Archive for the ‘Women's Entrepreneurship’ Category

In my academic career, I have never been more proud!

For the first time, I’ve been able to really connect my research interests, my interest in working with women for economic development, and my teaching together in a worthwhile way. This summer, Thunderbird offered and conducted the first Emerging Market Women Entrepreneurs Business Plan Consulting course. This course connected Thunderbird MBA students (Rebecca Knowles, Reem Nassar, Italia Quitral, James Hammons, Nimin Chen, Kenji Fuma, and Kristi Judd) with three Afghan women entrepreneurs with high growth potential businesses. The purpose was for the students to learn the anatomy of a business plan, starting businesses in developing countries, and the difficulties facing women in war zones. The other purpose was to provide in-depth consulting to help these Afghan women entrepreneurs get these worthwhile businesses off the ground (a women’s hospital, an organic composter fertilizer, and a particleboard/cardboard manufacturer).

 Here’s how my students impressed me, even more than I hoped they would:

 I knew all along what kind of impact we would make through this course for the Afghan women. I also knew that each student would walk out of the course with a lot of new insights and skills. It didn’t occur to me what kind of impact the experience would have on their views of others in the world around them. For example, I have always stood in awe of these ladies. They face such discrimination and discouragement throughout their entire lives, and yet they persevere in the most astounding ways. They don’t fear negativity, they don’t fear failure, and they don’t let fear for their lives stop them. I am moved by learning that my business students are humbled by these women and have learned as much from them as they’ve given. Even more so, the students are aware of how fortunate their lives have been in comparison and they have a high level of respect for these underprivileged, yet amazing women. I will remember each student in this class better than previous classes because of the more intense working relationships we had on these projects. Here are some highlights of what they shared with me at the conclusion to the course:

 Aside from this being a course for practical purposes on business plans, it seems that while the students learned the mechanics of the business plan, they were more moved by the plight of Afghan women, and Afghan businesswomen in particular.

1. People in Afghanistan are much less supportive of women in business even though a thriving business could benefit the community, because their families fear for their security.
2. Lack of adequate funding and market research are huge hindrances. Those businesses that are too big for microloans are difficult to find funding for. The banks seem to be largely dysfunctional and much of the aid money coming in from the West is targeted toward political, community, and expat associations, rather than indigenous businesses.
3. The lack of business associations, education, infrastructure, and security can be crippling for the development of the private sector, and subsequently the economic development of the country.
4. When dealing with people in locations plagued with severe adversity, in developed countries we must be able to exercise patience and try to understand that operations in these places may not function as smoothly as we are used to, for a myriad of reasons.
5. Some have a passion for working more with women in developing countries after this course is over.
6. Some have more of a belief in their abilities (self-efficacy) as potential entrepreneurs in the future, now that they understand the anatomy of a business plan, or in their ability to adequately consult on others’ business plans.
7. There is a lot of room for philanthropy from other organizations in the form of talent development, rather than the traditional aid handouts.
8. The contribution they all made to these ladies is huge. Some of them received feedback from the ladies already, saying how helpful their ideas, questions, and recommendations were.

10.  They view the women less as victims after working with them these past weeks, and more as strong forces to be embraced and encouraged for the development of their countries. They are starting businesses not only for need, but because of a belief in their abilities and their resilience to grow from adversity. When the students try to put themselves in these ladies shoes and think of how determined they would be after roadblocks, closed doors, and failed attempts throughout their entire life, they have a new found respect for just how strong and resilient these ladies are. This seems to have left some of the students humbled by how fortunate they have been in their own upbringings.

11.  They were moved by how the women we worked with were not only motivated to generate an income for their own personal households, but they also quite passionately want to do what they can to change their whole country and other people’s lives through their businesses.

12.  What the students seemed to learn the most and benefit from as students was derived from having the opportunity to apply classroom material (outside readings and the textbook on how to write a business plan) to the real world through research and consulting for real women entrepreneurs’ businesses.

Each of these students should feel very proud of their work and dedication to this course and these ladies!

 Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

Manuela Emmrich ‘11 is the winner of the 2011 Thunderbird Business Plan Competition.   Her patented tennis racquet has captured the interest of several Thunderbird Angel Investors.  Manuela is also a former NCAA Tennis player and champion.

