Women Training

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study
P Nagesh* and M S Narasimha Murthy**
This paper analyzes the effectiveness of women entrepreneurship training and education program and helps to understand the need for entrepreneurship training. It also helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of such training programs. The comparison of the pre-established goals and the actual attainment helps to identify the improvements needed in training programs. The results of the study indicate that the state and central government training centers and nodal centers, which impart training to the entrepreneurs, are successful in meeting the requirements of only two-thirds of the respondents. The remaining one-third of the respondents felt that there was no effective delivery of contents in the training programs and the same needs to be improved. The study identifies the areas of improvement as practical exposure to the contemporary business, meeting the successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs to understand the causes of success and failures in business. The study concludes that in addition to skill development, the entrepreneurship and management development institutes should necessarily initiate steps to motivate women entrepreneurs and to provide them with practical management inputs.
Introduction
The entrepreneurial training programs will help to reduce unemployment and create more job opportunities in the society. The entrepreneurial training is not a universal remedy to solve the problems of unemployment but it helps especially the rural and youth in the society to earn on their own and thus improves their economic conditions. The assessment of the value of training is a vital activity of post-training phase which forms the training evaluation. This indicates the real effectiveness of the training programs and helps to validate the results with the pre-established objectives and goal attainment. The key
* Assistant Mysore * * Professor, Mysore Professor, Center for Management Studies, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, 570 006, India. E-mail: pnagesh1973@rediffmail.com Department of Management Studies, GSS Institute of Engineering and Technology for Women, 570 016, India. E-mail: msnmails@yahoo.com 23
The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study 2008 The Icfai University Press. All Rights Reserved.
parameters to assess the quality and effectiveness of the training program are (1) positive feelings towards the training program (reaction); (2) increase in knowledge (learning); (3) application of knowledge (job behavior); and (4) improved business results (Alan, 1998). The purpose of evaluating the outcomes of the initial or pilot training programs provided to the participants of the Community Entrepreneurs Program (CME) is very important to know whether such programs achieve the desired goals or not. Further, it also helps to understand the strengths and weaknesses of such programs and also identify the improvement needed areas of training.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a new enterprise or venture and assumes full accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. The term is a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon. A female entrepreneur is sometimes known as an entrepreneuse. Entrepreneur is often synonymous with founder. Most commonly, the term entrepreneur applies to someone who creates value by offering a product or service. Entrepreneurs often have strong beliefs about a market opportunity and organize their resources effectively to accomplish an outcome that changes the existing interactions. Usually, entrepreneurs are ready to assume the risks involved in undertaking a business venture, however, the results of this study indicate that successful entrepreneurs are actually risk averse. They are successful because their passion for an outcome leads them to organize the available resources in innovative and more productive ways. In doing so, they are said to efficiently and effectively use the factors of production. These factors are the various input resources such as manpower, natural resources, capital, machines, intelligence, knowledge, information, technology, and creativity. Entrepreneurs, who can efficiently manage these factors in pursuit of a real opportunity to add value in the long-run, can expand their businesses and become successful.
Women Entrepreneur
Globalization and liberalization of markets encouraged women to come forward to become entrepreneurs and start new industries. Cultural mixes, challenges women face in their lives, have changed throughout the world. In this regard both state and central governments have taken more initiatives in developing women entrepreneurs in India. However, the need for more women entrepreneurs has to be studied separately for two main reasons. The first reason is that womens entrepreneurship is an important untapped source of economic growth. The second reason is that the women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others. They can provide different solutions to management, organization, and business problems.1 Empirical studies show that women contribute significantly to the running of family businesses mostly in the form of unpaid effort and skills (India Together News, 2008).
1
Second Conference of Ministers Responsible for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Economy: Towards a More Responsible and Inclusive Globalization, Istanbul, June 3-5, 2004, Turkey. The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008
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Today business is built around human capital, and women are one of the valuable factors in the task of setting industries. The 21 st century has become a knowledgeable society and women are taking part virtually in every field including Information Technology (IT), biotechnology, tourism, banking, manufacturing, and service sectors. It is realized that there is an increased need of economic independence for women. Their participation in remunerative work in the formal and non-formal labor markets has increased significantly in the past decade. Womens income is becoming very necessary to households of all types in the wake of globalization and changing economic scenario. Many of the enterprises run by the women are able to create a successful business out of something as mundane as cooking. Despite being untrained, they were able to make their businesses a success because of their discipline and commitment (India Together News, 2008).
Entrepreneurship Education and Training

