knowledge sharing processes within a women empowering
TRANSCRIPT
Knowledge Sharing Processes within a Women Empowering Network - a case study of Uganda
Bachelor’s Thesis 15 hp Department of Business Studies Uppsala University Spring Semester of 2020
Date of Submission: 2020-06-04
Johanna Dagfalk Amelie Ekström Supervisor: Susanne Åberg
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, we want to thank our supervisor Susanne Åberg, for support and valuable advice.
Secondly, the project would never have been possible without the initial contact made with the help of
the Swedish Patent and Registers Office. Further, Alexandra Bhattacharya from the World Intellectual
Property Organization helped us prepare for the upcoming interviews with previous experience and
knowledge of the business case GSWIM.
However, of greatest importance for this thesis is the cooperation with the GSWIM network and the
willingness from the founder Lilian Nantume. Thank you for your encouragement and assistance.
Lastly, we are grateful for the time and effort put down by the five women and network members that
have been interviewed. You inspire us!
Johanna Dagfalk & Amelie Ekström
June, 2020
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Abstract
Boundaries in the growth of women entrepreneurship, in general, are for example family
responsibility, gender discrimination, missing networks and the lack of interaction with other
successful entrepreneurs. This is especially critical in developing countries where the women have to
face additionally barriers. The existence of supportive organizations is crucial in creating
opportunities for female entrepreneurship.
One example of a female entrepreneurial network that supports women doing business is GSWIM
(Grooming a Successful Woman with an Intellectual Mind), operating in Kampala, Uganda. This
thesis will study the knowledge sharing behaviour within the organization. The main data collection
has been retrieved through interviews held with five business women, members of GSWIM. A
developed version of the MOA framework (Motivation, Opportunity, Ability) have been used to
analyse the collected data. It is shown that there are a lot of things in GSWIM that facilitate the
knowledge sharing behaviour. GSWIM motivate, inspire and are proficient in communicating the
value of sharing knowledge. However, there are some crucial aspects for improvements related to
increased ability, belongingness of members and decentralization. The long-term orientation is along
with team cohesiveness, probably two of the network’s major assets. By providing a network for
women, and a platform for knowledge sharing, GSWIM has reduced some barriers to
entrepreneurship in Uganda.
Keywords: Knowledge Sharing, Uganda, Women Entrepreneurship, Empowerment, Supportive
Organizations, Female Network, The MOA framework, Gender Equality
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Aim and research questions ........................................................................................................................... 6
2. Theoretical framework ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 The Surrounding Long-term Orientation ....................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Motivation...................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 Opportunity .................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.4 Ability ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
2.5 Connection between MOA and knowledge sharing .................................................................................... 10
2.6 Knowledge Sharing within Supportive Organizations ................................................................................ 10
3. Research methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Case study .................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Choice of Business case ................................................................................................................... 12 3.1.2 Contact person ................................................................................................................................. 12 3.1.3 Additional contacts .......................................................................................................................... 12
3.2 Preparations ................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.2.1 Choice of respondents ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.2 Operationalization of theoretical framework ................................................................................... 13 3.2.3 Ethical considerations ...................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.4 Pilot interview .................................................................................................................................. 16
3.3 The carrying out of interviews ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.4 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 19
3.5 Trustworthiness............................................................................................................................................ 19
4. Empirical data .................................................................................................................................................. 20
4.1 Background .................................................................................................................................................. 20 4.1.1 Uganda ............................................................................................................................................. 20 4.1.2 The situation for Women in Uganda ................................................................................................ 21 4.1.3 GSWIM ............................................................................................................................................ 21 4.1.4 Capacity Building Program.............................................................................................................. 22
4.2 Interview data .............................................................................................................................................. 23 4.2.1 Business stories ................................................................................................................................ 23 4.2.2 Driving forces behind the entrepreneurship ..................................................................................... 25 4.2.3 The first period in GSWIM .............................................................................................................. 26 4.2.4 Inside the network ............................................................................................................................ 26 4.2.5 The major outcomes of GSWIM...................................................................................................... 27 4.2.6 Future plans ...................................................................................................................................... 28 4.2.7 Other supportive organizations ........................................................................................................ 29
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5. Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 30
5.1 LTO.............................................................................................................................................................. 30
5.2 Motivation.................................................................................................................................................... 31
5.3 Opportunity .................................................................................................................................................. 33
5.4 Ability .......................................................................................................................................................... 35
5.5 Supportive organizations ............................................................................................................................. 38
6. Discussion .......................................................................................................................................................... 39
6.1 Follow-up, motivation and team cohesiveness ............................................................................................ 39
6.2 Increased ability, the role of male and females, and new members ............................................................ 40
6.3 GSWIM in the context of empowerment..................................................................................................... 42
7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................ 43
7.1 Further research ........................................................................................................................................... 43
References ............................................................................................................................................................. 45
Appendix ............................................................................................................................................................... 48
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1. Introduction
The growth of the economy is dependent on an increasing number of women doing business.
Obstacles in the growth of women entrepreneurship, in general, are for example family responsibility,
gender discrimination, missing networks and the lack of interaction with other successful
entrepreneurs (Bulsara, Chandwani & Gandhi, 2014). Further, women in developing countries have to
face additional barriers constructed through political instabilities and financial problems within the
country. In Uganda, there are several kinds of economic, cultural and social barriers for women
entrepreneurship. However, Uganda’s government support for women empowerment is increasing
and commitment for reducing gender inequalities is part of the country's development plan.
Nevertheless, the indirect support from supporting organizations, such as knowledge sharing - is as
important as financial support (Guma, 2015).
Unfortunately, the coordination between the private sector and the government is underdeveloped. In
fact, inadequate management is one of the major barriers that women in Uganda face when seeking
empowerment through entrepreneurship. Without support from assisting initiatives, their
entrepreneurial development would be close to impossible. There are multiple organizations in
developing countries trying to break these barriers and instead support female empowerment. Some
organizations are especially focused on addressing and supporting the link between female
entrepreneurship and women empowerment (Guma, 2015). Education, usually managed by non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), provides skills and self-esteem in order to make it possible for
women to participate in economic development. The NGOs that support women empowerment are
commonly led by women and provide security, promote discussion, and raise critical thinking about
social norms and gender. Supportive organizations also provide opportunity to meet other women and
share experience, which creates social networks (Stromquist, 2015).
Interest in sharing knowledge has increased over time. Knowledge sharing can be studied in different
areas, where one of them is how team characteristics influence knowledge sharing among team
members. Examples of things positively associated with this are team cohesiveness, communication
styles, empowering leadership and an individual’s confidence. Being a minority based on gender, on
the other hand, is correlated with members being less likely to share knowledge (Wang & Noe, 2010).
Relationships in terms of mentors and role models can strengthen the individuals' belief in their own
capacity (Eger, Miller & Scarles, 2018), and in turn it is also crucial for knowledge creation (Robb,
Valerio & Parton, 2014). One very important factor that builds women empowerment is the ability to
learn from others’ experience (Stromquist, 2015). An organization that promotes learning from each
other is the female entrepreneurial network GSWIM, founded in 2017. GSWIM stands for Grooming
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a Successful Woman with an Intellectual Mind and is a local organization in Kampala, Uganda, that
inspires and supports women in innovation and empowerment (GSWIM, 2019).
While there are many studies of knowledge sharing as well as studies of business in low-income
countries with a focus on women, there is a dearth of studies combining these two fields. However,
Connelly and Kelloway (2003) combine these two subjects and state that women require a more
positive social interactive culture than men, before they would partake in knowledge sharing. Durbin
(2011) determines that the previous research in the field of knowledge sharing with a gender
perspective has not been given the attention it deserves and Eger, Miller and Scarles (2018) suggest
that more studies in the area of gender relationships in combination with capacity building processes
are required.
1.1 Aim and research questions
Women empowerment is a complex issue with several dimensions, wherefore this thesis will study
the entrepreneurship dimension of empowerment. The study aims to increase our understanding of
knowledge sharing within an entrepreneurial network. Further, the study will be focused on the
gender perspective within knowledge sharing and we intend to investigate the following research
questions with the help of a case study:
● How do GSWIM activities facilitate the knowledge sharing among the women in the
network?
● What are the crucial aspects of GSWIM in terms of improved knowledge sharing?
2. Theoretical framework
The cornerstones of the model that will be used in the research of the GSWIM organization in
Uganda, includes the Motivation, Opportunity and Ability model (MOA) and the surrounding Long-
Term Orientation concept (LTO) that together drive the Knowledge Sharing behaviour (Turner &
Pennington, 2015), see Figure 1. Below each MOA component are some key words describing it´s
central themes. Further, within supporting organizations there is the possibility to learn from each
other (Stromquist, 2015), as much as learning from mentorship (Robb, Valerio & Parton, 2014)
crucial for knowledge creation. Ultimately, supportive organizations and engagement of non-state
actors, such as NGOs, boost women empowerment in several dimensions (Stromquist, 2015). To
support the MOA model, the concepts that according to Wang and Noe (2010) and Vuori, Helander
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and Mäenpää (2019) affect the knowledge sharing behaviour, are added to further develop Turner and
Pennington’s (2015) description of the Motivation, Opportunity and Ability components.
Figure 1. Framework combined into one model.
2.1 The Surrounding Long-term Orientation
The Long-Term Orientation (LTO) concept is present to show the importance of clear goals in the
context of knowledge sharing. While knowledge sharing could be described as a formalized control
system, the LTO is the fundamental vision that drives this behaviour to occur. LTO shows that focus
on future development is necessary and emphasises the importance of having clear goals. The core
concept of LTO is that the more distinct the goals are, the better it positively correlates with
motivation, opportunity, and ability (Turner & Pennington, 2015). The expectation of the usefulness is
an important component in the context of knowledge sharing. The individual sharing knowledge
should feel some kind of long term benefit to engage in knowledge sharing, for example that the
knowledge will come to use or that the effort improves the relationship with the receivers (Wang &
Noe, 2010).
While motivation is about your mind, opportunity is focused on the context. Ability is about the actual
knowledge, its characteristics, and the resources available, that serve as conditions for implementing
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knowledge sharing. All of these factors are necessary, and with absence of any of the three, the
process will not be efficient (Turner & Pennington, 2015). Furthermore, these concepts should not
only be analysed individually, since they may, in a combination, influence each other. This is also
declared by Wang and Noe (2010), who state that combined factors on different levels may influence
knowledge sharing more than what they would do individually. They emphasise the complexity of
knowledge sharing and that it is a hierarchical phenomenon with several levels to examine (Wang &
Noe, 2010). The components within the MOA model should be analysed together and in different
combinations, but not individually. Together they drive the knowledge sharing behaviour and to
distinguish their intertwined relations they are kept together within the concept of Long-Term
Orientation (Turner & Pennington, 2015).
2.2 Motivation
Turner and Pennington (2015) define motivation as an individual’s willingness to act. It is described
as the tendency to engage in knowledge sharing and it is the result of interplay between an individual
belief, attitude, value (ethics and morals), competitive intensity and performance outcomes or rewards
for doing so (Turner & Pennington, 2015).
Moreover, research agrees on the importance of trust in knowledge sharing, and that individual
competition has a negative effect (Wang & Noe, 2010). Members that fail to understand the value of
sharing knowledge can be a problem. Lack of trust and suspicion of people misusing knowledge are
also reasons why knowledge sharing can be inefficient (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). If a team
member seems to be very capable, other individuals in the network tend to share less knowledge. If
the team member, on the other hand, seems honest, fair and follows principles, the knowledge sharing
will be encouraged (Wang & Noe, 2010).
Further, interpersonal characteristics affect the knowledge sharing process and include things like
your mind and cognition (Wang & Noe, 2010). For example, an individual's job satisfaction and
organization commitment foster knowledge sharing through their mindset. Anxiety and fear of
negative evaluations lower the motivation to participate in knowledge sharing, while confidence,
openness to experience and curiosity create a higher motivation to seek knowledge from other people
(Wang & Noe, 2010).
2.3 Opportunity
Turner and Pennington (2015) refer to opportunity as structural factors such as management support,
worker autonomy and pro-entrepreneurial organizational design and culture. According to Wang and
Noe (2010), efficient knowledge sharing is to a high extent a result of team characteristics.
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Wang and Noe (2010) claim that a decentralized organization structure is better than a centralized
one. Further, the organizational context contains the impact of management support and concludes
that rewards in terms of encouragement from the organization are important in order to have an
efficient knowledge sharing process. Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa (2019) discuss the barriers that
exist within an organization, which result from a bad and unsupportive organization culture.
Organizations that do not have integrated knowledge management strategies and company strategies
will experience difficulties in the knowledge sharing process. The lack of leadership and absence of
time and space for knowledge sharing is a problem. Instead, the presence of empowering leadership
and support for a culture of working together will foster a team to share, which will benefit the
knowledge sharing process. Furthermore, diversity in the workplace should, like in any other
occasion, not be underestimated (Wang & Noe, 2010).
Wang and Noe (2010) discuss how cultural characteristics are closely related to opportunity. Effective
knowledge sharing is obtained if the climate encourages new ideas and focuses on learning from
failure. Furthermore, people are less likely to share their own lessons with someone they consider not
a proper member of the group (Wang & Noe, 2010). That is one reason why being a multinational
organization comes with challenges. Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa (2019) discuss the barriers that
come with a global network and claim that geographical distances might be a problem for knowledge
sharing. Close relationships inside a network are valuable and the feeling of collectivism is important
(Wang & Noe, 2010). Also, if members interact and together understand the value of knowledge
sharing, which strengthens the relationship, the trust in the network will increase which results in the
reduction of knowledge barriers (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019).
Team characteristics influence knowledge sharing among team members from several perspectives.
Examples of aspects positively associated with knowledge sharing are team cohesiveness,
communication styles, empowering leadership and individuals' confidence. Being a minority based on
gender, on the other hand, is correlated with members being less likely to share knowledge (Wang &
Noe, 2010). The gender aspect is further discussed by Durbin (2011). She describes that women's
networks tend to be less homophilous and broader, and also that women approach networking more
from an expressive perspective. That means they tend to appreciate energetic discussions, social
interactions and sharing experience (Durbin, 2011).
2.4 Ability
Ability refers to talent, skills and proficiency in a particular related area (Turner & Pennington, 2015).
They explain that ability is constrained by factors like expertise, resources and time capabilities. On
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the other hand, ability is promoted by pro-entrepreneurial organizational networks, which provide
access and freedom of action to engage in knowledge sharing activities (Turner & Pennington, 2015).
Ability is connected to education and work experience, why individual barriers for knowledge sharing
could be the result of differences in experience levels and poor communication skills (Vuori, Helander
& Maenpaa, 2019). Furthermore, lack of time is a barrier that usually occurs. However, a network
containing members with similar resources, degree of knowledge and time to spend, has less negative
effect on knowledge sharing (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019).