What is Swirve?

Swirve produces an ergonomic tennis racket, the CarvingStar. The unique shape of this racket ensures a natural wrist position at all times and reduces vibrations. This reduces the onset of injuries such as tennis elbow and enhances play through a faster serve and a better slice.

How long have you had the idea to bring the Swirve racquet to the US market as a business venture?

I moved to the US in 2002 and was first introduced to the racket during a vacation in Germany in 2004. I was immediately impressed by the design and functionality. Most importantly, after using the racket for a few months, I experienced significantly less wrist pain that I had developed over the years playing with a regular racket.  In addition, I could finally play a great slice. It was only until I started my MBA at Thunderbird in 2009 that I realized that I can turn this product into a business venture.

Who is your market?

The primary target market is the senior tennis player who suffers from tennis elbow and wrist/arm problems. The secondary market is kids and teenagers who start playing tennis at an early age and should use an ergonomic racket in order to prevent overuse injuries early on.

What do you see as your biggest challenges in launching Swirve?

Tennis has been a very traditional industry and innovations have been minimal. The biggest challenge is to overcome the mental barrier that a tennis racket is “supposed” to be straight. Marketing and consumer education will be very important.

What opportunities has Thunderbird provided you in bringing Swirve closer to reality?

Thunderbird has been a tremendous experience and catalyst. Through the Global Business Plan class I was able to thoroughly think about the idea and write a comprehensive business plan. The Thunderbird Business Plan Competition was another big stepping stone and after winning this competition I was invited to present in front of the Thunderbird Angel Network. Since that presentation I have had several meetings with investors and I am now close to launching the venture with my business partners. All in all, I would not be in the position I am in now without all the support and guidance from the Thunderbird Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship.

What do you believe is your strongest personal trait that will make Swirve happen?

I have been a passionate tennis player since age 6 and my entire family loves this sport. My drive to succeed combined with this lifelong passion will hopefully enable me to launch Swirve successfully.

One Afghan woman dreams of opening a badly needed maternity hospital staffed entirely by women. Another wants to create manufacturing jobs for women at a particle board factory. Another wants to turn food waste into organic compost fertilizer to nourish Afghan crops.

All of the entrepreneurs are graduates of Thunderbird programs designed to help Afghan women launch or grow their businesses, but they need extra help implementing their plans.

“These are businesses that never launched because they were more complicated than your standard small business,” said Thunderbird Professor Amanda Bullough, Ph.D., academic director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in Afghanistan.

Thunderbird operates the program in partnership with the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. Thunderbird also supports Afghan women through Project Artemis, a separate program that brings participants to Glendale, Arizona, for two weeks of business education.

To help Afghan women navigate the barriers they encounter after completing the Thunderbird programs, Bullough has launched a new course for full-time students called Women Entrepreneurs Business Plan Consulting. Teams of MBA students who enroll in the course work side-by-side with Afghan women entrepreneurs to help them refine and implement their complex plans.

“This is very real, hands-on interaction at a micro level between the women entrepreneurs and our T-bird students,” Bullough says. “Our students are learning about entrepreneurship in a war zone, the ins and outs of being a businesswoman in Afghanistan and the anatomy of a business plan and how to stimulate entrepreneurial activity in emerging economies.”

Seven students in the pilot program provided more than 525 consulting hours for three Afghan businesswomen in summer 2011. They communicated with their clients through e-mail and other online services such as Skype.

“The T-bird students are helping their clients revise the business plans they wrote,” Bullough says. “They also are writing mini cases on each of the women, highlighting each personal story.”

Students in the pilot program included Nimin Chen ’12 from China, Kenji Fuma ’11 from Japan, Reem Nasser ’11 from Jordan, Italia Quitral ’11 from Chile and James Hammons ’12, Kristi Judd ’11 and Rebecca Knowles ’12 from the United States.

The Case of the Women of Afghanistan

By: Amanda Bullough, Ph.D.

Thunderbird has been involved in numerous women entrepreneurs training programs, yet until recently little was known about what drives entrepreneurial decisions in a war zone. New research coming out of Thunderbird is showing that cognitive ability matters greatly for the pursuit of entrepreneurial intentions. Findings from a study in Afghanistan indicate that women entrepreneurs rely heavily on their ability to engage in entrepreneurial activity and their sense of resilience in the face of adversity. This suggests that business development training and mentoring are critical contributing factors that need to accompany efforts aimed at boosting entrepreneurship for the purposes of economic advancement, peace-building, and independence for the country.

