To read this content please select one of the options below:

The enablers and stumbling blocks in sustaining growth of women-owned micro-enterprises in India – a qualitative inquiry

Jasmine Banu (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)
Rupashree Baral (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)
V. Vijayalakshmi (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

ISSN: 1750-6204

Article publication date: 16 April 2024

Issue publication date: 28 October 2024

227

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to understand why women-owned microenterprises (WOMEs) in India experience a lower growth rate, where growth can be represented in increments in the venture’s size or scope. There is no conclusive understanding of the factors that affect the sustained growth of WOMEs in India.

Design/methodology/approach

What personal, social and economic factors support or hinder the choice, growth and sustainability of women-owned ventures? What role do institutional factors (government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), self-help groups and microfinance institutions) play toward the sustainability of WOMEs? The answers to these questions were obtained through a qualitative design by interviewing 30 micro women entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of India and one of the largest hubs for WOMEs and their responses were content analyzed using NVivo 12 software.

Findings

The findings capture and apply the fundamentals of two key theoretical perspectives, resource-based view (RBV) and self-determination theory (SDT), in identifying the links between the individual, social and economic factors and their combined effect on the sustained growth of women-owned micro businesses. The findings add value in identifying the ingrained cultural norms and traditions and several internal and external factors that support or challenge the growth of WOMEs. This study highlights that the interventions by the government need to be strengthened for the growth and sustainability of WOMEs.

Practical implications

The study’s findings provide suggestions to policymakers, banks, funding agencies, financial institutions and NGOs to design applicable policies and schemes toward the sustained growth of WOMEs.

Originality/value

This study contributes toward a better understanding of the trends in the context of WOMEs from an Indian context. This topic has received little attention in the academic literature. Second, the study’s conceptual contribution is an application of SDT and RBV to understand and categorize the enablers and deterrents in the path of growth of WOMEs, which is a novel pursuit.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd. (TNPL) for funding this research (Project No: CR/15–16/MGT/001/TNPL/RUPA). The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors for their valuable feedback.

Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Jasmine Banu, Rupashree Baral and V. Vijayalakshmi “The enablers and stumbling blocks in sustaining growth of women-owned micro-enterprises in India – a qualitative inquiry”, published in Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print, was published with an incomplete affiliation for V. Vijayalakshmi. The correct affiliation is Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.

Citation

Banu, J., Baral, R. and Vijayalakshmi, V. (2024), "The enablers and stumbling blocks in sustaining growth of women-owned micro-enterprises in India – a qualitative inquiry", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 918-944. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-05-2023-0060

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles