Female Entrepreneurs in the UAE 10 years ago and in 2013

Introduction Entrepreneurs, regardless of their inherent location or gender, share similar problems in relation to properly accessing sufficient capital to start their business, being able to attract customers, developing a sufficient cash flow to sustain their venture and a variety of other nuances that are connected to the process of developing a business.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Female Entrepreneurs in the UAE 10 years ago and in 2013 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Within the study of Tlaiss (2013), it was explained that in most market economies small to medium scale enterprises (SMEs) make up the bulk of a country’s enterprises constituting 80 to 90 % of local businesses [1]. Such an orientation can also be seen in the case of the UAE wherein SMEs make up 82% of local businesses within the country and employ up to 80 % of the workforce. Despite this, it must be noted that despite the fact that SMEs constitute 82% of local businesses they are still overshadowed by the region’s oil and natural gas industry which accounts for a large percentage of the UAE government’s budget revenues [1]. This is in stark contrast to the situation found in countries such as the U.S., UK, China and other industrialized countries where local SMEs makeup more than 70 % of GDP, 60 to 70 % of local government revenue and 75 % of export earnings. While the UAE’s status as an oil exporter does entail a decidedly different economic structure, it must be noted that given the nonrenewable state of its oil reserves it is absolutely necessary to implement some measure of encouraging the development of SMEs in order to have a strong local economy in place that is not dependent on resource that will inevitably dry up [9]. With the development of new internal policies within the UAE comes an era where women have become more empowered, both in the workforce and in entrepreneurship. This is evidenced by the fact that nearly 54% of all university graduates within the UAE are women and that a growing percentage of them focus on furthering their own careers and the development of their family business rather than enter into a prospective marriage [10]. As a result, with declining marriage rates comes a distinct decline in access to sufficient capital by bachelors since it is the intermarriage between families that is the source of capital for an entrepreneur in the UAE to establish his own business [2]. This is not to imply that women themselves cannot be entrepreneurs within the country, far from it, women are actually actively encouraged to take part in business and several have become successful entrepreneurs. However, due to various types of cultural restrictions which are a part of social traditions in the UAE, this creates a low rate of female entrepreneurship with only 3 out of 10 entrepreneurial businesses being started by a woman [2]. These restrictions come in the form of:Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Women needing permission from a male to start a business Separate bank accounts are necessary (i.e. male for male, female for female) Insufficient support from the government Lack of collaboration with other women In this paper what will be analyzed are the inherent difficulties experienced by female entrepreneurs within the U.AE. It is expected that through the various facts and arguments presented in this paper, a clearer picture can be developed regarding what difficulties female entrepreneurs experience within the UAE and what processes have been put in place by the government in order to address such issues. It is expected that through proper investigation and analysis, this paper will create effective suggestions as to how female entrepreneurs within the region can best respond to the financial opportunities and challenges they are currently experiencing. Objective The primary objective of this paper is to compare the situation of female entrepreneurs within the UAE 10 years ago with their current situation in 2013. Through this analysis, this paper will be able to show whether sufficiently positive developments have been enacted that would be conducive towards developing a better environment to encourage female entrepreneurship within the UAE. In this paper what will be examined is the current state of SME’s within the UAE and the situation of female entrepreneurs in 2013 as compared to how they were ten years ago. By comparing their situation in 2004 with their current situation in 2013, this paper will be able to determine whether sufficiently positive changes have been implemented resulting in a better overall situation for the growth of female entrepreneurship within the UAE. Through this section, a greater understanding will be developed regarding the various factors that rest ricted the growth of female entrepreneurship within the region and if such factors continue to take a dominating role in gender based entrepreneurial growth. So far, what this section has shown is that the problems female entrepreneurs currently face within the country come in the form of traditional cultural practices, insufficient government support and lack of proper access to financial institutions. Such processes are distinctly different from those in western countries since there is little in the way of a similar discriminatory process. When comparing the data from the article â€Å"Small Enterprises: Women Entrepreneurs in the UAE† by