Purpose The purpose of this study is to conceptualize, develop and validate a scale reflecting performance dimensions of women entrepreneurs. The study intends to address the important aspects of women entrepreneur such as identifying factors influencing performance of women entrepreneur in emerging economies including India, and to develop a reliable and valid scale for measuring performance from women entrepreneurs’ perspective, which will help to explain the phenomena of entrepreneurship among women by using a holistic approach. Design/methodology/approach In-depth literature reviews were conducted to identify manifest item measuring the latent scale dimensions. Semi-structured interview with women entrepreneurs also contributed toward item generation. A total of 1,032 valid and usable questionnaires were used for the final statistical data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) also conducted to confirm factors-item composition considered for the study. Findings A final scale comprising six dimensions of entrepreneurial performance has been developed. These dimensions are business environment, motivation (pull/push), training and skill development, networking and market information, socio–cultural and financial. Dimensions are reflecting perception of women entrepreneurs on performance. Psychometrically properties of the proposed scale were tested and the model fitness was established through CFA. Research limitations/implications The proposed scale will be beneficial for both existing and nascent entrepreneurs toward gaining awareness regarding what accounts for their performance enhancement in the respective ventures undertaken. At the same time, the finding carries implications for regulatory bodies and policymakers as well, which are engaged in drafting guidelines catering to the development of women entrepreneurship in respective economies. Originality/value The authors believe that the proposed scale offers superior ability to explain factors that affect the performance of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies such as India.

PurposeThis study investigates the antecedents of women entrepreneurs’ performance in an emerging economy. Based on the review of extant literature, six antecedents of women entrepreneurs’ performance, namely, motivation, networking, socio-cultural, business environment, training and development, and financials were proposed and subsequently empirically examined.Design/methodology/approachGaps in the literature were identified, based on which the theoretical background of the study was formulated. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to confirm the factor-item structure. The impact of explanatory variables was investigated using the structural equation modeling (SEM) based path analysis.FindingsThe study concludes that motivation, networking, socio-cultural, business environment, training and development, and financials have a significant positive influence on the performance of the women entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of quality research that holistically investigates the key antecedents of performance among women entrepreneurs. Most existing studies have not considered the possible antecedents of performance concomitantly. Additionally, the relationships have been measured individually rather than at the construct level. Further, a majority of the existing studies investigating the performance of women entrepreneurs have been confined to settings within developed countries. By providing insight into the antecedents of women entrepreneurs’ performance elsewhere, the present study attempts to bridge these identified gaps. This study is expected to advance the knowledge about the factors influencing the performance of women entrepreneurs in emerging economies such as India. These insights will likely be valuable when creating policies related to this crucial aspect of economic development.

The women empowerment is considered as a sine-quo-non for the all-inclusive development of the rural economies as a whole so the issue witnessed a principal significance in the eyes of social scientist, economic reformer, and the policy maker. The term empowerment has different meanings depending on the socio-economic, political and cultural context in which it is presented. Overall empowerment can be perceived as a process or as outcome/goal and can take place at different levels. Rural women entrepreneurship plays a catalytic role in activating the factors of production leading to an overall economic development in India, but it is still on the embryonic stage as this untapped source of the country has not been harnessed appropriately. The present paper intends to establish a correlation between women empowerment and rural entrepreneurship development. It further tries to recognize the various strategies, initiatives and institutive policies of the government and social reformer which would create a conducive ambience in fostering the culture of innovation and rural entrepreneurship development in the country for the economic empowerment of the women. Besides the above the paper also aims at deliberating some imperative aspects of women economic empowerment through SHG, and micro entrepreneurship development. The nature of study is basically exploratory and based on prevailing unpublished and published secondary sources. The study concludes with a diversified range of recommendations and feasible suggestions from the various corners which would encourage a more enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship in India.

Slogan happens to be a true extract of the entire gamut of advertising message. In common parlance, advertisements and ad campaigns are identified by their slogans. Technically, it is a brief, repeatable, and memorable positioning statement. The creative design of slogans has varied with the time. It has been seen in a numerous creative form during its peregrination. The present paper attempts to bring to the limelight an erratic and plural metamorphosis witnessed by this buzzword – slogan.