INNOVATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By Shivali Patial, Assistant Professor, Golden Institute of Management & Technology, Gurdaspur 143521 (Pb) E-mail Id : shivalipatial12@gmail.com

Punpreet Kaur, Assistant Professor, Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Model Town, Ludhiana 141002 (Pb) E-mail Id : pun_preet80@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT The entire change and development of civilization to a large extent is a result of trade, commerce and industrialization. In this development, the Human Resources in general and entrepreneur in particular play a pivotal role. In India from the very beginning, women have been managers of kitchen and have solely dominated the area of household activities. The hidden entrepreneurial potential of women has gradually been charging with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status in society. Today women entrepreneur represent a group of women who have broken away from the beaten track and are exploring new avenues by economic participation. Women entrepreneurs are regarded as a person who accept a challenging role to quench her personality needs and to become economically independent by making suitable adjustment in both family and social life. Among the reasons for women to run organized enterprises are their skill and knowledge, their talents and abilities in business and compelling desire of wanting do something positive. The increase in womens education industrialization, urbanization, social and occupational mobility. The emergences of nuclear families westernization, politico social movement and changes in the value system have made the educated women to take certain careers. Keywords : Innovation, Change management, Women Entrepreneurship

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly, (Henri Bergson) Innovation is the process of performing new or existing activities in some different way. It is the end product of research & development activities of the organization. Innovation in entrepreneurship may be defined as introduction of new products, entry in new markets, use of new means of production and distribution, identification of new and better sources of raw material and other inputs. Hence, innovation is the transformation of creative idea into useful applications. Innovation may be technical and non-technical in nature. Technical innovation is related to the innovations in the production processes and products where as under non-technical innovation, new ideas relation to entrepreneurial missions, styles of management, growth strategies, management systems and organizational structure are developed. Change on the other hand, is an alteration of a companys strategy, organization or culture as a result of changes in its environment, structure, technology or people. A managers job would be very straight forward and simple if changes were not occurring in these areas. Good managers have a competence to manage change in the companys environment. These changes can be alterations in the structure (design of jobs, span of control, authority relationships or co-ordinating mechanisms), in technology (equipment, work processes or work methods) as well as in people (behaviours, perceptions, expectations or attitudes).

Reasons for change A complex structure like an organization is driven by external and internal factors in regard to the needs for change. There are a number of external forces that create the explicit need for change: Market situation or market place Technology Government laws and regulations Economics

Parallel to the external reasons there are different internal factors for change: Corporate Strategy Work force Technology and equipment Employee attitudes Change management is not a new concept. It has its origins in the 1950s. In those days modern forms of management were introduced (eg. Team work, autonomous groups) and the war between followers of the top-down (change) approaches and bottom-up (change) approaches began. So change management is the : Correct understanding of the organizations that want or need to be changed Correct understanding of the people who are willing and force to change. the effectively realization of change. Understanding of dynamics of change.

Women Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship refers to the process of starting and running ones own business with an objective of profit and being ones own boss. The development of entrepreneurship is directly related to the socio economic development of the society. According to Joseph A. Schumpeter, Entrepreneurship is essentially a creative activity or it is an innovation function. In other words Entrepreneurial role involves doing things in a new and better way. Entrepreneurship is not just confined to any one gender now rather due to multi-faceted economic pressures, women have turned up and realized that the survival of their families and their own potential lies only in working side by side with men. Marlow, (2002). Education of women have no doubt given them immense confidence and encouragement to serve and discover new business avenues. A question arises here that what entrepreneurship means for a women. How a women conceives the idea of entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurship is the idea or a vision which a woman holds to explore and optimize which could help her to create new jobs and economic

empowerment among her fellow beings. So any women or group of women which innovates, imitates or adapts an economic activity may be called women entrepreneurship. According to Government of India, a women entrepreneur is defined as an ente rprise owned and controlled by a women and having a minimum financial interest of 51% of capital and giving atleast 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to women. Over 200 million women are employed across all industry sectors, with half of this number is in developing countries. Gem Report (2007). For a women, entrepreneurship is not a new concept but certainly keeps women hesitant to be among start ups due to societal and community trends and pressure. Many other factors do influence to keep woman away to be potential entrepreneurs especially in developing countries. Hisrich, (1999).

