Innovativeness and business relationships in women‐owned firms: The role of gender stereotypes

• Author: Friederike Welter,Matilde Ruiz‐Arroyo,Ana Maria Bojica,María Fuentes‐Fuentes
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1329
• Published date: 01 March 2017
• Date: 01 March 2017

Innovativeness and business relationships in

women-owned firms: The role of gender

stereotypes

María del Mar Fuentes-Fuentes

University of Granada

Ana Maria Bojica

University of Granada

Matilde Ruiz-Arroyo*

University of Granada

Friederike Welter

Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn and University

Siegen

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between business

contacts and innovativeness in women-owned f‌irms and how

women entrepreneurs’perception of gender stereotypes

affects this relationship. Datawere collected througha survey

of 107 women entrepreneurs in Spain. The results show that

maintaining close contacts with managers/entrepreneurs in

different industries and with customers is signif‌icant in

explaining innovativeness in women-owned f‌irms. The stron-

ger the women entrepreneurs’perception of stereotypes that

deviate from the masculine prof‌ile of the entrepreneur, the

strongerthe inf‌luence of these two types of close contacton in-

novativeness. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John

Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, women-owned f‌irms, innova-

tiveness, business contacts, gender stereotypes

Résumé

Cet article examine la relation entre les contacts professionnels

et l’inventivité au sein des f‌irmes appartenant aux femmes. Il se

penche également sur la façon dont la perception que les

femmes entrepreneuses ont des stéréotypes sexuels inf‌luence

cette relation. Les données utilisées proviennent d’une enquête

réalisée auprès de 107 femmes entrepreneuses en Espagne. Les

résultats montrent que le maintien des relations étroites avec

des managers/entrepreneurs de différentes industries et avec

les clients est un facteur important permettant d’expliquer

l’inventivité dans les f‌irmes appartenant aux femmes. Plus la

perception des femmes entrepreneuses vis-à-vis des stéréotypes

s’éloigne du prof‌ilmasculindel’entrepreneur, plus forte est

l’inf‌luence de ces deux types de contacts étroits sur

l’inventivité. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John

Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots-clés : entrepreneuriat, f‌irmes appartenant aux femmes,

inventivité, contacts professionnels, stéréotypes sexuels

Recent research on women’s entrepreneurship has rec-

ommended that more attention be paid to factors inf‌luencing

the development and growth of women-owned f‌irms (de

Bruin, Brush, & Welter, 2007), particularly the underdevel-

oped area of factors related to innovation (Alsos, Ljunggren,

& Hytti, 2013; Andersson, Berglund, Torslund, Gunnarsson,

& Sundin, 2012; Blake & Hanson, 2005; Hampton,

McGowan, & Cooper, 2011; Marlow & McAdam, 2012).

To innovate, f‌irms must be open to new ideas and be able

to combine insights from different areas of the company,

stimulate collaboration between areas, and encourage people

to generate new ideas and convert them into improved solu-

tions (Garud, Tuertscher, & Van de Ven, 2013). This organi-

zational attitude toward innovation, termed innovativeness

(Hurley & Hult, 1998), is associated with greater sensitivity

to changing market conditions, which can lead f‌irms to iden-

tify and exploit new market opportunities (Hult, Hurley, &

Knight, 2004).

Among factors that inf‌luence innovation and innovative-

ness, the important role of f‌irms’relationships with other or-

ganizations and individuals has received signif‌icant attention

(Lee, Lee, & Pennings, 2001; Rodan & Galunic, 2004; Stam

& Elfring, 2008). New models of innovation (e.g., open

The authors gratefully acknowledge f‌inancial support from the Spanish

Ministry of Science and Innovation [FEM2009–08511].

*Please address correspondence to: Matilde Ruiz-Arroyo, Business Admin-

istration Department, School of Economics and Management, Campus de

Cartuja, s/n, University of Granada, CP 18071 Granada (Spain). Email:

matilderuiz@ugr.es

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

34:63–76 (2017)

Published online 17 June 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1329

Can J Adm Sci

34(1), 63–76 (2017)Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 63