Assignment 2

Summary of the articles and implementation of philosophical assimptiions on the research of articles.

Submitted by :
Shakeel Ahmed 11443

Submitted to:
Miss Afshan

Entrepreneurial Capital, social values and islamic traditions Summary:

This ground breaking study seeks to explore the variables contributing to the growth of women owned enterprises in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Based on previously established multivariate model, it uses two econometric approaches. First by classifying variables into predetermined blocks and then using the general to specific approach. Statistical analyses and in-depth interviews confirm that women entrepreneurs personal resources and social capital have a significant role in their business growth. It further discovers that moral support of immediate family, independent mobility, and being allowed to meet with opposite gender play a decisive role in both sales and employment growth of women owned enterprises in an Islamic country like Pakistan. The research investigating women-owned businesses has developed considerably over the past two decades. Most of the womens entrepreneurship development theories have emerged primarily from research carried out in developed countries with specific social norms and values regarding womens participation in economic activities. There is a general consensus that growth in enterprises is a complex process, The literature mainly describes factors thought to influence small business growth in two categories. The first comprises entrepreneurs characteristics such as behavior, personality, attitude (Storey, 1994); their capabilities, including education and training that create higher expectations in some industry sectors (Henry et al., 2005); and their social capital which influences access to resources (Brush et al., 2004). The second category of the factors influencing the business growth is the business itself in terms of its structure and goals, the performance of its management, in particular their ability to make rational decisions about its operation (Bridge et al., 1998). Though, significant progress has been made by women in the last few decades. Social, economic, political, and technological changes have helped introduce a new social structure which facilitated womens gradual movement to the public arena from the confinement of their homes. Religious prescriptions, cultural norms and actual practices related to a womans status and role vary widely and are sometimes highly contradictory. Depending on the multivariate nature of the relationship between dependent variable. The purpose of using this method was to test the effect of a all five sets of variables one by one on the growth of women-owned Enterprises, (business growth) and independent variables, multiple regression analysis was performed. In addition to quantitative findings, an explicatory method was applied as well involving a process of analytic induction by face to face in depth interviews of 50 women entrepreneurs. The biggest barrier to growth for any women entrepreneur is her male family members if they are not supportive; and they can be her biggest strength if they are supportive of The literature describes women entrepreneurs endowment in financial, human, and social capital as one of the factors restricting their growth (Chell aher business activities. The unequal status of women in Islamic societies is due to the connection of gender with various forms of exclusion, although not uniformly so (Roomi and Harrison, 2008). The same is evident in Pakistani society as well. In certain classes, womens interaction with men is only frowned upon and in others it is highly objectionable. The study showed that womens independent mobility was highly significant (at .01 level) and meeting with opposite gender was significant (at 0.1 level) factor contributing to the sales growth of their businesses. A couple of the interviewees appreciated the importance of these factors as follows: Any woman entrepreneurs family has to trust her as far as meeting with opposite gender is concerned. Until she has restrictions on her mobility and access to other business owners (most of whom are men), it is near to impossible to develop and grow

her business. The only other option left is to jump on the band-wagon and work in traditional women based businesses where margins are quite low and competition is cut throat.

One of the reasons for educational qualifications being an important influencing factor for compound employment growth, This study, based on two econometric approaches, first by classifying variables into. The findings also suggest that most of the women entrepreneurs are concentrated in low growth oriented, services, handicrafts and textiles sectors. They operate in the local market, where most of their customers are womenpre-determined blocks and then using the general to specific approach (Basu and Goswamy, 1999; Altinay and Altinay, 2006), illustrates the factors contributing to the growth of women owned businesses in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This ground breaking work fills the gap in the literature of womens entrepreneurship development in Islamic societies. There are quite a few implications of the findings of this pioneering work. Firstly, there should be the true interpretation of the status of women in an Islamic society. There is a need to change the current thinking at school level to promote the inclusion of women in economic activities. This would help by changing the stereotypical images of women in society and encourage family support and help. Thereby encouraging young women to develop entrepreneurial ambitions. Secondly, there is a pressing need to change the current public transport system. Government should take the lead in revising the provision of these services, thereby enabling more women to access transport services allowing them to travel more freely in the course of running their enterprises. Thirdly, print and electronic media should play its role of portraying the appropriate images of a modern Muslim woman (who has the right to acquire knowledge through education, right to own property and the right to manage their own enterprises). This could be facilitated by publishing images of inspirational and positive role models of successful women entrepreneurs. This would not only provide a source of inspiration for women to make specific career choices, but will also create an environment for family members to provide encouragement as female entrepreneurs seek to establish enterprises.

