The contribution of female small business owners to economic development in Western developed countries such as New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, is generally under–researched and traditionally grounded in male norms. Increasingly policy–makers acknowledge that in countries like New Zealand where 85% of business employs five or less people, small business offers the greatest employment potential. Not enough is known, though, about the growth orientation and characteristics of female small business owners. This article reports findings from the largest empirical study of small business undertaken in New Zealand and provides inter–gender comparison between male and female small business owners and for intra–gender contrast between networked female small business owners and women who did not belong to a business network. The results showed that the networked women, who were in the main better educated and more affiliative by nature, were more expansionist than both other female small business owners and men. The networked women were also more likely to have a business mentor. The findings confound earlier research suggesting women are less growth–orientated and wish only to satisfy intrinsic needs from their businesses. The article concludes by discussing the need to acknowledge the heterogeneity of female small business and what this means for policy–makers when assessing their socio–economic potential.
of workers aged 55 years and over, and one of employers. The issue of older workers captured respondents' attention, with both studies receiving response rates of around 50%. The congruence of attitudes among older workers and employers regarding the efficacy of negative HRD stereotypes is a feature of the study. Older workers were in some agreement with employers that they were difficult to train, less willing to learn and afraid of new technology. Older workers saw provision of training as a concern, with 11.6% reporting discrimination with regard to training. Significantly, skilled older workers saw the provision of training as a signal by employers that they were to be taken as serious contributors.
Since Schein’s evocative and enduring metaphor "think manager – think male" there has been a stream of literature discussing gender difference in managerial style. The newer literature about managerial competence, however, remains largely silent about gender, regardless of whether managerial competence is contextualised in an organizational or a human resources perspective. This is true even of edited collections where gender tokenism is generally evident. The study uses a rarely‐researched sample, female manufacturers in small and medium manufacturing enterprises, to explore gender and managerial competence and to test Marshall’s suggestion that the next wave of theorizing may well strengthen an “androgynous” manager model. The findings show a pattern of both similarity and difference in the managerial competence of male and female manufacturers in technology uptake and tentative support for the androgynous manager model.
The burgeoning literature about the knowledge economy has marginalised its most important dimension – people. The development of human capital and its role in the competitive advantage of business is discussed in relation to the changed nature of the employment relationship. In particular Drucker's concerns about the threat to business of attenuated relationships between workers and their organisations are examined. Contextual factors such as the dynamic nature of labour markets, the centrality of profit making and the definitional difficulties inherent in the new and old economy dichotomy are acknowledged. A transitional model of human capital in the new economy is suggested as a way of modernising traditional thinking. An analysis of the capabilities required by new economy workers leads to a discussion of the corresponding competencies necessary for managers. The paper concludes that changed employment relationships do not spell death to people development. Rather it makes managing talent different and more challenging.
Changes to government policy, deregulation and corporatization in New Zealand have influenced the number and status of women on boards of directors. Using company records, archival material and interviews, examines gender equity on boards of directors in New Zealand and compares the progress of women on the boards of corporate companies in the private sector with those on crown company boards in the public sector. While increasing numbers of New Zealand women are entering the business arena, they continue to be underrepresented in the boardrooms and there exists a clear disparity between gender representation on the boards of crown and corporate companies with women being disadvantaged in the private sector. Includes interview material from women who have successfully achieved directorships and examines the approaches they adopted. Outlines some positive steps to assist women in the bid for corporate directorship, but suggests that the challenge of changing corporate and societal attitudes remains.
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