Hans Christian Haan with current academic articles examining the state of female entrepreneurship within the country, it was shown that the issues have remained roughly unchanged from the time that the Haan article was written. It is based on this that the primary objective of this paper is to expound on such issues and determine how they can be resolved. Problem Definition Ten years ago, female entrepreneurs within the UAE suffered from a string of limiting factors that prevented their expansive growth. This came in the form of traditional cultural practices, insufficient government support and lack of proper access to financial institutions. Since these factors were in place ten years ago, this study will thus seek to determine whether these problems continue to exist at the present, how female entrepreneurs view such problems and what solutions may be needed in order to effectively address them.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Female Entrepreneurs in the UAE 10 years ago and in 2013 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is based on this discovery that in the following section an investigation will be conducted regarding the current perception of female entrepreneurs involving the problems they face and what possible means of addressing them could be developed. The fact remains that the current policy system within the region suffers from significant gender specific biases. This creates barriers towards the creation of a better business environment for female entrepreneurs. What is necessary is the development of better policy initiatives in not only removing gender barriers in entrepreneurial activity but also in developing the necessary networks for female entrepreneurs to thrive. Another necessary examination is to elaborate on the current status of female entrepreneurial funding within the country and how this has affected the success/ failure rates of entrepreneurs. Another question that must be delved into is whether all the recent programs aimed at creating better conditions for female entrepreneurs have been effective or have things remained the same despite their implementation? The end result of such an analysis is to understand what methods of female entrepreneurial funding would the entrepreneurs like to see implemented so as to create a better business environment that is more conducive towards entrepreneurial activity. Literature Review Current Attitudes Regarding Business Financing Based on the article â€Å"Small Enterprises: Women Entrepreneurs in the UAE† by Hans Christian Haan, it was noted that women within the UAE rely on their own personal savings as their primary method of creating startup capital [12]. This is an incredibly laborious and time consuming process which would of course slow down the process of entrepreneurial activity within any country that utilizes such a system [11]. Such a situation is in stark contrast to the way in which the entrepreneurial sector in other countries such as China, the U.S., the UK and even in certain sectors in the Middle East work since it is often seen that investing in entrepreneurs creates numerous beneficial actions, such as: A better local economy Greater amount of bank deposits Helping out what could potentially develop int o a larger enterprise Banks generally think of entrepreneurs as â€Å"safe bets† when it comes to loans due to the attitude of entrepreneurs in paying back what they owe even if a particular business did not turn out as successful as expected [11]. Thus, startup capital in such situations often comes about through bank loans resulting in a far quicker level of business creation.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After conducting an analysis of the Erogul (2011) article which examined the current situation of women entrepreneurs within the UAE, it was revealed that female entrepreneurs still continue to rely on their own slowly accumulated capital as compared to merely taking out a bank loan [3]. This shows that from 2004 till the present, there has been little change in the cultural attitude regarding entrepreneurial financing among women [8]. One of the potential reasons behind such a state of affairs has been connected to the currently arduous process of taking out a loan within a bank wherein a male sponsor is needed in order to sign and guarantee all aspects of the loan [13]. Since female entrepreneurs have to rely on a sponsor who may not always be there, this further impedes the process of business development which actually discourages women from relying on banks as a source of capital [4]. It was seen that in the article â€Å"Small Enterprises: Women Entrepreneurs in the UAE† by Hans Christian Haan that in the case of the UAE, family played a crucial role in the funding and development of small to medium scale business ventures for women wherein more than 25% of local businesses started by female entrepreneurs were a result of family members contributing towards the initial starting capital of the entrepreneur and actively gave advice regarding the proper management of the business [7]. In fact, it was noted by researchers such as Mostafa (2005) that it is the strong interfamily ties within the country’s culture that limits the export market of the UAE. This is due to the development of a business culture where it has become preferable to deal with family members or friends of the family when it comes to joint business ventures and business opportunities. This in effect severely