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Article
Publication date: 9 October 2019

Laurice Alexandre and Radwan Kharabsheh

Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is the third smallest country in Asia. Like its neighbours’, Bahrain’s economy is developing fast and the place of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is the third smallest country in Asia. Like its neighbours’, Bahrain’s economy is developing fast and the place of women in the work landscape is evolving. But few papers discuss the situation of women entrepreneurs in this country. The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of women entrepreneurship in Bahrain, a country in the midst of high transition. The research question is: How do Bahraini women cope with the evolution of their environment? And how far are they keen to develop their own businesses?

Design/methodology/approach

After a literature review, a qualitative research was conducted among 12 women entrepreneurs of 19 to 51 years of age.

Findings

The results show a new kind of female entrepreneurship in the Arab region based on the support of the sociocultural environment, which is in contradiction with the literature. Also, it seems that Bahrain women are more in pull, not push situation to entrepreneurship. However, they need a role model to achieve their goals, which is new to the literature about women entrepreneurship in general and that in the developing countries in particular. As regards the obstacles, some Bahraini women seem to suffer from a lack of experience and knowledge in setting a business online. However, the results show that the companies of these women are mostly small and evolving in the service sector, with a trend in online businesses.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited by the number of persons interviewed, which does not allow the generalization of the results. Also, generalization to the whole region is not possible because each country of the GCC has its own rules and practices towards women. Also, this study has not investigated the attitude towards the risk and the balance between family and profession.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few research studies on female entrepreneurship in Bahrain. The findings are in contradiction with the literature on women entrepreneurship in developing countries and more specifically in the GCC. This study offers many research perspectives and could help governmental and non-governmental institutions to empower and support women in their actions.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

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Article
Publication date: 3 June 2019

Laurice Alexandre, Charbel Salloum and Adel Alalam

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: what motivates refugees to create their own businesses in a developing country, and how do they go about it?

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: what motivates refugees to create their own businesses in a developing country, and how do they go about it?

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative study was conducted before Syrian refugees in main camps in Lebanon. The self-administrated survey was translated into the Arabic language to fit the respondents understanding of the questions asked and answers choices. Closed questions with nominal ratio and Likert scales were used to gather the primary data in the line of the study of Wauters and Lambrecht. The data were analysed with a logistic regression analysis under SPSS.

Findings

The findings show that 71 per cent of Syrian refugees seem to have a willingness to start a new business in Lebanon. The respondents are mostly young, with 62 per cent being between the ages of 18 and 35. Most of them are men (66.67 per cent) against 33.33 per cent of women. 60 per cent have already been entrepreneurs, and they are mostly motivated by earning a living but in the sector they used to work in before in their home country. Finally, the obstacles seem to be linked to financial and administrative issues, but also to the local policies. However, the fact that they share some cultural values with Lebanese such as the language or food, allow them to integrate easier and to create social bonds.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited by the fact that the authors cannot generalise the findings since the Lebanese environment is very different from other countries’ environment. Besides, the Syrian refugees share already a lot of values and lifestyle with Lebanese. So, the authors cannot transpose their case to other ethnic population. Also, the study is limited by the lack of a gender statement and the link between the education level and the decision of creating a new business.

Practical implications

The authors propose some recommendations to the Lebanese Government and NGOs in order to facilitate and support the entrepreneurship actions of refugees shortly after they arrive to Lebanon.

Social implications

This paper confirms the importance of social ties in encouraging entrepreneurship in the case of refugees.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors make four contributions to the academic debate: first, the authors studied the entrepreneurial motivations of refugees in a middle-eastern developing country while the other studies have focussed upon the adaptation of such individuals in a western and developed environment. Second, the refugees are motivated by pull and push factors at once as the authors discussed in the precedent section. Third, although adaptation to the Lebanese culture is easier, resilience is nevertheless needed due to the Lebanese Government’s policies, which forbid refugees to work in the country. Fourth, with regard to migration studies in general, this paper stands half way between the various studies conducted on ethnic entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurship and refugees. Indeed, the authors brought together many concepts such as social bonds, social capital, culture, political environment, and the service industry. On the managerial level, the findings allow the institutions and the government to target those refugees who show an appetence to entrepreneurship to stimulate their action, shortly after arriving in Lebanon, as their entrepreneurial intent decreases with the time they spend, often unemployed, in the host country. Should government policy change, both the integration of refugees, and entrepreneurship in general would benefit.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 8 February 2021

Yusuf Hassan

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, it proposes a definition of Muslim entrepreneurship and second, it synthesizes existing literature on Muslim entrepreneurship…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, it proposes a definition of Muslim entrepreneurship and second, it synthesizes existing literature on Muslim entrepreneurship published in the past decade.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review technique has been used to identify and analyse the literature for a period between 2009 and 2019.

Findings

Results of the study suggest that there is a dearth of literature conceptualizing and operationalizing the concept of Muslim entrepreneurship in the management literature. Further, studies examining the factors which affect Muslim entrepreneurship practices are limited.

Research limitations/implications

The study has analysed only peer-reviewed articles from management literature.

Originality/value

A synthesis of the literature on Islamic entrepreneurship is missing. Also, literature proposing a comprehensive definition of the concept and summarizing the factors which affect Muslim entrepreneurship practices are absent.

Details

Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0833

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