HR CHALLENGES IN WOMEN HEADED

ORGANIZAION IN BANGLADESH

BASED ON A STUDY AMONG THE WOMEN HEADED

ORGANIZATIONS IN BANGLADESH

HR CHALLENGES IN WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZAION IN BANGLADESH

BASED ON A STUDY AMONG THE WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZATIONS IN

BANGLADESH

Submitted By-

X

ID: 2012-

Department of Business Administration

Course Code:

Semester:

Submitted To-

M

Lecturer

East West University

EAST WEST UNIVERSITY

Dhaka, Bangladesh

November, 2015

Letter of Transmittal

Date, 2015

M

Lecturer

Department of Business Administration

East West University

Subject: Submission of the Project Paper on ‘HR Challenges in Women Headed Organization

in Bangladesh’.

Dear Sir/Madam,

This research facility gave me an opportunity to gather knowledge from the practical working

environment and relate my theoretical knowledge with it. I have tried enough to furnish all the

materials, what I have achieved during the research period. I shall be highly grateful if you kindly

accept this project report.

Moreover, any shortcomings or fault may arise as my unintentional mistakes. I will whole

heartedly welcome any clarification and suggestion about any view and conception disseminated

through this dissertation report.

Sincerely yours,

K

ID: 2012-

Department of Business Administration

East West University

It is a great pleasure for me that I have the opportunity to submit the project paper on HR

Challenges in Women Headed Organization in Bangladesh.

CERTIFICATE OF THE SUPERVISOR

This is to certify that the project report on ‘HR Challenges in Women Headed Organization’

is done by Kazi Fatima, as a partial fulfillment of requirement of ‘Bachelor of Business

Administration’ degree from ‘East West University’. The Report has been carried out under my

guidance and is a record of the authentic work carried out successfully.

………………..…………….

M

Lecturer, Faculty of Business Administration

East West University

DECLARATION

I hereby do solemnly declare that the work presented in this dissertation/project/thesis has been

carried out by me and has not been previously submitted to any other

university/college/organization for an academic qualification/certificate/diploma or degree.

The work I have presented does not breach any copyright.

I further undertake to indemnify the University against any loss or damage arising from breach

of any loss or damage arising from breach of the foregoing obligations.

………………………………………..

K

ID# 2012-1

Department of Business Administration

East West University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Around 50% of our population is women but they are the most disadvantaged group in our society.

Women are deprived when compared to men in virtually all aspects of life. Women around the

world are more likely to live in poverty, simply because they are women. Their unequal position

in our society means that they have less power, money, protection from violence, and access to

resources and decent employment. In Bangladesh the majority of working women still have not

been able to impose a controlling authority in mainstream production. Women entrepreneurs are

the new class who have accepted the challenges of life and have emerged as leaders in the

socioeconomic development. Women's economic empowerment is an inevitable part of

development discourse. Excluding women from the mainstream development program,

institutionalization of a sustainable development process is just unthinkable. People's long lasting

thrust for a participatory democracy in Bangladesh also requires a sustainable economic growth.

Nevertheless, this growth would always be untouchable without active and meaningful

participation of the country's women folks. Considering the existing reality a study was conducted

to explore the barriers of the women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. An entrepreneur is variably

defined as one who assumes the financial risk of the initiation, operation and management of a

business or undertaking; a person who assumes the risk to start a business with the idea of making

a profit; an individual who organizes and manages labor, capital, and natural resources to produce

goods and services to earn a profit, but who also runs the risk of failure; a business person who

accepts both the risks and the opportunities involved in creating and operating a new business

venture. In line with these different definitions, risk-taking and treading a fresh path are essential

features of entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs do not operate in isolation. They work under

the same macro, regulatory and institutional framework as their male counterparts. However, it is

necessary to dig deeper in order to understand the gender biases embedded in society which limit

women's mobility, interactions, active economic participation and access to business development

services. The business environment for women also reflects the complex interplay of different

factors that ultimately result in the disadvantaged status of women in society. Women in South

Asia remain far behind men in enjoying basic human rights, let alone participating with men on an

equal footing in economic activities. This study tried to focus the existing problems/constraints/

barriers of women entrepreneurs considering in all respects. The main issues covered by this study

are social, political and cultural environment for business women in Bangladesh, types of women-

owned enterprises, training and capacity buildings and human resources. The study also focused

women's access to human resource management, business management, development, and the

issues related to business promotion. The study tried to explore the social perspectives of women

entrepreneurs, their conditions and position

In family. Overall perception of women entrepreneurs about existing business environment were

also tried to discover through this study. This is a qualitative study. I have tried to find out the root

causes of the existing problems of women entrepreneurs. 90% women entrepreneurs are facing

financial problems to start or run their business. In reality, this is not the main problem because

there are some opportunities (though it is so minimum) but due to the patriarchal mind set women

entrepreneurs do not get the existing facilities. In spite of the circular of the Bangladesh Bank,

women entrepreneurs did not get expected loan facilities from the bank. It is a miracle. On the

other hand, the leader of this society is male, maximum cases they are not gender sensitive at all.