curtails the ability of a business to expand beyond its current market due to the inherent hesitance in dealing with the unfamiliar [5]. While there is nothing inherentl y wrong with family based methods of capital financing, studies such as those by Mostafa (2005) stated that it often came with certain conditions related to the types of business that can be gone into by female entrepreneurs [5]. This often entailed clothing, textiles, and manufacturing that were often detailed as the â€Å"traditional domain† of female entrepreneurs within the UAE. This conditional funding through family based methods of capital development can actually be considered a limiting factor in the capacity for female entrepreneurs to establish themselves in new types of business and, as such, can be considered a detrimental feature of the current â€Å"entrepreneurial funding† system within the UAE Analysis of Government Policy Initiatives An analysis of government policy initiatives that were mentioned in the Haan article showed the presence of gender specific barriers in entrepreneurship wherein male sponsorship, male networking and overall male assistanc e was required when it came to women entering into any form of entrepreneurial activity. The problem with the implementation of male sponsorships is that it is not needed in the case of women entrepreneurs since males basically just sign their signatures on a piece of paper [6]. They are not partners in the business nor do they take an active role in it; basically the Haan article shows that men are just there to show that there is a level of biased gender supervision occurring. Through the work of Madsen (2010), it was revealed that at the present, there have been no government policy initiatives to address such issues with the same policies continuing to exist [6]. Contributing to this problem is the lack of sufficient government funding in the development of female support networks which are there to help women in connecting with each other and developing the necessary relationships to grow and expand their business. While it may be true that the UAE government states that it act ively promotes female entrepreneurship and even gives awards to prominent female entrepreneurs, the fact remains that the current policy system within the region suffers from significant gender specific biases. This creates barriers towards the creation of a better business environment for female entrepreneurs [6]. What is necessary is the development of better policy initiatives in not only removing gender barriers in entrepreneurial activity but also in developing the necessary networks for female entrepreneurs to thrive. Methodology The methodology that will be utilized within this particular study will be comprised of an evaluation of questionnaire results sent to a variety of female entrepreneurs within the UAE in order to determine the various difficulties they experience on a daily basis when it comes to entrepreneurial activities. Approaching the Candidates In order to gather the necessary data for this study, 20 female entrepreneurs will be approached by first contacting th em via email. They will be asked if they would be willing to be part of an online survey utilizing the web service www.surveymonkey.com where all their responses will be recorded. If they agree, all they would need to do is click the link on the email and they will immediately be sent to the survey page where they will fill out their personal information and fill out the questionnaire that has been developed. Questions The first set of questions that will be sent to entrepreneurs will be comprised of the following: How were you able to initially fund your business? Was it through family funds? Bank loans or through government sponsored programs? Aside from the method of funding that you utilized for the initial financing of your business, what method of funding would you want to utilize for any future expansion? Are you going to utilize the same initial source of funding or are you going to go for alternatives? Would you say that financing a business is relatively easy or simple wi thin the UAE? Have you ever utilized a bank loan as means of financing some method of your business operation? If so what were the complications that you experienced, if any. What are some of the complications you have experienced as an entrepreneur within the UAE? Please elaborate on some of your experiences when it came to finding funds for your business. Would you say that local government programs have been an effective resource for local funding? In terms of developing an entrepreneur, would you say that the local government programs aimed at educating young female entrepreneurs have been effective? When it comes to the sale and development of your current product line/service, are you looking towards expanding only within local markets or do you have any plans in expanding internationally? Please explain your reasons for doing so on whatever choice suits you the most. What would you say is the most difficult aspect of being a female entrepreneur within the UAE? Do you know of any female entrepreneurs that have been successful in developing their business to encompass foreign markets? If so what was the source of their finances? As a female entrepreneur within the UAE, please elaborate on the current status of female entrepreneurial funding within the country and how this has affected the success/ failure rates of entrepreneurs. Reference List H. Tlaiss. â€Å"Women Managers In The United Arab Emirates: Successful Careers Or What?.