Use of entrepreuneurial social networks by women in the travel agencies creation process

Teixeira, Rivanda Meira; Andreassi, Tales; Bomfim, Lea Cristina Silva

doi:10.7784/rbtur.v12i1.1344

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Paper • Rev. Bras. Pesq. Tur. 12 (01) • Jan-Apr 2018 • https://doi.org/10.7784/rbtur.v12i1.1344 copy

Use of entrepreuneurial social networks by women in the travel agencies creation process

Uso de las Redes Sociales Emprendedoras por Mujeres en el Proceso de creación de agencias de viajes

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Justification of the topic:

The study of entrepreneurial social networks has been recognized as crucial in the entrepreneurial process, as well as in the success of the businesses. Since the 1990s, there has been a special interest in researching social networks focused on gender, and considering its relevance, this topic is still very current.

Objectives:

The aim of this study is to analyze how social networks are used by female entrepreneurs in the of new business creation process. It specifically aims to identify the types of bonds that are used by female entrepreneurs in their social networks in the stages of conception, start-up and business consolidation and verify how these social networks influence in obtaining resources.

Methodology/Design:

The research strategy adopted is the multiple case study and evidences were collected through semi-structured personal interviews with seven entrepreneurs of micro and small travel agencies. The cases were described individually and followed by a comparative analysis to examine their similarities and differences.

Results and Originality of the Document:

The study shows that the strong bonds were the most used by entrepreneurs mainly in the conception stage. Furthermore, it also shows that that previous experience was very important in the identification of the opportunity and ability to build diverse networks.

Keywords:
Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial social networks; Female entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial process

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[1] Rivanda Meira Teixeira

Professor, Dra. at the Federal University of Paraná, Post-graduate Program in Management, Master’s Degree in Management from COPPEAD/UFRJ (1979), Doctorate in Management from Cranfield University, England (1996), Post-doctorate Degree in Tourism Management from Bournemouth University, England and Strathclyde University, Scotland (2001). Post-doctorate Degree in Entrepreneurship in Tourism from the HEC, Canada (2006). Post-doctorate from the FGV-SP (2015) in Entrepreneurship. Scholarship holder in Productivity in Research at the CNPq-PQ-Level 1D. E-mail: rivandateixeira@gmail.com

CATEGORY	ELEMENTS OF ANALYSIS
Entrepreneur’s profile	Age, age of first business, place of birth, education, marital status, number of children, previous experience, entrepreneurial family background, attendance of managerial courses/training.
Business characteristics	Year of foundation, organizational structure, physical structure, services provided, number of employees, customers, family members in the company.
Types of ties in the conception, start-up and consolidation	Strong ties: formed by personal networks such as family, friends and old acquaintances. Weak ties: formed by entrepreneurial networks from relationships with banks, consultants, customers, suppliers and others
Resources accessed in the conception, start-up and consolidation	Social Resources: emotional, moral and technical support, identification of new business opportunities, motivational support, source of ideas and information, advice, recommendation of suppliers, customers and employees. Financial Resources: Loans and financing, seeking investments, application of resources, fixed costs (raw materials and suppliers, equipment, locations and employees). Physical Resources: raw material and input, machinery and equipment, vehicles, property and physical location

Ties	Strong	Family: father, mother, daughters
Ties	Weak	-
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Identification of business opportunity through her prior experience in the family business; Moral support from parents; Help from parents and husband with ideas, advice and recommendations for customers and suppliers; Help from family and friends with ideas for advertising; Strengthening of ethical and professional values through her upbringing. Weak Ties:
	Financial	Own resources.
	Physical	Own resources.

Ties	Strong	Family (parents and friends) with moral support.
Ties	Weak	Accountants.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Moral support from parents and friends; Necessary skills in the early days of the business obtained through previous experience in family company. Weak Ties: Execution of legal procedures of opening the company by a specialized firm.
	Financial	Own resources.
	Physical	Own resources.

Ties	Strong	Family (father, mother, husband, and daughters) with moral support and ideas.
Ties	Weak	ABAV, Tourism Agencies and travel Operators, exchanging information and employees with marketing plan, strategic planning, and banks.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Moral support from parents and husband on trips; Help from parents to serve customers when demand increases; Help from children and husband with ideas for new campaigns; Status associated with friendship with a woman at the bank. Weak Ties: Drafting of marketing plan with help from an employee Exchange of information on the tourism sector; Drafting the plan of growth for the company with employee help.
	Financial	Own resources, but has easy access to credit due to good relationship she formed with the banks.
	Physical	Own resources.

Ties	Strong	Friend came up with the idea for the business; Sisters; Friends and close family.
Ties	Weak	SEBRAE
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Idea for the business came from her friend; Help with moral support from friends and sisters; Suggestions for the development of the business from friends and close family members. Weak Ties: Information from the SEBRAE regarding the opening of the company.
	Financial	Own resources acquired by selling the assets of her previous business.
	Physical	Purchased with her own resources from the sale of the assets of her previous business.