Entrepreneurship education provides the potential entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills and motivation to encourage entrepreneurial success in a variety of settings. While the entrepreneurship education is distinctive for its focus on realization of opportunity, whereas the management education is focused on the best way to operate the existing hierarchies. Both the approaches share an interest in achieving profit in some form. Opportunities can be realized in several ways. The most popular one is through opening a new organization through the starting of a new business. Another approach is to promote innovation or introduce new products or services or markets in the existing firms. This approach is called corporate entrepreneurship. Promoting a healthier entrepreneurial education, training, and environment is important as it help aiding individuals, in that the local community, encouragement and support to individual efforts, thus increasing their chances for success (Economic Times, 2001). The content of training, analysis of potential entrepreneurs, and the expertise of trainers play an important role in the success of entrepreneurship training. High quality training interventions are earmarked by reduced failure rates and increased profits (Bernard, 1990). A recent approach involves creating charitable organizations which are designed to be self-supporting in addition to doing their good works. This is usually called social entrepreneurship. The major benefit of entrepreneurship education is that it decreases the chances of failure by stressing a consistent and proven set of practices. The principal objective of the entrepreneur development program is to train the entrepreneurs to make them capable of developing and managing the new technology-based ventures (Ladzani and van Vuuren, 2002). Today, entrepreneurship education gained its own importance as people realized that it is one of the key tools which reduces the unemployment and provides the knowledge to face the challenging environment in the contemporary business. States can effectively utilize these entrepreneurial training programs to reduce chronic unemployment and at the same time create more jobs (Victor, 1988). Now, the state and central governments have established various training centers and nodal centers which impart entrepreneur education to the people at all the taluks, towns, district headquarters, and city levels. The needs of women entrepreneurs are given preference through various government and bank schemes.
The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study 25
Review of Literature
Here, the study discusses some of the significant contributions of various authors. Studies on microenterprise strategies (Clark et al., 1999) indicate that women, in general, feel that self-employment is a better option than traditional employment due to various reasons. Some of the important reasons are: women entrepreneurs get the training and technical assistance facilities through various government agencies which help them increase their incomes through self-employment. These self-employment avenues also help them attain a better standard of living and provide greater personal flexibility to accommodate family needs. In a country like Ukraine, 75% of the women entrepreneurs pursued the higher and technical education (Gray, 1992). Tara (2001) has examined the issues in institutionalizing microfinance in India. The study period was from 1995 to 2001. The study emphasizes the evaluation of the relevance of microfinance perspective to poverty improvement. The findings of the study suggest that entrepreneurship is a reasonably a good solution to help low-income women, including those who are transitioning off welfare, to become more economically self-sufficient. Manimegalai (2000) has analyzed the performance of Self-Help Group (SHG) after describing the objective, composition and functions of a SHGs. The author found that the SHG women are widely engaged in retail marketing of agricultural and rural products both at village and urban centers. Parthasarathy and Kalyani (1995) studied the economic impact of womens thrift and credit society. This study was focused on access to credit, cost of credit, savings, production and quality of life. The studies indicated the performance and the approaches of credit programmers in India. Dadhichi (2001) has conducted a research on the evaluation of the performance of SHG entrepreneurs, who were sponsored by Oriental Bank Group Project (OBGP). The study concluded that women who had taken subsidiary occupations improved their incomes, which resulted in their economic and social empowerment. Repayment pattern of the people is high because of the positive incentive for higher loans repayment. The review of literature reveals that until now the studies have concentrated on issues such as women and problems of gender discrimination, empowerment of women, women education, employment, family living, women and development and analyzed the two roles of women in production and reproduction. However, the assessment of the value of training need and the requirements of women entrepreneurs have to be studied in detail to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the present entrepreneurship education and training. This study is expected to identify the weak areas and enhance the effectiveness of the training in meeting its goals.
The Goals of Women Entrepreneurship Education and Training

The goals of the women entrepreneurship education and training are: Empower women through entrepreneurship to enable them achieve economic self-sufficiency;
The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008
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To help women gain strong business and life management skills that will enable them to become leaders in their work and personal lives, and become strong role models; To spur the growth of locally controlled businesses and create new jobs within neighborhoods; To provide business experience; To promote entrepreneurship by emphasizing the importance of small business as the creator of jobs, leading to prosperity; To enable potential entrepreneurs to emerge by assisting them in evaluating their entrepreneurial potential; To encourage business start-ups by offering a comprehensive entrepreneurship training program; To develop new markets and help mobilize the capital resources needed; and To introduce new technologies, industries and products and to create new employment opportunities.
Contents of the Women Entrepreneurial Training

