Women’s Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: The Challenges to Develop and Internationalize Entrepreneurial Firms: A Study on Bangladesh

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Women’s Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets:

The Challenges to Develop and Internationalize Entrepreneurial Firms

A Study on Bangladesh

Master Thesis

Authors: Busrat Ferdous and Shakara Tanya Supervisor: Dr. Richard Afriyie Owusu Examiner: Dr. Per Servais

Subject: Degree Project in International Business Strategy

Level: Master of Science Course code: 5FE40E

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Abstract

Studies on the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms have ignored women's entrepreneurship as a distinct research area before the 1970s. However, women's entrepreneurship started to get the attention of researchers a few decades ago and it is still in the adolescence stage. In addition, there is very little research on the internationalization of women entrepreneurial firms from emerging markets particularly those from Bangladesh.

Researches that have been conducted on the challenges of Bengali women entrepreneurial firms often focused on the challenges of developing a business within the domestic context.

The study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by exploring the challenges the women entrepreneurs in emerging markets are facing while growing a business within the international context, with a focus on Bangladeshi women entrepreneurial firms. This study was conducted using qualitative case studies using semi-structured interviews of three women entrepreneurial firms.

The empirical findings show that two Bengali women entrepreneurs are involved with both inward and outward internationalization and one is involved with outward internationalization.

The research identified networking as the greatest challenge faced by women entrepreneurs when it comes to internationalizing the business from an emerging market where insufficient funding is also another greatest obstacle. The findings also revealed that entrepreneurs should concentrate on expanding their knowledge and learning further in order to improve their skills and dynamic capacities, which is still insufficient and requires extensive effort to ensure the successful internationalization of the businesses. The findings also showed that Bangladesh is still lagging behind other developed economies in terms of digitalization and innovation. The smallness of the business also significantly affects the business activities when it comes to competing globally.

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Key words

Internationalization, women entrepreneurship, emerging market, Bangladesh, challenges, knowledge and learning, networking, funding, smallness, dynamic capabilities, digitalization, innovation, global competition.

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Acknowledgments

The experience of writing this thesis has proven to be an incredible learning experience and a journey of academic exploration. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who have supported and contributed to the success of this study.

To begin with, we would like to appreciate all of the interview participants for devoting their time to assisting us and providing such valuable insights. The research accomplishment would not have been possible without their participation and cooperation.

Furthermore, we would like to appreciate our deepest gratitude to our supervisor, Dr. Richard Afriyie Owusu, for his guidance and encouragement during the writing process and for keeping us on track throughout the whole process. Besides that, we would like to appreciate our examiner, Professor Per Servais, for the seminars and feedback that enabled us to pursue a more reflective and critical approach to our research.

Moreover, we would like to express our gratitude towards our opponents for their comments in the seminar discussions and to our colleagues for their valuable criticism. Last but not the least, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to our friends and family for their unconditional support and motivation throughout the whole process.

Many Thanks!

24^th May 2021

Busrat Ferdous Shakara Tanya

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In both developed and emerging markets, entrepreneurship has been considered one of the major determinants of economic development. Its role and significance can not be overestimated. Entrepreneurship can offer a platform for the country's social and economic development. Entrepreneurship derives from the French word ‘entreprendre’ which means to begin, tackle, or undertake something (Blundel, Lockett, and Wang, 2017). According to Bhattacharyya (2006), entrepreneurship is an activity involving the experimentation, evaluation, and exploitation of business opportunities. In addition, Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme (EIP) defines entrepreneurship as the phenomenon related to entrepreneurial activity, meaning that enterprising human action in pursuit of value generation through the creation, development, and expansion of economic activities, by recognizing and exploiting new products/services, processes, or markets (OECD, 2016). The solution to many socio- economic challenges of unemployment and low income (opportunity to strengthen women empowerment within the economically active population) is the consequence of the implementation of entrepreneurship functions in general. Gedeon (2010), claims it also encourages the growth of new innovation with a clear functional orientation, resulting in the establishment of a favorable business and investment environment for the national or international economic structure. As a consequence, most countries today have strategies to promote entrepreneurship to a great extent (Baughn, Chua, and Neupert, 2006).

Nowadays, it is widely acknowledged that entrepreneurship is becoming an increasingly significant source of employment for women around the world, also playing a significant role in the growth process of both emerging and developed countries as there is a broad agreement that the creation of new enterprises is a fundamental driver for economic development (Langowitz and Minniti, 2007; Acs et al., 2011). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) claims that the inclusion of women’s voices in politics, and business fields are crucial to mitigate gender inequalities and commence national benefits for nations as a whole (Bousselaire, 2017). Compared to men, women are less likely to start a business and if

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they do, their businesses are often small and operate with little resources (Piacentini, 2013).

OECD’s research found that the earning of women entrepreneurs are 30% to 40% less than the male entrepreneurs since they start their business with less experience and can not borrow enough money to finance the business (Adema et al., 2014). Entrepreneurship and business, in general, have been male-dominated for decades, but this notion has been changed over the years (Rahim, Islam, and Bepari, 2019). Nowadays, women's empowerment has developed very exponentially across the world, and women are establishing their own businesses to seek stronger influence on their personal and professional lives (McKay, 2001; Still and Timms, 2000). A study on Africa, India, and South-East Asia found that the seaweed farming industry is dominated by women. The research shows that 90 percent of seaweed farmers are women in Tanzania, female farmer-entrepreneurs have contributed to local poverty reduction in Ghana (Bousselaire, 2017).

It can be seen that female entrepreneurship is a growing and important phenomenon and has had an enormous economic impact in all economies (McKay, 2001; Minniti, 2010; Still and Timms, 2000). Jennings and Brush (2013) claim since the second half of the 1970s, research on female entrepreneurship has accumulated rapidly. Previous researches have focused on the individual characteristics of woman entrepreneurs, the motivation of women to develop their own businesses, the style of leadership, and the challenges they face regularly in the business world (Lee and Denslow, 2004). Special attention is also given to women's entrepreneurship but the motive for the emphasis differs between developed and emerging countries (Minniti, 2010). As women lag behind men in both starting companies and achieving development, attention to women entrepreneurship is part of a general initiative to increase employment (MIWE, 2020), while for developed countries, the central focus in international debate turns sharply towards women's entrepreneurship as a strategy for poverty alleviation and economic development (Rahman, Uddin, and Lodorfos, 2017). Therefore, women's entrepreneurship is seen in the future as having a more considered beneficial impact on economic growth (Langevang et al., 2015; Minniti, 2010). The International Trade Centre (ITC) indicates that about 15% of exporting firms are led by female entrepreneurs, despite the fact that women own 40% of SMEs worldwide (Akter, Rahman, and Radicic, 2019). Since entrepreneurship has become a male-dominated activity, but with the change in time, women's activities are also proving to be inspiring entrepreneurs. Across the globe, women entrepreneurs continue to face innumerable restrictions and challenges that limit their success and profitability in the global business world (Jennings and Brush, 2013).

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The World Bank and International Finance Corporation jointly started a program called

‘Creating Finance and Markets for All’ in June 2018 with several projects that will be implemented over five to seven years. They allocated $75 million funds for the program from which half of the funds were granted for the International Development Association (IDA) eligible countries (25 countries) where women are struggling most to develop their businesses.

Among 25 countries, IFC and the world bank are implementing 24 projects in eight selected countries- Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia. The approach of the program is organized around three pillars- expanding financial services, strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems, and improving market access (We-fi, n.d.).

Women entrepreneurs have been key players globally in the entrepreneurship landscape. Many countries have made significant progress and achievements by including women, especially in entrepreneurship, in mainstream economic activities (Rahman et al., 2017).

Because of the strong economic development, Bangladesh has made significant progress in poverty reduction, where the poverty level has decreased from 44 percent in 1991 to 15 percent in 2016 (World Bank, 2021). Moreover, Bangladesh secured lower-middle-income status in 2015 and now is on the target to exit the UN's Least Developed Countries (LDC) list by 2026 (World Bank, 2021). Bangladesh, as a rapidly emerging nation, stands to achieve the most from the involvement of women in the business world. Bangladesh recognized the importance of female empowerment as soon as it achieved independence (Tembon, 2021). In this regard, the family background was found to be one of the determining factors motivating females to become entrepreneurs. Women's ownership and management of productive assets and economic participation speed up the development of Bangladesh, help to overcome poverty, improve children's school attendance, nutrition, and health (Bousselaire, 2017; Mujeri, 2019).

In Bangladesh, women face higher barriers than men to enter into the formal labor market, so to come out of unemployment women resort to entrepreneurship, and often out of poverty (MIWE, 2020). As a result, the prevalence rates of women entrepreneurship or the formation of new business by women tend to rise in Bangladesh, above 10 percent are women among the total number of entrepreneurs (Mujeri, 2019; Pramanik, 2018). For the last several years, The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the SME Foundation jointly organized the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) fair in the capital city of Bangladesh (Dhaka Tribune, 2018). The participation of women entrepreneurs is higher than men at this fair every year. In 2012 the fair was held for the first time and among 85 participants 56 were women, and 183 were women entrepreneurs among 268 participants in the fair held in

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2018 (Dhaka Tribune, 2018). It shows that the involvement of women in business operations is increasing in Bangladesh. But in Bangladesh, the pace of women’s involvement in the business area is much slower compared with other countries (Rahman et al., 2017). In 2017, a study has been conducted by the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), it indicates the age structure of the respondents where the majority of female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are young, ranging in age from 15 to 31 years, and 54 percent were students before starting the business (O’Neal, 2017). Despite the fact that women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are not well educated, nearly 90% of those surveyed have a secondary school certification (10 years of formal education) (O’Neal, 2017). According to O’Neal (2017), it also can be observed from the study that educated women are gradually becoming more interested in entrepreneurial activities. In the year 2020, Bangladesh's position was last in a list of 58 countries in the Mastercard Women Entrepreneurs Index (MIWE) due to the poor business opportunities for women (The Daily Star, 2021). The Global Gender Gap Study (2017) indicates that women are the owners or co-owners of 15% of Bangladeshi businesses, but only 5% of top managers are women (Tembon, 2021). Furthermore, when it comes to access the financial services of formal financial institutions to start a business and expand it globally, Bengali female entrepreneurs are in a less favorable position compared to men counterparts (Chowdhury, 2021). Only 36%

of women have bank accounts, and the others have no financial assets under their control (Tembon, 2021). The challenging condition of women's entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is due to the complexities of the social and administrative climate (Chowdhury, 2021).

Rapid globalization has created new opportunities for internationalization for both large and small enterprises (Sandberg, 2012). Entrepreneurship that crosses the national border to create and exchange value by identification, exploitation, and utilization of opportunities, known as international entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial firms’ internationalization is an emerging field of study and has received significant attention from scholars (Arbaugh, Camp, and Cox, 2008;

De Clercq, Sapienza, and Crijns, 2005; Li, 2013; McDougall and Oviatt, 2000). Sociocultural conditions are changing in the global marketplace, which encourages women to contribute to the global economy, as well as increasing the interest of scholars in women’s entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship ecosystem environments such as economics, infrastructure, culture, political, policies, that influence women entrepreneurs’ ability to enter the global market (Moreira et al., 2019). Firms in developing countries are typically small and have resource- related issues and problems that limit their interaction with domestic and international environments, and it is essential to explore the challenges they face. In developed countries,

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entrepreneurial firms take less time to internationalize, while in developing countries, entrepreneurial firms are resource-constrained, lack international orientation, experience reluctance in decision-making, and lack domestic and overseas political ties; therefore, they are more vulnerable and take more time to internationalize (Rahman et al., 2017).

In comparison to their peers in other countries, women in Bangladesh have far fewer chances to progress professionally, as qualified professionals, and to undertake business leadership positions (MIWE, 2020). They are even more challenged in emerging markets due to a lack of developed physical infrastructure and government programs to assist them in their business activities (MIWE, 2020). Moreover, foreign language skills, innovation, e-commerce orientation play an important role in the internationalization process because those help to establish and maintain foreign networks, expand global knowledge and enhance learning capabilities. However, in emerging markets women entrepreneurs lack such expertise for which they can not easily go to the international market to expand the business (Rana and Sørensen, 2013).

1.2 Problem Area

Blundel et al. (2017) represent that the economist Edith Penrose called entrepreneurship a slippery concept since it is associated with the personal qualities or temperament of individuals and difficult to work into formal economic analysis. Still, today practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers are struggling with this concept, and hence a lack of agreement over the meaning of entrepreneur or entrepreneurship exists (Blundel et al., 2017).

