New Emerging Technologies and ICT and Their Impact on Women Entrepreneurs' Success

Introduction

Women Entrepreneurship is crucial for the national economic development. In addition, in the new global economy, New Emerging Technologies (NET) and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) require from women entrepreneurs a competence in using such tools in order to learn and succeed in the business world. In line with this, more authors highlighted lately, the role of global communication technologies, data sharing technologies and networking technologies (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) for business success, as well as a means of communicating, learning and sharing. This research focuses on the impact of the NET such as Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter) and ICTs (Smart phones, tablets, iPad, Androids, laptops) upon Women Entrepreneurs’ Success (WES), in Wales, by means of an empirical analysis, and in Malaysia, based on the literature review. The objectives of the study are as follows: (1) to investigate the impact of New Emerging Technologies and ICTs on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success, through an empirical study conducted in SE Wales, and by means of literature review, in Malaysia; (2) To explore theoretically and empirically whether SE Wales and Malaysia, adhere to the global trend in women entrepreneurs’ usage of ICTs & NET; (3) To assess if there is a significant empirical relationship between New Emerging Technologies & ICTs and Women Entrepreneurs’ Success in SE Wales, and; (4) To find out Women Entrepreneurs’ styles and methods of learning with New Emerging Technologies and ICTs, empirically, in SE Wales and theoretically in Malaysia. The main Hypotheses tested by the research are the following: “H1: New Emerging Technologies and ICTs have a positive impact on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success”; “H2: There is a significant relationship between NET & ICTs and Women Entrepreneurs’ Success”. The rationale of choosing these countries, resides with: (1) the historical process and the slow entrepreneurial rates in the county of Glamorgan, and hence, SE Wales, and; (2) The consequences of Brexit and new orientation of British economy towards new Emerging Markets, and Globalization.

According to the latest research in the field, it infers that, the area (SE Wales) can no more develop appropriately and increase its entrepreneurial rates from within, but only by incorporating external resources, through collaboration and expansion (Rhisiart & Evans-Jones, 2016; Fotopoulos & Storey, 2017). The Research Method used in this chapter is the Mixed Method Research (MMR), which employs both, an empirical investigation and an unsystematic literature review (Tomos, Djebarni, Rogers, Thomas, Clark, & Balan, 2015). The authors of this study conducted a survey with questionnaires in Wales. The questionnaires were distributed by email and face-to-face to 450 women entrepreneurs from the UK (Wales). From the ontological point of view this is a positivist study which is based on hypotheses testing and the use of probability random sampling technique. In order to enhance the results of the research, the survey in Wales, was seconded by the use of an unsystematic literature review, in Malaysia. The results from the empirical investigation indicated that New Emerging Technologies and ICTs have a significant impact on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success in the SE Wales, UK. From the literature review conducted on women entrepreneurs in Malaysia, by the Malaysian researcher, the analysis indicated also that New Emerging Technologies and ICTs have an essential role for women entrepreneurs’ success. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between New Emerging Technologies (NET) and Women Entrepreneurs’ Success (WES). However, the outcome demonstrated also, the IT complementarity. In other words, the finding discovered that IT impacts together with other factors on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success and not alone. It follows that, women entrepreneurs in Wales align to the general global trend regarding NET & ICTs and their impact on women entrepreneurs’ success. By emphasising the impact of NET and ICTs on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success, in SE Wales mainly, and additionally, in Malaysia, by means of the literature review, and by using a mixed methodology, this study is a contribution to theory and knowledge.