Focus skill areas of the women entrepreneurial training: Need for achievement Ability to inspire Entrepreneurial motivation Obstacles or blocks Reactions to success or failure Creativity Innovation Ability to take risks Ability to identify opportunities Ability to have a vision for growth Interpret successful entrepreneurial ventures; and Role models Business Skills Business plans Management/leadership skills Financial skills
Marketing skills Operational skills Human Resources skills; and Opportunity identification. Services Skills covers the following contents: Aftercare services Tendering procedures; and Negotiation skills.
Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the present study are to: Evaluate the need and importance of training for women entrepreneurs; Identify the areas that need improvement in the training of women entrepreneurs; Suggest improvements in conducting the training programs based on feedback and evaluation; and Know whether the transfer of training content is positive, negative and zero transfer (zero transfer is one in which no effects occur).2
Methodology
The methodology involves: Data collection Sample size determination Sample framework Data classification, tabulation and statistical analysis Interpretation Results and Conclusion; and Suggestions
Data Collection
The primary data is collected from the fieldwork. A structured questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect the data. The data thus collected is classified based on homogeneous factors and tabulated it for statistical analysis.
2
Workshop, Regional Collaboration for Entrepreneurship Development in MENA Countries Shaping the Future Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship, held on October 21-24, 2007 in Bahrain, Inna Gagauz, TBI Kharkiv Technologies, Ukraine. The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008
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Sample Size and Selection

The samples were selected by giving due weightage to the beneficiaries of the various entrepreneurship and management development institutes such as Rudset Institute, Myrada Institute, Mysore District Industrial Center, NGOs, Sthree Deepa Sangha, Mysore. It was decided to consider at least 20% of the recently trained out entrepreneurs from the above-mentioned institutes for the purpose of evaluate the effectiveness of the training programs. Statistically, it is desired to have the standard error not more than 10% and 90% of confidence level is considered to determine the sample size. The sample size for the survey is determined by: N = Z 2 [ (1)] / E 2 where, N = Sample size to be determined
= The proportion of sample considered

Z = The confidence coefficient (1.64 for 90% confidence level) Accordingly, N = Z 2 [ (1)] / E 2 = (1.64) 2 [0.2 x 0.8] / [0.1] 2 = 43 Respondents However, to make the computations easy the sample size is increased to 50.
Sample Framework
A sample consisting of 50 women entrepreneurs engaged in different types of self-employment activities across Mysore city was selected on a random sample basis. The sample was selected with the help of various entrepreneurship and management development institutes. The respondents are selected equally from both urban and rural parts of Mysore city in the state of Karnataka. To get more homogeneous responses, respondents whose age is between 20 and 40 years are considered (Table 1).
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of the Sample
Respondents Selection Area Geographical Distribution Urban Part of the City Rural Part of the City No. of Respondents 25 25 Age Maximum 40 40 Minimum 20 20 Average Age of the Respondents 29 26
Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is restricted to Mysore city only (urban and rural parts of the city). The respondents opinions are considered as honest and unbiased.
The Preliminary Study to Select the Parameters

The selection and training phases through which the women entrepreneurs were chosen for the entrepreneurship training are noted before the selection of parameters for further study.
Selection of Parameters to the Survey and Further Study

New job awareness Knowledge of marketing skills Development of entrepreneur skills Knowledge of microcredit awareness Development of managerial knowledge and skills Awareness of the new techniques in the contemporary business environment Encouragement and motivation to become entrepreneur Knowledge of development of product/services Knowledge of pricing the products/services Knowledge of decision making Ecological/environmental awareness; and Knowledge of new developments in the business
Data Analysis
Statistical Tool Used for the Data Analysis
In addition to tabulation and classification, the key statistical tool used for the data analysis is the Kolmogorov-Smirnov D test (Beri, 2008; and Parasuraman et al., 2007).
Kolmogorov-Smirnov D Test
The Kolmogorov-Smirnov D test is a goodness-of-fit test which tests whether a given distribution is not significantly different from one hypothesized (for example, on the basis of the assumption of a normal distribution). It is a more powerful alternative to chi-square goodness-of-fit tests. While the chi-square test of goodness-of-fit tests whether, in general, the observed distribution is not significantly different from the hypothesized one, the K-S test, tests whether this is so even for the most deviant values of the criterion variable. Thus, it is a more stringent test. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov D test involves the following steps: Observed numbers and also the proportions are tabulated; Tabulate the observed cumulative proportions; The null proportions specified; The null cumulative proportions are developed; The absolute difference observed and null cumulative proportions are computed; Largest absolute difference is called Kolmogorov-Smirnov D (K-S critical value (D)) is obtained;
30
The critical value using the equation 1.36 / n is computed (where n being the number of samples taken for test); and The value of K-S critical value (D) with the critical value is compared to ascertain the significant differences.
Analysis of Study Parameters