Though entrepreneurship is an interesting topic to academics, researchers, business people and an important concern for governments around the world, the research within the international business most often has focused on established and large multinational organizations.

Entrepreneurship research primarily has focused on venture creation and the control or management of small and medium-sized enterprises within the domestic context (McDougall and Oviatt, 2000; Rosenbaum 2017). Arbaugh et al.(2008); Knight and Liesch (2016);

McDougall and Oviatt (2000, 2005), and other well-known research present different concepts of internationalization of entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial firms, but they do not discuss the internationalization of entrepreneurship from developed and developing markets separately. In addition, a limited number of researches have been conducted on small businesses that are taking off from emerging markets (Kujala and Törnroos, 2018; Alon and Rottig, 2013).

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Moreover, research on ‘female entrepreneurship’ started only a few decades ago. Yadav and Unni (2016) present that the literature on entrepreneurship emerged in the 1930s focusing primarily on the male entrepreneur, where the literature on women’s entrepreneurship became an explicit sub-domain in the late 1970s. Over the last few years, studies or research on female entrepreneurship have witnessed rapid growth but it is still in an adolescence stage with a considerable number of books, articles, literature reviews being published on women entrepreneurs (Yadav and Unni, 2016). Another article by Akehurst, Simarro, and Mas‐Tur (2012) claim that the studies that were published before the 1980s that address the motivation to begin a business by entrepreneurs and the need for success generally ignore women as a research area. However, Schwartz (1976) wrote the first academic paper on business creation by women (Akehurst et al., 2012; Yadav and Unni, 2016). Besides, Meyer (2018) claims that a high volume of research has been conducted on entrepreneurship over the years regarding the challenges and barriers for entrepreneurs, but in many cases, those are not gender-specific.

Women face different challenges and barriers compared to males, so gender-based entrepreneurial research can provide more specific and clear knowledge about women's entrepreneurship especially when it comes to internationalizing the business (Akter et al., 2019). However, in 1987, Kessler and Mackenna first used the term 'gender', since then the term has been widely adopted in academic studies and considered as an important element to analyze in terms of economic, social, and institutional reality (Akehurst et al., 2012).

According to McClelland et al. (2005), female entrepreneurship is an under-researched field of immense business opportunities and requires special attention. Toros and Altinay (2018) state that despite the proliferation of interest in female entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurship has not been an important subject of many studies. Brush and Cooper (2012) claim that the study focusing on women entrepreneurship is less than 10% of all research in the business field.

Moreover, Zhu, Kara, and Zhu (2019) agreed that very limited research has been done focusing on female entrepreneurs. Akter et al. (2019) claim the argument remains controversial as there is no single theory that has explained the phenomenon of female-owned firms in international trade. There is a significant research gap due to the missed connection between gender sensitivity and existing theories of entrepreneurship and internationalization (Akter et al., 2019).

Our research area is concentrating on the development and internationalization challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in emerging markets, regarding which Brindley (2005) claims that the global outlook for female entrepreneurs has never been more favorable. Moreover, the

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opportunities and incentives are unfavorable for women to establish a business (Mujeri, 2019).

In order to start and run a business in the domestic market, as well as expand into foreign markets, female entrepreneurs face a number of challenges (McKay, 2001; Brindley, 2005).

Initially, entrepreneurs all over the world face many challenges, but researchers have concluded that females, in particular, face even more economic and political challenges, including identification in the marketplace and limited network (Basit, Sze Wong, and Sethumadhavan, 2020). There are a number of restrictions that have been identified as barriers to women becoming entrepreneurs (McKay, 2001; Afroze et al., 2014).

Although half of the population is women, due to numerous factors such as economic, social, technological, and cultural circumstances, the participation of women in business is not substantial (Parvin, Jinrong, and Rahman, 2012). Since the 1990s, Bangladesh, and other emerging markets have begun to pay attention to women's entrepreneurship (Bhuiyan, and Abdullah, 2007). Generally, a number of challenges discourage the female entrepreneur to walk through the entrepreneurial journey in emerging markets. The female counterparts have to face a variety of obstacles for improving their skills and enhancing their productivity that is required to operate a business successfully within the domestic market, as well as foreign markets. These include a lack of entrepreneurial start-up funding, a lack of education, limited mobility resulting in low business access, information, technology, finance and absence of infrastructure and other similar needs that might help their chances and the growth of their business (Allen, Langowitz, and Minniti, 2007). In addition, gender stereotypes are also seen as a significant growth obstacle for female entrepreneurs in emerging markets, especially for women in male-dominated business sectors (Still and Timms, 2000). However, women have now become more aware of their socio-economic rights and have decided to take advantage of the opportunities and challenge themselves in entrepreneurial activities and want to develop the national economy along with the international economy (Moreira et al., 2019).

Since the participation of women in the business field and the number of women business owners are increasing, a more and better amount of research is needed in the field of women entrepreneurship, because research is limited on the topic as a separate field of study. Moreover, insufficient research has been done on female entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, especially female entrepreneurial firm’s internationalization. Though many women established and managed businesses and contributed to the world economy, there is a lack of understanding from historical literature regarding female entrepreneurs’ role in the internationalization process, or how they can increase their participation and performance, since those literature

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focused on male entrepreneurs. This study explores the theories from both the entrepreneurship and internationalization perspectives to see what factors affect female entrepreneurs towards the internationalization of the business from emerging markets.

1.3 Research Question of the study

What are the challenges women entrepreneurs are facing in emerging markets to develop and internationalize their firms?

1.4 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges the women entrepreneurs in emerging markets are facing while growing a business within the international context, with an especial focus on Bangladeshi women entrepreneurial firms.

1.5 Delimitation

Since we conducted the research through the case studies in Bangladesh, so we exclusively investigated Bangladeshi women's entrepreneurial firms, and therefore we are not able to present the research topic from another country’s perspective. There are several women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, but our research is limited to women-owned businesses with international business activities. Moreover, in their domestic market, women face so many different challenges (due to the local culture, beliefs, rules, and regulations) to develop a business but this study only discussed those challenges that are more related to international business. Furthermore, the study focuses on challenges only and it does not discuss the innate or acquired capabilities that women possess which may help them to mitigate the challenges or deal with the challenges.

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2. Literature Review

This chapter provides a thematic analytical discussion of existing literature relating to the study's research area. This chapter's aim is to introduce the reader to core theoretical concepts.

The chapter begins with the analysis of internationalization theories before moving onto the internationalization challenges. Finally, the most appropriate theories have been used to construct a conceptual framework that will guide the research of empirical findings collected in the following chapter.

2.1. Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship

For many researchers and scholars, the current era is the era of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurship (Agrawal, 2020; Bruton et al., 2013; Lux, Macau, and Brown, 2020). The persons are viewed as heroes who start and operate their own businesses (Lux et al., 2020).

Goffee and Scase (2015, p.1) present entrepreneurs as “risk-takers and innovators who reject the relative security of employment in large organizations to create wealth and accumulate capital”. An entrepreneur is a person who recognizes society's needs and attempts to fulfill those through his/her innovative ideas and is directly involved in the creation of an organization (Agrawal, 2020). The entrepreneur is an important part of the complex process of creating a new venture, undertaking crucial steps or activities (e.g planning, resources allocation, networking, etc.) to bring a new organization into existence (Gartner, 1988). Gartner (1988, p.58) states that “entrepreneurs often do seem like special people who achieve things that most of us do not achieve”. The entrepreneur is characterized mainly by innovative behavior and strategic management practices. They establish a business with the principal purposes of profit and growth (Zhang and Acs, 2018). Researchers identify some innovative postures of entrepreneurs such as the introduction of new products or services, the introduction of new production methods, the introduction of new sources of supply, the opening of new markets, industrial reorganization (Agrawal, 2020; Gartner, 1988).

Enterprise or entrepreneurship is the carrying out of new combinations and the individual whose responsibility is to carry them out is called an entrepreneur (Carton, Hofer, and Meeks, 1998).

Self-employment is the simplest kind of entrepreneurship (Blanchflower and Oswald, 1998).

According to Agrawal (2020, p.2), “entrepreneurship is a process in which entrepreneurs constantly scan the environment, identify possibilities, acquire necessary resources, and finally translate the environmental opportunity into a concrete action”. He presents entrepreneurship as the pursuit of discontinuous opportunities demanding the establishment of a company with

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the expectation of creating value for the participants. The author added that the new company may or may not become profitable, but by developing a company, one may be involved in the entrepreneurship prototype. Entrepreneurship creates value and exploits opportunities by allocating a unique package of resources (Kirzner, 2015). In the modern era, entrepreneurship has become more important for the development of society and economic growth.

Entrepreneurship provides a comparatively non-controversial way to create jobs, increase the proverbial pie, and enhance per capita income growth (Toma, Grigore, and Marinescu, 2014).

Though the engagement of women in entrepreneurial activities is relatively lower than men's, women are contributing to economic development the way men are doing (Vossenberg, 2013).

2.2. Women Entrepreneurship

Women entrepreneur is defined by Noor, Isa, and Nor (2021, p.347) as “a woman who utilizes her skills, means, and knowledge to establish a new business venture by facing the issues and challenges until attaining financial gain by a business venture” and refer to women’s entrepreneurship as decision-making power, control over resources, and easy access to information. Kothawale (2013, p.2) defines women enterprise as “a unit of organization relating to service or business enterprise managed by one or more women entrepreneurs having individually or jointly a share capital of not less than 51% as shareholders of the private company, limited company or members of Co-Operative society”. Profound structural changes in the world provide vast opportunities for both males and females, but significantly change the status of women in the marketplace, consequently, entrepreneurship becomes a vibrant and growing trend among women internationally (Liñán, Jaén, and Martin, 2020). The primary motivation of low-income women to become an entrepreneur is to generate income, where for some other women entrepreneurs, self-fulfillment or fostering a worthwhile cause is also important as profits (Coughlin and Thomas, 2002). Developing strategies is needed for women to strengthen their decision-making process and leadership in their businesses and also it can offer some benefits to their families and overall economic development (Adcroft, Ndemo, and Maina, 2007). The creation of enterprise by a woman offers flexibility to the woman, such as she can balance her work and family responsibilities, support family income, and help other women by offering employment. Moreover, women's entrepreneurship enhances a woman’s self-image, builds a greater degree of self-reliance (Coughlin and Thomas, 2002). Hence, Panda (2018) claims that entrepreneurship offers women a platform for self-expression and fulfillment, provides economic security, empowers them as individuals.

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2.3. Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets

According to Tracey and Phillips (2011, p.25), “the countries that are undertaking a process of economic reform designed to address poverty and improve the living standards of their inhabitants, and have an economy that has recorded positive economic growth over a sustained period can be classified as emerging markets”. Emerging markets are low-income, rapid- growth nations that depend heavily on economic liberalization for their growth (Bruton et al., 2013). A notable characteristic of emerging markets is that those markets are highly unstable and unpredictable because of their rapidly changing economy (Tracey and Phillips, 2011).

Entrepreneurs in emerging markets face several distinctive institutional challenges such as the lack of stable political situation, the lack of credible legal frameworks, the lack of physical infrastructure, and so on, consequently, the outcome of entrepreneurship in such markets is often highly uncertain but contributing to the economic growth (Luthans and Ibrayeva, 2006;

Tracey and Phillips, 2011). So, by seeing economic growth and development through entrepreneurship, governments and policymakers have been searching for appropriate policies to foster the entrepreneurial capabilities of their citizens (Edoho and Kuada, 2015). Duke (2016, p.510) states that the entrepreneurial process in emerging markets is “a messy process characterized more by the nonlinear, creative, and entrepreneurial processes used to construct opportunities than by the more conventional and linear opportunity exploitation ones”. Some business owners in emerging countries are forced into entrepreneurship by necessity, not by choice. Moreover, such business owners may not have the entrepreneurial skills or traits suggested in established theories and may be unable to grow their firms because of competing demands on their resources (Edoho and Kuada, 2015). Women’s empowerment is improving rapidly because of women's participation in the political and social arenas, workplace, and leadership roles, which in turn, helps to gain access to physical resources and control over power structure (Bhuiyan and Abdullah, 2007). Women’s equal rights are recognized by women’s economic empowerment and the ultimate women's empowerment is through entrepreneurship (Bhuiyan and Abdullah, 2007). Women in developed countries are motivated to develop their own business to achieve self-fulfillment and gain independence, where along with such motivations, women in emerging markets establish their own businesses to meet family needs by earning more money, self-employment, reduce unemployment, reduce poverty (Zhu et al., 2019). Zhu et al., (2019) identify some success factors for female entrepreneurs to compete with their male counterparts that are family support and encouragement, knowledge of business, business capabilities, social network, education, and previous experience. Despite

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the increased opportunities due to globalization, a large number of women business owners in emerging countries still face additional challenges and obstacles and thus, they do not have the courage to utilize the opportunity to cross national borders (Beica and Eklöf, 2018; Kujala, 2016). But some enthusiastic women become involved in export trade to present their nation’s precious resources to the international markets (Misango and Ongiti, 2013). Bhuiyan and Abdullah (2007) identify that training in business skills, lack of knowledge, undercapitalization, lack of support, and overcoming some of the social beliefs are the major problems for Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs. In the past, women entrepreneurs and the women who work outside the house were not accepted or appreciated by society in Bangladesh, but now the scenario is changing and women have gathered the courage to break traditional beliefs, people’s thoughts, and overcome the obstacles, to enter the off house working force (Bhuiyan and Abdullah, 2007). Bhuiyan and Abdullah (2007) identified through their research that most of the female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh did not under-gone training but have acquired the skills and capacities to operate businesses on their own and get help from relatives or friends and some get help from parents as well. Chowdhury (2017) noted that a congenial environment is inevitable to prepare and develop effective women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

2.4. Internationalization

Internationalization is a concept that is broad and dynamic in meaning (Turunen and Nummela, 2017). Internationalization represents the process that takes steps to increase its footprints or capture more significant market share to other international markets outside its geographical location (Lu and Beamish, 2001). The internationalization of companies is a process in which firms steadily expand their international involvement (Acedo and Jones, 2007). Besides, it is the process by which goods and services are planned and introduced to make them available both in the regional markets and in international markets (Mathews and Zander, 2007).

Internationalization is a business strategy that entails making products and services as adaptable as possible so that they can easily be distributed in different countries (Johanson and Vahlne, 2006). Internationalization requires the best strategy, resource structure, and organization of businesses in international environments (Calof and Beamish, 1995; Welch and Loustarinen, 1988). Moreover, internationalization is an intensively researched phenomenon from a variety of points of view, including organizational theory, marketing, strategic management, international management, and small business management (Knight, 2004). In addition, geographic expansion is one of the most important paths for any firm growth where firms can

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reach a higher level of production and growth by expanding their consumer bases and entering new markets (Lu and Beamish, 2001; Sibiya and Kele, 2019).

Moreover, internationalization is the identification and expansion of entrepreneurial opportunities due to globalization and technological developments that make a significant contribution to the entrance into the advanced international market (Calof and Beamish, 1995;

Johanson and Vahlne, 2006). According to Welch and Luostarinen (1988), the key reasons for a company to choose to enter the international market are significant: to expand the sales, to acquire resources, to diversify sources of sales and suppliers, and to decrease the competitive risk. Johanson and Vahlne (1977) emphasize the value of experiential knowledge and advocate that internationalization is an incremental phase and that as the firm gains more market knowledge it will commit more resources to that market. According to researchers, the literature describes internationalization as a mechanism by which a business increases its level of participation in foreign markets over time (Johanson and Vahlne, 2009). The internationalization of an organization is regarded as taking place through pathways that represent entrepreneurial insights and strategic decisions in a stage model approach, rather than in a strict sequence of stages (Mathews, and Zander, 2007). The firm's global expansion has become a substitute for domestic markets in today's era of sustained globalization, particularly for small countries with relatively small domestic markets (Misati et al., 2017). Consequently, internationalization has gained prominence as an indispensable growth strategy for business enterprises, especially those from emerging economies (Osei-Bonsu, 2014). Prior research indicates that companies from emerging economies internationalize in order to reach larger markets for their goods and services, tap into higher demand markets that deliver greater profitability, follow their clients internationally, and avoid the difficulties associated with unstable domestic economies (Amal and Filho, 2010; Anderson, 2011; Shirokova et al., 2016).

Indeed, firms that internationalize are able to use their existing expertise and capabilities to exploit new opportunities in foreign markets (Sibiya and Kele, 2019). However, internationalization has both positive and negative implications for companies. Positive outcomes include business expansion, creativity, global business partnerships, knowledge development (i.e., international and general management know-how), risk avoidance, and cultural change in the entrepreneurial firm (Misati et al., 2017). The negative effects include firm failure and increased risk, as well as tension and confrontation among managers and competitors (Misati et al., 2017; Shirokova et al., 2016).

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Even though outward operations including exports and foreign direct investment have received much more attention so far, business internationalization also includes inward-oriented activities. Karlsen et al. (2003) claim that most of the attention from researchers, scholars, and practitioners has been on outward operations when it comes to research on the internationalization of an organization, but a very limited write about inward internationalization that may be a prerequisite for the establishment of an organization. Inward international operations “are often more visible in the early parts of a company’s life, especially in the form of raw materials or components/machinery imports” and help a small business owner to learn about foreign operation characteristics, foreign trade techniques, and ways of using different operation modes (Karlsen et al., 2003, p.386).

2.5. International Entrepreneurship

In today’s business world, the global dream of entrepreneurs across the globe is entrepreneurship and when the business covers all areas within the domestic region, then they will think about moving towards international entrepreneurship (Zahra, and George, 2017).

International entrepreneurship is the process by which an entrepreneur conducts business across national boundaries; it may consist of, exporting, licensing, and opening sales offices in different continents (Keupp and Gassmann, 2009). According to Oviatt and McDougall (2005), international entrepreneurship is a combination of innovative, proactive, and risk-seeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations. In addition, Oviatt and McDougall (2005) define international entrepreneurship as the discovery, enactment, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities to produce potential products and services across national borders. Mainela, Puhakka, and Servais (2015) explain that international entrepreneurship includes a perspective that is focused on opportunities and crossing boundaries. Lumpkin and Dess (1996) claim innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk- taking behavior as a part of the entrepreneurial orientation where it is linked with growth and performance. Kalantaridis (2004) claims that the characteristics of entrepreneurial orientation have a positive impact on a firm that explores and tries to access new markets where proactive behavior and competitive aggressiveness support this approach to being willing to take risks helps to access new opportunities. International entrepreneurship is one significant concept in the international expansion approach of a firm, this approach is supported by the entrepreneurs who conduct international business (Keupp and Gassmann, 2009). Wright and Ricks (1994) claim international business scholars identified international entrepreneurship as a significant

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research area that includes comparisons of entrepreneurial behavior through diverse cultures and countries as well as entrepreneurial organizational activity that crosses national boundaries.

