The Center for Women’s Business Research estimates women are now the majority owners in 6.7 million privately held businesses in the United States and equal owners in another 4.0…
Abstract
The Center for Women’s Business Research estimates women are now the majority owners in 6.7 million privately held businesses in the United States and equal owners in another 4.0 million firms. When part owners in multiple businesses are included the female ownership total climbs to an estimated 15.6 million businesses. Women majority owners account for nearly half (48 per cent) of the privately‐held firms in the United States. Their businesses generate $2.46 trillion in sales. They employ 19.1 million people and spend an estimated $492 billion on salaries and $54 billion on employee benefits. The number of women‐owned firms increases at twice the rate of all new firms (14 per cent versus 7 per cent) and the number of employees nearly as fast (30 per cent versus 18 per cent). Women owners are rapidly moving into all industries, with the fastest growth percentages in the fields of construction (30 per cent), transportation, communications and public utilities (28 per cent) and agricultural services (24 per cent). Worldwide, with women entrepreneurs in under developed countries leading the way, women‐owned firms now comprise between one‐fourth and one‐third of all businesses. Given the numbers, it would be almost impossible to overestimate the impact of women owned businesses in today’s global economy.
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E. Holly Buttner and Kevin B. Lowe
The purpose of this paper is to examine: the direct effect of perceived pay equity, the interaction of perceived pay equity and productivity, and the relative effects of perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine: the direct effect of perceived pay equity, the interaction of perceived pay equity and productivity, and the relative effects of perceived internal and external pay equity on organizational commitment (OC) among US scholars of color.
Design/methodology/approach
The study surveyed 160 professionals. Correlation and hierarchical regression were employed to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Perceived pay equity directly influenced OC and interacted with scholarly productivity to affect commitment. Highly productive participants who perceived pay equity reported the highest commitment. When pay was seen as inequitable, the most productive scholars reported the lowest commitment. Perceived internal pay equity had an effect, over and above perceived external pay equity on commitment.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in one industry in the USA, so the results should be generalized cautiously. While, the data were single-source and cross-sectional, the findings were consistent with previous research.
Practical implications
Findings may be useful for minority scholars’ supervisors since they have knowledge of the productivity and salaries in the department and can provide a detailed explanation for pay differences to enhance pay equity perceptions, particularly for the most productive scholars.
Originality/value
This study adds to the equity and relative deprivation theory research investigating the effect of perceived pay equity on employee outcomes by examining perceived internal and external pay equity perceptions and productivity on OC. Results suggest that highly productive minority professionals in higher education are particularly sensitive to pay equity.
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Satyanandini Arjunan, Prathima Bhat and Ganesh R. Kumar
This case can be used in the core course on entrepreneurship for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Master of Business Administration/Post Graduate Diploma in…
Abstract
Study level/applicability
This case can be used in the core course on entrepreneurship for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Master of Business Administration/Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA/PGDM) students. It will help them to understand the motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs, strategies to manage challenges, interactive style of leadership and their contribution to the economic growth of the country.
Subject area
Entrepreneurship.
Case overview
Roopa Rani, co-founded a digital design company, DesignTheme Innoventics (DTI), with her husband Yoganand, in November 2007, on the first floor of their residence. Yoganand’s creativity and Roopa’s determination made them bootstrap, scale slow and steady. As a novice to the industry, the initial days posed many challenges. Roopa hired artists to be appointed as designers, which gave them a unique selling preposition. They progressed slowly from a team of 2 to 20, with a revenue of INR 0.3M per annum to INR 12M per annum. As the company grew, Roopa wanted Yoganand’s support in handling the responsibilities, and hence, converted DTI into a limited liability partnership in 2013 and the couple were directors. As the client base improved, the need for shifting to a bigger space became more evident. A calculative risk-taker, Roopa, was forced to move DTI to a bigger office space end 2017, with a rent of INR60,000 per month. Meanwhile, they became a team of 20, with revenue of INR12m. The shift from no rent to a rented space made DTI slip to break-even. However, after two years, they moved into a smaller space and it coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the backlog orders were processed during the first quarter of 2020–2021, the business for the next quarter was affected. Social distancing norms created a shift in the way of doing business, which was a boon for a designing company like DTI. Now, the task before this self-made woman entrepreneur was to formulate strategies to scale up the business.
