OBJETIVOS Y COMPETENCIAS.

Although this project has focused primarily on patterns of ICT ownership and use, it is also clear that the characteristics of the urban microenterprises might also have a relationship to the success of these very small businesses. In the sample made up exclusively of men, we had two kinds of respondents, owners of microenterprises and managers of microenterprises. Whether owners or managers might work harder and thereby produce larger profits for the business seemed at the outset of our research to be an open question, best tested with empirical data. Based on our survey findings, we conclude that income growth does not appear to depend on whether the microenterprise is run by owners or by managers. For example, 60 percent of growing microenterprises were run by managers compared to approximately equal proportions of declining and unchanging microenterprises (57 percent).

Growing microenterprises owned by women had not been in business all that long. The median “age” of female-owned, growing microenterprises was five years (SD = 7.22), compared to the overall sample of female-owned businesses, for which the median was nine years (SD = 12). Microenterprises owned/managed by men had a median age of ten years (SD = 15.75). Though the age of the enterprises was not significantly related to income change, there might be a possibility that women started their businesses when a particular service or trade was in demand and those microenterprises were still benefiting from a continuing demand in the market.

As we noted earlier (see Chapter 2), only 2 percent of the businesses owned by women and 3 percent of the microenterprises owned/managed by men came from the manufacturing sector. Half (50 percent) of growing microenterprises owned/managed by men was providers of services, followed by 48 percent in trade-related activities. Among declining microenterprises owned or managed by men, trade dominated at 60 percent, followed by microenterprises in the service sector (34 percent). A similar trend was found among the unchanging microenterprises owned/managed by men, with 59 percent businesses in trade and 39 percent in the service sector (see Table 8).

Among the growing businesses owned by women, the greatest proportion (57 percent) was in the service sector, followed by microenterprises in trade (43 percent) As was the case with men, trade clearly dominated in the declining microenterprises owned by women, with 68 percent of declining microenterprises coming from the trade sector. Trade and services domains are approximately equally represented among the unchanging microenterprises owned by women.

Among microenterprises owned/managed by men, there was no significant relationship between the sectorial nature of the business and the change in income, unlike among the female microentrepreneurs (Pearson Chi-square = 17.35, p<.05, 2-tailed). Female-owned microenterprises in the service sector tended to be more stable, not losing much year- over-year income.

TABLE 8: Cross Tabulation of Nature of Business and

Income Change Categories for Microenterprises Owned by Women

Nature of Business (%) Change in

Income _{Manufacturing Services Trade} Total χ2

Declining 4.8 27.7 67.5 83 17.35*

Unchanging 0 49.2 50.8 118

Growing 0 57.1 42.9 28

* p<0.01

A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of industry sectors on income change in manufacturing, services, and trade conditions. There was a significant effect of industry types on income change at the p<.05 level for the three conditions [F (2, 226) = 4.318, p = 0.014]. Post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test indicated that the mean score for the manufacturing (M = -30, SD = 23.452) was significantly different from the services (M = -4.64, SD = 18.502) and trade (M =-7.48,

SD = 16.6). However, services did not differ from the trade conditions. Taken together,

these results suggest that women-owned microenterprises tend to lose more business when engaged in manufacturing, but services and trade sector microenterprises owned by women were positively related to income growth.

Growing microenterprises—both those owned by women and those owned or managed by men—appeared to benefit at roughly the same level from walk-in customers. Some 95 percent of men connected to growing microenterprises reported having walk-in customers and 100 percent of female owners of growing businesses reported a similar customer base. This is not surprising given that most of these microenterprises are in the trade or service sector, where face-to-face interaction with customers is common. It also raises the question whether ICTs might be of limited utility for those microenterprises with substantial numbers of walk-in customers.

When it comes to serving customers from other parts of Mumbai, growing microenterprises owned/managed by men had a slightly higher proportion (58 percent) compared to women (41 percent). Similarly, female microentrepreneurs from growing businesses were less likely than male microentrepreneurs to have customers from outside Mumbai. Only 3 percent of women who own growing businesses reported having such customers, while 20 percent of men who owned or managed growing microenterprises reported having these customers-at-a-distance. Men whose microenterprises were growing also tended to acquire customers by using their mobile in a slightly higher proportion (28 percent) than women (21 percent). Among unchanging microenterprises, businesses owned and/or run by men and those owned by women have approximately similar percentages of walk-in customers and customers that are contacted by mobile phone. Microenterprises in decline also have substantial numbers of customers from other part of Mumbai. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of women businesspersons in declining microenterprises said they had customers from outside their immediate

neighborhood (see Table B.5 in Appendix B), compared to 43 percent of male owner- managers.

When customers are not from the immediate vicinity, there may be a need sometimes for microentrepreneurs to pay personal visits to them. Indeed, earlier research has shown that small businesses depend on direct personal contacts to strengthen business-related ties (Molony, 2006). Given cultural norms about literally the proper “place” for women, business travel might be more difficult for female microentrepreneurs and they might not be exploiting the full potential of ICTs to compensate for the absence of face-to-face meetings.

The relationship between the nature of customers and growth in income was significant in two situations. First, among female microentrepreneurs, income appeared to increase as the proportion of customers from other parts of Mumbai decreased (Chi square = 6.8, p<.05, two-sided). Secondly, among microenterprises owned/managed by men, income appeared to increase with increased numbers of customers from outside Mumbai (Chi square = 6.3, p<.05, two-sided). Growing enterprises owned/managed by men had a greater number of customers coming from outside Mumbai (20 percent), contrasted with similar, but declining, microenterprises (13 percent) (see Table B.6 in Appendix B). There are at least two possible reasons for this: (1) Men might be offering high-quality services and goods to customers who are from outside Mumbai, resulting in increased microenterprise income or (2) as mentioned earlier, for small businesses personal meetings are important in sustaining the business ties, which can be done more freely by men.