her first child, started her own business
dealing with catalogs by investing money from wedding gifts and started filling orders right at her
kitchen table. Mary Crowley founded Home Decorating and Interiors as a way of helping women
to work from home by throwing parties to sell the products right in the comfort of their own home.
In an effort to avoid criticism and lost business from those who did not support women in business,
Bette Nesmith, who developed the product Mistake Out," a liquid that painted over mistakes in
typing, would sign her orders B. Smith so no one would know she was a female.
As the 1990s came in, the availability of computers and the increasing popularity of the internet
gave a much needed boost to women in business. This technology allowed them to be more
prevalent in the business world and showcase their skills to their competitors. Even still, with the
added popularity of women in business, the availability of technology, the support from different
organizations, female entrepreneurs today are still fighting.

The economic downturn of 2008 did not serve to help them in their quest. With the continual
attention given to female entrepreneurs and the educational programs afforded to women who seek
to start out with their own business ventures, there is much information and help available. Since
2000, there has been an increase in small and big ventures by women, including one of their biggest
obstaclesfinancing. Women entrepreneurs have become a strong driving force in todays
corporate world. Not only are they able to equalize their duties of both motherhood and
entrepreneurship but they also comprise of almost half of all businesses owned today. Many
women entrepreneurs have an average age of 40-60 years old because they have had previous
careers in other areas. Their primary goal is not monetary reward but rather personal satisfaction
and community involvement. Many of them are educated and assemble into groups in order to
pool business ideas and resources together. The problems faced by many women entrepreneurs to
attain a sustainable position in the business world in India and how they are suppressed by the
male society. Also, this research will highlight the women entrepreneurs who faced the difficult
situations and emerged as successful entrepreneurs by creating a strong identity of their own in the
male dominant society of India proving their credentials in the long run. Entrepreneurship was
once considered a man's territory, but each year, more and more women set out on the journey to
launch and lead their own companies. These business-savvy ladies inspire other women with
dreams of founding startups, but many female business owners face still face significant obstacles
because of their gender.
4.1 Controlling Challenges Faced By Women:
Control, or controlling, is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing,
staffing and directing. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and
to take the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals
of the organization are achieved in a desired manner. According to modern concepts,
control is a foreseeing action whereas earlier concept of control was used only when errors
were detected. Control in management means setting standards, measuring actual
performance and taking corrective action. In Bangladesh for women entrepreneurs or in
organization headed by women individuals challenges mainly arise from the standard
setting and implicating the correcting measures area. In most cases organizations are being
male dominated and the tendency of taking orders and decisions from a female superior

and executing them are yet to be considered in a simpler manner. Subordinates having a
female boss generally have the tendency that as the superior being a female individual lacks
the proper ability to take the right and correct decisions. So having the tendency of working
under faulty planning will never be taken by the male subordinates easily.
4.2 Supervising Challenges Faced By Women:
Past perceptions of leadership skills, competence, and assertiveness may hinder the ability
of women to succeed in management. Many companies associate masculine characteristics
with success and achievement. These include assertiveness, aggressiveness, and taskoriented leadership abilities. Other stereotypes of women include the expectation of being
modest, quiet, selfless, and nurturing. These simple characteristics may be seen as nonexecutive material. Entities desire a leader who will execute, take criticism, and do what is
best for the company at all cost. Leadership styles are closely associated with common
perceptions and stereotypes of women leaders (Goff, 2005; Henderson, 2004). In early
1990 studies found that men emerged as task-oriented leaders more frequently than women
who emerged as social leaders more frequently than men. Due to the demands of leadership
positions, it became a socially accepted tendency for men to assume leadership because
their task-oriented style was more widely accepted. As time moved on, the social leadership
style of women was more accepted and valued in some circumstances. The study of
leadership topics has been a fascinated historians and social scientists for centuries, and
more recently resulted in enormous amounts of research on the subject. Nevertheless, one
cannot find a generally acceptable universal-comprehensive theory of leadership. Instead,
one finds competing theories emerging from several behavioral disciplines. For instance it
appears there are three broad leadership theory categories reflecting the research and
opinion on the topic, including trait, personal-behavioral, and situational theories.

