Spinder Dhaliwal

Silent contributors: Asian female entrepreneurs and women in business

Abstract — The “growth” of Asian enterprises has been a prominent feature of the small business population in Britain. Asian entrepreneurs have been eulogised by the popular press keen to laud free enterprise heroes, while more detached academic commentary has sought to identify the key success factors for this entrepreneurial minority. Much less conspicuous has been the role of female Asian entrepreneurs and Asian women working in “family” businesses. This article focuses upon the often neglected issue of the contribution of Asian women to both entrepreneurship and the management of family businesses. In order to illuminate the position of Asian women in business, a series of qualitative interviews were undertaken with two particular groups: Asian women entrepreneurs in their own right; and Asian women working in family enterprises. Five representatives from each group were interviewed on at least two occasions. Issues explored with Asian women entrepreneurs include their background, their influences, the factors that facilitated or inhibited their decision to become self-employed, their experiences of entrepreneurship and the particular issues that confront them as Asian women in business. Interviews with Asian women working in family enterprises explored their role and contribution to the management of the business. Amongst the issues covered are their “official” and “unofficial” positions within the business; the balance between domestic and business responsibilities and the influence, if any, of cultural factors in the nature of their presence within the enterprise. This article sheds light on a number of neglected issues within the increasingly important area of Asian entrepreneurship in Britain. First, a clearer picture will emerge of the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the relatively few Asian women who are entrepreneurs in their own right; and the many more who help sustain many Asian enterprises. Second, methodologically the paper will be novel in so far as the researcher (an Asian woman from a “typical” family business background) has taken care to observe the cultural proprieties within this particular group. Hence, the data are arguably more authentic than previous studies undertaken by “distant” researchers. Finally, policy makers are increasingly being reminded to appreciate the needs and the diversity of ethnic minorities in business. The findings reinforce this message by highlighting the distinctive experiences of Asian women in business.

Asians in the UK: gender, generations and enterprise

Purpose – Asian immigrant entrepreneurs in the UK have been used as examples of what can be done through free enterprise. Academic interest is developing in the changes taking place as newer generations emerge. Seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – A small‐scale qualitative study was undertaken with interviews of five men and five women entrepreneurs of the second generation. The issues explored included their background, the factors that have influenced, facilitated or inhibited their decision to become self‐employed, their experiences of entrepreneurship and the particular issues that confronted them. Female entrepreneurs in the sample were older and felt inhibited and more constrained than their male counterparts in their freedom to act.Findings – Both males and females of second generation entered business through attraction for the opportunities rather than as their only option in an unknown environment. Notwithstanding expectations, later generations did not enter activities ad...

Missing the Point? Management education and entrepreneurship

The growth in management education generally, and entrepreneurship education specifically, has occurred at the same time as increasing importance is attached to management both as an activity for academic investigation and as a practical activity in both public and private sectors. This paper argues that the intellectual foundations of this growth are unsupported by a significant volume of evidence and so it is unlikely that the hope for economic outcomes will be achieved. In the specific case of entrepreneurship education, this paper recommends that the tension between prescription and recognition of the activity needs to be resolved by both academics and policy makers before the benefits of education in this area can be realised.

Training Women to Win: A practical perspective on the training needs of women entrepreneurs

Purpose – Training Women to Win, a University of Surrey project set out to identify good practice in terms of available support and to produce and pilot recommendations that will improve current business support and training provision for women. In this context, this paper aims to consider some of the key challenges faced by women seeking to start a new business.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was posted online on a dedicated project web site, in collaboration with Everywoman Ltd Links were established from other sites. In total, about 1,000 women were targeted. A series of focus groups were also held.Findings – The main findings of the project are that business support providers tend to be target driven and thus supply is not always geared to demand. One of the consequences of this target culture is a “one size fits all” strategy.Practical implications – The paper shows that many respondents, although largely aware that agencies exist, are often unaware of the services that they provide and...

Insatiable demand or academic supply: the intellectual context of entrepreneurship education

Purpose – To consider whether the growth in management and entrepreneurship education is driven by (external) demand or (internal) academic supply.Design/methodology/approach – Three key elements of the intellectual context of management and entrepreneurship education are considered: the apparent causal relationship between improved management and economic performance; the privilege afforded to management as an agent of change in the context of globalisation; reforms in the public sector which define problems in terms of management rather than resources.Findings – There is a lack of clarity as to whether the purpose of entrepreneurship education is about promoting higher levels of activity or better recognising entrepreneurial activity.Originality/value – The paper offers an alternative perspective on entrepreneurship education through an examination of its purpose rather than its form and content.

