Entrepreneurial Climate in Establishing and Managing the Business By Women Entrepreneurs of Different Financial Status

Abstract

The word 'climate' usually refers to the atmospheric climate, which describes the weather conditions of a particular geographic area, and the climate is mostly different in different regions of the world. Similarly, each organization has its own climate, which defines the work culture present in it. The success of an organization depends on the interrelationship between management and the workforce and the conductive work culture present in it. It has been empirically proved in many organizations that conductive work climate, employee- centered climate and achievement oriented climate ultimately improves the performance of the organizations (Friedlander & Greenberg, 1971; Slocum, 1972). Just as the success of an organization depends on its organizational climate (Uthayasuriyan, 2005), establishing and managing of an enterprise effectively depends on the entrepreneurial climate. The entrepreneurial climate refers to an environment that supports the development of entrepreneurial ventures. A successful entrepreneurial climate exists when opportunity (unique ideas and ownership of those ideas) connects with resources (people, capital and information) and results in successful startup ventures (http://www.google.co.in/search: Entrepreneurial Climate). The entrepreneurial activity centers on human motivation. It triggers the desire to achieve, the urge to excel, the willingness to experiment, the courage to dream and think big and the attitude to question the existing beliefs. Entrepreneurial spirit is not gender specific. It is evenly spread across the population irrespective of caste, creed, gender and religion. The variation, if any, may be attributed to the variances in the socio- cultural context, political support and economic climate. The emergence of women entrepreneurs depends on religious, environmental, socioeconomic and psychological factors. This is grouped under ''pull factors " and ''push factors". The pull factor refers to the urge in women to undertake a venture with an inclination to start a business. The push factor refers to women entering business driven by the need due to family circumstances (Anjaneya Swamy, 2004). The social stigma, male domination, obnoxious family traditions and norms and absence of economic freedom are the cultural barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, whatever may be their background. An attempt has been made to understand the entrepreneurial climate perceived by the women entrepreneurs of And.bra Pradesh and the results are presented in this paper. This study was undertaken during the period from the year 2003- 2008.