4.3 Performance Appraisal Challenges Faced By Women:

Lack of Objectivity: - A potential weakness of traditional methods of performance

appraisal is that they lack objectivity. Some subjectivity will always exist in appraisal
methods. However, the use of job-related factors does increase objectivity. As the male
subordinates believe the objectivity quality of a female individual is less or not up to
the mark challenges for the female boss arise.

Halo Error:-Occurs when the evaluator perceives one factor as being of paramount
importance and gives a good or bad overall rating to an employee based on this factor.
People in general believes women are less vulnerable to this Halo error tendency, they
believe based on a particular mindset they will evaluate any individual.

Leniency/Strictness:-The giving of undeserved high or low ratings. In Bangladesh it

is generally believed in most cases women take decisions on an emotional basis rather
than being logical and rational which can create leniency.

Recent Behavior Bias:-It is only natural to remember recent behavior more clearly
than actions from the more distant past. However, performance appraisals generally
cover a specified period of time, and an individuals performance should be considered
for the entire period. But most people think of female professionals will fail to do so.

Personal Bias:-Supervisors doing performance appraisals may have biases related to

their employees personal characteristics such as race, religion, gender, disability, or
age group. One of the major challenge for women entrepreneurs or female bosses is
their subordinates frequently believe that their superior possesses a tendency of
biasness.

CHAPTER 5: CASE STUDIES

CASE STUY 01: SAMIRA ZUBERI HIMIKA

Samira Zuberi Himika is the founder and MD of Team Engine. She has worked in the United
Nations Development Program after finishing her Masters degree in Development Studies from
Independent University Bangladesh (IUB). She was also the Deputy Head of BBC World Service
Trust, Bangladesh. Himika was one of the main people behind a project named GP House Art Hub
which was the first curated art hub for any multinational company in Bangladesh. After spending
5-6 years working in the NGO sector, Himika decided to start her own venture-Team Engine.
Team engine supports policy makers, the Government, Private Sector entities and individuals by
connecting them with the right entities and launching their campaigns-in simple terms, its a
communication and campaign hub for social good. Starting her entrepreneurial journey was not
easy, it involved high risks and challenges. In recent years her organization has been working on
projects using a partnership model by partnering with government and other organizations who
share similar interests in certain projects.

Himikas biggest strength in launching her own venture definitely has to be her strong portfolio of
working for several top international organizations and NGOs. She had a rich network in these

areas and strong networking means faster progress for your start-up. Aside from her interests in
entrepreneurship and the field of development, Himika is also an Executive Committee Member
at BASIS-shes a key figure in Bangladeshs tech and start-up field where she actively takes part
in community events and speaks at such events as well.

CASE STUDY 02: ISHRAT AMIN

Ishrat Amin is a female photographer who has carved her name

in the world of wedding photography by means of her unique
way of clicking. When it comes to wedding photography she is
an expert. This beautiful photographer has created a signature
style of her own within a very short time. She believes that
getting married is such a significant event of ones life that it
must be kept in frames. Ishrat Amin was graduated from East
West University and from her student life she was
experimenting her talent on photography. She participated in
many photography competitions and won many prizes as well.
She believes her journey of being a photographer stared right
from there. She started her profession as a photographer just
after her graduation, before that photography was her hobby
and passion. She has learnt everything that she knows about
photography on her own. First she started it as a hobby but her parents, relatives and friends always
appreciated, encouraged and motivated her to pursue it as a profession. Her wedding photography
became very popular for her unique style of work and friendly behavior. Ishrat Amin
Photography is known to almost everyone in the country and she is well known in other countries
too.

She

is

an

idol

to

many

young

girls

and

boys

who

love

photography.

According to Ishrat, "Photography itself is challenging. And as Im engaged in wedding

photography where there is too much competition so it is even more challenging. In a 3-4 hour
wedding shoot, capturing some really good moments which are appreciated by all, takes a lot."
She believes, "Every wedding is different from the other, even if it is held in a familiar setting.
Situations, light temperatures, sense of space, emotions of people, all can change very fast with
the pace of the wedding and as photographers we must be alert all the time."