Ties	Strong	Friend who came up with the idea for the business; Husband; Friends in general.
Ties	Weak	Tour operators.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help from friends with first customers; Help from husband to manage the company; Help from family to serve customers. Weak Ties: Help from operators with technical support.
	Financial	-
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Friends; Husband and son; Family in general
Ties	Weak	ABAV; SEBRAE.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help to prepare travel plans; Help from family to publicize the company; Help from the husband with financial management; Establishing relationships of trust with family members; Help from son with advertising and publicity materials. Weak Ties: Help from the ABAV with information on the business and publicizing the company; Help from the SEBRAE with courses on tourism.
	Financial	-
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Friends; Mother.
Ties	Weak	Entrepreneurs; SEBRAE; Consultants; Suppliers; Customers.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Strengthening the idea of opening the business with the support of a friend who works in another company; Help from a friend/colleague to open the company as partners; Professional help from her friend with suggestions for the name of the company; Professional help from her friend with ideas for decorating the store; Emotional and moral support from her mother. Weak Ties: Sharing knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs; Customers, suppliers and consultants help with advice; Customers, suppliers and consultants helped identify opportunities; Help from the SEBRAE with the Business Plan.
	Financial	Family (father) helped with a loan.
	Physical	Purchased with a loan from her father.

Ties	Strong	Mother; Father; Friends.
Ties	Weak	Suppliers and customers.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Her mother helped to serve customers; The entrepreneur received emotion support from her mother and daughter; She received moral support from her friends; A friend helped with the interior design services, choosing adequate equipment and a functional layout for the store; Her friend helped her hire her first employee. Weak Ties: Customers were sources of ideas and information; Suppliers helped with training.
	Financial	Help from her father with financial resources.
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Friends; Mother; Daughter; Boyfriend.
Ties	Weak	ABAV; EMBRATUR; SEBRAE; Customers; Consultants; Suppliers.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Advice from family and friends; Help from friends, mother and daughter to identify threats from the competition; Motivational support from friends; Help from a friend to create material for advertising campaigns. Weak Ties: Help from customers, consultants, and suppliers with recommendations for sales; Help from a public agency and association to allow the entrepreneur access to other networks and advertise her company; Help with access to information and learning by the SEBRAE and ABAV.
	Financial	-
	Physical	Help from boyfriend to purchase equipment.

Ties	Strong	Family; Mother; Husband; Friends.
Ties	Weak	-
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Advice and moral support from her mother; Help in the form of emotional support from her husband; Family members helped in the development of skills through sharing knowledge and experiences.
	Financial	Her own resources, which she gained when she ended her partnership.
	Physical	Husband helped by suggesting a location for the store.

Ties	Strong	Brother
Ties	Weak	Suppliers
Resources	Social	-
	Financial	Strong Ties: Brother helped with a loan. Weak Ties: Suppliers helped by providing credit.
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Stepchildren
Ties	Weak	Employees; SEBRAE
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Technical support from stepchildren to redesign the company logo. Weak Ties: Technical support from the SEBRAE with consultancy in marketing, consultancy in Strategic Management, courses, and training; Technical support from the team.
	Financial	80% of the cost of ongoing consultancy is paid for by the SEBRAE.
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Family: Mother.
Ties	Weak	Operators; Customers; Suppliers; Register of Tourism Service Providers (CADASTUR); Brazilian Tourism Institute (EMBRATUR).
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Moral and motivational support from her mother. Weak Ties: Operators helping with information and clearing up doubts; Suppliers helping with information and clearing up doubts; Customers as sources of learning; Public agencies providing credentials and licenses.
	Financial	Help from mother.
	Physical	Help from mother.

Ties	Strong	Family: Mother and brother.
Ties	Weak	Accountant; Acquaintances.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help with first customer. Weak Ties: Accountant helped with legal procedures to open the firm; Acquaintances helped by recommending first employees.
	Financial	Financial aid from mother with part of the working capital.
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Father; Former colleague.
Ties	Weak	Suppliers/operators.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help from father with moral support and recommendation of customers, and suppliers. Weak Ties: Help from suppliers, providing credit and guidance; Help from the university with the preparation of the business plan.
	Financial	Strong Ties: Credit from suppliers.
	Physical	Strong Ties: Own resources and resources of former colleague.

Ties	Strong	Friends; Family (father).
Ties	Weak	EMBRATUR, Travel agencies.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help from family and friends as the first customers; Help from parents and friends to publicize the agency; Help from father with advice and guidance on how to serve customers. Weak Ties: EMBRATUR with registering the agency and providing it with the credentials required to function; Help from other agencies with professional recommendation.
	Financial	Own resources.
	Physical	Own resources.

Ties	Strong	Father
Ties	Weak	Customers
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help from father with advice and emotional support. Weak Ties: Customers are sources of motivation.
	Financial	Own resources.
	Physical	Own resources.

Ties	Strong	Family (father, mother, children, siblings).
Ties	Weak	ABAV; SEBRAE; Bank
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help with the idea of opening the company; help with the name of the company; Creation of the slogan; Help with the business plan.
	Social	Weak Ties: Help from the SEBRAE and ABAV with courses and training.
	Financial	Weak Ties: Financial resources.
	Physical	Strong Ties: Furniture and other resources.

Ties	Strong	Friends; Family
Ties	Weak	Employees; Accountant
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Help to choose furniture; help with legal procedures. Weak Ties: Help with operational procedures for selling tickets; Help from accountant with legal procedures for opening the firm
	Financial	Strong Ties: Financial Resources.
	Physical	-

Ties	Strong	Family; Friends.
Ties	Weak	SEBRAE.
Resources	Social	Strong Ties: Friends offer contracts in difficult times; Friends are customers; Family as a source of support. Weak Ties: SEBRAE with consultancy.
	Financial	-
	Physical	-