The knowledge-specific category presented by Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa (2019) refers to the
built-in characteristics of knowledge. The more complex the knowledge is, the more barriers there are
to share it. A large network with weak ties between the members is problematic if the knowledge
aimed to be shared is complex. Tacit knowledge is harder to explain than explicit knowledge. Apart
from explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge can´t be written down and is therefore more difficult to
share. Another aspect is that knowledge sharing is prevented if members in the network have to be
aware of not sharing critical knowledge, for example if they are constrained by secrecy (Vuori,
Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). Wang and Noe (2010) state that if you have unique knowledge, or
expertise, you are naturally more likely to share it with the members of the network. To sum up, the
ability to transfer knowledge is highly dependent on the characteristics of the knowledge.
2.5 Connection between MOA and knowledge sharing
Literature presents that motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) drive the knowledge sharing
behaviour (Turner & Pennington, 2015). The MOA framework is traditionally applied to a number of
areas, like for example management, consumer behaviour and decision-making. However, it has
recently been introduced into the area of knowledge creation and sharing processes. If motivation,
opportunity and ability exist, so does knowledge sharing. However, the knowledge sharing efficiency
depends on the levels of motivation, opportunity and ability – and on how these are intertwined
(Turner & Pennington, 2015).
2.6 Knowledge Sharing within Supportive Organizations
One of several dimensions of empowerment is referred to as knowledge, and the conventional way to
perceive knowledge is through formal education. However, this is not the only successful way to
empower people, or more specifically, women (Stromquist, 2015). According to Stromquist (2015),
state-led schools are not always a safe space for women and the necessary “life skills” are not always
taught. Instead, non-formal education programs can perform better in terms of empowerment and
knowledge creation. Kiani, Aghamohammadi and Zafari (2018) state that social support and
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empowerment of women is closely related to each other. Investments in social support for women can
be seen as an investment in future generations (Kiani, Aghamohammadi & Zafari, 2018).
Robb, Valerio and Parton (2014) present the correlation between supportive organizations, referred to
as Entrepreneurial Education and Trainings, and empowerment in terms of job creation, stable income
and secure employments. They suggest that the programs should be specifically tailored to their
participants and their backgrounds to be successful. Further, they need to include more focus on the
business acumen and entrepreneurial mindset since these are vital for entrepreneurial success (but this
is rarely included). Lastly, they emphasize on the desire for business community mentorship as one of
the crucial factors to successful empowerment through entrepreneurship (Robb, Valerio & Parton,
2014).
Each component in the model will be used to extract information from the data collection. Before
continuing to present the empirical data and furthermore use the model above to perform the analysis,
the methodology used in this thesis will be declared.
3. Research methodology
The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of knowledge sharing within an entrepreneurial
network, with focus on the gender perspective. In order to fulfil the aim, empirical material has been
collected through a qualitative method in the setup of interviews. Further, the data has been analysed
using the theoretical framework developed for this purpose.
3.1 Case study
A case study of the organization GSWIM, active in Uganda, has been conducted. The empirical data
has been collected through qualitative interviews to achieve a good and reliable view over the
organization and how they share knowledge. A qualitative method was used since this approach is
suitable given that the aim is to identify interviewees’ own experiences (Patel & Davidson, 2003).
The interviews conducted focused on two different parts within the organization where the first part
covered an interview with the founder of the organization GSWIM, Lilian Nantume. This was
performed in order to understand perspectives from the board, and to get a better idea of the context in
which the members are active. The second part covered interviews with five active members of
GSWIM, all female business owners in the area of Kampala.
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3.1.1 Choice of Business case
The GSWIM organization is operating in the field of gender equality and women empowerment,
which motivates the choice of having them as business case. The founder of the organization,
Nantume, also attended a Capacity Building program in Sweden. Therefore, the organization
participates in an extensive knowledge sharing process of several steps. The program is arranged by
the Patent and Registers Office of Sweden (PRV) in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property
Organization, WIPO and financed by SIDA. Since the aim of the study was to increase our
understanding of knowledge sharing within an entrepreneurial network, GSWIM was a suitable case.
Even if the network has some members spread over Uganda, the study was limited to conducting
interviews with business women from the city of Kampala. This choice was made with the premise
that these businesses have similar opportunities and are therefore reasonable to analyse in the same
context. Also, the fact that GSWIM is located and mainly active in Kampala and that the women we
got in contact with were all residents of Kampala, resulted in only interviewing women in this area.
Although, some coverage of different parts of Kampala was obtained. Having a wider spread
throughout Uganda would have been interesting, but considered the time and scope of this thesis, it
was a fair limitation.
3.1.2 Contact person
The founder and project manager of GSWIM, Nantume, as have been the contact person for this
thesis. Nantume has helped us to provide the resources needed, and moreover, she has been arranging
and facilitating the interviews with the business women. She has enabled us to retrieve most of the
necessary data from the field.
3.1.3 Additional contacts
We have been in contact with Patent and Registers Office of Sweden, PRV, and the World Intellectual
Property Organization, WIPO (also engaged with the organization on an international level), who are
both in good relation and communication with GSWIM. Alexandra Bhattacharya has been our contact
person from WIPO, situated at the head quarter of WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland. As a mentor for
Nantume and GSWIM, she had a lot of valuable input for us and during one hour we had a meeting
with her in Stockholm that served as great preparation. She has a lot of knowledge within the area of
Intellectual Property and Gender, as well as great experience with local projects and activities in the
least developed countries. She is one of the participating lecturers of the Capacity Building Program
financed by SIDA, and responsible for several lessons next to the employees at PRV.
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3.2 Preparations
3.2.1 Choice of respondents
To understand the knowledge sharing process within the organization, individual interviews were
carried out with the founder, Nantume, and with five members of GSWIM. The interview structure
and composition of questions differed depending on who the interviewee was. Regarding the business
women, having group interviews was considered to evoke a discussion that would make it possible to
pick up reflections that might not come up in individual interviews (Bell, 2016). However, given the
restriction to perform the interviews online, this had to be deprioritized.
The decision concerning which participants were present in each interview was carefully considered.
For example, the presence of the founder of the organization might have prevented the interviewees to
speak freely and can therefore affect the reliability (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). The goal
was to limit the involvement of other people during the interview, but since the interviews were
performed online, it made it hard to affect the surroundings.
At the moment of the study, the GSWIM network included about 70 active members that were
engaged in businesses that involved farming, fashion and designs, art and crafts, catering, shop stores,
transport, construction and a lot of other different kinds of businesses (GSWIM, 2019). The five
businesses women interviewed were chosen from different kinds of business areas. A diverse
foundation was preferable, since reflections and insights were expected to differ among the business
areas. To some extent, the coverage of different parts of Kampala was obtained. Within a big city, we
also predicted that answers could differ depending on whether the business is situated in the city
centre or in the suburbs.
With the consent of the interviewee, the interviews were recorded. This was not only because the
focus enables listening rather than writing down the answers, but also because it added value through
the fact that it was possible to use direct quotation afterwards (Bryman, 2013).
3.2.2 Operationalization of theoretical framework
When preparing interview questions, one template was made for the founder of the organization and a
second one for the active members within the network. In general, the templates were structured
similarly, containing central themes and questions covering the most important concepts needed to
answer the research questions (Dalen, 2008). The questions that were meant for the founder of the
organization were adjusted to highlight aspects that would be necessary for us to understand in order
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to reflect on relations between members and structures within the organization. This was done to get
an overview of the context in which GSWIM operates.
