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A Literature Survey on Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

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A Literature Survey on Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship
in Bangladesh

Dewan Mahboob Hossain

Department of Accounting & Information Systems
University of Dhaka
Dhaka
Bangladesh
Email: [email protected]

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1261829

 A Literature Survey on Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship
in Bangladesh

Abstract:
Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are very popular topics for the researchers in almost everywhere in the
world. Bangladeshi researchers are also not the exceptions. Over the years many studies have been done
and many articles were published on these issues. This study discusses several aspects of entrepreneurship
in Bangladesh basing on the findings of some already published articles on this matter. At the beginning of
the article, the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs are analyzed in light of several research works. In
the next section an extensive literature review is done on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in
Bangladesh. In this literature review, it was found that the main areas of interest for the Bangladeshi
researchers were the characteristics and profiles of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, the issues related to
problems and prospects of entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh, entrepreneur training, and the
women entrepreneurs. At the end, a summary and analysis of the findings of all these literatures is given.
The study also identifies some new avenues for further research on such issues.

Key Words: Entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial characteristics, entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs,

Bangladesh.

Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship: An Introduction

It is not easy to give a particular answer to the question: Why do people want to start and
run independent businesses? Different answers may come from different people. Some
people may start a business just because they love independence and hate to tolerate
bossing in the jobs. Some may not have the capability and qualification to do a job and as
job is not available to them, they go for independent businesses in order to survive. Some
may have some special skills and love challenges to run an independent business. Several
motivational factors like need for affiliation, need for power and need for achievement
(McClelland, 1961) are also responsible for going for an independent business. Murthy,
et al (1986) found that entrepreneurs are motivated to start a business because of the
factors like ambitious factors, compelling factors and facilitating factors. Whatever may
be the reason, it can be said that in most of the times of the history of human civilization,
there were entrepreneurs who did independent businesses and this trend of history still
continues. For the last few decades in all over the world, entrepreneurs are regarded as
value adding people to the society. Holt (1992) says, “The term entrepreneur may be
properly applied to those who incubate new ideas, start enterprises based on those ideas,
and provide added value to society based on their independent initiatives.” These people
are considered as value adding persons because as a result of their own initiatives jobs are

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1261829

created in the society, capital formation is promoted, country’s export trade is increased,
concentration of economic power is reduced, balanced regional development becomes
possible, forward and backward linkages among the industries are created and equitable
redistribution of wealth, income and even political power is ensured (Khanka, 1999).
Being a high-achieving entrepreneur is not that easy. An entrepreneur should have
several special characteristics that help them to become a successful businessman. An
entrepreneur should be a risk taker, he/she should be innovative, self-confident, goal-
setter, hard worker and accountable (Siropolis, 1997). In other words, entrepreneurs must
be persistent, self-confident, creative, optimistic and independent minded (Holt, 1992).
They are realistic about working hard and driving toward measurable results, tend to have
superior conceptual abilities and are generally emotionally stable (Welsh and White,
1981). In a workshop on entrepreneurship conducted at the East-West Center, Honolulu,
in 1977, a list of characteristics and traits of the entrepreneurs was prepared (Meredith, et
al, 1982). This list says an entrepreneur should have characteristics like self-confidence,
task-result orientation, risk-taking, leadership, originality and future orientation (Detailed
list is in Annexure-1). It is not necessary that an entrepreneur should have all these
characteristics at a very high rate. But the more a person has these qualities, the greater
chance there is for him/her to become an entrepreneur (Meredith, et al, 1982) because
he/she will be able to perform the ‘entrepreneurial functions’ properly because of these
traits.
Khanka (1999) says, the three broad categories of an entrepreneur’s function are:
Risk-taking, Organization and Innovation. Hisrich and Peters (1998) characterizes
entrepreneurship as a process of creating something new and assuming the risks and
rewards. Tripathi (1997) identifies that there is a general consensus that conceptually the
entrepreneurship process can be divided into three stages:
1. Perception of new opportunities of profit;
2. Marshalling of resources and creation of a viable organization to exploit the perceived
opportunities and ,
3. Responsiveness to changes in perceivable opportunities.
Shumpeter (1934) emphasizes on ‘innovation’ as the most essential function of the
entrepreneurial process. This innovation should be covered in respect to products,