Expected learning outcomes
After analysing the case, the students will be able to: i. Value the contribution of women entrepreneurs towards the economy. ii. Examine the motivational factors and challenges of women entrepreneurs. iii. Understand the importance of networking. iv. Appraise the socio-cultural factors in a patriarchal society and their impact on the work-life balance of a woman entrepreneur. v. Appreciate the interactive leadership style of women entrepreneurs. vi. Formulate strategies to scale up the business.
Supplementary materials
• Agarwal, S., & Lenka, U. (2015). Study on work-life balance of women entrepreneurs – review and research agenda. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(7), 356–362. doi:10.1108/ict-01–2015-0006 • Amit, R., & Muller, E. (1995). “Push” And “Pull” Entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 12(4), 64–80. doi:10.1080/08276331.1995.10600505 • Buttner, E. H. (2001). Examining Female Entrepreneurs' Management Style: An Application of a Relational Frame. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(3), 253–269. doi:10.1023/a:1026460615436 • Carter, S.C. (1997). E. Holly Buttner and Dorothy P. Moore (1997), ‘Women’s Organisational Exodus to Entrepreneurship: Self-reported Motivations and Correlates with Success', Journal of Small Business Management, January, pp34-47. • Cohoon, J. McGrath and Wadhwa, Vivek and Mitchell, Lesa, Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men? (May 11, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract = 1604653 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1604653 •Fletcher, J. (1998), Relational Practice: A Feminist Reconstruction of Work, Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2), 163-186. • Kirkwood, J. (2009). Motivational factors in a push‐pull theory of entrepreneurship. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 24(5), 346–364. doi:10.1108/17542410910968805. • Malyadri, G., Dr. (2012). Role of women Entrepreneurs in the Economic Development of India. Paripex – Indian Journal of Research, 3(3), 104–105. doi: 10.15373/22501991/mar2014/36. Pal, N. (2016). Women Entrepreneurship in India: Important for Economic Growth. International Journal of Pure and Applied Researches, 4(1), 55–64. Pugazhendhi, D. P. (2019). Problems, Challenges and Development of Women Entrepreneurs. Emperor Journal of Economics and Social Science Research, 1(4), 48–53. doi:10.35338/ejessr.2019.1407. Shastri, S., Shastri, S., & Pareek, A. (2019). Motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 39(5/6), 338–355. doi:10.1108/ijssp-09–2018-0146. Tende, S.B. (2016). The Impact of Women Entrepreneurs towards National Development: Selected Study on Taraba State. Information and Knowledge Management, 6, 30–43. Xheneti, M., Karki, S. T., & Madden, A. (2018). Negotiating business and family demands within a patriarchal society – the case of women entrepreneurs in the Nepalese context. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(3–4), 259–278. doi:10.1080/08985626.2018.1551792
Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
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E. Holly Buttner and William Latimer Tullar
Workforce analytics is an evolving measurement approach in human resource (HR) planning and strategy implementation. Workforce analytics can help organizations manage one of their…
Abstract
Purpose
Workforce analytics is an evolving measurement approach in human resource (HR) planning and strategy implementation. Workforce analytics can help organizations manage one of their most important resources: their human capital. The purpose of this paper is to propose a diversity metric, called the D-Metric, as a new tool for HR planning. The D-Metric can be used to assess the demographic representativeness of employees across skill categories of an organization’s workforce compared to its relevant labor markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present a real example and discuss possible applications of the D-Metric in HRM strategic planning and diversity research.
Findings
The D-Metric is a statistic useful in assessing demographic representativeness in the occupational categories of an organization’s workforce compared to the demographics of its relevant labor markets. The methodology could be implemented to assess an organization’s work force representativeness on dimensions such as race, sex, age and pay levels. When the labor market is unitary, without measurable variance, a substitute metric, the U-Metric also presented in this paper, can be used.
Research limitations/implications
Use of the D-Metric requires publicly available labor market data with variance across labor market segments.
