Keywords

Technology Adoption, Indian Women Entrepreneurs, Social Media, E commerce, Industry 4.0.

Introduction

Entrepreneurship has been said to be the backbone of any economy. It brings much
needed income, GDP, employment, and regional balance to any developing economy. Most of the developing economies have gender imbalances when it comes to entrepreneurship. Indian Government has been taking multiple actions to encourage women entrepreneurship in the country. The GOI has defined women entrepreneurship as “an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 percent of the capital and giving at least 51 percent of the employment generated in the enterprise to women. Indian Government has taken many initiatives to encourage women entrepreneurship. There are multiple schemes that provide loans and technical assistance to women, especially rural women.

Indian Women Entrepreneurs

Indian women entrepreneurs have been known to go more for traditional businesses. However, recently the scenario is changing. Indian women entrepreneurs have started exploring fields like information technology, advertising, etc. The reason for this can be traced to changing environmental conditions in India. For instance, the sociocultural environment in India has changed drastically over the last couple of decades. The socio cultural environment changes have brought many changes in women entrepreneurship. Indian society has started providing higher education to females and accepted their ambitions and aspirations which is a positive factor for women entrepreneurship (Koneru, 2017).

Women entrepreneurs face multiple challenges on their path to becoming successful. One major obstacle is a patriarchal society and gender bias (Porter & Nagarajan, 2005). Women in India are generally supposed to be the primary caregiver in a family. They are supposed to take care of the elders, sick and young children. Traditional cultural and religious factors challenge women entrepreneurs (Cho & Chaudhuri, 2020). Societal factors have a huge impact on the success of women entrepreneurs (Roy, Mohapatra, & Banerjee, 2022). In the initial stages of entrepreneurship, societal factors like poor educational opportunities for females, poor societal status, lack of independence, lack of safety and limited spatial mobility and lack of vocational training opportunities create challenges for females. As the women entrepreneur becomes successful her family support and social network create a web of strength around her. The support of her parents, in laws, husband, immediate family, and friends plays a big role in her success.

Personal, social, and environmental factors greatly impact the motivation level of women entrepreneurs (Lenka & Agarwal, 2017). The motivational factors behind entrepreneurial intentions have been studied by many researchers (Chhabra, Raghunathan, & Rao, 2020). The factors are generally divided into push and pull factors. Pull factors constitute parameters like passion, hobby, independence, success, experience, technical expertise, and profit whereas push factors constitute parameters like poverty, death of a spouse, dissatisfaction with a current job, etc.

Financial factors have a huge significance in the growth of women entrepreneurs (Jyoti, Sharma, & Kumari, 2011). Most of women tend to neglect saving money or keep their financial assets in their own name. In India, lots of women do not have bank accounts in their own names. The most common reason for this is illiteracy and awareness. In case of the death of a spouse, they have to depend on their in laws to get access to their own savings. Sometimes, they also tend to hand over the gifts and jewelry received in the marriage to their in laws. Improved education, better laws, improved financial literacy, and other socio political factors are bringing a change in women entrepreneurship. The high cost of acquiring a loan is one more hurdle in this field. There have been a lot of positive changes have happened in the economy recently. The credit availability for women entrepreneurs has improved in general. Women entrepreneurs in the informal sector are gradually getting better access to financial loans, which has a huge impact on their success (Williams & Gurtoo, 2011).

The lack of exposure to technical education and skill enhancement opportunities has also been cited as a challenge to women entrepreneurs. Most females are not given access to higher education in technical fields and many a time, the family persuades them to go for the more traditional type of educational courses. This leads to their low level of knowledge in the field. Usually, Indian society discourages females from doing a job. This, in turn, results in a lack of experience for women entrepreneurs.

Technology Adoption in Indian SMEs

Technological innovations which have been adopted by SMEs to enhance growth, efficiency, and sustainability are social media, E commerce, Industry 4.0, Robotics, etc (Zamani, 2022). SMEs can create value for their firm through the adoption of these innovative tools by getting the benefits of reduced costs and efforts by substituting human labour and tedious effort with state of the art automated technologies (Bhalerao, Kumar, & Pujari, 2022). Researchers in many countries have studied the adoption of technologies like social media (SM), E Commerce and Industry 4.0 by SMEs. The majority of research has studied the facets affecting the decision to adopt new innovations along with exploring the challenges faced by the SMEs while doing so. The technological aspects are studied and examined for technological adoption in SMEs. Industry 4.0 technologies have been found to be beneficial in improving productivity for SMEs (Chang, Chang, & Lu, 2021). The benefits range from better customer relationships, to enhanced productivity and better employee engagement (Masood & Sonntag, 2020).