So women entrepreneurs have no opportunity to appeal anywhere or any way. From this study it

is clear that, Capacity building of women entrepreneurs is essential to do business. Due to ensure

gender friendly business environment the positive mind set of male counterpart is essential. A long

term community based program on gender and women rights is needed to change the societal

mindset regarding women's rights. There after women entrepreneurs will get positive environment

to do their business and national development will be enhanced.

CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY

1.1 Background of the Study:

This project paper has been prepared to make a study on the HR Challenges in Women Headed

Organization as a part of the fulfillment of thesis program required for the completion of the BBA

program of the Human Resource major, Faculty of Business Administration at East West

University .The report was prepared under the supervision of -----------------, Lecturer, Department

of Business Administration, East West University. I am very much thankful to her for assigning

me such types of project work.

1.2 Objectives of the Study:

1.2.1 Board objective:

To explore the overall HR context of Bangladesh and women participation rate and

contribution in the particular sector.

Implicating the theoretical knowledge related to different process of Human Resource

Management course and to identify how women in Bangladesh in terms of working as a

HR professional faces different sort of obstacles and challenges.

1.2.2 Specific Objective:

To identify the different sectors and working criteria where women faces challenges as an

HR official.

To distinguish among the nature of the challenges and obstacles faced by women in

different aspects of HR practices.

To portray an optimum situation to overcome and subdue such challenges.

1.3 Scope of the Study:

The scope of this study is only the different sort of constraints prevailing in women headed

organizations in Bangladesh, its acuteness and how they are pulling back the women entrepreneurs

and career oriented professionals from accomplishing their respective tasks.

1.4 Methodology of the Study:

Both the primary and secondary data sources had been used in order to prepare this report. Direct

and face to face interview session’s information and analysis had been used as the primary data.

Online journals, scholar reports and other related materials have been used as secondary sources.

1.5 Limitation of the Study:

1. Identifying the HR challenges for women in Bangladesh is a vast concept for which the

information and case studies needed were not available.

2. The time span is not sufficient.

3. To make the report various experience are needed which I don’t have.

4. Non availability and difficulty in accessing some preceding data.

CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Women’s economic empowerment is an inevitable part of economic development discourse in any

development undertaking of a nation. Women empowerment depends on taking part in various

development activities. Therefore, the involvement of women in various entrepreneurial activities

has empowered them in social, economic and cultural fields. Despite recent progress in the

advancement and empowerment, women in Bangladesh still remain vulnerable to poverty and

social deprivations. Women entrepreneurs are in a less favorable position compared to men in case

of accessing for example commercial credit from formal financial service providers, more lucrative

markets, rather than the traditional local markets, technology and information to establish and grow

their businesses, national incentives in small enterprise development through gender blind private

sector development and fiscal policies and legislation and training and education for small

enterprise development. Contribution of women in the economy is very important for the growth

of socio-economic environment of Bangladesh. Without a meaningful and active participation of

women, half of the total population, in regular economic activities, a dynamic and sustainable

economy is impossible. In view of the need to bring the rural womenfolk in the development

stream of the country, both the Government, the NGOs and other related agencies have provided

ample opportunities to promote entrepreneurial skill among women. Income-generating activities,

credit facilities, skill training, market opportunities have all combined to pave the way for the

emergence of entrepreneurial development among women in rural Bangladesh. Bangladesh has

undertaken systematic reforms across all sectors in the last decade with an emphasis on the

initiatives to increase women’s participation through laws, international conventions, and

affirmative actions to meet quotas to ensure women’s participation. It appears that women have

brought a social and economic change; and opened up a new dimension in the business area

through their participation in different socio-economic activities in Bangladesh. In a World Bank

survey while starting an entrepreneurship business the following results regarding the associated

and related factors have come out, where the second major assistance required is the support

activities related to business management. Now that we have understood the significance of this

particular management activities it is also important to discuss the related challenges and obstacles

faced by women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

Source: Survey of World Bank on ‘Entrepreneurship and Dissolving the Gender Gap, (2012)’

Entrepreneurship is the key to the creation of new enterprises that energize and revitalize the

economy. Entrepreneurship serves as the catalyst in the process of industrialization and economic

growth. Women entrepreneurs can play a vital role in combating rural poverty. The emergence

and development of women entrepreneurship largely depends on the supporting conditions of

different factors such as economic, social, cultural, and psychological. To improve the socio-

economic status of the women in Bangladesh it is necessary to formulate appropriate policies, take

necessary actions and introduce effective measures to integrate the women in the mainstream of

the development process.