Antecedents and concequences of organizational commitment Summary:

The purpose of this study was to determine if selected personal characteristics, facets of job satisfaction, and the two dimensions of organizational justice (distributive justice & procedural justice) significantly explained variance in the organizational commitment of Pakistani university teachers. In addition, the present study examined the influence of organizational commitment on two organizational outcomes job performance and turnover intentions. Over the past three decades, an impressive amount of research efforts have been devoted to understanding the nature, antecedents, and consequences of organizational commitment. In the present study organizational commitment has been defined as the relative strength of an individuals identification with, and involvement in, a particular organization (Mowday et al., 1982). The focus of the present study is to identify the antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment among Pakistani university teachers. Moreover, high turnover among teachers, especially when good teachers quit, can have high costs and implications for the education system. This is because good 41 quality teachers take with them their research, teaching skills, and experience. By identifying factors that help to foster organizational commitment among university academics, this study aimed to provide guidelines to education managers to come up with policies

which would enable them to attract and retain top level faculty at their respective universities. Thus fostering commitment among the academic staff is an important and viable organizational objective. The main objective of this research was to study the behavioral outcomes of organizational commitment. Specifically, this study aimed to find out the influence of organizational commitment on job performance and turnover intentions. The hypothesized relationship between organizational commitment and each of the selected personal characteristics, facets of job satisfaction, and the two dimensions of organizational justice and the justification of including each of these variables in the present study is discussed below. The personal characteristics included in this research were age, marital status, tenure, level of education, trust in university management, and job involvement. Research has shown that age is positively related to organizational commitment (Steers, 1977; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Angle & Perry, 1981). Data were collected from full-time faculty members teaching in 33 universities in the three major cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Peshawar. In total, 140 questionnaires were delivered to the participating universities for distribution. The data wer gathered by administering a questionnaire among the selected sample of teachers teaching in the chartered universities/degree-granting institutions operating in the 3 major cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, and Peshawar. The research officer then visited the relevant respondents at their respective institutions and cities and requested them to fill out the questionnaires. The first three hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. For the purpose of this research the researcher constructed three multiple regression models. In the first model, organizational commitment was regressed against personal Characteristic variables. In the second model, organizational commitment was regressed against the facets of job satisfaction. In the third model, organizational commitment was regressed against the two dimensions of organizational justice: distributive justice and, procedural justice. Hypotheses four and five were tested by using correlation analysis. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were run between commitment and each outcome variable (job performance and turnover intentions) to test hypotheses four and five. The findings of this research revealed that personal characteristics, facets of job satisfaction, and both distributive and procedural justice significantly explained variance in the organizational commitment of Pakistani university teachers. The selected facets of job satisfaction as a group were found to be most closely related to commitment (R2 = 0.39; Adjusted R2 = 0.35). The results of this study revealed that highly committed faculty members are likely to continue their association with their current institutions, and at the same time, they are likely to put more effort on behalf of their respective institutions and thereby perform at higher levels than their uncommitted counterparts. it can be concluded that institutions which seek to retain their faculty members by building strong organizational commitment are in a better position to reap the benefits of a more dedicated, motivated, and reliable teaching staff.

Contextual Analysis of women entrepreneurial activities in Pakistan Summary:

The role of women in Pakistani (Patriarchal) society, largely embedded in its socio-cultural environment has important implication for womens entrepreneurial activity in the country. This study aims to analyse the influence of informal institutional factors on womens entry into entrepreneurial career and how women exercise agency to cope up with the constraints posed by these factors. Womens entrepreneurship is an emerging and growing phenomenon around the globe which has attracted considerable attention of researchers during the last few decades (Brush, 1992; Langowitz &

Minniti, 2007; Jamali, 2009). Majority of the research conducted on womens entrepreneurship in both developed and developing countries primarily focused on individual level (micro) factors, such as characteristics of women entrepreneurs in terms of their profile, motivation, background and experience (Anna et al., 2000; Brush, 1992; Sexton & Bowman-Upton, 1991; DeMartino & Barbato, 2003). The Pakistani society, characterized as patriarchal, is an amalgamation of various cultural influences that society converged during different periods over the history such as British inheritance, Indian influences (after partition), religious and American influences (Khilji, 1999a). As a result of these transitions over the period, diverse cultural practices are prevalent. Women play significant role in both business creation and employment generation contributing to the economy effectively, yet their contribution remains silent and largely hidden because of the gender bias in both the labour force and society. o far, the Government of Pakistan has establihed specialized institutions such as SMEDA (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority), FWBL (First Women Bank Limited) and SME Bank which are helping women in getting fair access to finance. There is a growing concern that relatively little is known about the nature of women entrepreneurship in developing countries (Jamali, 2009; Tambunan, 2009). Environmental factors are of significant importance to the emergence and implementation of social actions (Mair & Marti, 2009; Urbano et al., 2010). In this context, valuable insights can be gained through understanding of macro level conditions that may act as enabling or restricting the entrepreneurial activity within social context in which entrepreneurship exists. Various studies have argued that emergence of women entrepreneurship in a society primarily depends on the nature of challenges they face during entrepreneurial development. These challenges are often embedded in countrys social, economic and religious environment (DSouza et al, 2000; Kitching and Woldie, 2004; Roomi, 2011). the extrinsic factors relate to external environment such as family orientation, political and economic arena and the influence of socio-cultural factors associated with busines (Ituma & Simpson, 2007). Researchers have also devoted their attention to explore the challenges/barriers women encounter as they pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors. Findings in the literature indicate that these barriers include: less favorable credit conditions (Marlow & Patton, 2005), exclusion of women from both formal and informal networks (Carter, 2000) and negative stereotypes associated with women as less serious entrepreneurs (Lewis, 2006). From philosophical and methodological perspectives, an interpretive approach (Creswell, 2003; Bryman & Bell, 2008) is adopted to capture the contextual factors that influence womens entrepreneurship in Pakistan. A qualitative approach is used to explore the lived experiences of women entrepreneurs. Indepth interviews have been conducted with 20 Pakistani women entrepreneurs from urban area to explore their perceptions about the influence of socio cultural beliefs and attitudes on their entrepreneurial career choices. The interview data is transcribed and thematic analysis is used for the emerging themes. From philosophical and methodological perspectives, an interpretive approach (Creswell, 2003; Bryman & Bell, 2008) is adopted to capture the contextual factors that influence womens entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Face to face qualitative interviews were conducted to gain rich data in terms of participants narratives to explore the phenomenon (Weiss, 1995). The interviews were aimed to explore the contextual factors that underpin their experiences and have unique influences on women entrepreneurial activity in Pakistan. At the end of each interview, women were given a demographic survey to fill as a source of background information. The socio-cultural norm of Izzat (honor) has significant influence on the entrepreneurial abilities of women. In Pakistani culture, before marriage, the decision of a woman to work outside is dependent on her familys choice and after marriage a woman is expected to live with her husband and husbands family. Pakistani society has established orthodox beliefs, tribal customs and cultural practices in the name of religious (Islamic) teachings towards working women, which are contrary to the actual Islamic teachings. Joint family system or extended family structure has both positive and negative consequences on womens entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Overall findings suggest that in Pakistan, although women are constrained

by a complex set of socio-cultural influences, they are able to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities and make their own career choices, suggesting active agency of women entrepreneurs. There is interdependence and interplay of various informal institutional factors in shaping entrepreneurial identities and career choices within this constrained environment. In the light of women entrepreneurs narratives, it is conclusive that womens entrepreneurial career choices are determined by socio-cultural structures of the society. Womens capacity to exercise agency is largely dependent on household context within which their choices are embedded. In this respect, the institution of marriage and family are important indicators in explaining womens entrepreneurial activity in Pakistan. The interview data further suggests that women exercise their agency as a mean of negotiating gender roles within household and society. Women used religious descriptions as a mean to justify their entrepreneurial activity. Religion is associated with their business success.

Implication of philosophical assumptions on the articles:

Sr.no Philosophical assumptions

Entrepreneurial Capital, social values and islamic traditions Positivism

Contextual Analysis of women entrepreneurial activities in Pakistan Interpretivism

Research Paradigm Ontology (Researcher view of reality) Epistemology (Research + researcher relation)

Antecedents and concequences of organizational commitment Pragmatism

Research based on objectivism

subjectivism

Pluralistic

Whole research based on objectives defined earlier of the research and researcher is on a distance from research.

Research based on scientific perception and researcher is closed to the research

Axiology ( researcher view of research) Rhetoric (Language of the research)

Researcher is unbiased in his research

Researcher is biased in his research

Researcher used formal language based on the study and objectives of the research

Informal language used due to informal institutional factors such as family support, societal attitudes, religion, gender norms and values.

Realistic approach used for getting results based on reality of the topic of the research. (objectivism + subjectivism) and researcher is closed to the research. Researcher and respondents are free for their opinion in this research. Formal and informal language used in the research.

Methodology Induction approach used by researcher

Strategy of Inquiry

Interviews and questionnaire based on open ended questions method used from 767 entrepreneur women of Pakistan

Induction approach used by researcher because very little is known about the women entrepreneurship in Pakistan especially in the context of sociocultural environment and agency of women entrepreneurs. Face to face structured interviews conducted from 20 women for study

Both methods are used for the research induction and deduction.

Research method

Quantitative methodology of research used and data is analyzed on spss and multiple regression used for results.

Qualitiative research used, qualitative research helped the researchers to seek meanings of participants experiences and life stories in order to gain in-depth understanding of how women contextualize their experiences within their socio-cultural environment.

Data were collected from full-time faculty members teaching in 33 universities in the three major cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Peshawar. In total, 140 questionnaires were delivered to the participating universities Research is based on pragmatic approach and used Both type of questions in the questions (open ended and close ended) To determine which variable was most closely related to organizational commitment of faculty members, stepwise multiple-regression was used With stepwise regression.

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