Impact of Socio-Cultural Factors on Growth of Women-Owned Small and Medium Size Enterprises in Eastern Region, Ghana
Regina Okyere-Dankwa1, Smile Gavua Dzisi2, Seth Okyere-Dankwa3
1Regina Okyere-Dankwa, Lecturer, Koforidua Polytechnic, Ghana.
2Smile Gavua Dzisi, Rector, Koforidua Polytechnic, Ghana.
3Seth Okyere-Dankwa, Lecturer, Koforidua Polytechnic, Ghana.
Manuscript received on November 07, 2015. | Revised Manuscript received on November 25, 2015. | Manuscript published on December 15, 2015. | PP: 1-7 | Volume-2 Issue-1, December 2015. | Retrieval Number: A0090122115
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: All over the world entrepreneurship has emerged as gainful employment and a means of helping women to improve their economic and social status and also to assert themselves in the business world. This paper ascertains the implications of socio-cultural factors on growth of women owned small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Region. Growth of small and medium size enterprise depicts increase in sales, profits, employees, production and service lines. The study used descriptive survey as the research design involving a target population of 390 women owned micro and small entrepreneurs drawn from manufacturing, agriculture, commerce and services sectors in Eastern Region. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to form a sample of 194 women entrepreneurs. Simple random sampling was applied on the sample to select the respondents from each sector. Questionnaires and observation guide were used to collect data which was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results suggested that socio-cultural factors positively influenced the growth of womenowned SMEs. The study recommended for the government continuously review laws pertaining to women’s rights, efforts to be made to educate both women and men on their respective rights while ensuring full implementation of the new bills to empower women. Special programmes to train, build capacity and mentor women particularly in entrepreneurship should be put in place to change women’s mindset to make enterprises owned by women more competitive while the government should continuously work towards providing conducive business environment.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Eastern Region, Small Medium Size Enterprise, Socio-cultural.