She also believes, "Women are not meant to be good home makers only. So, I would like to change
the present mindset of the people towards females participation in professional photography or in
any other professional sector." Ishrat has always been a perfectionist. This is something she likes
and also dislikes as sometimes it forces her to take too much workload and thus results in anxiety.
Otherwise, she believes this quality has been instrumental for her achievements. Ishrat is
specialized in portraits, mainly wedding portraits. She believes getting married is one of life's most
amazing celebrations. Whats more special than proclaiming a commitment to love and dedicate
one's life to another? Ishrat along with her husband and sister have created their own company,
Dream Merchant Event Solutions in 2012. It is an event management company covering various
programs specially weddings. They bring fresh and innovative approach to event management
services, work in close partnership with customers to offer a service that sets new standards in
event management. Their goal is to exceed the expectations of every client by offering outstanding
services, increased flexibility, and greater value, thus optimizing system functionality and
improving operation efficiency.

CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS
In terms of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and also in organization headed by women
they very often face the challenge of not being able to understand her subordinates the
necessity of diversification in terms of business or their respective work.
In Bangladesh people are less cooperative and reluctant to taking orders and dictations
from a woman supervisor due to their inherited patriarchal mindset.
People always crave for material, cash and immediate benefits so for women entrepreneurs
pursuing a long term goal face obstacles regarding the financing source of the projects.
People in Bangladesh are less motivated n pursuing innovative business and working ideas
as a result for a female entrepreneurs it becomes very difficult to find the related and
required work force.
Lack of family support in terms starting a business of own or building a glowing career in
service sectors is one of the major difficulties faced by women in our country.
Majority people in Bangladesh always possess the tendency of discriminating an individual
human being based on their gender.
Another major challenge for women entrepreneurs is maintaining a balanced work and
personal life. As an entrepreneur is mostly confined with business ideas and implication
strategies it is quite hard for her to maintain a proper family life.
As at present tech based industries and service sectors are booming rapidly in Bangladesh
women in general have a very few knowledge on this particular sector. As a result women
entrepreneurs are getting confined in businesses like handicrafts, parlor, boutique, etc. Tech
based industries and opportunities are yet to be understood and practiced by the women
population.
Women rather than technical and financial challenges mostly face obstacles due to the ego
problem of the male dominated society in Bangladesh.

CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENTDATIONS

Adoption of a comprehensive sustainable industrial policy that will promote equity for
women and men.

Increase the number of women entrepreneurs and ensure women's easy access to markets.

Develop entrepreneurial skills, technical and cognitive ability of the women.

Ensure equal rights of women in all spheres of development, including access to

information, skills, resources and opportunities.

Enhance the participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life.

Promote economic self-reliance for women, and generate economic policies that have
positive impact on employment and income of women workers in both formal and informal
sectors.

Create appropriate institutional arrangements with necessary financial and human

resources and authorities at all levels to mainstream women's concerns in all aspects and
sectors of development.

In order to make long-term changes in women's ability to participate freely in the economy,
the socio-cultural constraints on women must be addressed. The most important learning
is the need to couple program actions with policy work. Advocacy work should be directed
to policymakers in order to raise their awareness of the important role of women in the
economy, and the positive effect of economic participation on women and their families.

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION
Women entrepreneurs are a small but steadily growing minority in the realm of Bangladeshis trade
and manufacturing, which is a describe trend in conformity with the national strategy of
empowerment and utilization of the productive or economic potential of women. Greater
participation of women in economic activities will surely add to its GDP, raise family income,
create employment opportunities and hence raise living standards. Few activities in life are more
challenging and rewarding than building a business or developing a new technology. Matching a
product or services with a market in an effective and timely manner demands creativity,
persistence, talent, passion and skill. Therefore, women deserve to encourage accelerating their
entrepreneurship initiative. Only with a collaborative association between the male and female part
of the society can remove the barriers for the women entrepreneurs and create a more sustainable
economic and social Bangladesh.

BIBILOGRAPHY:
1. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BANGLADESH: A STUDY ON SUPPORT
SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH; Volume 5,
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2. BARRIERS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN BANGLADESH; Volume 1,
Issue 1, Md. Mojibur Rahman.
3. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE PRACTICE OF PERFORMANCE
APPRAISAL ACTIVITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY; International Journal of
Education and Research, Volume 1, April 04, 2013
4. Challenges of Human Resource Management
5. http://www.villanovau.com/resources/hr/human-resource-management-challenges/
6. CHALLENGES WOMEN FACE IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS And
ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: AN INVESTIGATION, Journal of
Leadership Education, Volume 8, and Issue 2.
7. http://www.websukat.com/HRM-problems-in-performance-appraisal.html

APPENDIX:

INTERVIEW SESSION WITH SAMIRA ZUBERI HIMIKA

1. What influenced you to become an entrepreneur?

Answer: I was in job till 2009, in 2010 I started and I think it came instantly, I wanted do
something different, to do something different, may be t was possible in job life but this
is the way I wanted to utilize my dream and time. Then I decided to go my way and thats
only possible when you have your own initiatives.
2. So, what were your three biggest challenges in your career?
Answer: Commonly number one is the people of Bangladesh do not pursue the diversify
things. Worldwide it is somehow common that people are doing different things at a
same time and I always believe in that. But I couldnt make some people understand
those things.
Secondly the kind of works that I do has no immediate return, but it may give some great
return after some times. So where you can get immediate return its hard to get loans and
partnerships.
Lastly majority things that I do are not that common. I mean nobody tried these things
before. So I had to go through the first painful process, which was very raw and
unpredictable. As these are so difficult, innovative and so nobody have tried it so I had to
give my 200% effort and resources on everything.
3. Did your family support you?
Answer: Yes, always. I do not take professional advices from my family but whatever I
do they support me.
4. Did you ever face the discrimination between boys and girls?
Answer? I have a brother. But people say that I am more privileged. But it never occurred
that our parents did any kind of discrimination.

5. Being a female leader did you face this discrimination in your career life?
Answer: I never present myself as a girl, I am a human being. But yes people do it. I am
glad that I faced less of these than other people. I see my female friends facing these and
then I try to help them. But yes in Bangladesh being a girl and leader is difficult.

6. How do you overcome with these?

Answer: well, I am very workaholic person, when I am with my team, creative people I
forget everything. I think my work helps to forget me these.
7. How do you maintain your work life and your personal life?
Answer: I have no personal life. An entrepreneur has no personal time. I am assigned
with too many organizations so I never have that time. Being a girl, doing business in
Bangladesh is more difficult. But I am fine with that.
8. How hard it is for a girl to come from a family then face the society and then develop her
profession?
Answer: well it is the story of every girls of the world, it is really very difficult but you
have to break that ice.
9. What is the main issue that destructs a woman from her corporate life?
Answer: Typical expectations of the society like you have to cook, get married, have
kids etc. They always try to make everyone happy. Women want to please everybody but
you cant make happy everyone. This makes you feel guilty and holds you back
10. Is there any special challenge for women in managing technology based organization?
Answer: Yes obviously. Women entrepreneurship is more about having a parlor or just a
boutique. There are a few women are engaged with the technology things. So its quite
hard and challenging to women in managing the technology in their organizations.
11. Do you think women managers have sufficient technical ability to solve work problems?
Answer: I feel every woman must know the basic technical knowledge. Somehow
women managers find it hard to solve the technical problems.

12. Have you ever faced any problem because you are a woman and an entrepreneur?
And what do you think how can we get rid of those problems?
Answer: I have to give you a comparison, when I was working in other organizations
nobody asked me that why I was there. I was there with my own capacity and quality.
But right now when Im an entrepreneur and there are people, a lot, who salute me for
leaving that career and for starting up. But there are also people who think that I am
doing well because I am a woman and I am privileged!
As a service holder my responsibility and as an entrepreneur my responsibility vary
greatly. When Im a job holder my responsibility is only for me but as an entrepreneur I
have to take responsibility of another 55 people who are giving up their everything for
me. And Im capable of taking responsibility of them and they are my family. There are
people who think that women are incapable of leading and managing work as
entrepreneur but I did and I think I am quite good at it. Moreover, Ive seen lot more
women doing this same thing with no less efficiency and smartness than men.
13. Okay, coming to organizational works, do you think women can become better
supervisors to the employees?
Answer: Yeah it depends actually. Since women are doing multitasking from the
beginning so yes a girl can do better in her life. I feel girls are good supervisors as well as
managers. They can manage multiple works at a same time.
14. Why it is called that people want to work under a male boss rather than a women boss?
Answer: May be if the employee is a boy, he wont feel good at learning works from a
girl because of his ego, he doesnt want to be submissive.
15. Is it hard to control your employees?
Answer: Not actually, I prefer to work to a team, full of creative people, they know their
job. I believe we are working as a team in a same mission.