3
process, market, organization of firm and the entire industry. Martin (1982) makes these
concepts of organization, risk bearing and innovation clearer through saying as follows:
1. A person who owns an enterprise or gives the orders is not necessarily an
entrepreneur.
2. A person who assumes the risk of his or her capital is not necessarily an entrepreneur
but only an investor. However, one who risks his or her reputation or a portion in a
large corporate organization, as a result of innovation with which he or she is closely
identified, fulfills some of the preconditions of entrepreneurship.
3. A creative person in the literary, artistic or dramatic sense is not necessarily an
entrepreneur. The entrepreneur does not innovate by creating ideas, but by
recognizing their values and by exploiting them.
A potential entrepreneur can start a business in three ways: creating a new venture,
buying an existing business and franchising (Siropolis, 1997). In all these cases,
innovation, organization and risk taking plays a vital role in order to survive. The power
to innovate, organize and take risk is not always in-born. Though there is a myth in the
society that entrepreneurs are born and not made, Timmons (1999) found that though it
needs some in-born qualities to become a successful entrepreneur, necessary education,
training and experience are also crucial factors for this. Katz (1984) in a research found
that more than 84% entrepreneurs who start businesses from the scratch had Bachelor
degree and 71% who buy an existing business had Bachelor degrees. He also found that
more than 90% of the entrepreneurs in both of these groups had prior experience for a
number of years. In a research done on the students of Harvard business School, Kao
(1989) found that nearly 50% of all the MBA students enrolled in this school took the
entrepreneurship course. It was also found in this research that many of them have gone
for a new venture after this study, either independently or with someone else as
associates. Ronstadt (1984) also found that better educated young people are good as
entrepreneurs. Another interesting finding of Ronstadt was that, family background
influences their successful entrepreneurial behavior. Most of the successful entrepreneurs
in his study had entrepreneurial parents. Though Ronstadt found that most of the
successful entrepreneurs are better-educated ‘young’ persons, Timmons (1999) states that
age is no barrier to become a successful entrepreneur. He found, the average

4
entrepreneurs starting high potential business is in the mid-30s, and there are numerous
examples of entrepreneurs starting businesses in their 60s. He also said, successful
entrepreneurs take very careful and calculated risks and entrepreneurs who recognize the
difference between an idea and an opportunity, and who think big enough, start
businesses that have a better chance of succeeding.

Objectives of the study

In fact, all these studies discussed so far are based on western countries. As a
consequence, the results of these studies vary in many ways with that of same kind of
studies done in Bangladesh about Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. The objective of this article
is to identify several aspects of Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship in the context of
Bangladesh basing on some published articles. This objective was fulfilled by:
1. Identifying the main areas that were the research interests of the researchers on the
issue of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh;
2. Identifying the similarities and dissimilarities of the findings of these studies;
3. Comparing the findings of the researches based on Bangladesh with that of the
western countries.
4. Identifying some new avenues for further research.

Methodology and Framework of the Study

This study was done through an extensive desk research. Firstly the available literatures
were collected form all possible sources. Most of the articles reviewed in this study were
published in the Dhaka University Journal of Business Studies – the most prominent
journal covering articles on business issues in Bangladesh. Then the main matters that
ignited huge research interests among the researchers were identified. After that, an
analysis of these research findings was made. At the end of this article some new and
untouched research areas are identified for the purpose of future research. It is to be noted
here that this study is absolutely a review of the researches and research findings on the
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh and doing an empirical research on
this topic was not the objective.

5
 Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh: Prior Research
After the period of British ruling when two new states India and Pakistan came, the
economy of this subcontinent was backward, highly agricultural and characterized by
massive poverty (Ray, 1992). During the ruling of Pakistanis, though the other side of
Pakistan (West Pakistan) saw some economic developments, the portion which is now
called Bangladesh (East Pakistan) could not see that light. Bangladesh got rid of Pakistani
ruling in December 1971. But because of one-eyed behavior of the then Pakistani rulers
huge economic problems were already prevailing in East Pakistan even at the pre-
independence period. After independence, as a result of the post-war crisis, massive
political unrest etc. the overall economy became more backward and stagnant. From then,
even today Bangladesh is known all over the world for its mass-poverty and poor
economic growth (Kamal, 1985). Even now-a-day, the dominant sector of economy is the
agricultural sector. But investment in agriculture from commercial point of view has not
been made much due to ownership problems, existing inheritance laws, uneconomic size
of farm, socio-cultural traditions of the people and absence of governmental commitment
for restructuring agricultural sector etc. (Saha, 1990). In case of industrial sector it can be
said that as a result of the post-war industrial policy (which included nationalization of
industries) discouraged the growth of enterprises in the private sector and it hampered the
development of entrepreneurship in the newly born country (Sadeq, 1989). After 1975,
when the political situation of the country changed, an encouraging environment for
entrepreneurship development was created (Sadeq, 1989).
A huge number of articles have been written and published in several journals
discussing several aspects of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. Both
theoretical and empirical studies have been done by several academicians.
The main issues that got huge attention from the part of the academicians can be
divided into four categories:
1. The characteristics and profiles of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs,
2. Issues related to problems and prospects of entrepreneurship development in
Bangladesh,
3. Entrepreneurship training, and,
4. Women entrepreneurs.

6
The next four sections of this article will provide with the summaries of some of the
prominent articles on these four issues.

Characteristics/Profiles of Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs

Several studies were done in order to identify the characteristics or profiles of
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs (a summary is given in Annexure-2). Papanek (1969)
observed psychological trait of risk taking among the people of the then East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh). Farouk (1983) did a survey on Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and in this
survey he focused on the biography of successful Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. He found
that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are generally hard working, honest, religious, trustworthy,
reliable, less educated and live simple lives. Most of the entrepreneurs in this survey had
poor educational background and were not good students. Generally these entrepreneurs
come from three groups:
1. Those families who have been in business or industry by tradition and their children
are now in business,
2. Retired government officers or politicians or their family members.
3. Those who began small but achieved considerable success by their personal efforts.

Rahman (1989) found that Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs possess some characteristics that
are similar to characteristics of entrepreneurs in other countries. He did an extensive
survey on 5 living Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and found that they are hard workers,
truthful, religious, simple living, honest, sincere, good leaders, task oriented and had
capacity to influence others. The highest educational degree they achieved was the
Bachelors degree. Most of them started their businesses after the age of 35. All of them
came from non-business family backgrounds. They had previous job experience that
helped them to acquire practical knowledge in decision making process, managing
workers, handling accounts and dealing with the bureaucracy. They were moderate risk
takers and innovative. They diversified their risks in different types of industries, trade,
building houses etc. after gaining the initial success. The entrepreneurs studied in this
survey had the sense of perceiving opportunities around them and utilized them gainfully.
It was seen that once an entrepreneur commits himself to a job or task, he absorbs himself

7
fully in performing this task. These people have will power, self-confidence, creativity
adaptability etc.
Though Papanek(1969) found that the people of this region have risk taking
capability, Sadeq (1989) stated that in Bangladesh, risks and uncertainty discourage
potential entrepreneurs from undertaking highly profitable and socially desirable new
ventures. He also comments that there is a shortage of experienced entrepreneurs in the
country, which is unfavorable for entrepreneurship development in the country. Another
important finding of his study is that as the religion of most of the people in this country
is Islam, Islam provides inspiration for entrepreneurial activity. Rahman (1993) found
that the attributes of an entrepreneur could be instinctive, as well as, taught by
educational institutions.
Begum (1993b) in her study of entrepreneurs in engineering industry focused on
the nature of small units started by relatively youthful entrepreneurs. Prior experience in
engineering units, self-motivation and confidence influenced them to venture into new
business. In 44% cases, the first generation entrepreneurs came from families engaged in
agriculture. It is observed that there is no relation between industrial health and level of
education.
Mia (1996) studied on entrepreneurial visions of the Bangladeshi Immigrants
Entrepreneurs (BIEs). This research was done on 25 entrepreneurs in the north-east of
England. This research result confirms that most of the BIEs’ visions are concerned for
business development but less concerned for self and family development and this nature
can be classified as entrepreneurial.

Issues Related to Problems and Prospects of Entrepreneurship

Development in Bangladesh
Issues related to the problems and prospects of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh got
immense importance in the eyes of Bangladeshi researchers and a number of studies have
been done on this issue (see Annexure-3).
Khan (1980) stated that, though Bangladesh is a country of poor entrepreneurial
heritage and short of capital, the interesting fact is that through phases, Bangladesh is
steadily having the number of small industries increased.