2.6. Women Entrepreneurship and Internationalization

Internationalization involves the interaction of various economic, institutional, and transitional factors that may influence the growth of women's entrepreneurship (Mostafiz and Goh, 2018).

Women entrepreneurs in emerging markets “view internationalization as a way to address growth opportunities and tap into new markets” (Moreira et al., 2019 p. 637). Turunen and Nummela (2017) argue that the entrepreneur's global mindset is a crucial factor of successful internationalization, which includes the personal characteristics of an entrepreneur that influence a company's internationalization activities (Jones, Coviello, and Tang, 2011).

Moreover, Javidan, Teagarden, and Bowen (2010) argue that in order to succeed in global business female entrepreneurs must have a global mentality that includes three components:

intellectual capital, psychological capital, and social capital. Researchers identify that women are likely to engage in international activities through exporting and mention that exporting is an important growth strategy of entrepreneurial firms from small economies with confined domestic markets (Misango and Ongiti, 2013; Pergelova et al., 2019). Misango and Ongiti (2013) claim that women play an important role in economic development by the involvement in export activities and earning and generating substantial foreign exchange for the nation.

Women entrepreneurs have entrepreneurial capabilities that are embedded in their individual personalities that affect the internationalization process but this significantly requires prior exposure to foreign cultures or being part of a certain ethnic group or network (Mostafiz and Goh, 2018). Researchers claim that successful women entrepreneurs tend to focus on active networking and educational endeavors to identify international opportunities and expand business practices globally (Nissan et al., 2012). In addition, women are empowered to be entrepreneurs for economic and social benefits (Brush and Gatewood, 2008). Brush et al., (2009) propose a framework for understanding women’s entrepreneurship that includes money, market, management, and meso/macro-environment. These factors are an important way to understand how women entrepreneurs internationalize their business on the basis of cultural and social circumstances (Brush and Cooper, 2012). Ratten and Tajeddini (2018) claim in emerging economies, it seems or appears that women often observe entrepreneurship more as an opportunity rather than a necessity. Nissan et al. (2012) claim that a way to increase the level

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of women’s entrepreneurship in the international market is for more attention to be placed on their groundbreaking business models.

2.7. Internationalization Challenges for Women Entrepreneurial Firms

2.7.1. Lack of Knowledge and Learning

Knowledge can generally be described as something that facilitates the management of data and information. It is characterized by information, a capacity, and an attitude (uit Beijerse, 2000). uit Beijerse (2000, p.164) states that “knowledge is the result of a multitude of factors:

experience, skills, culture, character, personality, feelings, etc” which is necessary for entrepreneurs to function and achieve something; thinks, interprets, and acts creatively.

Moreover, knowledge stimulates entrepreneurs’ curiosity and enthusiasm for innovation (uit Beijerse, 2000). Also, knowledge helps to build a global mindset that influences the internationalization of firms (Moreira et al., 2019), or to say, a key driver of successful internationalization (Ratten and Tajeddini, 2018). According to Young and Sexton (2003, p.156), self-directed learning is the primary method that entrepreneurs use to acquire knowledge, and claim that “the most enduring entrepreneurs are those who ‘learn how to learn’

the processes associated with acquiring knowledge”. Typically self-directed learning occurs when entrepreneurs seek solutions to the problems they face, so the more an entrepreneur faces problems the more he/she can learn and enhance problem-solving skills and leads to successful performance (Young and Sexton, 2003).

One of the most valuable skills of a good entrepreneur is the ability to identify and select the right opportunities for the business and this ability is driven by prior knowledge and experience, self-efficacy, creativity (Ardichvili, Cardozo, and Ray, 2003). The perceptions of opportunity provide a high level of entrepreneurial orientation (e.g. proactiveness, innovativeness, and risk- taking propensity) and help to obtain superior performance, which in turn, leads to a new entry (Fuentes-Fuentes, Bojica, and Ruiz-Arroyo, 2015; Wach et al., 2018). Fuentes-Fuentes et al.

(2015) state that women entrepreneurs face great resource constraints in the development of entrepreneurial orientation since the ability to identify opportunities is linked to knowledge- based resources, such as work experience, education of the entrepreneur, experiential knowledge, previous related knowledge, entrepreneurial experience, knowledge of customer problems, etc. Women are less likely to gain business knowledge or experience by working in companies or owning prior businesses (Coleman, 2007). As a result, women fail to make more

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reliable predictions about the appropriateness of tactical and strategic actions and the commercial potential of environmental changes (Coleman, 2007).

Women entrepreneurs face challenges in the way of developing business and internationalization due to their lack of knowledge about business or business administration, networking, socio-cultural; lack of understanding of capital management, bookkeeping, business practices, hiring and retaining talent, engaging in marketing and consumer-related activities (Basit et al., 2020; Panda, 2018; Wach, et al., 2018). In addition, most of the women do not have enough knowledge about technological advancement (Roomi and Parrott, 2008;

Siddiqui, 2012), negotiation, or bargaining strategy (Goheer, 2003; Siddiqui, 2012), government policies (Goheer, 2003). The reasons behind such knowledge lackings are inadequate education, insufficient training (lack of formal business and entrepreneurship training) (Panda, 2018), lack of informal learning (that occurs outside the school or college, from workshops or courses, learning on the job) (Huarng, Mas-Tur, and Yu, 2012). According to Basit et al. (2020, p.124), “women enter into business with less formal business-specific education or work experiences compared to men”, which leg them behind in terms of management skills, problem-solving behavior, strategic decision-making abilities (Panda, 2018). Moreover, women do not have the proper education or practical experience regarding the knowledge management process including knowledge acquisition, sharing, utilization, which highly influence the internationalization of an entrepreneurial firm (Wach, Głodowska, and Maciejewski, 2018). Bhuiyan and Abdullah (2007) identified that because of lack of knowledge and training, female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh were obliged to depend heavily on male partners for trade, but often they are cheated by the male partners through unscrupulous means. Education or knowledge is crucial for women since the development of women's entrepreneurship seems to strictly depend on women’s level of education (De Vita et al., 2014).

