Gender as a Predictor of Planning in Small Business
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publisher
Monash University
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
School
School of Management / Small and Medium Enterprise Research Centre
RAS ID
5844
Abstract
The increase in women-owned small businesses in recent times has led to a corresponding rise in interest in women entrepreneurship. While some of this interest has focused on differences between male and female operators and their business operations, there has been relatively little attention paid to gender comparisons in relation to small business planning. Given that women are broadly acknowledged to behave and manage their businesses differently from men, then knowledge of how gender might influence planning activities has important implications for the small business sector. Accordingly, this paper presents results of an empirical study into small business planning and provides comparisons of the types and extent of planning that male and female operators engaged in. Findings show that gender is not a statistically significant predictor of planning and that women are actually engaged in planning to the same extent as their male counterparts. Additionally, results show that small businesses do engage considerably in different types of planning for both the short and long term, and that plans are regularly reviewed.
Comments
Wang, C. , Walker, E. A., & Redmond, J. L. (2008). Gender as a Predictor of Planning in Small Business. Proceedings of SME - Entrepreneurship Global Conference. Monash University, Victoria. Monash University. Conference website available here.