Figure 1: Type of assistance required

Technology

17%Business

management

20%

Access to

finance 37%

Marketing 13%

Legal/statutory

13%

CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW

Entrepreneurship has been approached from various perspectives by scholars of different

disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, anthropology, history and political

science (Bjerke, 2007). On the other hand, the field of female entrepreneurship is in an initial stage

of paradigm development. According to GEM (2011) and Khan (2004), the individual studies on

female entrepreneurship are fragmented and unrelated and describe only small segments of the

female entrepreneurial population. The theoretical tools developed in other areas are frequently

applied that are weak in validity and reliability. Cooper’s (1991) framework identifies three groups

of influences that affect the start-up and growth of new venture: antecedent influences (i.e. the

background factors such as family influence and genetic factors that affect motivation, skills and

knowledge), incubator experience (i.e. the nature of organization that the entrepreneur was

employed in just prior to starting a new venture-the skills learned there), and environmental factors

(e.g. economic conditions, access to venture capital and support services, role models etc.). Brush

& Hisrich (1991) explores the relationship between the Cooper’s (1991) “antecedent influences”

on women entrepreneurs including: personal background, educational and occupational

experiences, motivations, skills and knowledge and the growth of their venture (Kirzner, 1997).

Prior research indicates that male and female differ on some of the factors. As examples, females

have greater difficulties in acquiring venture capital, financial resources and skills (Aldrich, 1989;

Hurley, 1991). They also have fewer informal support systems and networks (Barberet. al., 1989)

as well as less direct, relevant experience than men (Stevenson, 1986). Other constraints faced by

female entrepreneurs include being accepted as female in business, lack of a role model, lack of

professional interaction, difficulties in gaining the confidence of their clients and suppliers, lack

of adequate training, and lack of related experience (Hisrich, 1989; Kent, 1988; Timmons, 1986;

Belcourtet al., 1991). A considerable number of studies have found that conflicts between personal

life and career pursuits are the most significant barrier that female entrepreneurs face (Belcourtet

al., 1991; Abir, 2007).

Major studies of western nations reveal that although the main reasons for establishing an

enterprise are similar for male and female, some differences have also been found. According to

Lavioe (1992), potential for financial gain is not the primary motivating factor for female

entrepreneurs rather they are more likely to initiate a new venture for the challenge and opportunity

for self-fulfillment. While the others (Bjerke, 2007; Birth, 1999 & 2001; Berard & Brown, 1994)

have suggested that females are more likely to start an enterprise for control over the quantity and

quality of the work and as a way of coping with the “glass-ceiling”. Most probably for these

reasons Abir (2007) and Storey (2008) assert that women entrepreneurship is not an easy task in

Bangladesh. "Becoming an entrepreneur is an evolution of encountering, assessing, and reacting

to a series of experiences, situations, and events produced by political, economic, social and

cultural changes" (Casson, 1997).

It is thus evident that almost all of the research on this issue is done in the developed world. Given

the differences in economic, cultural and technological environment between a developing nation

like Bangladesh and the developed world, it is likely that some of the findings are not applicable

to the developing world in general and that of Bangladesh in particular. For example, the research

in developed nation does not consider religion as a constraint but religion is a big factor for women

in Bangladesh. The women of Bangladesh have more social responsibility than their counterpart

in the developed world. Given the complexities in the social environment and administrative

structure, women's entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is more challenging.

CHAPTER 4: WOMEN HEADED ORGANIZATIONS IN BANGLADESH

AND ITS BACKGROUND

Today, more women are breaking free from the traditional, gender-specific roles and venturing

into the business world. Not only are they holding high corporate positions but they are also

successful women entrepreneurs who own almost half of all businesses in many countries. The

passion for their ideas, the desire to become their own boss, and the need to address philanthropic

causes they are now more interested in having their own businesses. Before the 20th century,

women operated businesses as a way of supplementing income. In many cases, they were trying

to avoid poverty or replacing the income from the loss of a spouse. At the time, the ventures that

these women undertook were not thought of as entrepreneurial. Many of them usually had to bow

to their domestic responsibilities. The term entrepreneur is used to describe individuals who have

ideas for products or services that they turn into a working business. In earlier times, this term was

reserved for men.

Women became more involved in the business world only when the idea of women in business

became palatable to the general public. However, this does not mean that there were no female

entrepreneurs until that time. In the 17th century, Dutch Colonists who came to what is now known

as New York City, operated under a matriarchal society. In this society, many women inherited

money and lands and, through this inheritance, became business owners. One of the most

successful women from this time was Margaret Hardenbrook Philipse, who was a merchant, ship

owner, and was also involved in the trading of goods. During the mid-18th century, it was popular

for women to own certain businesses like brothels, alehouses, taverns, and retail shops, among

others. Most of these businesses were not perceived with good reputations because it was

considered shameful for women to be in these positions. Society frowned upon women involved

in such businesses because they detracted from the women's supposed gentle and frail nature.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, more women came out from under the oppression of society’s

limits and began to emerge into the public eye. Despite the frowns of society, women like Rebecca

Lukens flourished. In 1825, Lukens took her family business of Ironworks and turned it into a

profit-generating steel business. In the 1900s, due to a more progressive way of thinking, and the

rise of feminism, female entrepreneurs began to be a widely accepted term and although these

women entrepreneurs serviced mostly women consumers, they were making great strides. Women

gained the right to vote in 1920, and two years later, Clara and Lillian Westropp started the

institution of Women’s Savings & Loan as a way of teaching women how to be smart with their

money. As each change in society happened, female entrepreneurs were there, becoming more

influential. With the boom of the textile industry and the development of the railroad and telegraph

system, women like Madame C. J. Walker took advantage of the changing times. Walker was able

to market her hair care products in a successful way, becoming the 1st African American female

millionaire. Carrie Crawford Smith was the owner of an employment agency opened in 1918 and,

like Madame C. J. Walker, sought to provide help to many women by giving them opportunities

to work.

Home-based businesses helped to solve a good part of the problem for those women who worried

about being mothers. Lillian Vernon, while pregnant with her first child, started her own business

dealing with catalogs by investing money from wedding gifts and started filling orders right at her

kitchen table. Mary Crowley founded Home Decorating and Interiors as a way of helping women

to work from home by throwing parties to sell the products right in the comfort of their own home.

In an effort to avoid criticism and lost business from those who did not support women in business,

Bette Nesmith, who developed the product “Mistake Out," a liquid that painted over mistakes in

typing, would sign her orders B. Smith so no one would know she was a female.

As the 1990s came in, the availability of computers and the increasing popularity of the internet

gave a much needed boost to women in business. This technology allowed them to be more

prevalent in the business world and showcase their skills to their competitors. Even still, with the

added popularity of women in business, the availability of technology, the support from different

organizations, female entrepreneurs today are still fighting.

The economic downturn of 2008 did not serve to help them in their quest. With the continual

attention given to female entrepreneurs and the educational programs afforded to women who seek

to start out with their own business ventures, there is much information and help available. Since

2000, there has been an increase in small and big ventures by women, including one of their biggest

obstacles—financing. Women entrepreneurs have become a strong driving force in today’s

corporate world. Not only are they able to equalize their duties of both motherhood and

entrepreneurship but they also comprise of almost half of all businesses owned today. Many

women entrepreneurs have an average age of 40-60 years old because they have had previous

careers in other areas. Their primary goal is not monetary reward but rather personal satisfaction

and community involvement. Many of them are educated and assemble into groups in order to

pool business ideas and resources together. The problems faced by many women entrepreneurs to

attain a sustainable position in the business world in India and how they are suppressed by the

male society. Also, this research will highlight the women entrepreneurs who faced the difficult

situations and emerged as successful entrepreneurs by creating a strong identity of their own in the

male dominant society of India proving their credentials in the long run. Entrepreneurship was

once considered a man's territory, but each year, more and more women set out on the journey to

launch and lead their own companies. These business-savvy ladies inspire other women with

dreams of founding startups, but many female business owners face still face significant obstacles

because of their gender.

4.1 Controlling Challenges Faced By Women:

Control, or controlling, is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing,

staffing and directing. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and

to take the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals

of the organization are achieved in a desired manner. According to modern concepts,

control is a foreseeing action whereas earlier concept of control was used only when errors

were detected. Control in management means setting standards, measuring actual

performance and taking corrective action. In Bangladesh for women entrepreneurs or in

organization headed by women individuals challenges mainly arise from the standard

setting and implicating the correcting measures area. In most cases organizations are being

male dominated and the tendency of taking orders and decisions from a female superior

and executing them are yet to be considered in a simpler manner. Subordinates having a

female boss generally have the tendency that as the superior being a female individual lacks

the proper ability to take the right and correct decisions. So having the tendency of working

under faulty planning will never be taken by the male subordinates easily.