16. How do you motivate them?

Answer: Its extremely challenging to stay motivated and to motivate team members.
Meaning: it might happen, well, it happened to me, I could not pay people for three
months for different reasons. And those three months were really hard. However, I took
that three months as a challenge and used as an experiment to see who stays and who
actually goes away or leave team engine. And it was a wonderful experience in a sense
that it helped me to see things differently.
17. How did and do you overcome with your organizational HR challenges?
Answer: I try to observe the employees, talk with them, work as a team and give proper
suggestion I needed.
I was & Im always well networked because I had the privilege to work in some
international platforms. If you dont have enough good network and you start something,
it means you are going to suffer a lot at the beginning. So, as a start-up, to me, you should
have good network, you should know where to go, and where to talk. You should know
where to pitch your products and where to go to get information. As I said, Im always
well networked as a result I did not face that kind of problem. But I know people who
faces this sort of problem.
And then there is the problem with the culture and society and system. Well, although I personally
did not encounter this problem but many of my colleagues and friends faced it. Culturally we like
people to work with a big brand. Parents dont want their kids to spoil their life by starting up
something but have a secure life with some multinational jobs. They dont believe that anybody
can start a business and make it happen. And this is a great challenge for start-ups in Bangladesh.
Its very difficult to make your people believe that entrepreneurship is not only cool, it is possible.
I think Im lucky in that sense that I did not face this problem.

INTERVIEW SESSION WITH ISHRAT AMIN

1. What inspired you to work with photography?

Answer: My mother was an amateur photographer and her passion for it has influenced
me a lot. I learnt many significant aspects of photography myself. First I started it as a
hobby and my parents, relatives and friends always appreciated my work. Hence, I felt
more encouraged and motivated to pursue it as my profession.
2. How does it feel to be the first women professional successful photographer in the
country?
3. Answer: It feels wonderful. Being a woman, when I entered the field carrying heavy
cameras it really astonished everyone. People around me often say that theyre proud of
me.
4. What difference have you made through your work?
Answer: Actually, the field of wedding photography is dominated by men. I feel they
have already started to believe the truth that women can also choose photography and
similar kind of professions as their career. Through hard work, sincerity and dedication
they can find success in this challenging field.
5. What was the major hurdle which you had to overcome?
Answer: I don't remember any major hurdle that I had to face in my work. But yes I had
to compete with the men photographers who were already very famous. I had t believe
everyone around the profession isnt only for men. It is all about passion and hard work.
6. What challenges did you face while working in this sector?
Answer: Photography itself is a much challenging work. And as Im engaged in wedding
photography, it is even more challenging because there is too much competition in this
field. In a three or four-hour wedding shoot, capturing some significant photographs of
excellent moments is a great challenge indeed.

7. Did you ever face the discrimination between boys and girls in the professional field?
Answer: Yes, people used to think that the wedding photography and other management
works are too heavy so a young girl like me wont ne able to handle these. And somehow
they can rely more on a male photographer rather than a female, I dont know why. But
now I believe my works have already minimized these discriminations.
8. As owning a wedding management company is a huge responsibility how do you balance
your work life and personal life?
Answer: It is always difficult to strike a correct balance in work life and personal life. But
I am really grateful to my family that they have always been very supportive and cooperative for which I am able to keep a balance between my work and my personal life.
Then again, there are times I need to compromise and sacrifice stuff in order to achieve a
natural balance instead of a correct balance. However, I believe life is the best teacher to
show the right path
9. Being a female leader how hard it is to maintain the whole organization?
Answer: It is quite hard actually. I have to maintain a healthy atmosphere among all the
employees and the clients as well. I have to look at the photographers, editors, musicians,
and other employees who work in decorations.
10. Do you think women managers have sufficient abilities to solve work problems in this
fried?
Answer: Though it is tough but I feel if a girl is determined and passionate to her work it
may not feel that difficult.
11. So, how to you supervise and control your employees?
Answer: Well, I supervise and try to control them in a very friendly way. I train the
photographers, make sessions with the other employees too. I try to give them new tasks
every day and analyze the results to advise them.
12. How do you overcome with your organizational HR challenges?
Answer: I always try to work directly the employees, teach them practically, talk with
them, work as a team, encourage them t participate more and try to remove if there is any
kind of conflict.

13. How to you analyze your employees work performances?

Answer: I try to observe them very directly, see their work outputs and analyze them. I
always compare ones todays work with his/her yesterdays work.