The different themes were first determined by studying the different components of the theoretical
framework. Further, based on the themes and the theoretical framework, smaller categorizations of
concepts were determined. Moreover, these concepts were used to formulate concrete interview
questions, see Table 1. The template served as a tool for conducting a semi-structured interview. For
this study, semi-structured interviews were preferable, with a combination of fixed themes but still
having the possibility to ask questions (Bryman, 2013).
Table 1. Operationalization of theoretical framework (for the business women).
Themes Categorization of concepts Interview Questions (Business women)
LTO Clear goals
Vision
Future development
Explain what your business will look like in 5 years, 10 years.
Realistic vs dream scenario.
Is there an explicit goal within the organization that you are aware
of?
Do all members share the same ambitions?
Motivation Interpersonal characteristics
Individual mindset
Self- esteem
Confidence
Attitude
Ethics and morals
Inducement
Competitive intensity
Rewards
Satisfaction
Trust
Misusing knowledge sharing
Honesty and fairness
Commitment
Have you developed as a person since you became a member of
GSWIM? How?
What is your opinion about sharing experience with members in
GSWIM?
What has been the major outcome of being a part of GSWIM?
What is the main reason for you being an entrepreneur?
Do you consider yourself having equal goals and dreams as the
other members in GSWIM?
Can you express yourself as you like with the feeling that you
will be accepted within the network?
Is there a supportive environment between the women of
GSWIM?
Would you ever hesitate to share your experience within the
network? Why?
Opportunity Network attributes
Ties within the network
Team cohesiveness
Similarities and differences between
network members
Can you describe your relation to the other network members?
Have you established new relations within the network?
Do you consider yourself being equal to the rest of the members?
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Distance, geographical, income levels
etc.
Team characteristics
Diversity and minorities
Gender
Communication
Organizational structure
Decentralized vs centralized
Management support
Leadership
Cultural characteristics
Climate - “learning from failure”
Space for creativity
How do you keep in contact with GSWIM? With other members?
(More data from background questions)
Can you participate in decision making in the network?
Otherwise, who decides?
What does the management contribute to within GSWIM.
What is the atmosphere like during activities?
Was it easy to be a new member of GSWIM?
Do you talk about failure with members of GSWIM?
Is there room for innovative thinking within GSWIM?
Ability Experiences and skills
Knowledge characteristics
- tacit or explicit
- sensitive content
Educational background
Work experiences
Talent and skills
Resources available
Knowledge degree
Time
Is it easy to teach someone else to carry on with your business?
Have you taught someone else in the network something from
your own experience? Have you learned something from
someone?
(More data from background questions)
Do you consider yourself being equal to the rest of the members
in terms of knowledge/resources?
How much time do you spend on your business?
Supportive
Organizations
Social support
Business community
Content - indirect or direct support
Mentorship
Do you get support from anywhere else?
(If other experiences, supportive organization or formal
education) What is the main difference from other experiences
compared to GSWIM?
Are all members similarly involved in GSWIM? Are there any
members acting more like mentors?
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3.2.3 Ethical considerations
The content of our questions connected to empowerment might be considered sensitive for some
people. However, most questions are rather focused on the connection to knowledge sharing which is
in general not considered a delicate topic. For example, the questions do not explicitly involve money
or salary, political opinions or sexual orientations. To ask these kinds of questions, some deeper
thoughts about the formulations and the subject of interest should have been done before the
interviews were carried out. Nevertheless, dealing with projects that are infused by a lot of emotions
and strong commitment, needs a special kind of treatment and understanding. We have continuously
reminded ourselves of the importance to always remain conscious about our differences and to always
protect the integrity of ourselves as well as the people we interview.
It has been invaluable to have a communication channel with a contact person in the field from an
early stage. With help from Nantume and with appropriate preparations, we have tried our best to
recognize most ethical shortcomings before they emerge.
3.2.4 Pilot interview
In order to gather some understanding about the context of GSWIM and the Capacity Building
Program that Nantume participated in, we visited the 2019 Capacity Building Program held in
Stockholm at the PRV´s office. Apart from observing a few lectures and being introduced to the
concepts of the program by employees of PRV, one interview was held there with Bhattacharya. This
gave us a better understanding of the GSWIM organization which she has previous experience of
being involved with (see appendix for interview template). It also gave us insights of what questions
could be valuable to add, and it also brought up discussions regarding which questions might be more
sensitive to ask than others. Bhattacharya has experience not only with GSWIM, but with a lot of
other case studies and projects in underdeveloped countries. She gave us advice and it served as great
preparation before having the first interview with Nantume.
Furthermore, a pilot interview was performed with Nantume before we had interviews with the
members of GSWIM (see appendix for interview template). This made it possible to see whether the
questions were easy to understand or not, if we got the answers we expected, and how many questions
we would be able to ask within the available time. Also, Nantume was able to answer whether the
questions were appropriate or not in respect to family relations, cultural differences and other ethical
topics. Some changes were made before finalising the interview template that was used during
interviews with the business women.
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The overall environment for business in Uganda differs quite a lot from what it looks like in the
western world. Therefore, before conducting the interviews, we did research on how small-scale
businesses work in Uganda. Furthermore, in order to understand the situation for the women doing
business in Uganda, we tried to gather as much information as possible about the culture, political
situation, gender perspective and the government etc. Since we got some information about the
women and their businesses beforehand, we were also able to study the specific area in which their
company was active.
3.3 The carrying out of interviews
Interviews with the business women were performed which took about 45 minutes each (see appendix
for interview template). The application WhatsApp was used since not all of the women had Skype
with internet connection good enough to use video call. To conduct interviews over phone comes with
challenges for different reasons. One thing that made the situation more difficult was that the authors
of this thesis could not be present in the same room during the interviews because of geographic
distance, which complicated the asking of questions. Another thing was the poor internet connection
that sometimes interrupted the call. Some of the interviews were therefore postponed so the women
were able to find better connection.
Further, disturbing environment as in other family members, traffic and city noise sometimes made it
hard to understand the interviewee. Most of the women were in their homes during the interview,
which can potentially have resulted in a safer and more comfortable environment. However, it may
also have made it more difficult to speak about sensitive topics such as family relationships.
Performing the interviews in Uganda would have been the most desirable, to be able to observe body
language and reactions. The second best alternative would have been to perform the interviews with
video. Unfortunately, as mentioned none of these alternatives were possible, wherefore we had to
settle for performing interviews through voice calls.
English is one of the two native languages in Uganda, next to Swahili, which was considered being an
advantage for us. However, the language was still a hazard since we use English differently. We tried
our best to simplify expressions and questions to avoid misunderstandings. After all, it was valuable
that we recorded the interviews so that it was possible to listen multiple times afterward to better
understand some answers. Supplementary questions were supposed to be used for clarification and to
ensure correct interpretation. However, follow-up questions were sometimes hard to ask due to the
poor connection and misunderstandings.
18
At the end of each interview, we asked the women if they had any questions to us. Some of them had
and they expressed a lot of interest in the study. Also, many of the women expressed a wish that we
would come to visit and see the work they do and how they live. Finally, we asked if we could add
questions via message if something was not clear of additional questions came up, which nobody saw
as a problem. However, this was never necessary.
3.3.1 Summary of interviews
Table 2 summarizes the conducted interviews. One interview was made with Bhattacharya, two
interviews were made with the founder Nantume and additionally five interviews was made with
members of the network.
Table 2. Summary of conducted interviews.
Interview
number
Respondent Type of
business
Network-
member
Duration Date
1 Alexandra
Bhattacharya
- - 1 hour November 29th
2019
2 Lilian
Nantume
Several Founder of
GSWIM
1 hour April 7th 2020
3 Lilian
Nantume
Several Founder of
GSWIM
1 hour April 14th 2020
4 Deborah Farming,
construction
Member since
the start
45 minutes April 16th 2020
5 Caroline Soap, sandals,
carpets
Member since
the start
45 minutes April 16th 2020
6 Diana Fashion house Member since
one year
45 minutes April 16th 2020
7 Joan Cakery Member since
the start
45 minutes April 21th 2020
8 Lisha Tailor and
makeup artist
Became a
member a few
months after
the start
45 minutes April 21th 2020
19
3.4 Data analysis
Although having interviews over phone proved to be difficult, the interviews gathered quite a lot of
data. A structure was required to be able to analyze the data. One systematic approach that is
commonly used to structure data from qualitative research is the Gioia methodology (Gioia, Corley &
Hamilton, 2013), which was adopted in this study. In order to use this method, all the interviews were
fully transcribed into text short after the interviews. Not only the actual words the women said was
written down but also their tones and reactions to different questions were noticed, which is preferable
according to Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2012).
To interpret the interviews in a transparent way, the Gioia methodology divides the data analysed in
different stages. Three steps were, one by one, boiling down the large amount of data collected
through the interviews, to a more reasonable quantity of dimensions. The first step involved
categorization of concepts. This was done by sorting the transcribed material into different theoretical
concepts using colour coding. The second step used these concepts to formulate less numerous
themes, which was done by reorganizing every transcribed interview into one document. The final
pre-process was to find the ties between these themes in order to developed aggregate dimensions
(Gioia, Corley & Hamilton, 2013). Since the theoretical framework and the data now were in the same
order, it made it easier to see connections, similarities and differences between them in order to
analyse the material. Also, the structure of the interview templates facilitated this process quite a lot.
The time-consuming preparations proved to be worth the effort.
3.5 Trustworthiness
Generally, there is a risk with interviews that answers will be affected by the phenomena social
desirability (Bryman, 2013). However, it is of great value to be able to ask unique follow-up questions
(Eriksson & Wiedersheim-Paul, 2014). To foster validation and reliability, an explanation of the study
and an introduction of the content, was communicated to the women before the interviews. Also, the
participants were informed that the participation in the study was voluntary and that they could
terminate the interview at any time (Vetenskapsrådet, 2002).
According to Schwandt, Lincoln and Guba (2007), trustworthiness is a concept that can be developed
through four different characteristics. These are credibility, transferability, dependability and
neutrality. If taking these concepts into account while performing a qualitative method, the
trustworthiness and reliability will increase. In the case study we had interviews with multiple
members in the network. It would have been valuable to also perform participant observation, in order
to increase the trustworthiness and reliability. However, this was not possible due to geographical
distance. Also, a deep description of the preparations and how the interviews were performed has
20
been presented in order to make the thesis more transparent. This will, according to Lincoln and Guba
(1985) increase the trustworthiness.
The study is based on interviews with women from the surrounding area of Kampala. There are
probably differences among women doing business in Uganda depending on the location of operation,
for example in a big city versus in rural areas. Although we have tried to select different backgrounds
of the women, in terms of what kind of business they carry out and where in Kampala they operate,
the reader should be aware that the 70 women in the network somehow share circumstances, like
background and position in society. This could be a problem in terms of validation if not conscious
about it (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012).
4. Empirical data
The empirical data will begin with a background section about Uganda, GSWIM and the Capacity
Building Program, in order to give the reader an insight of the context. Further, the interview data will
be presented.
4.1 Background
4.1.1 Uganda
Uganda is located in East-Central Africa and is known for its many natural resources like oil, copper,
gold and other non-metallic resources like mica, graphite and limestone. Uganda’s soil is one of the
most fertile in Africa and the climate is suitable for agriculture (Owuor, 2019), which is an essential
part of the economy and contributes to 72% of the workforce (IndexMundi, 2019).
In 1962, Uganda became independent from Britain. At that time Uganda was one of the wealthiest
countries in Africa, with fertile soil and a lot of resources to refine. Between 1971 and 1979, the
country was under the command of the dictator Idi Amin who got responsible for deaths of
approximately 300 000 people. In the following years, Uganda was ruled under Milton Obote’s
command and the uncivilized leadership continued. After many years of dictatorship, conflicts and
unhumanitarian environments, Uganda got its current leader Yoweri Museveni in 1986. Even though
the county lacks in significant democratic principles, the standard of living and economic growth has
increased (Utrikespolitiska institutet, 2020). However, Uganda is still struggling with poverty and
dissatisfaction with the current leadership has recently increased.
21
Population density is high in Uganda compared to other countries in Africa. The country has one of
the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world, with a growth rate of 1.2 million
people a year (Mwaniki, 2018). About 25% of the population lives in urban areas and consequently
the majority lives in rural areas. Internal disorder and misgovernment have ruined the country’s
otherwise good prerequisites (CIA - World FactBook, 2020). Insufficient infrastructure is one of the
major holdbacks when it comes to economic growth, along with lack of modern tech and corruption
(Utrikespolitiska institutet, 2020). Even though, since 2005, multi-party politics are officially allowed
- the restriction of how long the president is allowed to keep his post was, at the same time, erased
(Nations online, 2020). In summary, the country’s growth opportunities are restricted because of
internal disorder. Another crucial deal for economic growth is to get more women involved in
business (UN Women, 2018).
4.1.2 The situation for Women in Uganda
Uganda is a country that has a high level of gender inequalities. The economy has been relatively
stable since 2006, but the positive economic development does not include the same effect on gender
equalities. The old culture and traditions that have been carried out for many generations are hard to
change and women are being discriminated when it comes to succession and inheritance. Women are
for example traditionally prevented from owning land, property and money. Also, the attitude against
women in Ugandan society and the public institutions changes slowly. Key reforms and laws
regarding family laws and sexual offences against women and children have been debated for several
decades and are still pending. In the meantime, violence against women is very common and a survey
from 2011 showed that 56% of all the women in Uganda between the age 15-49 have been victims of
physical violence at least once since age 15 (UN Women, 2020).
Even though the country has a lot to develop, some progress has been made lately. The Government
of Uganda is doing work in the area and is trying to set up legal frameworks, policies and programs in
order to protect women and their human rights. For example, the Uganda Constitution prohibits
traditions, customs or laws that are against the welfare and interest of women. Also, a third of the
ministers in the government are women which is a result of the Uganda Constitutions work (UN
Women, 2020).
4.1.3 GSWIM
GSWIM provides a network to motivate women to obtain and sustain businesses. The knowledge that
is being shared includes specific techniques that the business products and services are dependent on,
as well as more general theories about marketing, branding, how to register businesses and customer
22
care. The meetings and activities occur with different intervals and differ in length. Some trainings
run for a few hours, but they also organize retreats that covers a whole weekend. Currently, the
network includes about 70 active members that are engaged in businesses that involve farming,
fashion and designs, art and crafts, catering, shop stores, transport, construction, and several other
kinds of businesses (GSWIM, 2019).
The Swedish Patent and Register Office, PRV, is an organization that works full time with innovation.