4.2 Supervising Challenges Faced By Women:

Past perceptions of leadership skills, competence, and assertiveness may hinder the ability

of women to succeed in management. Many companies associate masculine characteristics

with success and achievement. These include assertiveness, aggressiveness, and task-

oriented leadership abilities. Other stereotypes of women include the expectation of being

modest, quiet, selfless, and nurturing. These simple characteristics may be seen as non-

executive material. Entities desire a leader who will execute, take criticism, and do what is

best for the company at all cost. Leadership styles are closely associated with common

perceptions and stereotypes of women leaders (Goff, 2005; Henderson, 2004). In early

1990 studies found that men emerged as task-oriented leaders more frequently than women

who emerged as social leaders more frequently than men. Due to the demands of leadership

positions, it became a socially accepted tendency for men to assume leadership because

their task-oriented style was more widely accepted. As time moved on, the social leadership

style of women was more accepted and valued in some circumstances. The study of

leadership topics has been a fascinated historians and social scientists for centuries, and

more recently resulted in enormous amounts of research on the subject. Nevertheless, one

cannot find a generally acceptable universal-comprehensive theory of leadership. Instead,

one finds competing theories emerging from several behavioral disciplines. For instance it

appears there are three broad leadership theory categories reflecting the research and

opinion on the topic, including trait, personal-behavioral, and situational theories.

4.3 Performance Appraisal Challenges Faced By Women:

Lack of Objectivity: - A potential weakness of traditional methods of performance

appraisal is that they lack objectivity. Some subjectivity will always exist in appraisal

methods. However, the use of job-related factors does increase objectivity. As the male

subordinates believe the objectivity quality of a female individual is less or not up to

the mark challenges for the female boss arise.

Halo Error:-Occurs when the evaluator perceives one factor as being of paramount

importance and gives a good or bad overall rating to an employee based on this factor.

People in general believes women are less vulnerable to this Halo error tendency, they

believe based on a particular mindset they will evaluate any individual.

Leniency/Strictness:-The giving of undeserved high or low ratings. In Bangladesh it

is generally believed in most cases women take decisions on an emotional basis rather

than being logical and rational which can create leniency.

Recent Behavior Bias:-It is only natural to remember recent behavior more clearly

than actions from the more distant past. However, performance appraisals generally

cover a specified period of time, and an individual’s performance should be considered

for the entire period. But most people think of female professionals will fail to do so.

Personal Bias:-Supervisors doing performance appraisals may have biases related to

their employees’ personal characteristics such as race, religion, gender, disability, or

age group. One of the major challenge for women entrepreneurs or female bosses is

their subordinates frequently believe that their superior possesses a tendency of

biasness.

CHAPTER 5: CASE STUDIES

CASE STUY 01: SAMIRA ZUBERI HIMIKA

Samira Zuberi Himika is the founder and MD of Team Engine. She has worked in the United

Nations Development Program after finishing her Master’s degree in Development Studies from

Independent University Bangladesh (IUB). She was also the Deputy Head of BBC World Service

Trust, Bangladesh. Himika was one of the main people behind a project named GP House Art Hub

which was the first curated art hub for any multinational company in Bangladesh. After spending

5-6 years working in the NGO sector, Himika decided to start her own venture-Team Engine.

Team engine supports policy makers, the Government, Private Sector entities and individuals by

connecting them with the right entities and launching their campaigns-in simple terms, its a

communication and campaign hub for social good. Starting her entrepreneurial journey was not

easy, it involved high risks and challenges. In recent years her organization has been working on

projects using a “partnership model” by partnering with government and other organizations who

share similar interests in certain projects.

Himika’s biggest strength in launching her own venture definitely has to be her strong portfolio of

working for several top international organizations and NGOs. She had a rich network in these

areas and strong networking means faster progress for your start-up. Aside from her interests in

entrepreneurship and the field of development, Himika is also an Executive Committee Member

at BASIS-she’s a key figure in Bangladesh’s tech and start-up field where she actively takes part

in community events and speaks at such events as well.

CASE STUDY 02: ISHRAT AMIN

Ishrat Amin is a female photographer who has carved her name

in the world of wedding photography by means of her unique

way of clicking. When it comes to wedding photography she is

an expert. This beautiful photographer has created a signature

style of her own within a very short time. She believes that

getting married is such a significant event of one’s life that it

must be kept in frames. Ishrat Amin was graduated from East

West University and from her student life she was

experimenting her talent on photography. She participated in

many photography competitions and won many prizes as well.

She believes her journey of being a photographer stared right

from there. She started her profession as a photographer just

after her graduation, before that photography was her hobby

and passion. She has learnt everything that she knows about

photography on her own. First she started it as a hobby but her parents, relatives and friends always

appreciated, encouraged and motivated her to pursue it as a profession. Her wedding photography

became very popular for her unique style of work and friendly behavior. “Ishrat Amin

Photography” is known to almost everyone in the country and she is well known in other countries

too. She is an idol to many young girls and boys who love photography.