8
 Rahman (1981) did a research on the problems and prospects of entrepreneurial
development in Bangladesh. In this research he has identified several problems (like
absence of clear-cut policy decisions, lack of financial support, unawareness of facilities
and incentives among small entrepreneurs, lack of training facilities and institutional
arrangement for providing training etc.) of entrepreneurial development. He found that
entrepreneurial spirit/initiative is available among the people of Bangladesh. He
emphasized that Bangladesh needs entrepreneurs in number, and also in quality and in
time. Ahmed (1987) found that there is a communication gap between the small scale
entrepreneurs and the support institutions concerned.
Farouk (1983) in his survey found that, many of the entrepreneurs developed
connection with ruling political parties directly or they used to finance political parties.
This was necessary because of the process of Government licensing at many stages. He
found, “After the nationalization of industries in 1973, some self-made industrialists
developed diseases resulting from shock and tension”. Most of these entrepreneurs did
not see a uniform growth in their businesses. A period of internal stability of the country
has helped the entrepreneurs to achieve success.
Sadeq (1989) identified that scarcity of capital is a major limiting factor as several
institutional sources of capital are not much helpful, potential entrepreneurs look for non-
institutional sources which charge extremely high rate of interest. He also found that
inaccessibility to supplies is another problem for entrepreneurship development. Except
for the urban areas, rural transport is underdeveloped, which results in a serious linkage
problem. Some other problems that he has identified as crucial are complicated process of
obtaining business license, unavailability of support services like water, gas, counseling
etc.
Momen and Rahman (1990) studied on factors of Entrepreneurship development
in Bangladesh. The study indicates the measures for success of entrepreneurs and
evaluates the correlation between different factors and success of entrepreneurship. The
analysis showed that insufficiencies of stimulatory, supportive and sustaining services
seriously hinder the entrepreneurship development in the country.

9
 Begum (1993b) found that in case of entrepreneurship in engineering industry,
there is a massive employment of borrowing capital. Among the working capital
problems, credit sale was recognized as a foremost one.
Rahman (1993) did a small scale case study on a small scale enterprise situated in
the Dhaka city. It was seen in this study that an entrepreneurship can be successful,
despite the limitations of socio-economic and institutional exposure. He also found that
with regard to the technological aspects, capital-intensive technology is not the only way
for a successful industrial unit. Entrepreneurs using some conventional or orthodox
technology were also very successful in their ventures. He concluded that the role of
several helping institutions should be more like advisory and supportive activities, instead
of, being involved directly.
Khondkar (1992) identified several problems of entrepreneurship development in
Bangladesh. She identified that the industrial investment policy in general emphasized on
the development of enterprise and not on entrepreneurship. There is a clear absence of
policy decisions regarding entrepreneurship or self employment also there is a lack of
adequate incentive measures for setting up the industries. There is lack of financial
support and lack of awareness of the facilities and the incentives offered by the
government among small entrepreneurs. These findings are similar to the findings of
Rahman (1981) and Sadeq (1989). Some other findings of her study were like:
1. Lack of incentive campaign for rural industrialization.
2. Lack of training facilities through institutional measures.
3. Lack of institutional facilities for conducting research on small industries,
problems and inadequate arrangement to use the findings of research.
4. Absence of marketing facilities to market the outputs of entrepreneurial
activities.

Entrepreneurship trainings
The issue of the training of the entrepreneurs got importance from Bangladeshi
researchers (Annexure-4). Ahmed (1982) discussed the situation in Bangladesh on
entrepreneurship training efforts. He identified that training facilities are provided to the
entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and several training programs entitling as ‘entrepreneurship

10
development’ or others are organized. He mentioned about the ‘Entrepreneurship
Development Training Program (EDTP)’ that was organized by Bangladesh Management
Development Center. But he was doubtful about the method of efficiency measurement
of such programs. He suggested that without training on motivational and attitudinal
changes a proper behaviour cannot be expected from the entrepreneurs.
Rahman (1988) in his article made an attempt to discuss how entrepreneurship
education can be used in motivating the youth towards self employment activities as a
career. He suggested that entrepreneurship education should form a part of education
curriculum in Bangladesh and it should be introduced in various levels in the education
system. The motivated students should be supported to become successful. In addition,
training of the trainers of entrepreneurship education, effective cooperation from the
promotional agencies involved in the entrepreneurship education and self employment
would play important roles.
Begum (1992) studied on entrepreneurship development through business
education in Bangladesh. She concluded that though in our country business education
for entrepreneurial training is very poor, if entrepreneurship courses are included in
business education, the business students will indeed be interested to know what are the
opportunities available for an entrepreneur, his basic needs and the problems to be faced
if he wants to be an entrepreneur. Lack of entrepreneurial education is the cause of the
absence of entrepreneurial skills in majority of entrepreneurs.
Begum (1996) studied the training objectives, functions of the Small and Cottage
Industries Training Institute (SCITI) and evaluated the effectiveness of its training. She
comments that in Bangladesh, SCITI’s approach is an important approach for helping in
human resource development. She found that SCITI used to provide training in
development of their target group. It carried out its activities through six faculties.
Advantage of the training was that the trainee acquires self-confidence and experience.
The study indicated that the success of entrepreneurship development depends on proper
training, effective follow-up, monitoring and guidance.

11
 Women Entrepreneurs
As in these days, more and more women are going for independent businesses or self-
employment, the issue of women entrepreneurship has become an interesting subject for
the researchers (see Annexure-5). It is found that, though the characteristics of both male
and female entrepreneurs are generally very similar, female entrepreneurs differ in terms
of motivations, business skills and occupational backgrounds (Carsrud and Olm, 1986).
According to Hisrich and Peters (1998) the main motivation for a woman to become an
entrepreneur is the need for achievement and independence (to do it alone), job
frustration, interest in and recognition of opportunity in the area, previous experience in
related field, change in personal circumstances etc. Their main sources of funds are
personal assets and savings and personal loans. They are mainly interested with service
related businesses like education, consulting and public relations. Some of the researches
based on Bangladesh showed some similar results.
In Bangladesh, Begum (1993a) examined the factors affecting growth of women
entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. This survey identified various reasons why a woman
becomes an entrepreneur. These reasons include unemployment, dissatisfaction with job
so far held/ occupation so far pursued, to make use of idle funds, husband’s death, to give
employment to family members etc. The factors like encouragement from the family
members, success stories of other entrepreneurs, previous experiences in manufacturing
or industry, technical or professional skills inherited are also acting as the driving forces
to become an entrepreneur.
Saleh (1995) found that the profiles of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are
encouraging. Entrepreneurial characteristics of majority of women entrepreneurs are
impressive and their main motivation for going for a venture is not money but
opportunity to do a desired type of work. This study emphasized that sex is no handicap
for women entrepreneurs for starting as well as running a business.
Afroze (2002), in her mostly theoretical study on woman entrepreneurs, found
that environmental factors like education and skill, the material resources they own, the
opportunities offered by the society and the social norms affect the women entrepreneurs
of Bangladesh seriously. She concludes, as more and more women are coming out and

12
working outside their homes, Government and NGOs should take initiatives to help them
so that they can live a better life and enjoy greater status, independence and success.
Begum (2003) studied on entrepreneurial success status of women entrepreneurs.
In this study it was revealed that achievement, independence and economic motivation
played important roles in establishing enterprises by the women. The entrepreneurs of
service sector had highly entrepreneurial success as compared to the other sectors.

An Analysis of Research Findings

If the characteristics identified by the East-West Center, Honolulu ( see Annexure-1) are
taken as a standard, it can be identified from the researches of Farouk (1983) and Rahman
(1989) that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are self-confident, task result oriented, future
oriented, innovative, good leaders and moderate risk takers. In these cases Bangladeshi
entrepreneurs do not differ much with the entrepreneurs in other countries.
One of the interesting characteristics of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs is that (
Farouk, 1983, Sadeq,1989 and Rahman, 1989), most of the successful entrepreneurs are
pious and they have a keen respect for religion. They are God-fearing people
(Rahman,1989). May be, because of their religious nature it was also found that these
people are truthful, reliable, simple living, honest and sincere. The researches based on
western countries did not include this kind of findings. It can be said that the behaviors of
the entrepreneurs are guided by the social and cultural environment of a particular
country.
In case of Bangladeshi successful entrepreneurs, it was found that most of them
had poor educational backgrounds. Farouk (1983) found that most of them left home at a
very early age. But in case of western countries, it was found that young educated people
proved themselves as high-achieving entrepreneurs (Ronstadt, 1984). A reason behind
this difference may be the socio-economic environment of Bangladesh, which differs
from that of western countries. It was also found that though these successful
entrepreneurs in Bangladesh did not have good educational background, they had the
need for high achievement (Rahman ,1989). It may be inferred from these facts that as
they had this need and did not have enough qualifications to go for a highly paid job, they
moved towards self-employment and got success.