Originality/value
There currently is no published metric that evaluates the representativeness of an organization’s work force relative to its relevant labor markets. Many organizations seek a demographically representative workforce to better understand their diverse customer segments. Monitoring the representativeness of an organization’s work force, as captured in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO-1) forms in the USA, for example, is an important component of HR management strategy. From a legal perspective, the D-Metric or the alternative U-Metric, could be useful in showing progress toward a demographically representative work force.
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E. Holly Buttner, Kevin B. Lowe and Lenora Billings‐Harris
The purposes of this paper are three‐fold: first, to examine the effect of diversity climate on professional employee of color outcomes, organizational commitment and turnover…
Abstract
Purpose
The purposes of this paper are three‐fold: first, to examine the effect of diversity climate on professional employee of color outcomes, organizational commitment and turnover intentions; second, to investigate the moderating and mediating roles of interactional and procedural justice on the relationships between diversity climate and the outcomes; and third, to explore the interactive effect of racial awareness and diversity climate on reported psychological contract violation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a survey of 182 professionals of color. Correlation, factor analysis, and regression were employed to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results indicate that diversity climate affects organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Interactional and procedural justice played mediating roles between diversity climate and employee outcomes. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that for turnover intentions, there was moderated mediation under both low and high procedural justice conditions. When a diversity climate was perceived to be fair, racially aware respondents reported lower levels of psychological contract violation.
Research limitations/implications
Professionals of color from one US industry completed the survey, so conclusions about generalizability should be drawn with caution. Data were cross‐sectional and single‐source. However, the findings were consistent with past research, lending credibility to the results.
Originality/value
Recent research on workforce diversity has highlighted the importance of effectively managing all organizational members. The paper shows that the diversity climate and organizational justice impact employee of color outcomes. Thus, for managers, creating and maintaining a positive, fair diversity climate will be important for attracting and retaining high‐quality professionals of color in US organizations.
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E. Holly Buttner and Kevin B. Lowe
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the socio-demographic diversity characteristic, racioethnicity, vs the deeper-level socially constructed attribute…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the socio-demographic diversity characteristic, racioethnicity, vs the deeper-level socially constructed attribute, awareness of racial privilege (which the authors termed “racial awareness”), on perceptions of organizational justice and on trust in management (TM) (trust) in a US context. The authors predicted that racial awareness would have a greater effect on perceptions of interactional and procedural justice and on trust than would participant racioethnicity. Second, the authors predicted that justice perceptions would influence trust. Finally the authors predicted that justice perceptions would mediate between racial awareness and TM.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed Black, Hispanic and Native American professionals in one industry in the USA. The authors employed regression and bootstrap analyses to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Racial awareness influenced justice ratings and TM. Justice perceptions influenced employee trust. Interactional and procedural justice had indirect effects on the relationship between racial awareness and trust, supporting the hypotheses.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents were primarily African-American, so additional research to assess attitudes of other groups is needed. Respondents belonged to a minority networking group which provided the sample. It is possible that their membership sensitized the respondents to racial issues.
Practical implications
The finding suggest that managers can positively influence US minority employees’ trust regardless of the employees’ racial awareness by treating them with dignity and respect and by ensuring fairness in the application of organizational policies and procedures.
Originality/value
This study examined the impact of US minority employee racial awareness on justice perceptions and TM, important variables in the employer-employee relationship. Findings indicated that racial awareness was a better predictor of employee attitudes than was racioethnicity.
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The impact of leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation on group performance has been considered ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to resolve this ambiguity by theorizing…
Abstract
Purpose
The impact of leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation on group performance has been considered ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to resolve this ambiguity by theorizing and examining a curvilinear relationship between LMX differentiation and group performance, and the moderating effects of group diversity on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were drawn from 63 work groups (consisting of 322 members and 63 group leaders) selected from 27 technology service companies in South Korea. Group members rated their perceived LMX quality, while the human resource (HR) directors of each company assessed group performance.
Findings
The results showed that LMX differentiation had an inverted U-shaped relationship with group performance and that gender diversity and age diversity negatively moderated that relationship. However, the interaction between LMX differentiation and education-level diversity was not significant.