The Importance of Women’s Participation in Entrepreneurship for Economic Development

Ongoing entrepreneurial activity − that is, the generation of new businesses, goods, services, and jobs − has long been respected as crucial for sustainable economic development. The role of women in the economy has increasingly gained the attention of world leaders − and rightly so. As typically the family’s primary caregiver, women are recognized for their efforts at utilizing economic earnings for household needs and healthier children. Women who own and operate their own businesses quickly become leaders in their communities. Establishing an environment that is hospitable to women in business becomes a priority for society’s leaders in the public and private sector.

Operating Businesses in Dangerous Contexts

Terrorism and war often repel private investment and negatively affect the economic development of a society. In Afghanistan, women who want to start businesses deal with poverty and unemployment, corruption, fear of kidnapping of themselves and their family members, bombs, shootings, unfair arrest, and numerous other fears caused by desperate insurgents, the Taliban, or even the local police or army. A negative environment can compromise entrepreneurial pursuits, especially by Afghan women who face added cultural limitations that require limited movement outside the home without a male family member.

So, What Do We Do to Promote Women’s Participation in Entrepreneurship?

If including women in the economic development process is important for peace-building, then what do we do to encourage the participation of women in the economy?

Since women are essential to economic and family-oriented health initiatives, then activities targeted specifically toward women need to continue, and in fact be increased. One way to do this is through business development training, which is necessary to boost a woman’s belief in her ability to perform the tasks necessary to successfully become an entrepreneur. Women who have access to education and training, either to start new businesses or grow existing enterprises, have been found to emerge with unshakable beliefs in their ability to do things no one ever expected of them before. Solid accounting and finance tools combined with a foundation in management and leadership skills can make the difference between daydreaming about greater things, and taking action to be a powerful economic force.

Another way to build belief in one’s abilities and resilience in the face of challenging circumstances is through mentoring. Other women who have steered through adversity and launched businesses anyway have been shown to be powerful motivators for other women. Programs designed to showcase such women and match mentors with aspiring businesswomen are worthwhile techniques to sponsor mentorship. In addition, women coming out of business training programs and who have previously benefitted from mentoring are inclined to give back and provide additional training and mentorship to other women, creating a reciprocal effect – a pay-it-forward type of mentoring system.

Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

 Dr. Amanda bullough

Since I’ve been at Thunderbird, numerous students have enquired about getting more involved in the women entrepreneurs programs, specifically in Afghanistan and Peru, and in social business.  In response to this, a new course was designed to be offered for the first time in the summer of 2011. This course also answers the ongoing question between faculty and the administration regarding how we can get the students on campus more involved with the various women’s entrepreneurship programs we have in various developing countries.  The idea for this course came to me at the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network Mentorfest in the fall of 2010.  At that event, students who self-selected to join the social entrepreneurship round table were again asking how they can get more involved with these programs on campus.  They also expressed interest in helping me with some consulting work on some of the Afghan women’s business plans that need further work in order to qualify for higher-level funding, like from USAID and other large funding sources.  This interest on behalf of the students sparked an idea of tying the students’ classroom knowledge and growing experiences while at Thunderbird with some badly needed mentoring and consulting for our women entrepreneurs’ business plans.

Thunderbird students will learn how to write and review business plans and work in multicultural student teams with the guidance of Prof. Bullough.  They will also learn the challenges that many of these women entrepreneurs face in their societies.  These business women face gender discrimination, war, threats of kidnapping targeted at themselves and their family members, work-family conflict, educational limitations, funding challenges, and limitations of physical and technological infrastructure and the supply of power.  It is important for Thunderbird students to understand these challenges and learn from those who operate in such areas in order to become global leaders capable of promoting sustainable prosperity worldwide.  Thunderbird students will also learn how to reach out to various sources of capital to help launch these businesses in developing countries.  Finally, the students will learn about program management and academic direction and how to operate such programs, from selection, to training, and to outcomes – in this case, the business plan.

