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How do women entrepreneurs influence the strategic orientation of family businesses? A typology of Swedish decision-making in Småland community
Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Department of Management (MAN).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3671-9100
2024 (English)In: Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, ISSN 1750-6204, E-ISSN 1750-6212, Vol. 18, no 2, p. 117-144Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Abstract [en]

Purpose: This paper aims to add to the theorization of family dynamics and women’s entrepreneurship by examining women’s influence on decision-making in family businesses. Business decisions in family firms, in particular, are not free from family influence in terms of goals and strategies, and the role of women in decision-making processes is of particular interest. Consequently, the role of women entrepreneurs in family firms and their influence on business development requires a more fine-grained analysis of the family dynamic within the family and the business.

Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on a qualitative study and focuses on the life story narratives of nine women in rural family businesses in rural communities of Småland province in Sweden to empirically examine the decision-making processes. This region is known both for its entrepreneurial culture and traditional gender order. Based on the narrative accounts of women entrepreneurs in family businesses, the data analysis method is thematic, using a Gioia-inspired method.

FindingsThe complexity of decision-making in rural family firms is further complicated in part due to a closeness with the rural community. Thus, a typology of three decision-making modes in family firms emerges an informal family-oriented mode, a semistructured family/employee consensus mode and a formal board mode with at least one nonfamily member. Moreover, the advantages, disadvantages and strategies that women use to influence decisions within the respective mode are outlined.

Originality/valueThis work contributes to the study of women’s agency and its implications in family business and entrepreneurship in the rural context. The study implies that women’s agency shapes the (rural) entrepreneurship context and, likewise, the (rural) entrepreneurship context influences women’s agency. Hence, the author challenges the view of women as only caregivers and sheds light on the practices and processes behind the scenes of entrepreneurial family businesses.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2024. Vol. 18, no 2, p. 117-144
Keywords [en]
Rural entrepreneurship, gender, women entrepreneurship, work-life balance, psychological ownership
National Category
Economics and Business
Research subject
Economy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-116111DOI: 10.1108/jec-06-2022-0091ISI: 000844807400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85136811287OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-116111DiVA, id: diva2:1692623
Available from: 2022-09-02 Created: 2022-09-02 Last updated: 2025-01-09Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Contextualizing Entrepreneurship and Gender: A Life-Story Approach to Rural Family Businesses in Sweden
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Contextualizing Entrepreneurship and Gender: A Life-Story Approach to Rural Family Businesses in Sweden
2023 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention as a strategic area for rural development. Addressing environmental, demographic, and gender inequality challenges in rural areas requires contextualizing entrepreneurship. Moreover, applying contextualization as a critical lens provides a deeper understanding of how and why entrepreneurship happens in rural areas. This thesis examines the interplay between entrepreneurship and gender within the rural context and is situated in the growing body of literature expanding the knowledge on entrepreneurship in rural contexts. Thus, the thesis responds to the calls to contextualize rural entrepreneurship (McElwee & Atherton, 2021) and gender in entrepreneurship (Welter, 2011; Baker & Welter, 2020; Welter 2020). The thesis is based on a qualitative study on the life stories of women and men entrepreneurs engaged in their family businesses in the rural province of Småland in southern Sweden. The thesis further contributes with a systematic literature review describing the “state of the art” in rural entrepreneurship as well as the intertwinement between the rural, gender, and entrepreneurship fields. Methodologically, the thesis contributes to the operationalization of a rural proofing concept. To theorize on the intersection of these three, often separately studied, fields (Webster 2017), the thesis illustrates the dyadic influence of the rural context on entrepreneurship and gender relations. The thesis also provides theoretical contributions concerning the interdependence of the rural context, agency, and entrepreneurship, including the implications of this interdependence for policymakers, and practitioners. Contextualizing rural entrepreneurship and gender in entrepreneurship is crucial in the development of policies able to address the needs and capabilities of rural entrepreneurs to explore the impact of different policies on rural enterprise development (Smith & McElwee, 2014). Rural proofing policies that take into account the particularities of the rural milieu, such as gender, ethnicity, and traditions within the rural community, can increase the resilience of rural enterprises in the face of challenges arising from local and global contexts.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Växjö: Linnaeus University Press, 2023. p. 92
Series
Linnaeus University Dissertations ; 503
Keywords
Rural Entrepreneurship, Gender in Entrepreneurship, Context, Proximity, Agency, Emancipation, Rural Family Businesses, Life-story, Contextualizing
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Economy, Business administration
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-124091 (URN)10.15626/LUD.503.2023 (DOI)9789180820691 (ISBN)9789180820707 (ISBN)
Public defence
2023-10-02, D1136A, PG Vejdes väg, SE-351 95, Växjö, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Funder
Henry and Sylvia Toft Foundation
Available from: 2023-09-06 Created: 2023-09-05 Last updated: 2024-03-13Bibliographically approved

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