According to Ishrat, "Photography itself is challenging. And as I’m engaged in wedding

photography where there is too much competition so it is even more challenging. In a 3-4 hour

wedding shoot, capturing some really good moments which are appreciated by all, takes a lot."

She believes, "Every wedding is different from the other, even if it is held in a familiar setting.

Situations, light temperatures, sense of space, emotions of people, all can change very fast with

the pace of the wedding and as photographers we must be alert all the time."

She also believes, "Women are not meant to be good home makers only. So, I would like to change

the present mindset of the people towards female’s participation in professional photography or in

any other professional sector." Ishrat has always been a perfectionist. This is something she likes

and also dislikes as sometimes it forces her to take too much workload and thus results in anxiety.

Otherwise, she believes this quality has been instrumental for her achievements. Ishrat is

specialized in portraits, mainly wedding portraits. She believes getting married is one of life's most

amazing celebrations. What’s more special than proclaiming a commitment to love and dedicate

one's life to another? Ishrat along with her husband and sister have created their own company,

Dream Merchant Event Solutions in 2012. It is an event management company covering various

programs specially weddings. They bring fresh and innovative approach to event management

services, work in close partnership with customers to offer a service that sets new standards in

event management. Their goal is to exceed the expectations of every client by offering outstanding

services, increased flexibility, and greater value, thus optimizing system functionality and

improving operation efficiency.

CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS

In terms of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and also in organization headed by women

they very often face the challenge of not being able to understand her subordinates the

necessity of diversification in terms of business or their respective work.

In Bangladesh people are less cooperative and reluctant to taking orders and dictations

from a woman supervisor due to their inherited patriarchal mindset.

People always crave for material, cash and immediate benefits so for women entrepreneurs

pursuing a long term goal face obstacles regarding the financing source of the projects.

People in Bangladesh are less motivated n pursuing innovative business and working ideas

as a result for a female entrepreneurs it becomes very difficult to find the related and

required work force.

Lack of family support in terms starting a business of own or building a glowing career in

service sectors is one of the major difficulties faced by women in our country.

Majority people in Bangladesh always possess the tendency of discriminating an individual

human being based on their gender.

Another major challenge for women entrepreneurs is maintaining a balanced work and

personal life. As an entrepreneur is mostly confined with business ideas and implication

strategies it is quite hard for her to maintain a proper family life.

As at present tech based industries and service sectors are booming rapidly in Bangladesh

women in general have a very few knowledge on this particular sector. As a result women

entrepreneurs are getting confined in businesses like handicrafts, parlor, boutique, etc. Tech

based industries and opportunities are yet to be understood and practiced by the women

population.

Women rather than technical and financial challenges mostly face obstacles due to the ego

problem of the male dominated society in Bangladesh.

CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENTDATIONS

Adoption of a comprehensive sustainable industrial policy that will promote equity for

women and men.

Increase the number of women entrepreneurs and ensure women's easy access to markets.

Develop entrepreneurial skills, technical and cognitive ability of the women.

Ensure equal rights of women in all spheres of development, including access to

information, skills, resources and opportunities.

Enhance the participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life.

Promote economic self-reliance for women, and generate economic policies that have

positive impact on employment and income of women workers in both formal and informal

sectors.

Create appropriate institutional arrangements with necessary financial and human

resources and authorities at all levels to mainstream women's concerns in all aspects and

sectors of development.

In order to make long-term changes in women's ability to participate freely in the economy,

the socio-cultural constraints on women must be addressed. The most important learning

is the need to couple program actions with policy work. Advocacy work should be directed

to policymakers in order to raise their awareness of the important role of women in the

economy, and the positive effect of economic participation on women and their families.

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

Women entrepreneurs are a small but steadily growing minority in the realm of Bangladeshis trade

and manufacturing, which is a describe trend in conformity with the national strategy of

empowerment and utilization of the productive or economic potential of women. Greater

participation of women in economic activities will surely add to its GDP, raise family income,

create employment opportunities and hence raise living standards. Few activities in life are more

challenging and rewarding than building a business or developing a new technology. Matching a

product or services with a market in an effective and timely manner demands creativity,

persistence, talent, passion and skill. Therefore, women deserve to encourage accelerating their

entrepreneurship initiative. Only with a collaborative association between the male and female part

of the society can remove the barriers for the women entrepreneurs and create a more sustainable

economic and social Bangladesh.

BIBILOGRAPHY:

1. ‘WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BANGLADESH: A STUDY ON SUPPORT

SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH’; Volume 5,

Issue- 3, Mohammed Abu Jahed.