More importantly, they are ready to share their extensive amount of know-how with others. An effort
to do this is carried out every year through an initiative called the International Capacity Building
Program. Representatives from the world's least developed countries are invited to Sweden to be
educated within Intellectual Property (IP) as a useful tool to make profit from innovation (PRV,
2018). In 2018, the organization GSWIM came to Sweden to partake in this education. Educating
selected representatives from organizations like GSWIM is a great effort, but to reach people locally,
there is a need for mutual and collective effort. GSWIM completes the process of sharing knowledge,
that PRV started, to individual women locally in the city of Kampala through different activities and
events
4.1.4 Capacity Building Program
The focus will be on the last link of the chain in the knowledge sharing process, when GSWIM
transfer their knowledge to individual business women locally in the city of Kampala. However, the
chain can be considered to start at the Capacity Building Program in Sweden. It is performed by PRV,
given to different representatives from 13 different least developed countries every year. WIPO, the
World Intellectual Property Organization, situated in Geneva, Switzerland, is performing the program
as a partner to PRV. As an international partner organization, part of their aim is to support the
national intellectual property organizations, for example through being involved in programs that are
carried out. WIPO also has a gender and diversity specialist working full time with bringing up the
issue that IP is underutilized by women (Bhattacharya, 2019).
After a three-week program in Sweden with theoretical lectures as well as workshops, the
representatives go back to their countries and are supposed to make use of the knowledge in a specific
project. The prerequisites can differ quite a lot among the representatives. Resources and conditions in
each country are unequal and to accomplish results can be difficult. Bhattacharya (2019) emphasises
the fact that “successful projects take a lot of effort and a lot of time”. The representatives can be
supported by an institute, a local IP office or a university initiative. During a period of 6 months
before evaluation, it is therefore possible to get support from the involved lecturers in terms of a
mentorship. However, it all depends on the representatives’ motivation and engagement. The founder
23
of GSWIM, Nantume, was participating in the Capacity Building Program in 2018. She is an example
of a representative without any support, taking care of her non-profit organization completely
voluntary and outside of her full-time work. Nantume therefore asked Bhattacharya to be her mentor
after listening to her lecture about Gender equality within IP (Bhattacharya, 2019).
With strong commitment, Nantume managed to perform a very successful project with developing her
existing women's network in Uganda. Acting as a mentor for Nanume, Bhattacharya has gotten to
know her quite well. Nantume is described by Bhattacharya as “a doer that doesn’t take no for an
answer, which is why she is a very successful entrepreneur” (2019). When speaking of measuring IP
impact and innovation, counting IP registrations is not enough. The reason for recently have putting
more focus on the projects and following them up is an attempt to do better. Also, that “it is through
the projects there is concrete change made” (Bhattacharya, 2019).
4.2 Interview data
Interviews with five women apart from the founder have been conducted. Below a short description of
each woman interviewed is provided, followed by a presentation of the data in the same order as the
questions were asked. Worth to mention is that the five women are all active members and several of
them have been members since the start of GSWIM.
4.2.1 Business stories
Deborah
Deborah started her business within agriculture and constructing in 2015. After a beginning with
adversity, she got support from her friend Nantume who wanted to start a network to support female
entrepreneurs. In the network, established in 2017, Deborah got ideas and inspiration to continue with
her own business. Before 2015 she worked as an accountant, which is still her full time job.
Nowadays, the business is in the area of agriculture and she has a pineapple and banana plantation.
She also supports companies in the building sector with construction materials and has one friend
employed in her business. The time spent on her own business is during weekends and sometimes in
the weekdays if the customers require it. Her educational background is a degree in business
administration and her knowledge about agriculture is mainly from her, at a young age, deceased
father.
Caroline
Caroline has several businesses going on at the same time. Her entrepreneurial life started after she
was fired from her old job in 2016, and in the beginning, it involved producing liquid soap. Getting
24
orders was tough in the beginning, but nowadays she supplies schools, supermarkets and hospitals
along with households. Today the business also involves producing sandals, carpets and earrings,
where especially the sandals are very appreciated and easy to sell. Everything is homemade, without
the help of machines. Some of the production is made by family members, since a new dream of hers
has been developed - to open up a kindergarten. She is currently gathering experience by working full
time as an employee at the local kindergarten. Caroline has also been inspired by the GSWIM
network to start her own sharing initiative, to equip others with skills and opportunity to start their
own businesses.
Diana
Diana started her business within fashion and design in 2015. After realizing that fashion was her
dream, she started to teach herself in 2009. Before that she worked as a teacher in secondary school.
Between the years 2011 and 2014, she did a degree in fashion and designing before she started to
work on her own fashion house. Nowadays, she produces clothes for many different occasions for
children, women, and men. She does everything by hand and works in her business full time. She also
has an employee that works in the store. Except from her store, she also offers trainings to students
that want to learn about fashion and design. Diana got connected to GSWIM though her aunt and has
been a member for a year.
Joan
Joan started her baking business in late 2017 after she finished college. She has always had an interest
in baking and during college she started to save some money to be able to later focus on her dream.
Together with her friend she began to market herself, and after some time people really wanted her
products. Nowadays she makes cakes for different occasions, sells cakes and pastries to shops and has
baking classes. Joan also has a catering service and does some farming. Except for having her
business, she works as a medical officer during the weekdays. Therefore, the time she spends on her
business is during evenings and weekends.
Lisha
Lisha is a student studying makeup. She is educated in journalism and mass communication since
before, but she has had a hard time finding a job within the area. Her business revolves around
tailoring and styles and started when she resigned from an old job because of bad conditions. In the
future she hopes to also include more makeup services to her business. The tailoring partly involves
buying already produced t-shirts, and adding new prints. But with her sewing machine, she also
receives other kinds of orders. Either way, she has issues with the capital to buy material, why all
customers have to pay a proportion of the final cost in advance.
25
Lilian
Lilian Nantume is the founder of GSWIM. She has a company together with her husband called Delly
Investment that involves various activities. GSWIM has previously been a part of the business but is
currently transforming into and NGO to facilitate cooperation with other organizations. The
businesses further comprise transportation services and they are involved in different shops, for
example within cosmetics. Lilian is mainly the one running the businesses, since her husband is
occupied being a doctor in South Sudan. GSWIM has been supported by the income from the other
activities. Lilian also has another work at the intellectual property (IP) office of Uganda called
Uganda performing rights society. However, she is about to quit to be able to put more focus and time
on the GSWIM network from now on. She has a bachelor and a master in business administration, and
has additionally performed studies within IP. It is the knowledge within IP that has served as the
foundation on which GSWIM has been built on, along with the passion to help others. She realized
that she learnt a lot from struggling with income for example to pay for education, and that she had
experience worth sharing.
4.2.2 Driving forces behind the entrepreneurship
To begin with, we asked the women about the inducements behind their businesses. Diana and
Deborah express that they are entrepreneurs mainly because it is a reason for them to work in the area
of their passion, but they also mention that apart from earning profit they have a strong commitment
to encourage people and that teaching and sharing knowledge is as much of a passion as their actual
business area. Deborah tells us that employing others also is an important reason, which Joan and
Lisha agree on. They explain that young people and especially young girls are important to focus on
so that they can go on and build their own businesses. Joan is also motivated to keep going just by
seeing other people progress and succeed, and even better if they have been supported by herself. In
countries in Africa, cash is always an inducement according to Caroline, and Deborah confirms that a
dream of hers has always been to become rich. She also mentions that another important inducement
is to prove that not only men can own a business. Some ladies come from a background where they
have not had people to look after them, either they grew up without parents or in a very large family
where everybody gets just a small share of attention. Another background story involves leaving your
family because of too different opinions. Especially Joan tells us that one driving force of hers is that
she does not want to be dependent on other people.