13
 Though Rahman (1989) did not find any relationship between the family
background/occupation of the entrepreneurs and their becoming an entrepreneur, Farouk
(1983) found that the children of some families who have been in business or industry by
tradition (like the Ispahanies, the Ismailies, the Sawdagars and the Sahas) are becoming
businesspersons. Farouk comments that, the number of these people is small. From the
results of these two studies a rough conclusion may be drawn that family background has
a little influence on somebody becoming an entrepreneur in Bangladesh. But the scenario
is different in the context of western countries. Ronstadt (1984) found that people having
entrepreneurial parents became successful entrepreneurs. It was found that previous job
experience was important for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs for their success. This practical
knowledge was helpful for them in dealing with several conflicts and critical decisions.
Though the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh are not power-hungry (Rahman, 1989),
they try to keep political connection through providing funds to political parties and
keeping good relationships with political leaders. This political connection helps them in
going through the complex bureaucratic systems in an easier way (in most of the cases
licensing of several businesses becomes easier). Another important reason, which was not
discussed by the previous researchers, may be, this kind of political connection may help
the entrepreneurs to get rid of the political hoodlums and terrorists.
The main problems that the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs generally face are lack of
capital, complex and corrupt bureaucratic system, problems of getting license, poor
infrastructure, lack of training facilities, absence of clear-cut policy decisions, unstable
political situation etc. (Rahman ,1981; Sadeq, 1989; Momen and Rahman ,1990; Begum,
1992).
It was also identified by Begum (1992) that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have poor
business education and if the business education can be improved, the students will be
encouraged to go for self-employment. Her comments support the findings of the study
done by Kao (1989) on the students of Harvard Business School. But it should also be
noted in this case that Kao did this research on people of a country which is very much
stable in its socio-economic and political aspects. The situation may be different in case
of a third-world economy like Bangladesh. On one hand there is no doubt that adequate
business education will be helpful to develop the skills of entrepreneurship, on the other

14
hand it is also true that through this education students will come across the innumerable
unavoidable problems and difficulties that are faced by the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
This may discourage these people to go for self-employment. Whether business education
encourages or discourages people to become entrepreneurs in Bangladesh can be an issue
for future research.
In case of women entrepreneurs, research suggests that the overall performance of
women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh is satisfactory. They are showing better performance
when they are dealing with service industries. May be the hectic work-nature of the
manufacturing industries discourages the women to go for this kind of works. Though
Begum (1993a) identified unemployment, job dissatisfaction, husband’s death etc. are
some factors that motivate the women entrepreneurs to go for independent businesses,
Saleh (1995) identifies that their main motivation for going for a venture is not money
but opportunity to do a desired type of work. Saleh’s (1995) findings match with the
findings of the work of Hisrich and Peters (1998) which is based on western countries.
Again Saleh (1995) stated that gender is not a handicap for women entrepreneurs for
starting and running a business, Afroze (2002) demands that society and social customs
affect the women entrepreneurs critically.

Conclusion and Possibilities for Further Research

From the discussion it can be identified that the research results on several issues related
to Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, in many cases, differ from the results of similar studies
done in the context of western countries. The different socio-economic, cultural and
political environments of the country may be responsible for that. Most of the researches
(doing research on Bangladeshi entrepreneurs) in these days are mainly concentrated on
the issue of women entrepreneurs. For obvious reasons, this issue got immense
importance to the researchers. As in past there were so many researches on the issues like
characteristics of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and problems and prospects of
entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, the issue of ‘Women Entrepreneurship’ as a new and
interesting area is getting importance to the researchers. More and more studies should be
done on this topic as this is a burning issue of the country at this moment. Though women
got ample research emphasis, the entrepreneurial activities of the minority people

15
(religious minority and aboriginals) of the society did not get attention at all. Most of the
studies done in Bangladesh are mainly surveys or theoretical research. In these research
works some of the crucial matters remained almost ignored. For instance, the issue of
entrepreneurial innovation did not get importance from the part of the researchers. The
sectors in which small businesspeople got more success could not be identified. Whether
business education is really having any influence on the entrepreneurial success, was not
recognized. Business failure is a common incident in the Bangladeshi business
environment. Though successful entrepreneurs got immense importance in the eyes of the
researchers, failing entrepreneurs and their causes of failure did not get enough emphasis.
Lussier and Corman (1995) identified that the main causes of the failures of small
business are young aged entrepreneurs, lack of capital, bad economic timing, lack of
education and experiences, lack of marketing skills, not having entrepreneurial parents,
not having partners and lack of planning. Whether these factors are also liable for the
business failures in Bangladesh or not, should be analyzed. More and more researches
should be done on the critical factors affecting entrepreneurship development in
Bangladesh because, entrepreneurs can become the major driving force in the economy
by creating new jobs and becoming the major source of raw materials for the big
businesses.

16
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Ahmed, S. U. (1982), Entrepreneurship development through training and guidance, The

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Begum, R. (1992), Entrepreneurship Development through Business Education in

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 Annexure-1
Characteristics and traits of entrepreneurs prepared by East-West Center,
Honolulu:
Characteristics Traits
Self-confidence Confidence, independence, individuality, optimism.
Task-result
Need for achievement, profit-oriented, persistence, perseverance, determination, hard
oriented work, drive, energy, and initiatives.
Risk-taker Risk-taking ability, likes challenges.
Leadership Leadership Behavior, Gets along with others, Responsive to suggestions, criticisms.
Originality Innovative, Creative, Flexible (openness of mind), Resourceful, Versatile,
Knowledgeable.
Future-oriented Foresight, Perceptive.

Annexure-2
Findings of the Researches on Characteristics/Profiles of Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs
Author and Year Description of the findings
Papanek (1969) Psychological trait of risk taking is present among the people of the then East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
Farouk (1983) Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are generally hard working, honest, religious,
trustworthy, reliable, less educated and live simple lives. Most of the
entrepreneurs in this survey had poor educational background and were not
good students.
Sadeq (1989) Risks and uncertainty discourage potential entrepreneurs from undertaking
highly profitable and socially desirable new ventures. The researcher also
comments that there is a shortage of experienced entrepreneurs in the country,
which is unfavorable for entrepreneurship development in the country. Another
important finding of his study is that as the religion of most of the people in this
country is Islam, Islam provides inspiration for entrepreneurial activity.
Rahman (1989) Research done on 5 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are
hard workers, truthful, religious, simple living, honest, sincere, good leaders,
task oriented and have capacity to influence others. The highest educational
degree they achieved was the Bachelors degree. Most of them started their
businesses after the age of 35. All of them came from non-business family
backgrounds. They had previous job experience that helped them to acquire
practical knowledge in decision making process, managing workers, handling
accounts and dealing with the bureaucracy. They were moderate risk takers and
innovative. They diversified their risks in different types of industries, trade,
building houses etc. after gaining the initial success. The entrepreneurs studied
in this survey had the sense of perceiving opportunities around them and utilized
them gainfully. It was seen that once an entrepreneur commits himself to a job
or task, he absorbs himself fully in performing this task. These people have will
power, self-confidence, creativity adaptability etc.

Mia (1996) This research was done on 25 entrepreneurs in the north-east of England. This
research result confirms that most of the Bangladeshi Immigrant Entrepreneurs’
visions are concerned for business development but less concerned for self and
family development and this nature can be classified as entrepreneurial.

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 Annexure-3
Findings of the Researches on the Issues Related to Problems and Prospects of
Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh
Authors and Year Descriptions of the findings
Khan (1980) Though Bangladesh is a country of poor entrepreneurial heritage and short of
capital, the interesting fact is that through phases, Bangladesh is steadily having
the number of small industries increased.
Rahman (1981) In this research he has identified several problems (like absence of clear-cut
policy decisions, lack of financial support, unawareness of facilities and
incentives among small entrepreneurs, lack of training facilities and institutional
arrangement for providing training etc.) of entrepreneurial development. He
found that entrepreneurial spirit/initiative is available among the people of
Bangladesh. He emphasized that Bangladesh needs entrepreneurs in number,
and also in quality and in time.

Farouk (1983) Many of the entrepreneurs developed connection with ruling political parties
directly or they used to finance political parties. This was necessary because of
the process of Government licensing at many stages. He found, “After the
nationalization of industries in 1973, some self-made industrialists developed
diseases resulting from shock and tension”. Most of these entrepreneurs did not
see a uniform growth in their businesses. A period of internal stability of the
country has helped the entrepreneurs to achieve success.

