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Gender differences in management styles during crisis and the effect on firm performance

Author

Listed:
  • Valerija Botric

    (The Institute of Economics, Zagreb)

  • Sonja Radas

    (The Institute of Economics, Zagreb)

  • Bruno Skrinjaric

    (The Institute of Economics, Zagreb)

Abstract

This paper aims to shed light on gender differences in firm performance in a period that entails an unprecedented crisis with specific effects on gender roles, i.e., COVID-19. The analysis focuses on Croatian high-tech manufacturing and knowledge-intensive service sector SMEs. Previous literature indicates that the obstacles the SMEs face may be even more significant for women-owned firms. Specifically, women entrepreneurs find it more challenging to secure social and financial capital. Women often face restrictions on their working hours due to societal pressure and family obligations, and they are rarely well-connected because they are often not members of influential business networks. Literature also suggests that the usual pressures on female working hours have disproportionally increased during the COVID-19 imposed lockdowns, so the general expectation is that women entrepreneurs were not able to cope equally with the changed market circumstances. In this study, we consider a causation-effectuation management framework to investigate how women- and men-owned SMEs used these management styles to address the business challenges in the COVID-19 crisis. Our contribution aims explicitly to answer the invitation made in recent literature to explore how gender influences the effects of the four dimensions of effectuation on firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerija Botric & Sonja Radas & Bruno Skrinjaric, 2023. "Gender differences in management styles during crisis and the effect on firm performance," Working Papers 2301, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
  • Handle: RePEc:iez:wpaper:2301
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    women entrepreneurship; firm performance; management styles; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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