Originality/value
This study extends extant research by addressing the inconsistency among theoretical perspectives on the effects of LMX differentiation. This study transcends earlier research by considering the complex process of LMX differentiation, such as the curvilinear relationship between LMX differentiation and group performance, and the moderating effects of group diversity on that relationship.
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Sadia Mansoor, Phuong Anh Tran and Muhammad Ali
Diversity management is gaining attention in the organizations. This study aims to theorize and test a model linking efforts to support diversity and organizational value of…
Abstract
Purpose
Diversity management is gaining attention in the organizations. This study aims to theorize and test a model linking efforts to support diversity and organizational value of diversity with job satisfaction and organizational identification and to propose that these relationships are mediated by an organization’s diversity climate.
Design/methodology/approach
Employee survey was used to collect data from employees at an Australian manufacturing organization. Structural equation modelling in AMOS was performed for the proposed model, controlling for age and gender.
Findings
The mediating role of diversity climate in the relationship of organizational value of diversity and outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational identification) is significant. The authors discuss theoretical, research and practical contributions.
Originality/value
The present study extends the literature by testing a mediation model derived from the signalling and social exchange theories.
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Amro Alzghoul, Hamzah Elrehail, Okechukwu Lawrence Emeagwali and Mohammad K. AlShboul
This study aims at providing empirical evidence pertaining to the interaction among authentic leadership, workplace harmony, worker's creativity and performance in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at providing empirical evidence pertaining to the interaction among authentic leadership, workplace harmony, worker's creativity and performance in the context of telecommunication sector. These research streams remain important issues and of interest as the world continues to migrate toward a knowledge-based economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying structural equation modeling, this study diagnosed the impact of Authentic leadership (AL) on employees (n = 345) in two Jordanian telecommunication firms, specifically, how it shapes workplace climate, creativity and job performance. The study also tests the moderating role of knowledge sharing in the model, as well as the mediating role of workplace climate on the relationship between AL and positive organizational outcomes.
Findings
The empirical result suggests that AL positively influences workplace climate, creativity and job performance; workplace climate positively influences creativity and job performance; workplace climate mediates the relationship between AL and creativity, and job performance; and knowledge sharing behavior moderates the relationship between AL and workplace climate.
Originality/value
This study highlights the magnificent power of AL and knowledge sharing, not only in shaping the workplace atmosphere but also in delineating how these variables stimulate creativity and performance among employees. The implications for research and practice are discussed.
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I. Dami Alegbeleye and Curtis R. Friedel
The purpose of this study was to examine if team composition based on adaption-innovation (A-I) problem-solving styles is related to the teamwork quality and team effectiveness…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine if team composition based on adaption-innovation (A-I) problem-solving styles is related to the teamwork quality and team effectiveness (TE) of student project teams participating in a [state-gifted program (SGP)].
Design/methodology/approach
A correlational design was conducted with a sample of 72 (SGP) participants, consisting of 15 project teams (n = 15), which formed three groups: (1) the homogeneous adaptive group, which consists of five homogeneous adaptive teams (n = 5); (2) the homogeneous innovative group, which consists of five homogeneous innovative teams (n = 5), and (3) the heterogeneous group (i.e. a mix of innovative and adaptive individuals), which consists of five heterogeneous teams (n = 5).
Findings
A one-way ANOVA and post-hoc test revealed that team composition based on problem-solving styles is related to teamwork quality and TE. Regarding TE, both homogeneous groups (i.e. all adaptive or all innovative individuals) were more effective than the heterogeneous group. However, regarding teamwork quality, only the adaptive group had significantly higher teamwork quality than the heterogeneous group.
Practical implications
We recommend that leadership educators utilize Kirton’s adaption-innovation inventory (KAI) as a tool for building effective student project teams. KAI can be used by leadership educators in two major ways: to assign students to groups (as done in the current study) or for team building, where team members share their KAI scores to better understand their problem-solving preferences.
Originality/value
The findings add to the literature by specifying the type of homogeneous groups (i.e. homogeneous adaptive), which may offer an advantage over heterogeneous groups regarding teamwork quality.