In the beginning of their entrepreneurial career most of the women tell us that they paid someone a
small amount of money to be taught within the area they wanted to start a business in. Caroline tells
us her story that after getting taught the basics, it was possible to improve the quality and get
certificates for reaching standards and in the end, she became better than the one who first taught her.
26
4.2.3 The first period in GSWIM
Carolina, Joan and Deborah have all been members from the beginning when GSWIM started in
2017. Deborah describes that when she realized the potential of the organization, she wanted to bring
other women. Lisha and Diana that both joined the organization later, explain that they have been
taken care of very well. The members seem to be very loving and caring for each other and Diana
claims that being a new member was never a problem since it was a very welcoming environment.
Several family members have been recruited to the network after a while, and some of the women
explain that it was a family member that recruited them.
Most of the women attend all meetings, since they know that they will always gather some new
insights or learn something new. They also mention that they are always looking out for new people
and friends to join so that they can also get an opportunity to grow. Lisha explains that if friends are
only interested in getting money, she tries to spread her point of view, that knowledge is so much
better than money since it will last. The membership does not require money so all women that want
to be a member, have the opportunity to become one.
4.2.4 Inside the network
Not all the women had a business when they started going to the meetings of the GSWIM network.
Caroline tells us about her first experience with GSWIM and describes how her spirit grew along with
woman after woman sharing their business ideas and their stories of how they created things from
nothing. She is now one of the members that is acting more like a mentor for others, and has aside
from a prosperous business with soap also started up her own smaller version of a women's network
only for single moms and widows. In the GSWIM network, the women’s backgrounds differ a lot
from each other. Diana explains that since they all have different businesses, most help is through
sharing ideas rather than specific knowledge in the subject of their business. Since the business areas
differ a lot, so do the skills. However, the surrounding handling of things like customer care,
marketing and branding can be similar, especially after being taught by GSWIM.
All the women in the network describe how they easily can share things with the other members of
the network. Brainstorming is one of the activities that they use during trainings and Lisha claims that
she always comes home with new ideas she has gotten from GSWIM. Caroline explains that thinking
outside the box is something that especially Nantume pushes her to do. Further, Deborah emphasized
that when new members arrive to the network and share their ideas, that is how the organizations
grow and move forward.
27
The interviewees all agree on that failure is something they talk about a lot, and that most members
are willing to share failure with the other members. Caroline describes how GSWIM prepare talks and
camps on this subject where a lot of stories are being shared. Further, she portrays that her products
were rejected many times in the beginning and that people thought she was crazy. But in GSWIM
they talk about how to handle failure and that sharing these stories makes them stronger. Lisha
explains how members of GSWIM always tell her that whenever you fail, you can always stand up
again. Another reason to share problems within GSWIM, according to Diana, is that it usually leads to
getting help to overcome the difficulties that they come across. The women trust each other’s
recommendations and say that encouragement usually results in actions. Diana changed the location
of her shop after an initiative from the network. Lisha was encouraged by the other women in the
network that she was very good at makeup. She did not think it could be a profession but ended up
studying the specific subject.
The board of GSWIM, that consists of 6 people (3 men and 3 women), all have their own businesses
or professions on the side. Many of the members describe how the board members are a very
supportive group of people with a lot of experience. They are also willing to share their stories and are
participating in many of the activities and trainings that GSWIM organize. Further, the members of
the board are naturally involved in decision making and take administrative decisions. They are
responsible for finding financial support and connection to other organizations as well as the
government. Caroline explains how they help out with the registration of new companies. However,
the board does not take all of the decisions themselves.
4.2.5 The major outcomes of GSWIM
The women say that the network has taught them importance of interacting with people. Diana
mentions that she used to be very reserved, but is now open to market and branding herself, and that
she is a lot better at customer care. All of the women explain how important it has been with follow-
up, and that it has been an important aspect of their success that they have felt pushed to always do
and achieve more. Lisha says that being a part of a network of business people is never a bad idea,
and even if you feel like a successful entrepreneur already, there is always worth going to the
meetings because you always gain something. Joan and Lisha both mention that GSWIM has given
them a lot of confidence, and faith to believe in their own ideas. Caroline says that before GSWIM
she was more individually focused but has now learnt to appreciate and understand the power of
teamwork. This is also referred to by Lisha, in terms of always looking for partnerships in every
occasion in a way she did not before, since she now understands the benefits.
28
Another outcome from the network is friendships. Lisha, who left her family a few years back tells us
that she sees the GSWIM network like a new family. Caroline explains that she has met many friends
from GSWIM and that they are connected also outside the network meetings. Deborah says that these
personal friendships becomes important also in order to have a successful business.
The women tell us that they feel financially supported by the network, since a lot of the members buy
each other’s products and help each other spreading the word. But more importantly, they feel
supported idea-wise. Not only during meetings, but they also have a very active WhatsApp group
where members share ideas and experience continuously. Lisha claims that the network mainly has
taught her new skills, that she has gained new interests and got new clients. In the network they seem
to trade knowledge with each other, as much as supporting each other by buying the other one´s
products. Lisha tells us that she is about to be taught how to bake cakes without paying for the baking
class, just because of friendship. In return she is open to teach someone about makeup. Deborah says
that she is always open to teach if someone shows interest and that there is no point to be selfish, since
sharing will always open up new opportunities that is beneficial for yourself in the end.
Caroline has already taught her family members to carry on with some parts of the business, e.g. the
producing part, while she describes that the customer care is still handled by herself. She says that
others could probably take care of customer care as well, but her most important asset is the
customers, and someone without the same passion for the products, would not be as good at retaining
the customers. Furthermore, customer care is a subject that has been taught and discussed a lot in the
network and her family members are not as educated within the subject.
4.2.6 Future plans
Without exceptions, the women get happy when we ask about their future plans. Diana explains how
she, within five years, wants to open a fashion school since she was a teacher before. Further, she
describes how she wants to equip young people with fashion and designing skills. Lisha expresses
how she wants to open a big workshop consisting of a makeup studio, one factory and one tailoring
studio to modify already produced clothes. Also, she says that she is not interested in recruiting the
most experienced ones. Instead, she wants to employ young girls and boys to help them get
experience enough to continue with their own business later in life. Joan explains how she wants to
open a baking school. She also wants to see the students develop skills so that they are able to open up
their own businesses after attending her school. Deborah has big dreams about being one of the best
entrepreneurs and her goal is to employ a lot of people, mainly women, and the most important focal
point would be to make sure that they are encouraged in the company. Caroline has a dream of
29
changing her business area into running a kindergarten, but besides that she wants to expand the
sharing initiative network that she has already started.
Caroline describes that the goal of GSWIM is to mentor and motivate women to practice their
thinking or intellectual ability to become entrepreneurs. Joan explains that the goal is to reach out to
women and teach them skills that will further help them to support their families. Except for different
choice of words, the descriptions of the purpose of GSWIM are all fairly similar.
4.2.7 Other supportive organizations
Not all members are aware of other organizations similar to GSWIM. But some say they are aware of
other existing networks. Lisha tells us that she has even visited a few workshops. What they mention
as the biggest difference compared to GSWIM according to their knowledge, is that they do not have
a founder with the same energy. Lisha explains that Nantume has given her a lot of support and that
she always tries to help her out. It could involve giving her food when she has trouble with financing
herself or helping her out when she has problems. But so do other ladies in the organization. For
example, she has gotten help from Diana with her expertise within tailoring when Lisha has
encountered problems.
