Relationships among Strategic Capabilities and the Performance of Women‐Owned Small Ventures

This study of small, life‐style ventures owned by women focuses on the strategic, firm‐level factors related to business performance. A theoretical model drawing on the resource‐based theory is developed and tested empirically. The model includes strategic capabilities, management styles, and their relation to performance. It is tested empirically on a sample of 220 Israeli female business owners. Analysis reveals that life‐style venture performance is highly correlated with certain aspects of the business owner's skills as well as the venture&apops;s resources. Paradoxically, the owner/managers in the sample rate their skills and their venture's resources as being weak in precisely those areas that correlate positively with business performance. These findings suggest that performance of life‐style ventures owned by women depends more on marketing, financial, and managerial skills than on innovation.

[1]  R. Chaganti,et al.  Management in Women-Owned Enterprises , 1986 .

[2]  Steven H. Hanks,et al.  Market attractiveness, resource-based capabilities, venture strategies, and venture performance , 1994 .

[3]  Marc J. Dollinger,et al.  Entrepreneurship: Strategies and Resources , 1994 .

[4]  J. Child.  Organization Structure and Strategies of Control: A Replication of the Aston Study , 1972 .

[5]  S. Birley,et al.  Do Women Entrepreneurs Require Different Training? , 1987 .

[6]  J. Kasarda,et al.  The State of the Art of Entrepreneurship , 1992 .

[7]  D. Bowen,et al.  The Female Entrepreneur: A Career Development Perspective , 1986 .

[8]  Barbara W. Keats,et al.  Planning and financial performance among small firms in a growth industry , 1988 .

[9]  Lorraine S. Dyke,et al.  A theoretical overview and extension of research on sex, gender, and entrepreneurship , 1993 .

[10]  N. Adler,et al.  Competitive frontiers : women managers in a global economy , 1995 .

[11]  Stephen Tallman,et al.  A Strategic Management Perspective on Host Country Structure of Multinational Enterprises , 1992 .

[12]  J. Lorber.  Paradoxes of Gender , 2017 .

[13]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[14]  Royce L. Abrahamson,et al.  Small Business Management , 1976 .

[15]  C. Travers.  Women Entrepreneurs: : Moving beyond the Glass Ceiling , 1998 .

[16]  Jitendra V. Singh,et al.  Organizational Change and Organizational Mortality. , 1986 .

[17]  David J. Moore,et al.  Women Entrepreneurs: Approaching a New Millennium , 1999 .

[18]  Robert D. Hisrich,et al.  Entrepreneurship: Starting, Developing, and Managing a New Enterprise , 1989 .

[19]  L. Neider.  A Preliminary Investigation of Female Entrepreneurs in Florida , 1987 .

[20]  David J. Collis,et al.  A resource‐based analysis of global competition: The case of the bearings industry , 1991 .

[21]  Robert D. Hisrich,et al.  The Woman Entrepreneur: Management Skills and Business Problems , 1984 .

[22]  Margaret A. Peteraf.  The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource‐based view , 1993 .

[23]  Sally Helgesen.  The female advantage : women's ways of leadership , 1990 .

[24]  Birger Wernerfelt,et al.  The link between resources and type of diversification: Theory and evidence , 1991 .

[25]  B. Wernerfelt,et al.  A Resource-Based View of the Firm , 1984 .

[26]  Robert D. Hisrich,et al.  Israeli women entrepreneurs: An examination of factors affecting performance , 1997 .

[27]  D. Decenzo,et al.  Management Practices of Successful Female Business Owners , 1983 .

[28]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Organization and environment , 1967 .

[29]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organization Theory and Design , 1983 .

[30]  Martha A. Fasci,et al.  A Performance Contrast of Male- and Female-Owned Small Accounting Practices , 1998 .

[31]  Gry Agnete Alsos,et al.  Does the Business Start-Up Process Differ by Gender? A Longitudinal Study of Nascent Entrepreneurs , 1998 .

[32]  P. Rosa,et al.  The Impact of Gender on Small Business Management: Preliminary Findings of a British Study , 1994 .

[33]  Nabil A. Ibrahim,et al.  The Relationship between Planning Sophistication and Performance in Small Businesses , 1998 .

[34]  David B. Jemison.  The Importance of an Integrative Approach To Strategic Management Research , 1981 .

[35]  A. Kalleberg,et al.  Gender and Organizational Performance: Determinants of Small Business Survival and Success , 1991 .