Guest editorial

Citation

Agarwal, S., Srivastava, A.P. and Agrawal, V. (2021), "Guest editorial", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-03-2021-217

Growth of enterprising community of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies

Introduction

The ascent of women enterprise in couple of decades draws the consideration of different government and nongovernment bodies at the worldwide dimension. Their development is profoundly influenced by gender philosophies experienced by man-centric social standards (Agarwal et al., 2020; Byrne et al., 2019). As entrepreneurship comprises of different pioneering exercises (disclosure of a thought, activities, usage and development) including the making of undertakings in different sectors such as service, manufacturing, automobile etc. (Agarwal and Lenka, 2018; Dana, 2000). This field saw as a fundamental power in the improvement of economy since it profited by the formation of independent owned enterprises. Previous studies clarified that inclusion of the both male and female in enterprising exercises help the activity creation, destitution lightening, technological development exercises and moving the financial development (Anderson, 2002; Ratten, 2014). In the present situation, women would prefer not to limit their potential and capacities inside four dividers however intrigued to fly their wings to get acknowledgment, character and status at national and universal dimension (Agarwal and Lenka, 2018; Ramadani et al., 2015). The past investigations underscored that women entrepreneurs have the talent to develop their own community among different enterprising communities. Nowadays, women entrepreneurship embellishment is one of the growing communities through their techniques, skills and capacity of exploitation of opportunities in market in a positive manner (Dixit et al., 2020). Women-owned enterprise can assume an indispensable job in the advancement of society, and as society develops, the state of the nation will likewise improve.

Enterprising community of women entrepreneurs

In developing economies, the enterprising communities are fundamental for the capital, talented specialists and advancements. The economies of these nations have predominantly acclaimed the reliance on the dynamic interest of male work power because the increment in populace makes the acknowledgment of the significance of women-owned enterprises (Peredo et al., 2004). The government and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) likewise are keen on respecting the women in this field, as it encourages in neediness lightening to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals. Women entrepreneurship development is to empower the women and change the societal gender-related issues (Agarwal et al., 2018; Ramadani, 2015). Despite the fact that as created economies, rising economies have no particular model for the development and improvement of women-owned enterprises. Just as constrained examinations have completed distinguishing the variables which inspire the women to take an interest in the commencement of enterprises gives a superior open door in molding the general public toward gender generalization issues. As per the nation, there is decent variety present in their sociocultural conditions, which prompts the development of social values that may influence pioneering exercises and entrepreneurial behavior of women (Agarwal and Lenka, 2016; Rafiki and Nasution, 2019). The societal values are in charge of the generation of social perception toward women and their endeavor maintainability (Mayasari and Chandra, 2020).

About the special issue: outline of articles

Many papers were received for the special issue, but eight quality papers focused on the growth of the enterprising community of women entrepreneurs are agreed upon after a rigorous review procedure. The first article titled “Competencies development for women edupreneurs community – an integrated AHP-TOPSIS approach” by Jitendra Kumar Dixit, Vivek Agrawal, Sucheta Agarwal, Shqipe Gerguri-Rashiti and Dina Sabry Said examines that educational domain generates an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to balance work and life, both, and these women edupreneurs community needs to enhance their competencies and capacities to handle diverse issues and challenges posed by stakeholders. The second article titled “Role of NGOs in women empowerment: case studies from Uttarakhand, India” by Minisha Gupta focuses on the role of NGOs in promoting women empowerment through immediate livelihood facilities as women empowerment is essential for the growth and development of the nation. The third article titled “Women Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: A Study of Select Case-Studies from the Sustainable Energy Sector” by Ritika Mahajan and Kaushik Bandyopadhyay discusses the role of entrepreneurship, in general, and women entrepreneurship, in particular, in advancing the cause of sustainable development. This study presents unique cases of eight women-led enterprises in energy sector spread across three continents, namely, Asia, Africa and the USA, identifies the constraints and opportunities and analyses the business models and their impact on quality of life pointers to demonstrate the role of women-led enterprises in sustainable development. The fourth article titled “Challenges and enablers of women entrepreneurs’ career advancement in Vietnam’s coffee industry” by Giang NT Nguyen, Thinh Gia Hoang, Tam Minh Nguyen and Thanh Thien Ngo examines the motivational factors and contextual facilitators of female entrepreneurs in Vietnam’s coffee industry and also the barriers facing them. The fifth article titled “Innovation capabilities of women enterprise in informal settings” by Oluyemi Theophilus Adeosun, Ayodele Ibrahim Shittu and Stellamaris Ifunanya Aju focuses on how women entrepreneurs in informal settings, especially in the fishing subsector in rural communities, relate to different dimensions of innovation. Specifically, this study examines how women entrepreneurs engage in process, managerial, technological innovations; how they fund their business, develop their products across the value chain innovatively; and how it influences their business output and welfare. The sixth article titled “Organic food women entrepreneurs-TISM approach for challenges” by Shweta Dahiya, Anupama Panghal, Shilpa Sindhu and Parveen Siwach discusses that in India, there is an upsurge in entrepreneurs in the organic food sector, with women entrepreneurs signaling higher numbers. Women entrepreneurs have the potential to contribute significantly to the field of organic food; the only requirement is to address the challenges faced by them. This paper aims to attempt at exploring and modeling the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the organic food sector. The seventh article titled “Role of ICT in Emancipation of Digital Entrepreneurship among New Generation Women” by Anuja Shukla, Priyanka Kushwah, Eti Jain and Shiv Sharma examines the role of information and communications technology (ICT) has been tested in various contexts of online shopping, and the results show that ICT has successfully transformed the way of doing business. In this study, it proposes that if women have adequate internet skills, namely, operative, informational and creative skills, their entrepreneurial intentions will be high. The eight article titled “CEO gender, power and bank performance: Evidence from Chinese banks” by Hsiu-I Ting investigates the relations among CEO gender, power and bank performance. First, this study examines the relation between CEO gender and power. Do female CEOs possess less power than male CEOs? As women reach the top, do they hold similar or even higher levels of power as men? Second, this study investigates the relation between the CEO gender and bank performance. How do female CEOs perform? Is the relation between gender and performance subject to CEO power? Thus, all the eight studies help advance our mutual understanding about the growth of the enterprising community of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies.

Conclusion

This special issue is significant in encouraging the growth of enterprising community of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies. The authors thank the Editors Professor Leo Paul Dana and Professor Veland Ramadani for imparting this opportunity as the guest editors of this special issue in the journal. The special thanks to the publishing team for endless support, the reviewers who assisted us in the assessment process and all the authors who contributed to the issue.

This special issue added to the essential comprehension of entrepreneurial behavior of women entrepreneurs and their enterprising community particularly with regards to emerging economies, as entrepreneurial activities constantly identified with the financial improvement of a nation. Growth of women entrepreneurship in enterprising communities requires the attention at national and international level as Swami Vivekananda says:

It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing.