The Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Study on the Sultanate of Oman

 The Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Study on the Sultanate of Oman

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Chapter One: Introduction

The main focus of this introductory chapter is to highlight and explain the general key insights about the various challenges that women entrepreneurs in Oman are facing when it comes to doing business. In particular, this chapter has been divided into four sub-topics: background, problem statement, research objectives and research questions, and significance of the study. The purpose of this chapter is to provide both practical and theoretical foundations that will guide the research towards achieving the desired goals and objectives.

Background

Women involvement in business.
Entrepreneurship has for many years been regarded as a male-dominated field (Chamlou, Klapper, & Muzi, 2008). However, current data from the World Bank has indicated that in recent years, there has been a gradual increase in the number of women entrepreneurs in different parts of the world. Chamlou et al. (2008) observe that in a survey that was carried out by the World Bank, it emerged that out of total 4,832 companies operating the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, a woman is a principal owner in nearly thirteen percent of enterprises. The implication of theses World Bank data is that the majority of firms in the MENA region are owned by men. Chamlou et al. (2008) acknowledge that women entrepreneurs are often the minority in most countries, but when compared to Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as well as East Asia and Pacific (EAP) regions, their share in the MENA region is far lower than the latter ones. The available research and empirical evidence show that besides several other factors, the advancement in technology, innovations, development, and globalization have immensely contributed towards the significant growth of women entrepreneurship in many countries, including the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) member states (Zeidan & Bahrami, 2011). Zeidan and Bahrami (2011) add that not only do women entrepreneurs play an integral part in the development of their countries’ economies, but also have an impact on the global economy. In the GCC states, many women have established new business ventures. From a historical perspective, women in the GCC countries have mostly assumed conventional roles in the society. In particular, women in these countries have majorly been defined in the context of raising children and taking care of their families.

Entrepreneurship brief.
Entrepreneurship has in the last decade emerged as a transformational megatrend that has successfully reshaped industries and economies throughout the world (Patterson & Mavin, 2009; Allen & Truman, 2016). According to Allen and Truman (2016), entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in the development of a country’s economy by contributing to innovativeness as well as service or product improvement. De Vita, Mari, and Poggesi (2014) point out that besides playing an essential role in reduction of unemployment rate in a country, it also is a key driver of the downstream and upstream value chain activities. In some parts of the world, entrepreneurship is driven by necessity (Ennis, 2018). However, the impactful entrepreneurship that was previously confined to markets that were regarded as mature is presently a crucial driver of the growth and expansion of the emerging markets, for example, in China. Some of the outstanding contemporary impactful ventures include Virgin Airlines, Google, Twitter, and Facebook (Al Masah Capital Research, 2016).

The Al Masah Capital Research (2016) acknowledges that in many of today’s growing economies, the number of entrepreneurs has increased spontaneously because of a wide range of factors, such as customized low-cost products, advancement in the digital technologies, openness to innovation, and growing consumer power. In the past few years, the international entrepreneurial landscape has recorded a significant paradigm shift in terms of trends (Al Masah Capital Research, 2016). In particular, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are playing an essential role in economic and social development. A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that on average, SMEs contribute to about 50% or more to a country’s GDP and provide jobs to nearly 60% of the domestic labor force (Al Masah Capital Research, 2016). SMEs also account for nearly 30% of a nation’s export. It is worth noting that the entrepreneurial composition is changing at a fast rate across the world, with a significant share of females joining the league.

Why entrepreneurship is important to economic activity and growth in any economy.
A 2013 report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) points out that almost half of the world’s entrepreneurs are in the age groups of between twenty-five and forty-four, with people aged between twen