The Export Orientation of Canadian Female Entrepreneurs in New Brunswick
In: Women in management review, Band 9, Heft 5, S. 20-30
ISSN: 1758-7182
Compares exporting and non‐exporting female entrepreneurs regarding
their information about export markets, their perceptions of the
usefulness of export market information and the helpfulness of
government export stimulation programmes. Identifies the formats which
women entrepreneurs believe to be most helpful in obtaining information
about exporting their products and services. Results suggest that, in
New Brunswick, the majority of female entrepreneurs do not export their
products and services. Furthermore, they do not plan to enter the export
market in the future. Their businesses, are for the most part, small,
non‐technology‐based, labour intensive, or cottage‐craft industries.
They are relatively new, with few employees, and have low annual sales
revenues. However, they also have low overhead expenses and the owners
have the freedom to co‐ordinate their business activities around their
family life and responsibilities. These findings suggest that, rather
than export stimulation programmes, the majority of female entrepreneurs
in New Brunswick are more interested in and would benefit more, at this
time, from product or service quality improvement programmes. They want
to learn more about the characteristics of their local domestic market
in order to penetrate those markets further. Likewise, most female‐owned
(non‐exporting) businesses in New Brunswick need to be brought to a
level of "export readiness". Finally, those few female entrepreneurs who
are exporting need access to market intelligence, information on how to
improve their exporting strategies and tactics, and on how to maintain
the competitive edge in world markets.