2. ‘BARRIERS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN BANGLADESH’; Volume 1,

Issue 1, Md. Mojibur Rahman.

3. ‘ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE PRACTICE OF PERFORMANCE

APPRAISAL ACTIVITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY’; International Journal of

Education and Research, Volume 1, April 04, 2013

4. Challenges of Human Resource Management

5. http://www.villanovau.com/resources/hr/human-resource-management-challenges/

6. CHALLENGES WOMEN FACE IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS And

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: AN INVESTIGATION, Journal of Leadership Education, Volume 8, and Issue 2.

7. http://www.websukat.com/HRM-problems-in-performance-appraisal.html

APPENDIX:

INTERVIEW SESSION WITH SAMIRA ZUBERI HIMIKA

1. What influenced you to become an entrepreneur?

Answer: I was in job till 2009, in 2010 I started and I think it came instantly, I wanted do

something different, to do something different, may be t was possible in job life but this

is the way I wanted to utilize my dream and time. Then I decided to go my way and that’s

only possible when you have your own initiatives.

2. So, what were your three biggest challenges in your career?

Answer: Commonly number one is the people of Bangladesh do not pursue the diversify

things. Worldwide it is somehow common that people are doing different things at a

same time and I always believe in that. But I couldn’t make some people understand

those things.

Secondly the kind of works that I do has no immediate return, but it may give some great

return after some times. So where you can get immediate return it’s hard to get loans and

partnerships.

Lastly majority things that I do are not that common. I mean nobody tried these things

before. So I had to go through the first painful process, which was very raw and

unpredictable. As these are so difficult, innovative and so nobody have tried it so I had to

give my 200% effort and resources on everything.

3. Did your family support you?

Answer: Yes, always. I do not take professional advices from my family but whatever I

do they support me.

4. Did you ever face the discrimination between boys and girls?

Answer? I have a brother. But people say that I am more privileged. But it never occurred

that our parents did any kind of discrimination.

5. Being a female leader did you face this discrimination in your career life?

Answer: I never present myself as a girl, I am a human being. But yes people do it. I am

glad that I faced less of these than other people. I see my female friends facing these and

then I try to help them. But yes in Bangladesh being a girl and leader is difficult.

6. How do you overcome with these?

Answer: well, I am very workaholic person, when I am with my team, creative people I

forget everything. I think my work helps to forget me these.

7. How do you maintain your work life and your personal life?

Answer: I have no personal life. An entrepreneur has no personal time. I am assigned

with too many organizations so I never have that time. Being a girl, doing business in

Bangladesh is more difficult. But I am fine with that.

8. How hard it is for a girl to come from a family then face the society and then develop her

profession?

Answer: well it is the story of every girls of the world, it is really very difficult but you

have to break that ice.

9. What is the main issue that destructs a woman from her corporate life?

Answer: Typical expectations of the society like you have to cook, get married, have

kids etc. They always try to make everyone happy. Women want to please everybody but

you can’t make happy everyone. This makes you feel guilty and holds you back

10. Is there any special challenge for women in managing technology based organization?

Answer: Yes obviously. Women entrepreneurship is more about having a parlor or just a

boutique. There are a few women are engaged with the technology things. So it’s quite

hard and challenging to women in managing the technology in their organizations.

11. Do you think women managers have sufficient technical ability to solve work problems?

Answer: I feel every woman must know the basic technical knowledge. Somehow

women managers find it hard to solve the technical problems.

12. Have you ever faced any problem because you are a woman and an entrepreneur?

And what do you think how can we get rid of those problems?

Answer: I have to give you a comparison, when I was working in other organizations

nobody asked me that why I was there. I was there with my own capacity and quality.

But right now when I’m an entrepreneur and there are people, a lot, who salute me for

leaving that career and for starting up. But there are also people who think that I am

doing well because I am a woman and I am privileged!

As a service holder my responsibility and as an entrepreneur my responsibility vary

greatly. When I’m a job holder my responsibility is only for me but as an entrepreneur I

have to take responsibility of another 55 people who are giving up their everything for

me. And I’m capable of taking responsibility of them and they are my family. There are

people who think that women are incapable of leading and managing work as

entrepreneur but I did and I think I am quite good at it. Moreover, I’ve seen lot more

women doing this same thing with no less efficiency and smartness than men.

13. Okay, coming to organizational works, do you think women can become better

supervisors to the employees?

Answer: Yeah it depends actually. Since women are doing multitasking from the

beginning so yes a girl can do better in her life. I feel girls are good supervisors as well as

managers. They can manage multiple works at a same time.

14. Why it is called that people want to work under a male boss rather than a women boss?

Answer: May be if the employee is a boy, he won’t feel good at learning works from a

girl because of his ego, he doesn’t want to be submissive.

