Cross-Cultural Case Study Of Support Systems And Challenges Encountered By Female Ecommerce Entrepreneurs In Germany And China

The purpose of this research is to complete a cross cultural analysis of the support systems and challenges faced by female ecommerce entrepreneurs starting up their businesses in Germany and China. The first half of the paper offers a literature review, comparing in each country the past few decades of female entrepreneurship, the differing business cultures, and the similarities between the two. The second half of the paper reports on interviews of three female entrepreneurs’ first hand experience in Germany and China. I found a number of similarities and differences between the experiences of female ecommerce entrepreneurs in each country. In terms of similarities, first was the high value of networks, especially all female networks, to founders in both countries. Second was that all of the women I spoke to, as well as read about in more general studies, struggled to find and secure the funding that they needed for their startups. In terms of differences, the founders in Germany were far more vocal about the impact of being a woman on their struggle to secure funding. Overall, I found that women in China have far more opportunities and support than women in Germany. While there is a lot of research and action taken on behalf of female entrepreneurs in Germany, a significant gap between intended actions and end results continues to be a challenge for female entrepreneurs.