An analysis of data presented in Table 2 reveals that there is a significant difference in rating on training effectiveness related to new job awareness among the respondents. It can be observed that 66% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (new job awareness). While 18% of the respondents felt that there was no effective delivery of training content, the remaining 16% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 2: New Job Awareness
Observed Numbers Observed Proportion Observed Cumulative Proportion 0.42 0.66 0.84 0.90 1.00 Null Proportion Null Cumulative Proportion 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Absolute Difference Observed and Null 0.22 0.26 0.24 0.10 0
Rating
Very Effective Effective Neither Effective Nor Ineffective Ineffective Very Ineffective Total
21 12 9 3 5 50
0.42 0.24 0.18 0.06 0.10
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = Largest Absolute Difference = 0.26; Critical Value = 0.19233.
An analysis of data presented in Table 3 reveals that there exists a significant difference in rating on training effectiveness related to knowledge about marketing skills. It can also
Table 3: Knowledge About Marketing Skills
Rating
19 14 7 7 3 50
0.38 0.28 0.14 0.14 0.06
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = 0.26; Critical Value = 0.19233.
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be observed that while 66% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (knowledge about marketing skills), 14% of the respondents felt that there was no effective delivery of training content. The remaining 20% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness. Data in Table 4 suggests that there exists significant difference in the rating on training effectiveness related to development of entrepreneurial skills. Further, it can be observed that 64% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (development of entrepreneurship skills). While 22% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content, the remaining 14% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 4: Development of Entrepreneurship Skills
Rating
24 8 11 2 5 50
0.48 0.16 0.22 0.04 0.10
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
It is evident from the results reported in Table 5 that there is a significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to knowledge of microcredit awareness among the respondents. It can also be observed that 64% of the respondents had positive transfer
Table 5: Knowledge of Microcredit Awareness
Observed Numbers 28 4 7 7 4 50 Observed Proportion 0.56 0.08 0.14 0.14 0.08 Observed Cumulative Proportion 0.56 0.64 0.78 0.92 1.00 Null Proportion 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 Null Cumulative Proportion 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Absolute Difference Observed and Null 0.36 0.24 0.18 0.12 0
Rating
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feelings about the training content (knowledge of microcredit awareness), while 14% of the respondents felt no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 22% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness. Results reported in Table 6 suggest that there is no significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to development of business knowledge and managerial skills among the respondents. It can also be observed that while 60% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (development of business knowledge and managerial skills), 22% of the respondents felt that there was no effective delivery of content. The remaining 18% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 6: Development of Business Knowledge and Managerial Skills
Rating
From the results reported in Table 7 it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to awareness about new techniques in the contemporary business environment among the respondents. It can also be observed that 68%
Table 7: Awareness about New Techniques in the Contemporary Business Environment
Rating
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of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (awareness about new techniques in the contemporary business environment), while 12% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 20% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness. From Table 8 it can be inferred that there is no significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to encouragement and motivation to become entrepreneur among the respondents. It can also be noted that 68% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (encouragement and motivation to become entrepreneur), while 12% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 20% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 8: Encouragement and Motivation to Become Entrepreneur
Rating
Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = Largest Absolute Difference = 0.32, Critical Value = 0.19233.
From the results reported in Table 9 it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to knowledge of pricing the products/services
Table 9: Knowledge of Pricing the Products/Services
Rating
34
among the respondents. It can also be observed that 62% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (knowledge of pricing the products/services), while 12% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 26% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness. Data presented in Table 10 indicates that there is a significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to knowledge of development of new products/services among the respondents. Further, it can be observed that while 66% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (knowledge of development of new products/ services), 12% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 22% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 10: Knowledge of Development of New Products/Services
Rating
Results reported in Table 11 helps us conclude that there is no significant difference in the rating about the opinion related to knowledge about decision making among the
Table 11: Knowledge About Decision Making
Rating
Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = Largest Absolute Difference = 0; Critical Value = 0.19233.
35
respondents. It can also be observed that 78% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (knowledge of decision making), while 12% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 10% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness. Results reported in Table 12 suggest that there is a significant difference in the rating on the opinion related to ecological and environment awareness among the respondents. While 54% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (ecological and environmental awareness), 20% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 26% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
Table 12: Ecological and Environmental Awareness
Rating
Results presented in Table 13 suggest that there is no significant difference in the rating on the opinion related to knowledge about new developments in the business among the
Table 13: Knowledge About New Developments in the Business
Observed Numbers 10 22 8 5 5 50 Observed Proportion 0.20 0.44 0.16 0.10 0.10 Observed Cumulative Proportion 0.20 0.64 0.80 0.90 1.00 Null Proportion 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 Null Cumulative Proportion 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Absolute Difference Observed and Null 0 0.24 0.20 0.10 0
Rating
Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = Largest Absolute Difference = 0; Critical Value = 0.19233.
36
respondents. It can also be observed that 64% of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content (knowledge about new developments in the business), while 16% of the respondents felt that there was no effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 20% of the respondents reported negative effectiveness.
The Comparative Ratings of All Parameters