15. Is it hard to control your employees?

Answer: Not actually, I prefer to work to a team, full of creative people, they know their

job. I believe we are working as a team in a same mission.

16. How do you motivate them?

Answer: It’s extremely challenging to stay motivated and to motivate team members.

Meaning: it might happen, well, it happened to me, I could not pay people for three

months for different reasons. And those three months were really hard. However, I took

that three months as a challenge and used as an experiment to see who stays and who

actually goes away or leave ‘team engine’. And it was a wonderful experience in a sense

that it helped me to see things differently.

17. How did and do you overcome with your organizational HR challenges?

Answer: I try to observe the employees, talk with them, work as a team and give proper

suggestion I needed.

I was & I’m always well networked because I had the privilege to work in some

international platforms. If you don’t have enough good network and you start something,

it means you are going to suffer a lot at the beginning. So, as a start-up, to me, you should

have good network, you should know where to go, and where to talk. You should know

where to pitch your products and where to go to get information. As I said, I’m always

well networked as a result I did not face that kind of problem. But I know people who

faces this sort of problem.

And then there is the problem with the culture and society and system. Well, although I personally

did not encounter this problem but many of my colleagues and friends faced it. Culturally we like

people to work with a big brand. Parents don’t want their kids to spoil their life by starting up

something but have a secure life with some multinational jobs. They don’t believe that anybody

can start a business and make it happen. And this is a great challenge for start-ups in Bangladesh.

It’s very difficult to make your people believe that entrepreneurship is not only cool, it is possible.

I think I’m lucky in that sense that I did not face this problem.

INTERVIEW SESSION WITH ISHRAT AMIN

1. What inspired you to work with photography?

Answer: My mother was an amateur photographer and her passion for it has influenced

me a lot. I learnt many significant aspects of photography myself. First I started it as a

hobby and my parents, relatives and friends always appreciated my work. Hence, I felt

more encouraged and motivated to pursue it as my profession.

2. How does it feel to be the first women professional successful photographer in the

country?

3. Answer: It feels wonderful. Being a woman, when I entered the field carrying heavy

cameras it really astonished everyone. People around me often say that they’re proud of

me.

4. What difference have you made through your work?

Answer: Actually, the field of wedding photography is dominated by men. I feel they

have already started to believe the truth that women can also choose photography and

similar kind of professions as their career. Through hard work, sincerity and dedication

they can find success in this challenging field.

5. What was the major hurdle which you had to overcome?

Answer: I don't remember any major hurdle that I had to face in my work. But yes I had

to compete with the men photographers who were already very famous. I had t believe

everyone around the profession isn’t only for men. It is all about passion and hard work.

6. What challenges did you face while working in this sector?

Answer: Photography itself is a much challenging work. And as I’m engaged in wedding

photography, it is even more challenging because there is too much competition in this

field. In a three or four-hour wedding shoot, capturing some significant photographs of

excellent moments is a great challenge indeed.

7. Did you ever face the discrimination between boys and girls in the professional field?

Answer: Yes, people used to think that the wedding photography and other management

works are too heavy so a young girl like me wont ne able to handle these. And somehow

they can rely more on a male photographer rather than a female, I don’t know why. But

now I believe my works have already minimized these discriminations.

8. As owning a wedding management company is a huge responsibility how do you balance

your work life and personal life?

Answer: It is always difficult to strike a correct balance in work life and personal life. But

I am really grateful to my family that they have always been very supportive and co-

operative for which I am able to keep a balance between my work and my personal life.

Then again, there are times I need to compromise and sacrifice stuff in order to achieve a

natural balance instead of a correct balance. However, I believe life is the best teacher to

show the right path

9. Being a female leader how hard it is to maintain the whole organization?

Answer: It is quite hard actually. I have to maintain a healthy atmosphere among all the

employees and the clients as well. I have to look at the photographers, editors, musicians,

and other employees who work in decorations.

10. Do you think women managers have sufficient abilities to solve work problems in this

fried?

Answer: Though it is tough but I feel if a girl is determined and passionate to her work it

may not feel that difficult.

11. So, how to you supervise and control your employees?

Answer: Well, I supervise and try to control them in a very friendly way. I train the

photographers, make sessions with the other employees too. I try to give them new tasks

every day and analyze the results to advise them.

12. How do you overcome with your organizational HR challenges?

Answer: I always try to work directly the employees, teach them practically, talk with

them, work as a team, encourage them t participate more and try to remove if there is any

kind of conflict.

13. How to you analyze your employees work performances?

Answer: I try to observe them very directly, see their work outputs and analyze them. I

always compare ones today’s work with his/her yesterday’s work.