The Finnish Team Academy model: Implications for management education

This article explores an innovative model of management education, the Team Academy based in Finland, in which teams of learners create and operate real enterprises, supported by coaches. The contributions of the article are to provide insights into how the Team Academy works, and to review its implications for theories of management learning and educational design. Based on a case study of the Team Academy model, we argue that management education programmes need to be construed as artificially created learning environments, and specifically as ‘micro-cultures’ – local contexts in which pedagogical and cultural practices coalesce. The concept of a micro-culture can bring together four main attributes of learning environments, namely, social embeddedness, real-worldness, identity formation, and normative. Construing learning environments in this way has likely important implications for the theory and practice of management learning and education, since a micro-culture is a complex, emergent phenomenon that is not necessarily controllable or transferable.

The Asian business sector and the dynamics of change: A story of growth, diversity and success in the UK

Purpose – The Asian business community has been noted for its contribution to the UK economy. This vibrant sector of the small to medium‐sized enterprises population serves to illustrate diversity in terms of spanning sectors including manufacturing and services, entertainment and fashion, hotels and property, food and pharmaceuticals. This paper seeks to draw out trends within this increasingly important sector of the economy.Design/methodology/approach – The study reports on a research project which comprises the latest phase in a seven‐year, longitudinal study of the richest 200 Asian business people in the UK.Findings – The analysis suggests that the Asian business community has delivered significant and sustained growth which is higher than average growth in the UK.Originality/value – For policy makers and the business support community, this paper offers a greater understanding of the dynamics behind the success stories and thus offers opportunities to tailor any engagement with this community appro...

Dynamism and Enterprise: Asian Female Entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom

Abstract The aim of this paper is to see how Asian female entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom have developed and to increase our understanding of this entrepreneurial minority. The study looks at some of the more successful Asian women who are prominent in the United Kingdom by being featured in the top 200 Asian rich list. Both primary and secondary sources were used to profile these women. Open ended face-to-face interviews were also conducted with Asian women from second/third generations who had some business ownership stake in the more traditional low value added, labour intensive businesses. Questions centred around why they started their business, the support they received, the challenges facing them specifically as Asian women in business both at start up and beyond, their aspirations for the future of the business and their motivations. The findings show that the gap appears to have widened between the more successful Asian business woman and those women who are still opting for low value added, labour intensive firms. The practical implications of this study are that Asian women are an increasingly important part of the SME group and thus increasing the quality of business provision, advice, start up and growth would make this vital sector even more productive. This study will also help sensitise and inform business support agents, banks, advisors both public sector and private. Understanding the needs of this entrepreneurial minority is important for academic, policy makers and support professionals.

Business support and minority ethnic businesses in England

ABSTRACT This paper considers the attitudes of minority ethnic businesses (MEBs) in England towards current business support provision. Fifty business owner-managers from the South Asian, African/Caribbean and Korean communities were contacted and through a semi-structured interview, were able to elaborate on their experiences, if any, of business support provision. The study found different attitudes and levels of the utilization of business support across the different communities with the African/Caribbean community being most positive towards any business support initiatives. South Asian businesses tended to rely more on informal support networks and Korean companies were the least engaged with formal support structures and mechanisms.The findings suggest that policy makers need to appreciate the diversity of MEBs and policies aimed at helping such businesses should reflect this diversity. This research adds to the growing literature on minority ethnic businesses in the UK and has lessons for minority groups and business providers in other countries facing similar business and cultural challenges.

Entrepreneurial Discovery and Asian Entrepreneurship in the UK

High-growth British Asian entrepreneurial success in the UK has been a phenomenon that has been well documented. A traditional approach to this phenomenon has been to see the success from the perspectives of resource acquisition and the industrial sectors the businesses are based in, and contextualized by the environment. In this chapter we argue that the lens of entrepreneurial discovery and opportunity recognition provides more telling insights into the nature of Asia entrepreneurship. Having unique access to high-growth Asian entrepreneurs, we report on a case analysis of eleven high-growth Asian entrepreneurs through the lens of entrepreneurial discovery. We conclude that the study of high-growth Asian entrepreneurship offers a new perspective on contextualizing entrepreneurial discovery, providing a greater understanding of this phenomenon.