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.
