Yvonne von Friedrichs

Beyond the numbers: qualitative growth in women's businesses

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the growth of womens businesses from a qualitative perspective. The paper identifies strategic building blocks for defining a set of different growth platforms. Moreover, the paper investigates growth ambitions for women inside each identified “type” of growth platform and identifies critical motivation variables that can influence the decision to move from growing one business platform to growing another platform.Design/methodology/approach – The results are based on 191 women entrepreneurs. Data were analyzed by coding narrative statements from the survey into overarching themes for business platforms, descriptive frequency analysis and logistic regression analysis techniques.Findings – The paper discerned five different growth platforms and noticed intrinsic or extrinsic growth ambitions for platform growth. The extrinsic platforms are the most common, but all platforms can be characterized by equally high growth aspirations. Each of the i...

Networking women entrepreneurs: fruitful for business growth?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the kinds of contacts and networks women find supportive in their role as business leaders, and which also support their willingness to grow their business. The approach is to investigate the context of women entrepreneurs and the kinds of supporting social networks of which they are part. This is seen in relation to their willingness to grow.Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were sent to women entrepreneurs in mid‐Sweden and mid‐Norway, relating to supportive assets and willingness for growth.Findings – The results show: that personal networks are seen as a more supportive asset than business networks; that personal contacts with other entrepreneurs are regarded as valuable; and that women entrepreneurs who are positive towards new networks already have a more heterogenic network than those who do not express this willingness.Practical implications – Without a relational attitude and a willingness to put oneself into a relational interplay, wom...

Risk perception matters: why women’s passion may not lead to a business start-up

Purpose – This paper aims to explore whether nascent women entrepreneurs perceive more risks than men, and to determine how higher risk perceptions might limit start-up decisions by mediating the potential influence of passion and self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach – This study surveyed 103 participants in Sweden – both women and men – who, in the period 2008 through 2011, intended to start a business. ANOVA tests and binominal logistic regression models were conducted to test hypothesized framework. Findings – The authors found that nascent women entrepreneurs perceive more risk than nascent male entrepreneurs, that risk perceptions influence start-up decisions and that risk preferences partial out the otherwise identified influence of passion on start-up decisions. Research limitations/implications – The authors reveal a consequence of gender socialization and how it impacts the start-up decisions of nascent women entrepreneurs. Support systems should consider developing activities that change t...

Entrepreneurial renewal in a peripheral region: the case of a winter automotive-testing cluster in Sweden

This research paper generates new insights into renewal processes that may occur in peripheral regions. Key findings are presented from an explorative study on a regionally clustered automotive-testing industry, located in northern Sweden. The findings suggest that despite theoretically unfavourable conditions it is possible to progress regional industry after a peripheral settings socio-economic relapses. Moreover, this research shows how, notwithstanding the importance of profitable service offerings, an entrepreneurial environment can be encouraged within a peripheral region and subsequent renewal achieved by advancing local networks, improving internationalization and enhancing local infrastructures related to a service-based regional industry. Consequently this research offers us a glimpse into a pioneering service-based renewal case which, in essence, differs from previously reported entrepreneurship scholarship.

Entrepreneurship in society : a review and definition of community-based entrepreneurship research

Although of undisputed importance for practice and regional policy, community-based entrepreneurship, when it comes to the literature, has only developed slowly over the course of almost forty years. In this chapter, we review the work done, comment on developments, present a definition of the concept, and outline some directions and future opportunities for enhancing the accumulation of more specialized knowledge. The chapter concludes that community-based entrepreneurship research has an important relationship with the development of social entrepreneurship research, but that it has a unique set of own characteristics. We conclude by presenting a list of themes based upon previous research that have the potential to facilitate further knowledge-building.

Social Entrepreneurship : Leveraging Economic, Political, and Cultural Dimensions

This contributed volume features state-of-the-art research from ten different countries on implementation, institutionalization and the future prospects of social entrepreneurship. This volume aims ...

Trust-building processes in women’s entrepreneurship

Purpose - – Social capital is perceived as an important driver for entrepreneurship. To support development of social capital in women’s entrepreneurship, the Swedish government supports development projects with the aim of stimulating business growth. Recent studies show that trust is an essential ingredient when designing such projects. The purpose of this paper is to further develop a theoretical model of trust-building processes by developing and trying out questions regarding trust elements and to study how projects have addressed these various trust-building elements. Design/methodology/approach - – An exploratory approach was used, and a survey was conducted. A questionnaire about trust was sent to the project leaders of all 165 development projects in a Swedish government-funded programme with a response rate of 73 per cent. The data were analysed in SPSS. Findings - – The results show that contextual and relational aspects should be taken into account in the trust model, and that some of the questions regarding trust elements need to be elaborated more. Originality/value - – This paper further develops the construction of a proposed theoretical model of trust-building processes.

A Review of Social Entrepreneurship Research

To enhance the understanding of social entrepreneurship, researchers have to reach a consensus on the construct of definitions and, in doing so, acknowledge the diversity of research interests invo ...

Political entrepreneurs, networking women entrepreneurs and business growth

Women as business entrepreneurs have been the subject of more intensive research in the last decades, not least in connection with European Union (EU) projects and inter-state comparisons. However, regional comparisons within states like the Nordic states in general and within, like Sweden in particular, are rare. In this chapter, we explore whether regional business traditions and regional structures influence women entrepreneurs, and if so, how and to what extent. The research questions are as follows: Under which conditions and with which criteria is political entrepreneurship of crucial importance as counterweight to strong business networks, or are they to be considered complementary? Does political entrepreneurship matter, and if so what would be the criteria for women’s business entrepreneurship? Do some forms of networks replace the absence of political entrepreneurship or are they to be considered as complementary? How is this affected by local or regional business climates and corresponding historical traditions?

Collective Entrepreneurship. Networking as a strategy for business development

The paper addresses the emerging practice of collective entrepreneurship and demonstrate a model of network marketing management in SMEs. The use of cooperation and alliances between local actors has gained increasing attention in the contemporary economy and has been discussed as a strategy for coping with increasing global competition. One example of an area in which this focus has gained acceptance is among actors located in the experience industry and especially in tourist destinations. The focus of this paper is to elaborate on marketing models in a small and medium sized tourism enterprises setting. The problem is considered from the entrepreneurship, marketing and networking perspectives. The result is based on a case study of an horizontal hotel network in the context of a Swedish municipality. In-depth interviews with hotel owners or managers as well as with the local tourism authorities contributed with the main information in the case. The interviews resulted in a visualisation of a powerful web of connections between actors showing the impact of collective entrepreneurship to achieve positive business development. This paper suggests that theories of networks may contribute to a logic that provides a better understanding of contemporary tourist destination marketing practice.