Gender, Strategy and Performance in Small Businesses
A study on the impact of gender on strategy and performance
Results
What did we found out ? In this page we are going to present you the results of both our quantitative and qualitative study.
To analyse the result of the questionnaire we put in place a system of notation that we applied to the answer, They were two grades which indicate the level of cost leadership and differentiation the firm were into.
The field research enabled us to find answers to our questions. The quantitative part showcased that women-led small firms were indeed less performant than men-led firms. It also highlighted the differences of strategy between men and women entrepreneurs.
Women entrepreneurs clearly favour differentiation strategies whereas men entrepreneurs favour mixed strategies. To be more specific, women tend to have cost leadership and differentiation focus strategies, whereas men entrepreneurs have better grades for both types of strategies.
What are the results of the qualitative study?
The qualitative part of the field study brought to light other differences between men and women entrepreneurs, which have been barely mentioned in prior studies and which could also explain the difference in terms of performance that we have found.
In this part, the personal opinions of entrepreneurs were particularly interesting, since we could observe their reactions to the questions and get a glimpse of the clichés and stereotypes surrounding the very masculine world of entrepreneurship.
Having their feedback on their own personal experience as an entrepreneur was also highly suggestive. We found out that there were significant differences in the motivations among men and women, contrary to what we have found in the literature review. We have also found out that women entrepreneurs had differences of approach and of self-confidence, which can due to the way little girls are educated, and which, of course, could be relevant in explaining the underperformance of women-led companies.
What are the results of the quantitative study?
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* Women entrepreneurs focus their strategy on differentiation and men entrepreneurs implement mixed-strategies (cost and differentiation)
