Women Entrepreneurial Networks and Small Business Development: A Study Based on Tourism Industry in Sri Lanka: Ongoing Research Project

Abstract

This study aims to explore the role and impact of women entrepreneurs’ networks on small business performance and examine the importance of factors that are perceived by women entrepreneurs to influence the process of networking. The focus of the study is in the field of networking of entrepreneurs and it is concerned with the main theoretical and practical perspectives of entrepreneurial networking. While women's entrepreneurship is a central aspect of economic development and public policy concern in most countries, scholarly research about their entrepreneurial activities is comparatively scarce. This study specifically focuses on women entrepreneurs who engage in tourism industry within the small business sector in Sri Lanka. This study adds to the extant literature through its two-dimensional focus on entrepreneurial networking. The structural dimension which investigates who are parts of the entrepreneurial networks; the relational side which explores the contributions each tie brings to the entrepreneurial venture. Having established that a qualitative methodology is most suitable for this study, the in-depth interview and observation are deemed a particularly suitable research tools. Narrative approaches are suggested in order to “tap” the voice – and thus the stories – of the acting entrepreneurs.