The practice of knowledge sharing, acquisition, utilization is very important for women for self- improvement, to develop their business plan, to create core competencies, learn new techniques and ideas, strengthen social capital and organizational intellectual capital, starting a new venture or entering into international business (Setini et al., 2020).

To enter into a foreign market, most importantly entrepreneurs need to have enough information or knowledge about this particular market, which researchers refer to as foreign market knowledge (Gnatenko, Huang, and Olsson, 2019; Moreira et al., 2019; Zhou, 2007). It is the core of the internationalization of a firm and the base for an entrepreneur’s international actions (Gnatenko et al., 2019). But, for the above-mentioned problems (limited education, training,

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skills, prior experience, etc), women also lack foreign market knowledge, for which women entrepreneurial firms in emerging countries tend to less internationalize (Jamali, 2009; Moreira et al., 2019; Ratten and Tajeddini, 2018). Researchers identify three types of foreign market knowledge that all types of business owners need to have to make a successful internationalization of their businesses: foreign institutional knowledge (knowledge about foreign culture, institutions, rules, and regulations), foreign business knowledge (knowledge about targeted foreign market’s conditions, customers, competitors), and internationalization knowledge (knowledge about the ways/techniques of adapting resources and capabilities to involve in international operations) (Eriksson et al., 1997; Zhou, 2007). Entrepreneurs should learn the importance of the objective of using the business model canvas and its nine building blocks to give a clear understanding of the company's uniqueness to the client (Sort and Nielsen, 2018). The business model canvas is essential to all entrepreneurs who want guidance preparing for the investment process (Keane, Cormican, and Sheahan, 2018). According to Eusuf et al.

(2017), women's access to business-related training in Bangladesh is limited about 35% of respondents reported in a survey lack of training opportunities preventing female entrepreneurs from starting up a company. Additionally, around 21% claimed that a lack of technological expertise made it impossible for them to engage in business activities. Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have a poor understanding of how to expand their businesses, and their lack of corporate literacy causes them to compete in an already crowded market. Scholars argue that women have the strength to establish a successful international business, just they need to fight for their rights in society and utilize whatever they have properly (Moreira et al., 2019;

Niethammer, 2013; Ratten and Tajeddini, 2018).

2.7.2. Lack of Networking

Rutashobya, Allan, and Nilsson (2009, p.69) present that an important part of entrepreneurial firms' existence is generally “the set of people and/or organizations with which the entrepreneurs interact”. Though entrepreneurs control their business independently, they need to operate it within a network of people to adapt and implement their ideas, plan, strategies successfully (Tjosvold and Weicker, 1993). Social networking is one of the important needs for the funding and development of entrepreneurial firms (Elfring and Hulsink, 2007; Felzensztein et al., 2015). Networking enhances the ability of entrepreneurs in terms of spotting opportunities, gaining legitimacy, acquiring resources (Elfring and Hulsink, 2007; Tjosvold and Weicker, 1993). Moreover, through a vast network, entrepreneurs become able to engage with customers, learn about changing customer trends, building trust issues, new technologies,

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distinct ways of managing and solving problems (Ozkazanc‐Pan and Clark Muntean, 2018).

Besides, a diverse network strategy enables entrepreneurs to explore markets, overcome obstacles, provides support and encourages business-owners for business expansion, motivates entrepreneurs for international business (Soetanto, Huang, and Jack, 2018; Tjosvold and Weicker, 1993).

Datta and Gailey (2012) identify that status and decision-making power of women within the household is a key dimension of women empowerment. Moreover, Panda (2018) indicates that women’s unique role in the household helps to create a network, which in turn, helps to increase entrepreneurial activities. But most of the women in emerging countries do not get enough family support, or to say, families’ male members refuse to take female members’ decisions or ideas regarding any problems or any other matters (Panda, 2018). Moreover, because of traditional beliefs and/or low income, families do not allow females for higher education, restrict outing due to an insecure social environment (harassment, violence). That consequently limits women’s knowledge, takes away from networking opportunities, reduces self-confidence and judgment ability, and so on (De Vita et al., 2014; Jamali, 2009; Panda, 2018). Rosenbaum (2017) identifies that in some emerging countries female entrepreneurs do not have opportunities to access male-dominated formal networks, thus female entrepreneurs prefer informal networks (that are typically small). Rutashobya et al. (2009) found that women entrepreneurs extensively rely on informal networks (link with family, friends, business person) instead of formal networks (contact with banks, accountants, lawyers). But, De Vita et al. (2014, p.456) present that “in line with the strong influence of family relationships, women have little contact with business partners, colleagues, and people belonging to the same tribe, compared to men”. So, depending on limited networks restrict women from building a strong social capital, which is beneficial for adaptation, coordination, and exchange of most valuable information such as market trend, foreign market data, source of labor, customer behavior, funding, etc, as a result, face huge difficulties while internationalizing business activities (De Vita et al., 2014; Felzensztein et al., 2015). Connections to other foreign networks can be facilitated by domestic networks where both formal and informal networks allow direct &

indirect relationships when it comes to internationalizing the business in the initial stage (Johanson and Vahlne, 2009). Moreira et al. (2019) show that foreign market knowledge of entrepreneurs is mainly acquired by social ties and global networks. If networks are to be a valuable entrepreneurial resource for the female entrepreneur and his/her venture, the entrepreneur needs to act to enhance the quality of these networks where virtual networking

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plays a significant role (McGowan et al., 2011). Therefore, women entrepreneurs need to establish global networks to get help in the internationalization process, knowledge about entry mode, foreign culture, business environment, competitors (Moreira et al., 2019).

2.7.3. Lack of Funding

The financing of business start-ups is one of the fundamental aspects of developing an entrepreneurial firm considering that high-growth firms require large amounts of capital (Moghaddam et al., 2017). In addition, financial capital is one of the necessary resources required for enterprises to form and subsequently operate the firm in a competitive business market (Cassar, 2004). Capital decisions and the use of equity and debt at the start-up stage have been shown to have significant consequences for a business's operations, risk of failure, profitability, and the potential of the business to expand (Korosteleva and Mickiewicz, 2011;

Hechavarría, Matthews, and Reynolds, 2016).