Table 14 reports the comparative ratings of all the parameters.
Table 14: Comparative Ratings of All Parameters
Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Parameters Creating the new job awareness Knowledge about marketing skills Development of entrepreneurship skills Knowledge of microcredit awareness Development of managerial knowledge and skills Awareness about new techniques in the contemporary business environment Encouragement and motivation to become entrepreneur Knowledge of pricing the products/ services Knowledge of development of product/ services Knowledge about decision making Ecological awareness Knowledge about new developments in the business Maximum 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Minimum 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Mean 3.82 3.78 3.88 3.90 3.68 3.96 3.96 Standard Deviation 1.63475 1.61505 1.66565 1.67631 1.56920 1.70927 1.70927
5 5 5 5 5
1 1 1 1 1
3.52 3.76 4.08 3.66 3.54
1.50678 1.60549 1.77944 1.56064 1.51380
Findings of the Study

Women entrepreneurship training programs are effective in developing various entrepreneur skills such as new job awareness, knowledge of marketing skills, and other parameters reported in Table 14. With the help of Kolmogrov D test it can be concluded that there are significant differences in the respondents ratings given on various parameters mentioned in Table 14. It is observed that about two-thirds of the respondents had positive transfer feelings about the training content except in the case of ecological and environmental awareness. The remaining one-third of the respondents felt less or no effectiveness in transfer of the content during the training program. In the case of ecological and environmental awareness, 54% of the respondents had the positive transfer feelings, while 20% of the respondents felt that there was no
37
effectiveness in transfer of the content. The remaining 26% of the respondents expressed negative effectiveness. It suggests that the training programs should emphasize more on ecological awareness. As the opinion of the two-thirds of the respondents is positive about the training content and the system, it can be stated that the training program is useful and can be continued with required modifications. The personal discussions with the respondents indicated a few areas of improvement such as practical exposure to the various enterprises to learn more about the contemporary business in the field, meeting the successful entrepreneurs to know more about the practical experiences and risks involved and also to meet the unsuccessful entrepreneurs to understand the reasons and causes for their failure in the business. Respondents are very much satisfied about their learning on the knowledge of decision making. They also felt that inputs and information available on knowledge about pricing the products/services are not adequate. There is a need to have a training content on the Quality Management Systems Awareness in the training program which is highly essential to create the competitive advantage in todays business. The informal discussions with the respondents revealed that about 20% of them are not motivated. Therefore, it is necessary to initiate steps to motivate them. The steps may be in the form of individual care, additional training classes, general awareness, etc. Women are to be given special attention in terms of motivation, risk bearing and require maximum encouragement to embark and gear-up the entrepreneurship in the society. A high-power and professionally involved committee must constantly review the courses and the curriculum on the basis of evaluation studies and market developments. In addition to skill development, these institutes should also provide practical management inputs. The course design should keep in mind the special needs of women, such as their preference to work from their homes, which would enable them to also fulfill their household responsibilities. This should not, however, result in restricting them to low technology linked skills traditionally believed to be suitable for women. Several hi-tech functions with extensive value addition and good profitability could also be undertaken within homes and the courses should be imaginatively and innovatively designed; and Womens development corporations are fully aware of the significant presence of women in this area but have only a catalytic role in financing. They must necessarily work through normal channels if they have to gain access to open-ended financing.
Conclusion
Women represent more than one-third of all people involved in entrepreneurial activity, and are likely to play an even greater role when informal sectors are considered (Olsen Jr. James, 1998). Women are the natural networkers and relationship builders, forging powerful bonds
38 The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008
