The role of strong ties in empowering women entrepreneurs in collectivist context

This study analyses what social ties within collectivist settings mean for women’s venturing. Based on the results of a qualitative study, a conceptual model which illustrates the relationships between women entrepreneurs’ use of social ties, and the empowering capacities of venturing, within a collectivist cultural context is developed. The findings reveal that women in this context rely more on strong ties than weak ties in most of their entrepreneurial behaviours and activities. Results also show how collectivist cultural norms shape social networks and inform individual decision making, resource acquisition, well-being and self-efficacy and enhance women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship. The women entrepreneurs were found to leverage their social ties for both power and action throughout their entrepreneurial journey. Based on the findings, we discuss the implications for policy makers and recommend avenues for future research on women entrepreneurs in the collectivist context.