Motivational Factors for Woman Entrepreneurs Motivational factors influencing women to join the leading group of entrepreneurs are of two types. One is entrepreneurship by choice and other is entrepreneurship by necessity. Women become entrepreneurs by choice due to the following factors. To materialize their idea into a capital. For their empowerment and freedom. To prove their worth among their male family members. To establish their own rules for their work. To overcome their deficiencies they faced during their job experience. A long term standing desire to own their own company. Working for someone else did not appeal them. By necessity they are motivated to be entrepreneurs due to the following factors: To improve the quality of life of their children. To share the familys economic burden. To adjust and manage household and business life successfully on their own terms. Due to the death or sickness of their husband.

What have been the processes of change for women in the context of the tapestry being woven globally and nationally? Let us look at some of the key changes for women over the last five decades.

Women Entrepreneurs of the Fifties These women fall into two categories. One set took to creating and managing an entrepreneurial activity where there was no income generating male. The woman gave up her education and her aspiration and become the income generator for the rest of the family. The second category was the one who lived by social rules and woke up on day to find that either she took charge of the enterprise, the husband had life or she and her family would be the loosers. However such women in the fifties were few. For many others the businesses were taken away by relatives and women and their families lived their lives as dependants.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE SIXTIES Sixties were the decade when many women educated in schools and colleges began to have aspirations. These were largely unarticulated. Women accepted the social coding of the socio-cultural traditions and married. But soon they took small steps to start small one-woman enterprises at home and from home. These were still activities for selfoccupation and engagement but behind these were the seeds of aspirations to discover a meaning for the self and economic choices. This was still not for economic autonomy or economic self-sufficiency.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE SEVENTIES This was the decade when a critical mass of women completed their education and entered the work force as professionals. The women in this decade opened up new frontiers. These women were unlike their mothers and had not only aspirations but also ambitions. They opted for self-employment be the enterprise was a one woman enterprise or who employed several others. This choice was not out of compulsions or helplessness. It was an active choice to take charge of ones life.

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Women regarded work as an integral aspect of their life space. Income generation and a career choice where both the social system and occupation were equally significant.

Educated and qualified the women aspired for a different role and life vis-a-vis their mothers and grandmothers.

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The women wanted homes, marriage and children as well an occupation. The women accepted the social traditional role behaviour from the older generation but from their husbands, colleagues and children they expected understanding and support in their occupation choice. They looked for redefinition of systems and redesigned interfaces across the systems and institutions they worked with.

In entrepreneurial "roles the women were willing to carry their share of the work responsibilities and also wanted the enterprise to grow and succeed.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE EIGHTIES The women entrepreneurs of 50', 60s, and 70s had accepted both their social an occupational roles. They played the two roles and tried to balance both.

However, by the time eighties came around, the women were educated in highly sophisticated technological and professional education. Many had medical, engineering and similar other degrees and diplomas. Many entered their fathers or husbands industry as equally contributing partners. Women in other spheres opened their own clinics and nursing homes and many more opened up small boutiques, small enterprises of manufacturing and entered garment exports. This was the decade of the breakthrough for women in many fields and many frontiers. Women made personal choices, stood up for their convictions and had the courage to make new beginnings. However, all these choices and beginnings was a not smooth sailing. For many, the society was hostile, the family was opposing and non-supportive and the woman carried the guilt of not playing the traditional and appropriate social roles viz. that of being a good mother.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE NINETIES The women entrepreneurs of the nineties were qualitatively a different breed of women. These women already had a role model in the two earlier generations of women. The women of the nineties were capable, competent, confident and assertive women. They knew what choices to make, they were clear as to what they wanted to do and they went ahead and did it. The nineties have thrown up many names of women who initiated an enterprise, fostered it and nurtured it to grow. There were many others who entered the big enterprises of their fathers and husbands and contributed it with their competencies and capabilities. Sometimes they outshone the names of their fathers and husbands. This was the first time the concept of 'the best' rather than a 'male heir' began to be talked about. The fathers thought of 'inheritance' or a "legacy' to a 'daughter' than just a son who may have been incapable and incompetent.

Women in the nineties have often questioned their traditional coding of their roles and have become conscious of the voice of their own identity. With economic independence, women have acquired a high self-esteem and have also discovered that they are able to deal with situations single-handedly. In situations of mis-match in marriages, physical violence, demands for dowry, pushing the women into socially confirming roles and other forms of social psychological harassment women do stand up to make their statements and make difficult choices.

THE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE 21ST CENTURY This is the century of telecom, IT and financial institutions. Women's expertise in all these industries is beginning to emerge and women are emerging as a force to reckon with.

The transition to the next millennium is where the women will create new paradigms of being a daughter who takes the responsibility of her parents, is a wife who wishes to create a home and a family, a mother who takes charge of the children to make them the children of the new millennium. She is also the entrepreneur who builds an enterprise and

discovers her relevance and meaning of her life in herself. She is also open to a life without marriage and a parenting without a father.

Women of today have a new avatar in the free rolling 90's. She the Jill of all trades and her children are tickled by their supermom. Infact, many sons unhesitatingly describe themselves as 'Mamma's boys", which in the 90's is no longer considered to be 'Sissy' but 'Savvy'. The children, especially their sons have decided to break the age old tradition of following the father's shoes. Instead, the children of 90's opt to follow in their mother's shoes. For example, Sharmila Tagore inspired her son Saif to follow her to Bollywood rather than husband Pataudi to Lords. These mother-son combination shows that women have been successful in inspiring their son to follow in their path, where earlier the son were prescribed to ride in their father's way. However, the next millennium offers a space beyond the present horizon where, instead of hope there is active engagement with the world, instead of dreams there are commitments, instead of aspirations there are choices. It is in this discovery that she can create and build an industrial empire from the first steps that she would have taken. In the next millennium, Indian women would have to cross a major threshold and enter an unknown land. They will have to walk a path where none existed with a sense to discover. They will have to encounter and live with excitement and enthusiasm as well as threat, fears, anxieties and terror.

Gender and Innovation While there is still much that is not known about innovation and womens entrepreneurship, there is an increasing amount of information about innovation and women both about the positive effect that innovation can have on the lives of women, and about an underrepresentation of women in fields that frequently produce innovation.

Gender Gaps in STEM There is a continuing gap between women and men entering into and advancing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics professions (STEM), which is

considered to be a pipeline issue, with respect to business creation and innovation activity. In several studies, it has been found a continuing gender gap in STEM fields. And, while a number of initiatives have been launched to address the gap, a review of those efforts shows that the gap has not been significantly narrowed.

Bure (2007) described the issue as one not only of a glass ceiling but also of leaky Pipes meaning that many women in the sciences leave their professions at many stages along pipeline, exiting well before in addition to after they bump into the proverbial glass ceiling she alters the following reasons for many of those early exits from scientific professions. individuals encouragement and support. networking opportunities and social capital geographic mobility workplace structure and flexibility and the proportion of men and women in teams.

Studies also reveal that even when a women remain in the field, and start innovative new business, they can have a much more difficult time launching their enterprises due to female unfriendly environment.

Gender gaps in equity investing Bringing innovations to market is frequently dependent on the availability of capital. Equity capital invested by venture capitalists is a critical ingredient for success. Several studies have found that women are few in number on either side of equity capital deals. Few women are decision makers in venture capital firms.

Innovation & Rural livelihoods Much recent work in gender and innovation has focused on the positive impact that innovation can have on womens lives. Gill et. al. (2010) wrote an analysis for the international center for Research on women highlighting the effect of innovation on lives of women, especially how it can reduce the time spent on gathering water and energy,

thus opening up more time for income generating activities. Another study found that mobile phone technology has improved rural womens lives from personal safety and greater independence to opening up business opportunities. Many difficulties with access and knowledge still remain. But adoption improves and benefits are greater when technology and innovative practices are coupled with educational assistance and training. Microfinance as an innovative tool for womens empowerment Aside from how innovation has helped the lives of women, perhaps the most prevalent topic that arises when innovation and gender are used together is in the discussion of how microfinance tools such as peer group lending, village banks and the delivery mechanisms offered by microfinance institutions have increased the economic empowerment of women around the world. It helps in a growth in personal self esteem, improved household well being, social and community political empowerment and economic empowerment, including enterprise creation. There can be no doubt that spread of microfinance models including lending pools, village banking, cell phone banking, and microfinance institution networks have helped lift many women out of poverty. Yet microfinance tools have their limitations, most particularly a lack of ongoing education and technical assistance as an enterprise grows, and a pervasive access to capital chasm between where microfinance leaves off and formal sources of capital pick up.

THE MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN INDIAN BUSINESS Many dream, but only a few, gifted with talent, tenacity and luck, manage to realize their dreams. Here are a few case studies of most powerful women in Indian business. Each is a story of hard work & personal sacrifice culminating in iconic achievement. Case I. This is case of Indra Nooyi, Chairperson & CEO of Pepsi Co, the second

largest food and beverage business, in the world by net revenue. Beginning her career in India, Nooyi was held product manager at Johnson & Johnson. In 1980, Nooyi joined the BCG and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Area Brown Boveri. She joined Pepsi Co in 1994 and was named president in 2001. She has directed the companys

global strategy for more than a decade and led Pepsi Cos restructuring. According to Business week since she started as CEO in 2001, the companys annual revenues have risen by 72%, while net profit more than doubled to $ 5.6 billion in 2006. She has received number of honours and awards as well as international recognition.

Case II. This is the case of Shahnaz Hussain an inspiring women entrepreneur with steady growing market all over the world. She is the CEO of world leading brand and manufacturing of herbal and ayurvedic cosmetic & beauty products. The Shahnaz

Hussain group has over 400 franchise clinics across the world covering over 138 countries. She has a long list of recognition in her kitty. She was awarded Padma Shree in 2006, The 2000 Gold star award for Quality, the Golden America Award and many more. She has recently come up with her innovative products for skin care in space & has contacted NASA with her product samples for market testing.

Case III. Ritu Kumar is credited as being one of the First Indian designers whose was catalytic in bringing a contemporary Indian to several ancient skills. Over the year, she worked as Fashion designer. In 2002, the company, launched as sub brand LABEL Ritu Kumar. It uses the established forte of traditional Indian aesthetic to create fashion oriented international products. The ace designer had a humble beginning in a small village, near Kolkata in 1960, with a set of hand block printers and two tables and today the business has grown to retail from more than 35 stores across the country. She has so many honours and awards in her credit. Ekta Kapoor has long held title of the Queen of the Indian television

Case IV.

Industry. She is estimated to have a net worth of about 1.32 crore rupees, with an annual salary of Rs. 66,30,000. She has numerous awards under her belt from the television and film industry along with being named one of Asias most powerful communicate by Asia week magazines.

Case V. Kiran Mazumdar shaw is an Indian entrepreneur. She is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore. She

started Biocon 1978 and spearheaded its evolution from an industrial enzymes manufacturing company to a fully integrated bio pharmaceutical co. with a well balanced business portfolio of products and a research focus as diabetes, oncology & auto immune disease.

The list is long. Here is the list of the most powerful women in Indian business published in business today, curated by Sarika Malhotra.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Vinita Bali Renuka Ramnath Renu Sud Karnad Vinitha Narayan Pallavi Shroff

: : : : :

Managing director, Britannia Industries MD, Multiples Alternate Asset management MD, HDFC MD, IBM India Senior Partner, Amarchand and Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Shubhalakshmi Panse Vinita Singhania Priya Nair Anjali Bansal Swarupa Sanyal

: : : : :

Chairman & Managing Director Allahabad Bank. Managing Director JK Lakshmi Cement Vice president, Detergents, HUL MD Spencerstuart India Head of strategy and Corporate Initiatives GENPACT

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Savita Mahajan Nishi Vasudev Sumitra Gomatam Asha Gupta Shanti Ekambaram

: : : : :

Deputy Dean ISB Director (Marketing) HPCL Senior Vice president, Cognizant MD Tuppreware India President, Corporate and Investment banking Kotak Mahindra Bank

16. 17. 18.

Nina Lath Gupta Madhurima Mukherjee Anupama ahluwalia

: : :

MD NFDC Partner, Luthra & Luthra Law offices Vice president, marketing India & south West Asia, The Coca Cola company

19.

