This study focuses on the concept of business enterprise success and the role of personality traits towards success of women entrepreneurs in business. We show that women entrepreneurs have capacity to start and sustain business enterprises as more than 80% of them were able keep their enterprises up and running for more than 10 years. We also find that women are capable of increasing the capital stock in their enterprises by big proportions even if their enterprises remain micro. We find that even small enterprises can be successful and note that women define success both in terms of economic and non-economic measures, in almost equal proportions. We find that conscientiousness (reliability, hard work and perseverance) and extraversion (being talkative, outgoing and social) are very strongly associated with success in business. These traits are learnable and appear the most significant to women success in business than other traits.
BarneyJ (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management17(1): 99120.
2.
BarneyJ (2001) Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management27: 643650.
3.
BarrickMRMountMK (1991) The big personality dimensions and job performance: A meta analysis. Personnel Pyschology44: 126.
4.
BegleyTMBoydDP (1987) Psychological characteristics associated with performance in entrepreneurial firms and smaller businesses. Journal of Business Venturing2: 7993.
5.
Braun V and Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101.
6.
Brush CG (1992) Research on women business owners: Past trends, a new perspective and future directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 16: 45–30.
7.
Buttner EH and Moore DP (1997) Women's organizational exodus to entrepreneurship: Self-reported motivations and correlates with success. Journal of Small Business Management 35: 34–46.
8.
ChellEBainesS (1998) Does gender affect business performance? A study of microbusinesses in the business services in the UK. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development10: 117135.
9.
CliffJE (1998) Does one size fit all? Exploring the relationship between attitudes towards growth, gender, and business size. Journal of Business Venturing13: 523542.
10.
CostaPTMcCraeRR (1992) Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional Manual, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
11.
FreseMKraussSIKeithN (2007) Business owners’ action planning and its relationship to business success in three African countries. Journal of Applied Psychology92(6): 14811498.
12.
Furnham A (2008) Relationship among four big five measures of different length. Psychological Reports 102(1): 312–316.
13.
IbroGFultonJLowenbergJD (2006) Factors affecting success for women entrepreneurs in West Africa: The case of Kossai, a value added Cowpea product. AAEA selected paper, California: Long Beach.
14.
GoslingSDRentfrowPJSwannJrWB (2003) A very brief measure of the Big-Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality37: 504528.
15.
GrayC (2002) Entrepreneurship, resistance to change and growth in small firms. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development9(1): 6172.
16.
HisrichRD (1990) Entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship. American Psychologist5(2): 209222.
17.
HonigB (1998) What determines success? Examining the human, financial, and social capital of Jamaican microentrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing13: 371394.
18.
International Trade Centre (2011) (2011) Uganda Tourism Sector Opportunity Study: Inclusive Tourism Programme, Geneva: International Trade Centre.
19.
JenningsJEBrushCG (2013) Challenges to (and from) the broader entrepreneurship literature?The Academy of Management Annals7(1): 661713.
20.
KatongoleC (2013) Uganda National Domestic Tourism Study, Kampala: United Nations Development Programme.
21.
LockeEABaumJR (2007) Entrepreneurial motivation. In: BaumJRFreseMBaronRA (eds) The Psychology of Entrepreneurship, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 93112.
22.
LockettAThompsonS (2001) The resource-based view and economics. Journal of Management27(6): 723754.
23.
McCraeRR (1987) Creativity, divergent thinking, and openness to experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology52(6): 12581265.
24.
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (2008) Enhancing the Competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda. Discussion Paper 16. Kampala, Uganda.
25.
MorrisonA (2000) A contextualisation of entrepreneurship. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research12: 192209.
26.
MuckPMHellBGoslingSD (2007) Construct validation of a Short Five-Factor Model Instrument: A self-peer study on the German adaptation of the ten-item Personality Inventory (TIPI-G). European Journal of Psychological Assessment23(3): 66175.
27.
MuneneJSchwartzSKibanjaG (2005) Escaping from Behavioral Poverty in Uganda: The Role of Culture and Social Capital, Kampala: Fountain.
28.
Namatovu R, Dawa S, Mulira F and Katongole C (2012) Understanding women micro and small entrepreneurs in Uganda. Dakar: Trust Africa.
29.
OrhanMScottD (2001) Why women enter into entrepreneurship: An exploratory model. Women in Management Review16(5/6): 232244.
30.
PenroseE (1959) The Theory of the Growth of the Firm., 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
31.
PérezEHCaninoRM (2009) The importance of the entrepreneur’s perception of “success”. Review of International Comparative Management10(5): 9901010.
32.
PerrenL (2000) Factors in the growth of micro-enterprises (part 1): Developing a framework. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development6(4): 366385.
33.
PeterafMA (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal14(3): 179191.
34.
PorterME (1987) From competitive advantage to corporate strategy. Harvard Business Review65(3): 4359.
35.
Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (2010) (2010a) An Analysis of Private Sector Growth Challenges and Proposals for Policy Reforms, Kampala: PSFU.
36.
Rauch A and Frese M (2007) Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 16: 353–385.
37.
RavenscraftDJ (1983) Structure–profit relationships at the line of business and industry level. Review of Economics and Statistics65: 2231.
38.
ReijonenHKomppulaR (2007) Perception of success and its effect on small firm performance. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development14(4): 689701.
39.
Schmitt-RodermundE (2001) Psychological Predictors of Entrepreneurial Success, University of Jena.
40.
ShaneS (2003) A General Theory of Entrepreneurship, Northampton: Edward Elgar.
41.
SimpsonMTuckNBellamyS (2004) Small business success factors: The role of education and training. Education & Training46(8/9): 481491.
42.
SnyderM (2000) Women in African Economies: Business Ventures and Investment Patterns of 74 Ugandan Women, Kampala: Fountain.
43.
Stevenson L and St-Onge A (2005) Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Uganda. International Labour Organization, Geneva.
44.
StewartWHRothPL (2001) Risk propensity differences between entrepreneurs and managers: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology86: 145153.
45.
TimmonsJA (1989) The Entrepreneurial Mind, Andover, MA: Brick House.
46.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2011a) (2011a) Census of Business Enterprises in Uganda, Kampala: UBOS.
47.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2011b) (2011b) Statistical Abstract, Kampala: UBOS.
48.
United Nations World Tourism Organisation (2012) (2012) Tourism Highlights, UNWTO, Madrid.
49.
VenkatramanNRamanujamV (1986) Measurement of Business Economic Performance: An Examination of Method Convergence, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts.
50.
VirtanenM (1999) Strategies of growth and finance in an enterprise. In: LehtonenP (ed) Strategic Entrepreneurship, Helsinki: Kauppakaari OYJ, pp. 120143.
51.
WalkerEBrownA (2004) What success factors are important to small business owners?International Small Business Journal22(6): 577594.
52.
WestheadPWrightM (1998) Novice, portfolio, and serial founders: Are they different?Journal of Business Venturing13(3): 173204.
53.
Wiklund J, Patzelt H and Shepherd DA (2009) Building an integrative model of small business growth. Small Business Economics 32: 351–374.
54.
World Bank (2012) (2012) Uganda Tourism Sector Situation Assessment: Tourism Reawakening, World Bank, Kampala, Uganda.
55.
World Bank (2013) (2013) Economic and Statistical Analysis of Tourism in Uganda, Final Draft, World Bank, Kampala, Uganda.
56.
ZhaoHSeibertSE (2006) The Big Five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Applied Psychology91(2): 259271.