† Equality, Diversity Inclusion, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 756-776, 2013 Y. Itani, S. Yusuf, and I. Baalbaki. â€Å"United Arab Emirates Female Entrepreneurs: Motivations and Frustrations.† Equality, Diversity Inclusion, vol. 30, no.5, pp. 409-424, 2011 M. Erogul.†Social Capital Impediments in the United Arab Emirates: A Case of Emirati Female Entrepreneurs.† Journal Of Enterprising Culture, vol. 19, no.3, pp. 315-339, 2011 Q. Tong. â€Å"An Analysis of Entrepreneurship across Five Major Nationality Grou ps in the United Arab Emirates.† Journal Of Developmental Entrepreneurship, vol. 17, no.2, pp. 1, 2012 M. Mostafa. â€Å"Attitudes towards Women Managers in the United Arab Emirates: The Effects of Patriarchy, Age, and Sex Differences.† Journal Of Managerial Psychology, vol. 20, no.6, pp. 522-540, 2005 S. Madsen. â€Å"Leadership Development in the United Arab Emirates: The Transformational Learning Experiences of Women.† Journal Of Leadership Organizational Studies (Sage Publications Inc.), vol. 17, no.1, pp.100-110, 2010 â€Å"Typology of Career Development for Arab Women Managers in the United Arab Emirates.† Career Development International, vol. 15, no.2, pp. 121-143, 2010 E. Harrison and S. Michailova. â€Å"Working In the Middle East: Western Female Expatriates’ Experiences in the United Arab Emirates.† International Journal Of Human Resource Management, vol. 23, no.3, pp. 625-644, 2012 N. Madichie and M. Gallant. â€Å"Broken Silenc e: A Commentary on Women’s Entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates.† International Journal Of Entrepreneurship Innovation, vol. 13, no.2, pp. 81-92, 2012 G. Ghazal, Vidican, and D. Samulewicz. â€Å"Assessing the Impact of Socio-Economic Inequities on College Enrolment: Emerging Differences in the United Arab Emirates.† Journal Of Higher Education Policy Management, vol.33, no.5, pp. 459-47, 20111 J. Kunnanatt. â€Å"Doing Business in the United Arab Emirates – The Strategic Business Environment.† Journal Of The Academy Of Business Economics, vol.13, no.4, pp. 145-152, 2013 H. Haan. â€Å"Small Enterprises: Women Entrepreneurs in the UAE.† Centre for Labor Market Research Information (CLMRI), vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-52, 2004 Trident Communications. â€Å"Women Business Owners in the United Arab Emirates.†Center of Arab Women for Training and Research, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-48, 2007 This proposal on Female Entrepreneurs in the UAE 10 years ago and in 2013 was written and submitted by user Jaydin J. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Biography of Alexander II, Russias Reformist Tsar

Biography of Alexander II, Russia's Reformist Tsar Alexander II (born Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov; April 29, 1818 – March 13, 1881) was a nineteenth-century Russian emperor. Under his rule, Russia moved towards reform, most notably in the abolition of serfdom. However, his assassination cut these efforts short. Fast Facts: Alexander II Full Name:  Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov Occupation: Emperor of RussiaBorn: April 29, 1818 in Moscow, RussiaDied: March 13, 1881 in Saint Petersburg, RussiaKey Accomplishments: Alexander II earned a reputation for reform and a willingness to bring Russia into the modern world. His greatest legacy was the freeing of Russian serfs in 1861.Quote: The vote, in the hands of an ignorant man, without either property or self respect, will be used to the damage of the people at large; for the rich man, without honor or any kind of patriotism, will purchase it, and with it swamp the rights of a free people.† Early Life Alexander was born in Moscow in 1818 as the first son and heir of Tsar Nicholas I and his wife Charlotte, a Prussian princess. His parents’ marriage was, luckily (and somewhat unusually) for a purely political union, a happy one, and Alexander had six siblings who survived childhood. From birth, Alexander was given the title of Tsesarevich, which was traditionally given to the heir to the Russian throne. (The similar-sounding title tsarevich applied to any sons of a tsar, including non-Russians, and ceased being used by Romanov rulers in 1797). The upbringing and early education of Alexander was not one that seemed conducive to create a great reformer. Indeed, the opposite, if anything, was true. At the time, the court and political atmosphere was intensely conservative under his father’s authoritarian rule. Dissent from any corner, regardless of rank, was severely punishable. Even Alexander, who was the darling of his family and of all Russia, would have had to be careful. Nicholas, however, was nothing if not practical in the upbringing of his successor. He had suffered from a dull, frustrating education as a â€Å"spare† to the throne (his immediate predecessor was not his father, but rather his brother Alexander I) that had left him without any desire to take up the title. He was determined to not let his son suffer the same fate and provided him with tutors that included reformer Mikhail Speransky and romantic poet Vasily Zhukovsky, plus a military instructor, General Karl Merder. This combination led to Alexander being well-prepared and more liberal than his father. At the age of sixteen, Nicholas created a ceremony in which Alexander formally swore allegiance to the autocracy as the successor. Marriage and Early Reign While on tour in