Gender and ethnicity in business consulting assistance: public policy implications
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20452101311318693 |
| Date | 19 April 2013 |
| Pages | 80-95 |
| Published date | 19 April 2013 |
| Author | Don Sciglimpaglia,Dianne H.B. Welsh,Michael L. Harris |
| Subject Matter | Strategy |
Gender and ethnicity in business
consulting assistance: public
policy implications
Don Sciglimpaglia
San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
Dianne H.B. Welsh
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro,
North Carolina, USA, and
Michael L. Harris
East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the types of business consulting services most
needed by small business owners and entrepreneurs and to examine the role that gender and ethnicity
plays in the demand for specialized assistance.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered to small business owners and
entrepreneurs to rate their interest in specialized consulting services. The consulting assistance
was divided into strategic, operating and administrative categories based on the framework of
Chrisman and Leslie.
Findings – Overall, the type of consulting with the highest interest was in the area of operations
assistance, followed by strategic assistance and administrative assistance. Although few differences
were found between male and female respondents, there were significant differences in the needs of
minority women.
Research limitations/implications – This study demonstrates the need for fur ther research on
minority female small business owners and entrepreneurs. In particular, it suggests further
investigation of services that could be made available to them.
Social implications – The results indicate that programs designed to assist minority women might
have the greatest potential impact. Specialized attention may be necessar y to assist this demographic
segment, particularly since prior research indicates that minorities often start with g reater resource
limitations. Public policies should continue to encourage progress by helping establish a new
generation of minority entrepreneurs.
Originality/value – The findings from this study provided current evidence of the specialized ne eds
of minority entrepreneurs. It is important to distinguish the needs of entrepreneurs in today’s
marketplace, in order to develop the most effective and impactful small business assistance programs.
Keywords United States of America, Gender, Ethnicity, Ethnic minorities, Entrepreneurialism,
Entrepreneurship, Small to medium-sized enterprises, Consulting services, Public policy
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction and purpose
Prior research suggests that outside assistance as well as strategic planning can
usually have a positive effect on the performance of new businesses (Chrisman, 1989).
The degree of effect depends on what types of problems the consultants or service
providers are asked to address. Additionally, the particular situation facing small
entrepreneurial businesses affects their planning and assistance needs.
The major purpose of the study was to investigate the perceived need for business
consulting services among entrepreneurs. In particular the study focusses on women
entrepreneurs and small medium enterprise (SME) owners, with special attention to the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/2045-2101.htm
Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Public Policy
Vol. 2 No. 1, 2013
pp. 80-95
rEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited
2045-2101
DOI 10.1108/20452101311318693
80
JEPP
2,1
role of ethnicity. Prior research (Chrisman and Leslie, 1989; Chrisman et al., 1990)
suggests that, although SMEs may benefit greatly from strategic consulting services,
such as market and financial analysis or business planning, most SME owners
perceive operating or administrative services to be of the highest potential value.
Therefore, the first objective of this study was to test the premise that operating or
administrative services would be rated most highly, relative to strategic services.
Chrisman et al. (1990) found that male and female Small Business Development Center
(SBDC) clients rated the services provided similarly. This finding led to an untested
hypothesis that there was no difference in the perception of assistance needs by men
and women. Accordingly, the second objective of this study was to test the hypothesis
that there is no difference between male and female SME owners and entrepreneurs
in the rating of interest in consulting services. Because research has also shown that
women entrepreneurs have had difficulty in obtaining financing (Coleman, 2002), and
that this is an area which women business owners consider most problematic (Hisrich
and Brush, 1984), a third objective of our research was to assess the perception of need
for assistance in obtaining capital. Based on prior research, we believed that women
would exhibit a higher level of interest in this form of assistance compared to men.
Prior research (Bowser, 1981; Bowen and Hisrich, 1986; Hisrich and O’Brien, 1981 )
suggests a differential need for consulting assistance betwe en minority and
non-minority SME owners and entrepreneurs. Therefore, a fourth, but primar y,
objective of the study was to test this hypothesis. Specifically, we predicted that
minority women respondents would perceive a higher need for assistance and,
therefore, rate the potential offerings higher than non-minority women. In particular,
given the problems repor ted by minority entrepreneurs in obtaining financing, we
hypothesized that minority women respondents would rate the interest in this service
significantly higher than non-minority women.
Our study also offers public policy implications for women and minority-owned
business owners based on our findings. There has been a p erceived need for new
studies to investigate the business practices of minority small business owners
(Mazzarol et al., 2009; Runyan et al., 2006), and a bette r understanding of their needs
can offer important practical implications for policy makers and service providers.
Various programs such as SBDCs and the Small Business Institutesprogram
have been in existence for over three decades and were created as a response to
the need for greater capacity-bu ilding activities for entrepreneurs and sm all
business owners. These capacity-building programs were designed to respond to
the social, economic and commercial needs of those engaged in small business
development and expansions.
Entrepreneurship has long been considered a powerful source of economic g rowth
and innovation in the USA. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA)
Office of Advocacy, more than 99 percent of all current employers are classified as
small businesses, and these types of businesses employ over half of the private-sector
workforce. The Office of Advocacy also suggests that much of the new job growth
needed to help our economy recover from the recent recession will come from the small
business sector (Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2010). As such,
the federal government has a vested interest in promoting business ownership and
business expansion activities as a primary form of economic development.
Sriram et al. (2007) suggest that entrepreneurial opportunities are critically
important within the mino rity community as a means of overcoming econo mic
stagnation. Policies which encourage capacity building can play a substantial role in
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Gender and
ethnicity
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