S commerce, is social commerce, that covers social media platforms for promotion and sales of products and services. For e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and WhatsApp Scommerce denotes the social media platforms that enable the purchase and marketing of goods and services. It includes the combination of parameters on SM cited for buying, giving feedback regarding the product or service, and the shopping experience. S Commerce contains and highlights user generated content, connections, and other interactive features that are made public over the connections on the internet. The adoption of this technology creates value for SMEs (Derham, Cragg, & Morrish, 2011). The utility of social media in marketing goods and services and also, in connecting with customers and influencing them to try the goods and services has been very impressive (Kumar & Pandey, 2018). The customers do not need to leave the site to shop for the products and can also leave their reviews on the same site. Indian SMEs have started adopting social media for better performance (Chatterjee & Kar, 2020). Social media embraces innovative ways to engage customers and this can be very beneficial for the SMEs (Subagja, Ausat, & Suherlan, 2022). SM creates benefits like better customer reach, cost effectiveness, and better technical knowledge (Derham, Cragg, & Morrish, 2011). In totality, a firm’s performance is said to grow and improve post the adoption of social media (Ahmad, Bakar, & Ahmad, 2018). There are many challenges that are faced by SMEs during the process of social media adoption (Masood & Sonntag, 2020) (Pandey, Kumar, Pujari, & Arora, 2023). One of the major ones is the lack of awareness of the benefits accruing from the adoption of social media. The cost of adoption of social media is also considerably high for some SMEs and this could prove to be a hurdle in the adoption (Kumar & Ayedee, 2018). The lack of required skills is one more challenge faced by the SMEs.

E commerce, refers to the platforms which are available over the internet and are used for the purchase and selling of products goods, and services. It has gained popularity over time due to the ease with which customers can browse, shop and do business. The convenience of time, location, and ease of accessibility to national and international brands. E commerce contains a range of actions, including online shopping, electronic payment, and online banking. There are multiple challenges faced by the SMEs in adoption of e commerce. The most common systems are B2C which is Business to consumer involving the business and individual customers, B2B which is Business to business involving the business and business, C2C which is Consumer to consumer involving the individual customers to individual customers, and C2B which is Consumer to business involves individual consumers selling products and services to business (Shahjee, R., 2016). E commerce adoption has been known to be beneficial for firms and is impacted by many technological, organizational, and environmental factors (Nyoro, Kamau, Wanyembi, Titus, & Dinda, 2015). There are multiple factors that influence the technology adoption by SMEs (Setiyani & Rostiani, 2021). The lack of skills required to adopt new technology is a major hurdle for SMEs (Kapurubandara & Lawson, 2006).

Industry 4.0, popularly termed as Fourth Revolution involves the current trend of automation and technologies for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous robots, and cloud computing(cc). The main parameters of Industry 4.0 contain the use of smart manufacturing, the combination of physical and digital systems, and the capability to analyze and utilize large amounts of data in real time. It utilizes huge data sets to analyze and combine physical and digital systems. Technologies like AI has lots of benefits that are being utilized (Kumar, Pujari, & Gupta, 2021) . The aim of Industry 4.0 is to generate better flexibility and reaction in the manufacturing process which adapts to dynamic market environments and demands (Monika, Apoorva, & Kumar Anuj, 2022).

Technological Adoption by Indian Women Entrepreneurs

In this era of technology, we have seen technology as a gamechanger for all businesses. The technology adoption has been known to be enabler for any entrepreneur, especially female entrepreneurs. Technology brings efficiency and increased productivity for businesses. The skills required to adopt technologies like ICT and comfort level with these technologies make a huge difference to the entrepreurial intention for women entrepreneurs (Shukla, Kushwah, P., & Sharma, 2021). The adoption of technology creates a booster for growth and sustainability for any entrepreneurial venture. It also brings innovation. Adoption intention results in high entrepreneurial orientation which supports micro entrepreneurship (Chatterjee, Gupta, & Upadhyay, 2020). The incidences of technopreneurship have increased with the increased use of ICT and other digital technologies (Irene, 2019). Indian women entrepreneurs are looking forward to improving their business prospects by adopting technologies (Salam, 2018).

Research Methodology

The research methodology for this paper is conducting an in depth literature review and interview method. The fifteen respondents were female entrepreneurs who were invited for semi structured interviews containing both, structured and unstructured questions. Business sector of these fifteen respondents were catering, boutique, food delivery, real estate, agricultural products etc. These entrepreneurs were interviewed regarding their perceptions and experiences regarding technology adoption.