Thunderbird students and Prof. Bullough will work closely together to select worthwhile and appropriate business plans from the Afghan, Peruvian, and Pakistani, when it launches, women entrepreneurs programs.  Business plans worthy of this consulting work will: 1) be in unique industries where businesswomen are not typically found, 2) show high growth potential, 3) need large amounts of funding, and most importantly 4) have the potential to have high societal and/or environmental impact. 

An example: Two Afghan women entrepreneurs, who participated in both the 10,000 Women program and Project Artemis (one of whom was invited to the State Department and met Hillary Clinton, Richard Holbrooke, and several other high-level diplomats and ambassadors), have business plans for two different types of garbage recycling companies, services badly needed in Afghanistan.  Both have since started other businesses and not launched the original dream because they felt they needed too much seed capital and shied away from pursuing the business. These types of businesses are exactly what Thunderbird wants to nurture and see launched in these societies in order to make the impact we hope to.  Students on campus have already expressed interest in working with Prof. Bullough on a volunteer basis to help consult on these businesses.  Offering a course where students could register for credit and learn in a more formal setting would be preferable.

 Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

A note from Melissa Beran Samuelson, Clinical Instructor of Global Entrepreneurship: We finished our Winterim in India last Friday. Below, a student shares some of what she learned on the trip. The debate around microfinance interest rates in India is heated, especially around the role government regulation should play, if any.  There is talk of capping microfinance interest rates in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, but lenders claim this reduces incentives for competition, which they prefer as a more robust way of lowering interest rates. However, there is no research supporting the idea that competition reduces rates charged by microfinance institutions in the industry. Even so, it’s hard to find microfinance clients in India who are concerned about interest rates or even take it into consideration when deciding to take a loan.

By Thunderbird student Jacquelyn Hunter

When people hear on the news that microfinance institutions charge 25 percent, 30 percent or even 80 percent interest on loans, they often are outraged. How can these organizations get away with charging the poor these high rates, and why does no one regulate the industry? And most of all, why are the poor paying these exorbitant rates?

One of the biggest surprises to me during my three-week trip to India to study the microfinance industry is the fact that the interest rate on a microfinance loan is basically a nonissue for the poor.  When a poor person takes a loan from a microfinance institution, the interest rate is not the No. 1 or even a top 5 concern. Since the loan repayment cycle is so short, sometimes only 30 weeks, the interest rate does not have as much of an impact compared to a loan, for example, that is repaid over 20 years.  Also, the interest rate is a simple interest rate, so the impact on payments is not as dramatic as it would be on loans with compounding interest rates.
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A note from Melissa Beran Samuelson, Clinical Instructor of Global Entrepreneurship: After spending our first few days in Delhi, students went on their first visit into the field, seeing microfinance in action. Our first visit was to Bazaari Microfinance, an organization that has been doing group lending for about three years.

The staff at Bazaari opened their organization to us, from meetings with the Board and Chairman, to the CEO, all the way to allowing us to meet and ask questions of their clients, microloan recipients who make around $2 a day creating beautiful tie-dyed shawls with an art called “bandage.” Others have small stalls for selling jewelry.

We spent one day in the field with them and then a day speaking with their leadership and board. A short article on our visit can be found here on the Microfinance India news page. As I watched the students in the field, it was clear that this was the moment that they had come on this trip to experience. It was a moving experience for all of them. Below is one student’s perspective on this first visit, working with loan officers, branch managers, and microfinance clients.

By Thunderbird student Renée Telkamp, R.Telkamp@global.t-bird.edu

After a plane ride surrounded by Indians, some browsing through my travel guide, and with good academic understanding of microfinance, I felt more or less ready for the real deal. The first three days of this Winterim were spent in meeting rooms in Delhi. If this sounds boring to you, you obviously weren’t with us. Cell phone banking, solar lights, unions, government regulations, NGOs, Non Banking Institutions, multiple lending and all the other concepts were discussed and put into place.
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By Melissa Beran Samuelson, Clinical Instructor of Global Entrepreneurship

Our friends in the US are seeing increasing attention to microfinance in the news through the New York Times and a blog in the Wall Street Journal. For those students with me on the Microfinance in India Winterim, the contemporary debates surrounding microfinance in India have surrounded us.  Our course started in Delhi, where we’ve had the opportunity to be introduced to industry leaders and gain understanding of microfinance, how it works, and the issues surrounding criticisms of the industry.