and nurturing relationships with clients and employees alike. They are also more inclined to seek out mentors and develop supportive teams.3, 4 In business, this translates into establishing rapport with clients and providing great customer service. This perhaps is the reason why many women tend to launch businesses that are client-based or service-oriented (Bindu, 2005). The development of womens entrepreneurship corresponds to a structural economic change, where more economic actors can become job providers.5 The respondents in Mysore city felt that training is a vital and needed component to become successful entrepreneurs. The study indicates that the state and central government training centers and nodal centers which impart training to the entrepreneurs are successful in catering to the needs of only two-thirds of the respondents; and the remaining one-third of the respondents felt less or no effectiveness in transfer of the content during the training program and felt the need for improvement. Further, the study identifies the areas of improvementspractical exposure to the contemporary business, meeting the successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs to understand the causes for the success and failures in the business. The study concludes that in addition to skill development, governments and management development institutes should initiate steps to motivate women entrepreneurs and provide them with practical management inputs.
References
1. Alan H Andreson (1998), Successful Training Practice for Managers, Becon Books, Blackwell Publishing. 2. Beri G C (2008), Marketing Research, 3rd Edition, Tata McGraw-Hills, New Delhi. 3. Bernard Garnier (1990), Training Entrepreneurs Through Newspapers, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 28, No. 1. 4. Bindu Shridhar, Women as Entrepreneurs, The Hindu, December 14, 2005. 5. Clarke, Peggy and Kays Amy (1999), Microenterprise and the Poor: Findings from the Self-Employment Learning Project Five Year Survey of Microentrepreneurs, The Aspen Institute, Arlington. 6. Gray Dwaine (1992), Entrepreneurship Training: An Alternative to Traditional Job Training Programs, Economic Development Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 82. 7. Ladzani W M and van Vuuren J J (2002), Entrepreneurship Training for Entering SMEs in South Africa, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 154-161. 8. Manimegalai (2000), Quantitative Fuzzy Measures for Threshold Selection Source Pattern Recognition Letters Archive, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 1-7.
3 4
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2006 Report on Women Entrepreneurship. Women Entrepreneurs: Leading the Charge, Statistics Canada 2004 CIBC Small Business Outlook Poll, CIBC World Markets. Women Entrepreneurship: Exchanging Experiences Between Oecd and Transition Economy Countries, Dina Ionescu, LEED Programme OECD, Brijuni Conference October 1999. 39
9. Mehrotra Anuj, Under the Spotlight, Economic Times, March 29, 2001. 10. Olsen Jr. James H (1998), The Evaluation and Enhancement of Training, International Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 75. 11. Parasuraman, Dhruv Grewal and Krishnan R (2007), Marketing Research, Bizantra Publications, New Delhi. 12. Tara (2001), Institutionalising Microfinance in India: An Overview of Strategic Issues, Economic and Political Weekly, January 27. 13. The Women Entrepreneurs, India Together News, May 3, 2008. 14. Victor K Wan (1988), Enterprise Workshop: An Entrepreneurship Training Programme in Australia, Journal of Small Business Management, Blackwell Publishing, p. 69.
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The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

P Nagesh* and M S Narasimha Murthy**

Entrepreneurship Education and Training

The Goals of Women Entrepreneurship Education and Training

Contents of the Women Entrepreneurial Training

Objectives of the Study

Sample Size and Selection

= The proportion of sample considered

Scope of the Study

The Preliminary Study to Select the Parameters

Selection of Parameters to the Survey and Further Study

Analysis of Study Parameters

0.42 0.24 0.18 0.06 0.10

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

0.38 0.28 0.14 0.14 0.06

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Note: K-S Critical Value (D) = 0.26; Critical Value = 0.19233.

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

0.48 0.16 0.22 0.04 0.10

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008

The Comparative Ratings of All Parameters

3.52 3.76 4.08 3.66 3.54

1.50678 1.60549 1.77944 1.56064 1.51380

Findings of the Study

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

The Effectiveness of Women Entrepreneurship Training Program: A Case Study

The Icfai University Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. V, No. 3, 2008

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