Many studies agree to the fact that the financial aspect of entrepreneurship is the biggest obstacle in women's entrepreneurship (Mwobobia, 2012; Nyamwanza et al., 2012;

Rattanawiboonsom and Ali, 2016). In particular, the lack of insufficient initial capital (Amatucci and Crawley, 2011) and the restrictions on access to it (Orser, Riding, and Maley, 2006) which is regularly illustrated in the literature as a major challenge for female entrepreneurs face constantly, especially in the early stages of the company (Brush et al., 2009;

Robb and Coleman, 2010; Carter et al., 2007). This applies especially to women-owned firms, as they seem to have less personal savings to invest in their businesses (Brush et al., 2009). A variety of social reasons justify why women are less successful than men in raising finance and often lack the same degree of trust, expertise, qualifications, and networks as men at a similar stage in starting up a business (Brush et al., 2002). Stereotyping and disconnection adversely affect most women's ability to access finance. Hoque and Awang (2019) claim that women are poorer than men in general and around the world since they are disproportionately working in the unpaid, underpaid, and non-formal sectors of the economy. In addition, there is also gender inequality on the part of those who are in a position to provide funding and assistance due to discrimination or credibility issues (Brush, 1992). According to researchers, gender inequality often has a negative impact on access to finance, particularly in developing countries and among women (Robb and Coleman, 2010; Shoma, 2019). Receiving funding from banks and other financial institutions has proven challenging for female entrepreneurs in emerging markets (Shoma, 2019; Robb and Coleman, 2010). Although small businesses lack the resources of

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banks and other investors, it is extremely hard for them to protect themselves from market imperfections (Afroze et al., 2014). The complexity of increasing funding in developing countries may discourage women from internationalizing an entrepreneurial business (Carter et al., 2007). This challenge is most often linked to the sectors in which the majority of women entrepreneurs are identified: they are most frequently in low-growth corporate and institutional services (Orser et al., 2006; Rattanawiboonsom and Ali, 2016; Robb and Coleman, 2010).

Mwobobia (2012) argues environmental uncertainty, resource constraints, and particularly women's aversion to risk-taking have led them to participate in activities with low entry thresholds and low financial support. Female entrepreneurs often have less relevant training, education, and skill in business administration prior to engaging or dealing with financial institutions due to that reason they have lack knowledge about the loan interest rate, rigidness about loan-related analysis, and how to invest the finance in the business (Afroze et al., 2014;

Jennings and Brush, 2013; Moghaddam et al., 2017; Shoma, 2019). In Bangladesh female entrepreneurs often encounter difficulties meeting the paperwork requirements for receiving loans. Because of fewer opportunities for education and work experience, they lack knowledge about financial management and maintaining proper documentation (Ahmed, 2014). High transaction costs, the rigidity of collateral requirements, and heavy paperwork are further hindrances to women entrepreneurs (Shoma, 2019). The high cost of formal financial funding discourages many female entrepreneurs from pursuing it, and many entrepreneurs tend to fund their businesses internally (Eusuf et al., 2017; Kieran et al., 2015). Economic expansion becomes complicated due to the lack of available internal financing (Mwobobia, 2012).

Collateral is a common issue in the credit market, while the lending institution's mission is to reduce the risk of lending to a risky borrower, this poses a new challenge for female entrepreneurs (Eusuf et al., 2017; Shoma, 2019). More than 52 percent of female entrepreneurs identified collateral requirements as one of the major barriers in the case of gaining access to finance (Eusuf et al., 2017). Most of the time they complain by most women is that guarantees required for external financing may be beyond the scope of their personal assets and used it track record (Hoque and Awang, 2019). Besides, laws around formal economic rights do not support women in Bangladesh (Shoma, 2019). Existing patriarchal inheritance rights restrict women from owning land or inheriting property in emerging markets (Mwobobia, 2012). In Bangladesh, inheritance is generally regulated by Sharia (Islamic law) practices, in which women are not entitled to parity and inherit only half as much as their male counterparts (Kieran et al., 2015). This restricts women's access to the required capital for entrepreneurship because

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they have less money and less collateral while seeking credit (Ahmed, 2014; Kieran et al., 2015). In addition, this includes inadequate policy enforcement, a lack of institutional support, discriminatory laws, and a lack of a woman-friendly sociocultural and economic environment (Shoma, 2019). Eusuf et al. (2017) claim in Bangladesh a survey found that 58% of women reported they lacked the capital to start their business, and 29% said this might limit the smoothness of the success of their business. All these things negatively impact their potentiality to benefit from entrepreneurial activity and internationalize the business from the beginning (Hoque and Awang, 2019; Jahan, 2017; Rattanawiboonsom and Ali, 2016).

2.7.4. Liability of Smallness

The liability of size (or smallness) is one of the most prominent risks that entrepreneurs face while beginning a new venture (Wolfe et al., 2020). Kraus, Harms, and Fink (2010) describe the liability of smallness as a limited financial resource, human resources, confined market power, and a small customer base. Strotmann (2007) narrates that a firm’s size is measured by its initial capital, employment, or its turnover amount. Previous researches indicate that the size of a new venture is positively related to sales, growth, and survival (Strotmann, 2007; Wolfe et al., 2020). Larger organizations are more likely to grow quickly and survive as they have amassed adequate resources, able to leverage key networks that are necessary to enhance firm performance and to be successful (Desa and Basu, 2013; Kyvik et al., 2013; Wolfe et al., 2020;).

Conversely, small companies have a lack of economies of scale, lack of input, human capital that creates constraints in the way of companies' development and survival (Strotmann, 2007;

Wolfe et al., 2020).

Anderson and Ullah (2014, p.330) identify that “women enter business for financial gain, but to pursue intrinsic goals such as independence with the flexibility to interface family and work commitments”. But, such choices restrict the growth of their enterprise (Anderson and Ullah, 2014). Also, Manolova et al. (2007) write that relative to male entrepreneurs, females have lower growth expectancies for their enterprise, the primary reason behind this is they have pressure to maintain a balance between their family responsibilities (look after family members, child-rearing) and working life, that may not basically apply to their male counterparts (Rosenbaum, 2017). Manolova et al. (2007) claim that the women-owned entrepreneurial firms in emerging countries show a lower propensity to expand and a higher propensity to leave under unfavorable market and competitive conditions, because of insufficient finance, resource scarcity, dynamic skills. Additionally, because of lack of professional experience and diverse

Women’s Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: The Challenges to Develop and Internationalize Entrepreneurial Firms: A Study on Bangladesh