Byomkesh Mishra of the Royal Bank of Scotland Foundation and Shrikand Shrivastava, Vice President and Head of Microfinance at RBS Global Banking, helped kick off our program, along with playing a central role by arranging access to their partners in the industry.  The program so far has included speakers Brij Mohan, Deepak Alok, Founder and Director of M2i Consulting, and Mathew Titus, Executive Director of Sa-Dhan, the leading microfinance network in India, who have all met with us to discuss contemporary issues and implications of the current conditions of microfinance in India.
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By Amanda Bullough, Ph.D.

Thunderbird has carved out a niche expertise in educating women entrepreneurs in developing countries.  I have specifically been working with our women entrepreneurs programs in Afghanistan and Peru.  We recently had over 20 Afghan women on campus here in Glendale, Arizona for two weeks and I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with the ladies.  Not only am I the Academic Director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programs in these countries, but I am also doing research on women entrepreneurs operating in adverse conditions. 

 While they were here, I invited the Afghan businesswomen to focus groups interviews of 6 to 7 people each so that we could begin to better understand what makes them tick. Why?  Because, the idea of entrepreneurship as vital for development efforts and for peace-building is a large focus for learning institutions and governmental and nongovernmental communities.  In particular, research on entrepreneurship in adverse conditions is relatively scarce and necessary if we are to be useful as educators and policy makers and increase our understanding of entrepreneurship.

By speaking with these women, I wanted to better understand why they choose to buck the established social norms and start and lead business when it’s so dangerous do so.  Interestingly, in an obvious display of humility and respect for their fellow Afghan women, who have all endured tremendous hardship and challenges, none of the women would acknowledge themselves as special.  However, we know they are, because not all Afghan women do indeed engage in the economy or in leadership. We are in the process of uncovering that these ladies have a unique sense of determination, drive, passion, and a thirst for making their communities and countries better for other Afghan women and for their children.  I stand in awe of them and they have my respect and admiration for their strength. 

The next research question to tackle will be, are Afghan businesswomen actually stronger than women in other countries, because of the hardships they’ve endured?

 In addition to what I learned from these powerful ladies, I will also comment on their demeanor while in our country these weeks, many for the first time.  They carried themselves with the utmost dignity and respect.  They worked together to absorb the business training they were getting from their mentors and the Thunderbird faculty.  They were appreciative and thankful, sweet, inspiring, and all-around positive forces to be around.  These strong and wilful ladies brought smiles to the faces of Thunderbird faculty, staff, and students all over campus, and pride to the whole community when they held their heads high at graduation.  We are a proud community here at Thunderbird to be able to both educate and learn from these remarkable ladies.  

 Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and  Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

By Steven Stralser, Ph.D.

When most of us think of entrepreneurial challenges one of the things that usually pops up is the notion of risk… The founder is assessing the risk of whether “the dogs will eat the dog food”…the investor is assessing the financial risk/ return calculus to determine whether to take the entrepreneurial bet…the employee of the startup is assessing the risk that the venture will succeed and so the employee will get their paycheck and possibly some upside stock option gain if the venture succeeds.

But all of these risk scenarios pale compared to the risk of being a woman entrepreneur in Afghanistan, where being a woman with an independent means of economic destiny bears another level of risk, a risk of personal safety and security.

For the past two weeks, 19 courageous Afghan women have spent time in Thunderbird classrooms, learning from Thunderbird faculty and sharing their entrepreneurial vision with Thunderbird student volunteers and with a matched-up mentor who will stay connected to Thunderbird Project Artemis “Fellows” after they return to their businesses and entrepreneurial futures in Afghanistan.

When they return to their country, they will certainly tackle “traditional” entrepreneurial risks, and more, and inspire us with their determination to forge their own economic destiny.

Photo:  An Woman entrepreneur, from Afghanistan at the White House speaking to Ginger Lew, Senior Advisor to the White House National Economic Council at the White House and the SBA Administrator  and Tina Tchen, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women.

Steven Stralser Ph.D. is a clinical professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  He teaches courses in Innovation, Business Planning and Global Entrepreneurship.  Dr. Stralser has been the Academic Director of Project Artemis since its inception.