Sadeq (1989) Scarcity of Capital is a major limiting factor as several institutional sources of
capital are not much helpful, potential entrepreneurs look for non- institutional
sources which charge extremely high rate of interest. He also found that
inaccessibility to supplies is another problem for entrepreneurship development.
Except for the urban areas, rural transport is underdeveloped, which results in a
serious linkage problem. Some other problems that he has identified as crucial
are complicated process of obtaining business license, unavailability of support
services like water, gas, counseling etc.

Momen and The study indicates the measures for success of entrepreneurs and evaluates the
Rahman (1990) correlation between different factors and success of entrepreneurship. The
analysis showed that insufficiencies of stimulatory, supportive and sustaining
services seriously hinder the entrepreneurship development in the country.

Rahman (1993) The attributes of an entrepreneur could be instinctive, as well as, taught by
educational institutions. He also found that with regard to the technological
aspects, capital-intensive technology is not the only way for a successful
industrial unit. Entrepreneurs using some conventional or orthodox technology
were also very successful in their ventures. He concluded that the role of several
helping institutions should be more like advisory and supportive activities,
instead of, being involved directly.

Begum (1993b) She found that in case of entrepreneurship in engineering industry, there is a
massive employment of borrowing capital. Among the working capital
problems, credit sale was recognized as a foremost one.

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 Annexure-4
Findings of the Researches related to Entrepreneur Training
Authors and Year Descriptions of the findings
Ahmed (1982) He discussed the situation in Bangladesh on entrepreneurship training efforts.
He identified that training facilities are provided to the entrepreneurs in
Bangladesh and several training programs entitling as ‘entrepreneurship
development’ or others are organized. He mentioned about the
‘Entrepreneurship Development Training Program (EDTP)’ that was organized
by Bangladesh Management Development Center. But he was doubtful about
the method of efficiency measurement of such programs. He suggested that
without training on motivational and attitudinal changes a proper behaviour
cannot be expected from the entrepreneurs.

Rahman (1988) The author in this article made an attempt to discuss how entrepreneurship
education can be used in motivating the youth towards self employment
activities as a career. He suggested that entrepreneurship education should form
a part of education curriculum in Bangladesh and it should be introduced in
various levels in the education system. The motivated students should be
supported to become successful. In addition, training of the trainers of
entrepreneurship education, effective cooperation from the promotional
agencies involved in the entrepreneurship education and self employment would
play important roles.

Begum (1992) Though in our country business education for entrepreneurial training is very
poor, if entrepreneurship courses are included in business education, the
business students will indeed be interested to know what are the opportunities
available for an entrepreneur, his basic needs and the problems to be faced if he
wants to be an entrepreneur. Lack of entrepreneurial education is the cause of
the absence of entrepreneurial skills in majority of entrepreneurs.
Begum (1996) She studied the training objectives, functions of the Small and Cottage
Industries Training Institute (SCITI) and evaluated the effectiveness of its
training. She comments that in Bangladesh, SCITI’s approach is an important
approach for helping in human resource development. She found that SCITI
used to provide training in development of their target group. It carried out its
activities through six faculties. Advantage of the training was that the trainee
acquires self-confidence and experience. The study indicated that the success of
entrepreneurship development depends on proper training, effective follow-up,
monitoring and guidance.

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 Annexure-5
Findings of the Researches related to Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh
Authors and Year Descriptions of the findings
Begum (1993a) This survey identified various reasons why a woman becomes an entrepreneur.
These reasons include unemployment, dissatisfaction with job so far held/
occupation so far pursued, to make use of idle funds, husband’s death, to give
employment to family members etc. The factors like encouragement from the
family members, success stories of other entrepreneurs, previous experiences in
manufacturing or industry, technical or professional skills inherited are also
acting as the driving forces to become an entrepreneur.

Saleh (1995) He found that the profiles of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are
encouraging. Entrepreneurial characteristics of majority of women entrepreneurs
are impressive and their main motivation for going for a venture is not money but
opportunity to do a desired type of work. This study emphasized that sex is no
handicap for women entrepreneurs for starting as well as running a business.
Afroze (2002) Environmental factors like education and skill, the material resources they own,
the opportunities offered by the society and the social norms affect the women
entrepreneurs of Bangladesh seriously. She concludes, as more and more women
are coming out and working outside their homes, Government and NGOs should
take initiatives to help them so that they can live a better life and enjoy greater
status, independence and success.

Begum (2003) In this study it was revealed that achievement, independence and economic
motivation played important roles in establishing enterprises by the women. The
entrepreneurs of service sector had highly entrepreneurial success as compared to
the other sectors.

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