Western Europe in 1839, Alexander was in search of a royal wife. His parents preferred Princess Alexandrine of Baden and arranged for the twenty-one-year-old tsesarevich to meet her. The meeting was unimpressive, and Alexander declined to pursue the match. He and his entourage made an unplanned stop at the court of the Grand Duke of Hesse, Ludwig II, where he met and became smitten with the duke’s daughter, Marie. Despite some early objections from his mother and a long engagement because of Marie’s youth (she was only fourteen when they met), Alexander and Marie married on April 28, 1841. Although the protocols of court life did not appeal to Marie, the marriage was a happy one, and Alexander leaned on Marie for support and advice. Their first child, the Grand Duchess Alexandra, was born in August 1842, but died of meningitis at the age of six. In September 1843, the couple had their son and Alexander’s heir, Nicholas, followed in 1845 by Alexander (the future Tsar Alexander III), Vladimir in 1847, and Alexei in 1850. Even after Alexander took mistresses, their relationship remained close. Nicholas I died of pneumonia in 1855, and Alexander II succeeded to the throne at the age of 37. His early reign was dominated by the fallout from the Crimean War and cleaning up overwhelming corruption at home. Thanks to his education and personal leanings, he began pushing forward a more reformist, liberal set of policies than the iron-fisted authoritarianism of his predecessors. Reformer and Liberator Alexander’s signature reform was the liberation of the serfs, which he began working towards almost immediately after coming to the throne. In 1858, he toured the country to encourage the nobility – who were reluctant to give up their reliance on serfs – to back the reform. The Emancipation Reform of 1861 formally abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire, giving 22 million serfs the rights of full citizens. His reforms were not limited to this by any means. Alexander ordered the reform of the Russian military, from enforcing conscription for all social classes (not just the peasantry) to improving officer education to creating districts for more efficient administration. An elaborate and detailed bureaucracy worked to reform the judicial system and make the system simpler and more transparent. At the same time, his government created local districts that took on many duties of self-governance. Despite his zeal for reform, Alexander was no democratic ruler. The Moscow Assembly proposed a constitution, and in response, the tsar dissolved the assembly. He fervently believed that diluting the power of the autocracy with representatives of the people would destroy the populace’s quasi-religious view of the tsar as a divinely-ordained, unquestioned ruler. When separatist movements, particularly in Poland and Lithuania, threatened to erupt, he suppressed them harshly, and later in his reign, he began to crack down on liberal teachings at universities. However, he supported efforts in Finland to increase its autonomy. An assassination attempt in April 1866 may have contributed to Alexander’s shift away from his earlier liberal reforms. Assassination and Legacy Alexander was the target of several assassination attempts, including the one in 1866. In April 1879, a would-be assassin named Alexander Soloviev shot at the tsar as he walked; the shooter missed and was sentenced to death. Later that year, other revolutionaries attempted a more elaborate plot, orchestrating a railway explosion – but their information was incorrect and they missed the tsar’s train. In February 1880, the tsar’s enemies came closer than they ever had before to achieving their goal when Stephan Khalturin, from the same radical group that bombed the train, managed to detonate a device in the Winter Palace itself, killing and wounding dozens and causing damage to the palace, but the imperial family was awaiting a late arrival and was not in the dining room. On March 13, 1881, Alexander went, as was his custom, to a military roll call. He rode in a bulletproof carriage gifted to him by Napoleon III, which saved his life during the first attempt: a bomb thrown under the carriage as it passed by. Guards attempted to evacuate Alexander quickly. Another conspirator, a radical revolutionary named Ignacy Hryniewiecki, got close enough to throw a bomb directly at the fleeing emperor’s feet. The bomb horrifically wounded Alexander, as well as others in the vicinity. The dying tsar was brought to the Winter Palace, where he was given his last rites and died minutes later. Alexander left behind a legacy of slow but steady reform and began the modernization of Russia – but his death stopped what would have been one of the biggest reforms: a set of planned changes that Alexander had approved and spoke of as a step towards a true constitution – something Romanov rulers had always resisted. The announcement was set to be made around March 15, 1881. But Alexander’s successor chose instead to retaliate for the assassination with severe setbacks to civil liberties, including arrests of dissenters and anti-Semitic pogroms that would last for the rest of the Romanov era. Sources Montefiore, Simon Sebag. The Romanovs: 1613 – 1918. London, Weidenfeld Nicolson, 2017.Mosse, W.E. â€Å"Alexander II: Emperor of Russia.† Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-II-emperor-of-RussiaRadzinsky, Edvard. Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. Simon Schuster, 2005.