Data Analysis

The first female entrepreneur had a boutique and she extensively used social media for marketing. When asked whether she considered ‘Technology adoption as an enabler’ answered affirmatively and said she was reaping benefits in terms of better brand visibility, customer reach, and improved access to suppliers. One of the female entrepreneurs felt her use of online platforms like Google Meet has enabled her to get most of her work done online. This allows her to balance her family and work responsibilities in a better way. This also gave benefits like lesser costs, better safety, and independence. An owner of a food business felt that her data management has improved extensively after using cloud computing.

There were few respondents who felt that poor technology adoption has become a differentiator between them and their male competitors. An entrepreneur in the real estate business mentioned that most of her male peers were using virtual reality to showcase their buildings. She felt that her resistance to adopting these technological innovations has reduced her market share. She mentioned factors like cost and lack of required expertise for not adopting the technology. One more entrepreneur in the agriculture business felt that her lack of awareness has resulted in her poor connect with suppliers and customers.

Out of fifteen female entrepreneurs felt that technology was definitely an enabler which has allowed them to scale up their businesses and create better value for their customers through feedback, reviews, orders and delivery scheduling.

Technology as an Enabler for Women Entrepreneurs

Technology has become an enabler for modern women entrepreneurs. Rather than being a differentiator. It is helping women entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles like limited mobility and lack of safety etc. With help of technological tools like Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and cloud computing, Indian women entrepreneurs are reaching out to their customers and suppliers in faster, cheaper and safer ways. Adoption of technology gives women entrepreneurs a solution to societal malice like lack of safety, hurdles in mobility, dependence on males in the family or firms to connect with the stakeholders. It creates better opportunities for these women to perform better and face the challenges (Suseno & Abbott, 2021). Technologies like ICT are like catalyst for uplifting growth status of women entrepreneurs. Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft teams and google meet have aided these entrepreneurs to have online meetings in place of offline meetings. Integration of such technologies has shaped the growth avenues for female entrepreneurs by adding to knowledge sharing, networking and e commerce functions (Goswami & Dutta, 2018). The utility of social platforms has increased multi folds in the recent times and it has contributed immensely to the growth of women entrepreneurs (Sathya & Prabhakar, 2018). These social platforms have enabled Indian women entrepreneurs to stay connect with existing customers and reach out to newer customer segments. This has enhanced their marketing performance. It helps to reduce their marketing costs and contact their tech savvy customers on the platforms of their preference. One more study mentions that use of these technologies has become crucial for the survival of entrepreneurial ventures (Gnanasaranya, 2017).

Technology as a Differentiator for Women Entrepreneurs

There are multiple factors that impact the adoption of technologies like Cloud computing, E commerce, etc. by women entrepreneurs in India. The perceived difficulty, perceived utility (PU), effort expectancy, and perceived ease of use (PEOU) are a few of the important ones. Women entrepreneurs are lacking in their adoption of these technologies and there is an imperative need to encourage technology adoption for their success and stability in the competitive markets (Dutta, 2020). Low level of business performance by women entrepreneurs results from low access to the internet and poor awareness. This results in poor growth and stability of the business (Dsouza, 2023). Most women entrepreneurs compared to their counterparts have less awareness, information, and skills to adopt these latest technologies. The result is a difference between the performance of women entrepreneurs and male entrepreneurs. Poor adoption in the areas like financial technology for e.g., integration with payment gateways, app based payments and links, cyber security, and data protection are still the major differentiators between male and female entrepreneurs in India.

Conclusion

In the era of digitalization, women entrepreneurs cannot ignore the fact that technology adoption acts as a medium of competitive advantage. It aids firms to become more competent and competitive. Data management through technology ensures seamless, protected, and tailored data sharing and better data management. Application, adoption of technology, and modernization can aid in constant business innovation; reduced physical mobility constraints in a completely virtualized environment and also accelerate business growth. Women entrepreneurs need to cross this hurdle of poor technology adoption to achieve the goals of improved marketing and the overall performance of their firms. Building online existence of the firm can enhance women entrepreneurs brand visibility and create a robust digital identity, expand customer engagement, enhance awareness among all stakeholders. The policymakers must incorporate technology training programs and digital awareness/ training for female entrepreneurs. This will enable these entrepreneurs to come at par with their male counterparts. Technology empowerment is the need of the hour. This will ensure the inclusion of these entrepreneurs in the growth story of the emerging Indian economy.

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Received: 24 May 2023, Manuscript No. AMSJ 23 13627; Editor assigned: 25 May 2023, PreQC No. AMSJ 23 13627(PQ); Reviewed: 26 Jun 2023, QC No. AMSJ 22 13627; Revised: 25 Aug 2023, Manuscript No. AMSJ 23 13627(R); Published: 03 Sep 2023