Kirthiga Pandey

Vice chairman of the Internet & Mobile association of India

20.

Archana Hingorani

CEO and Executive Director, IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd.

However, for women there are several handicaps to enter into and manage business ownership due to the deeply embedded traditional mindset and stringent values of the Indian society.

Lets us look at these obstacles that are faced by women entrepreneurs.

BARRIERS FACED BY WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS The problems and constraints experienced by women entrepreneurs have resulted in restricting and inhibited the expansion of women entrepreneurship. The major barriers encountered by women entrepreneurs are: Lack of Confidence As women are accepting a subordinate status, as a result they lack confidence of their own capabilities. Even at home, family members do not have much faith in women possessing the abilities of decision-making. Lack of Working Capital To be women and to do something on their own becomes quite difficult for them because of lack of access to funds as women do not possess any tangible security and credit in the market. Before marriage she has to depend on father and after marriage she has to follow the footsteps of the husband. Socio Cultural Barries Woman has to perform multiple roles be it familial or social irrespective of her career as working woman or an entrepreneur In our society, more importance is being given to male child as compared to female child. This mindset results in lack of schooling and necessary training for women. As a result this impediments the progress of women and handicap them in the world of work.

SUGGESTED AREAS OF STUDY In order to know more about womens entrepreneurship and innovation some of the most powerful areas to explore would be: The relationship between and entrepreneurs growth intention, level of creativity/innovativeness within the business, and their actual growth. Difference in innovative activities by location; urban, exurban/rural. The effect of personal characteristics i.e. education, age etc. on innovative behavior. Relationship of firm features i.e. sector, size, locus of trade activity to type & level of innovation. The effect of access to external support (capital, networks, markets) on types of innovation. And of course it should go without saying that all of these factors would be analysed by the gender of the owner of the business.

CONCLUSION The paper has outlined and examined the theoretical approach selecting to innovation and change management in women entrepreneurship. To undertake any business or venture, requires self efficacy with the ability to take a lot of risks, skill, knowledge, and adaptability in business are main traits to emerge into business ventures. With the spread of education and awareness, women have shifted from the kitchen, handicrafts and traditional cottage industry to non-traditional higher levels of activities. Even the FIs government has laid special emphasis on the need for conducting women to enable them to start their own ventures.

However, for women there are several handicaps to enter into and manage business ownership due to the deeply embedded traditional mindset and stringent values of the Indian society. A women entrepreneur acts as an agent of change or as a catalyst for change in society. Enhancement of women entrepreneurship would lead to better future generations, would improve the socio economic status of the society, and thus, would contribute towards

more happiness & satisfaction in the society. Need is to reduce gender gap with respect to technical fields i.e. in STEM fields. There have been studies that suggest that more diverse business teams (both in terms of gender and ethnicity) lead to higher business profitability in general, as well as studies that suggest that having women on design teams lead to more female friendly product features (smaller, lighter, more reflective of womens needs). Much of the research reviewed for this paper shows that there is lack of involvement of women in innovation policy making which should be area of attention.

In conclusion, there is a need for gender view point & considerations to be more proactively included not only in the area of individual empowerments firm behaviour and innovation policy, but in the broader area of education, leadership and economic policy.

References Prof. Olaf Passenheim, Change Management Brychan Thomas; Christopher Miller; Lyndon Murphy, Innovation and small business volume 1. United Nation conference on Trade & Development, Innovation and Womens Entrepreneurship : An Exploration of current knowledge Final Draft May 2010. Ayesha Kalim, Women Entrepreneurship : Turning Challenges into opportunities Pooja Singh, Socialisation and Nurturing Entrepreneurship among Indian Women, Prabandhan : Indian Journal of Management. Oct 2013, 21-26. Goyal, M., & Prakash, J. (2011) Women Entrepreneurship in India. Problems & Prospects, International Journal of Multidisciplinary research 1(5). Sarika Malhotra, The most powerful women in Indian business Business today September 15, 2013 56 88. B.S. Bhatia and G.S. Bhatia, Entrepreneurship and Small business management 2003 Case studies from various sources www.google.com www.ssrn.com