Golshan Javadian

Examining successful Iranian women entrepreneurs: an exploratory study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors impacting successful Iranian women entrepreneurs. The factors include: self‐efficacy, risk taking, negative stereotypes, and societal culture and traditions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes interviews conducted with a sample of successful Iranian women entrepreneurs and examines the challenges they had to overcome, as well as their success factors.Findings – Challenges caused by the negative stereotypes and traditions of Iranian society are barriers successful Iranian women entrepreneurs had to overcome. The possession of personal internal factors such as high levels of self‐efficacy and risk taking positively impacted these womens success.Research limitation/implications – The interviews were not conducted by the authors and were published in Farsi, so there may be interpretation and/or translation issues. However, there are few empirical studies on Iranian women entrepreneurs, and this research is one of the first that contri...

The impact of bureaucracies and occupational segregation on participation of Iranian women in the workforce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges facing Iranian women in the workforce. While Iranian womens participation in higher education is exceptionally high, their participation in the workforce, especially the public sector, is low. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the bureaucratic structures in public organizations with the “ideal” type of bureaucracy as defined by Weber (1922). Moreover, occupational segregation, which limits womens choices, is examined as another barrier for Iranian womens participation in the workforce. Findings – The paper argues that the main reason for the low participation of women in public organizations is the ill-structured bureaucracies in these organizations. Also, occupational segregation limits the career choices of Iranian women. Some of the challenges caused by these two factors are the result of discriminative rules and regulations. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the limited knowledge concerning the issues faced b...

Entrepreneurial Opportunities as the Heart of Entrepreneurship Research: A Reflection on Venkataraman (1997)

In this chapter we review the seminal article of Venkataraman (Adv Entr Firm Emerg Growth 3:119–138, 1997), which clarified the role of entrepreneurial opportunities in entrepreneurship research. The article also offered a framework to identify the boundaries of entrepreneurship as a distinctive domain of research by explaining the processes evolving around opportunities. We start by summarizing the paper and by reviewing the core ideas in the article. We also explain why we believe the article is a classic. Then we review the opportunity research that appeared before Venkataraman as well as some of the research built upon Venkataraman’s argument. Finally, we discuss how future research can continue to build on the insights from the article and in ways that continue to resonate in the field.

Classics in Entrepreneurship Research: Enduring Insights, Future Promises

Academic inquiry into entrepreneurial phenomena has had a rich history over several decades and continues to evolve. This editorial draws attention to the classics: seminal articles that make profound contributions to the development of an academic field in entrepreneurship studies. We focus on the formative years of entrepreneurship research, specifically the 1970s and 1980s, to identify classics using a key informant approach that surveys members of the journal editorial board. Each nominated classic is introduced and discussed by an editorial board member, with particular focus on research opportunities that may be pursued going forward. Analyzing classics allows for the recognition of substantive advances in entrepreneurship research and provides an opportunity to delve into the academic progress achieved in understanding entrepreneurial phenomena.