Social Networking and Entrepreneurial Opportunities: The Case of Women Entrepreneurs in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

This exploratory study aims to develop an understanding about entrepreneurial phenomena experienced by women of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In order to explore the complexity of the phenomenon qualitative study is conducted to identify the networking issues faced by women entrepreneurs of KPK. This study also develops an insight about the networking activities being practiced by them and role of push and pull factors on networking process, and how does trust factor effect the process. As literature suggest there is sufficient research conducted on the topic of entrepreneurship but still many areas need further exploration. This study answers to the various calls made by researchers to identify networking process of women entrepreneurs working in different societies. Socio-cultural aspects were taken into the consideration to understand the dynamics of KPK, as it effects the life of every individual in every sphere of life. Woman being an entity are defined as physically weak, incapable and dependent on man in certain societies, therefore they face societal barriers more often than a man. In order to understand how does women orientation towards the venture development is effected by the contextual factors, in-depth, face to face interviews were conducted to explore the participants’ perception related to their startups, grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data. Study provides empirical evidence that: personality traits effect women decision making to become an entrepreneur, whereas their intention is being moderated by the push and pull factors that are embedded in social context, moreover, women social networking plays an important role in venture success and trust factor moderates the network ties. Based on grounded findings this study concludes that networking issues being faced by women entrepreneurs tend to perceive an opportunity is embedded in entrepreneurial context.