GSWIM is also described as more busy than other organizations. Busy, in terms of people texting in
the groups frequently and that sharing ideas is not restricted to scheduled meetings but is continuously
happening through their several communication channels. Caroline means that what differentiates
GSWIM from other organizations is the follow-up. Even though the network contains about 70
members, the board is fully aware of each and every woman's story and business. While other
networks might be helpful in the beginning, GSWIM continue mentoring and acquiring updates from
the members, which is described to be a successful strategy.
When asking about how family is acting in terms of support, the answers vary. While for example
Lilian and Caroline say that family and husbands have been important, Deborah says that her family
has pushed her but are too far away geographically to really be able to contribute much. Diana says
that her relatives were the ones pushing her into business. She was encouraged that she was very good
at fashion, and her very first sewing machine was a gift from them. Lisha consider the GSWIM
network as her new family, where she gets lots of support. Joan is the only one mentioning that she
actually got some funds from the government, and she says that it is presumably because her
community activities through baking classes supports other people and not only herself.
30
Even if not all the women are aware of other similar organizations, they are inspired to start their own
versions of networks. As previously mentioned, their dreams usually involve contributing to the
community and inspiring others. The dreams mentioned are for example to extend a fashion shop into
a fashion school, or extend an already existing set of cooking classes teaching young people to bake
cakes. Lisha describes that she has plans to revisit a slum she previously went to, accompanied by the
founder of GSWIM. This time she does not only want to discuss with young girls and to set an
example, but now she wants to be prepared to teach them some new skills within tailoring and
makeup which she is currently studying. Caroline has started up her own sharing initiative in favor for
disadvantaged mothers, girls who have dropped out of school and widows, which has already
successfully motivated at least 14 ladies to start their own business revolving around what she has
taught them, and she is mentoring even more people.
To sum up, GSWIM is described as a welcoming and supporting organization and the women are very
grateful for being part of the network. The women have clear visions and dreams and are united in the
desire to help and educate other people.
5. Analysis
The following chapter will be analysing the data in relation to the theoretical framework. The
structure follows the different themes that were presented in the matrix (see Table 1).
5.1 LTO
Long-term orientation (LTO) includes the concepts of clear goals, vision and reflections of future
development. One thing that distinguishes all the women interviewed is how easily they can describe
their future goals and dreams, which is important in the context of knowledge sharing (Turner &
Pennington, 2015). Having dreams about being able to help other people to establish new businesses
and give them different skills and education is further something the women have in common. In
GSWIM, the members express how they are aware that sharing knowledge with others will eventually
bring advantageous results – for example that, in the long run, it can improve relationships. To see the
long-term benefits of knowledge sharing is described as an important aspect by Wang and Noe
(2010).
Some of the women have not always had the entrepreneurial mindset. Two of them did for example
get into it when they lost their old job. They label the resignation as a bad thing that turned out to be a
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blessing. In other words, the women might not all have had the same goals and dreams from the
beginning. However, the people who have stayed active in GSWIM usually converge into a similar
mindset in terms of goals and are no longer afraid of dreaming big. All the women express concrete
visions of what their business looks like in five years. That is a good thing, since the more distinct the
goals are, the better it positively correlates with motivation, opportunity and ability (Turner &
Pennington, 2015). Another thing that stands out when asking the women about goals and dreams are
their clear view on what explicit goal GSWIM has. The answers are not exactly the same, but they all
agree on that women empowerment, entrepreneurship and mentorship, is the foundation of the
organization. GSWIM has succeeded in delivering their vision to each member. The feeling of
collectivism is important according to Wang and Noe (2010), in terms of knowledge sharing
behaviour, and the fellowship connected to the long-term orientation further strengthens this
correlation.
5.2 Motivation
Motivation is about personal mindset and includes the concepts of interpersonal characteristics,
inducements and trust. In this section, the level of confidence, attitude, competitive intensity and
commitment etc., will be analysed.
Most members agree that their individual characteristics have developed since becoming a member,
mainly in terms of innovativeness, teamwork and perseverance. They also jointly present that they
have learnt that sharing is important. Caroline says that along with other members sharing experience,
you get pushed to come up with things to share yourself because you do not want to be the one who
does not give back to the community. The organization commitment is high, which is a good thing in
terms of motivation degree (Wang & Noe, 2010). The wish to give back to society is mentioned as an
inducement to think bigger and outside the box. With this background, the women imply that they feel
rewarded when sharing experience. Turner and Pennington (2015) argue for that performance
outcomes or rewards are an important inducement that motivates people to share knowledge.
However, if the incentive for the women to share their experiences is only because of expectations to
do so, it might result in an environment with too high levels of individual competition. This can have
a negative effect on the knowledge sharing, according to Wang and Noe (2010). Furthermore, if you
are trying too hard to come up with something to share, it could result in stories that are excessive.
This is undesirable since you do not want to create any lack of trust between the members (Vuori,
Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). Whether this is the case in GSWIM or not is hard to conclude from the
collected data. Another thing that can prevent knowledge sharing is if a few members seem to be very
capable (Wang & Noe, 2010). If stories are being shared by members that have a lot of experience, it
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might hinder less mature women to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
Several women end the interview with asking us questions whether we have ideas on how they can
extend their business. They have the mindset that any new contact can be an opportunity or give them
new ideas. Even one of the girls, who as previously mentioned, says that she has been very reserved
and did not really feel comfortable interacting with other people before, asks us this. She says that the
network has made her more outgoing, and open for opportunities, and the questions to us demonstrate
this. This indicates that the women now have more confidence and are curious about new things.
According to Wang and Noe (2010), being curious creates higher motivation to seek knowledge from
others. Furthermore, having more confidence urges people to also distribute their existing knowledge
to others. Another thing that is repeatedly brought up during the interviews is that GSWIM have told
the women that it is possible to start with whatever you have. They have been taught to always see
opportunities and they have realized how little capital, skills, or piece of land you need to start a
business. These are a few examples of how GSWIM have changed the women's mindset, or as Turner
and Pennington (2015) express it - their willingness to act.
The ladies agree that the environment in GSWIM is very supportive. While some women say they do
not hesitate to share knowledge, some of them do. However, it seems to be for other reasons than
being afraid of not being accepted or being afraid of negative evaluations, as Wang and Noe (2010)
mention as something that decreases the motivation to participate in knowledge sharing. Rather, they
say that it is because of trading secrets or that they want to set a good example and therefore do not
share things that might make people less motivated to keep fighting. The competitive intensity is
brought up by Turner and Pennington (2015) as an aspect that affects the knowledge sharing
behaviour. The competitive intensity should not necessarily be absent, but neither should the degree
be too high. The important thing is rather that there is trust between the members and that there should
not exist suspicion of misuse of the shared knowledge (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). In the
network the women have a lot of different businesses and skills. If they were all active in the same
area, more rivalry might have been expected. For those who do act in similar areas, for example Diana
and Lisha, who are both engaged in tailoring, have shared with us that they support each other. Diana,
who is the one with more experience, has helped Lisha out when she encountered problems. As long
as the team member is honest, fair and follows principles, rivalry does not have to be a problem.
Neither does it have to affect the trust, or consecutively the motivation (Wang & Noe, 2010).
In conclusion, the levels of motivation expressed in the interviews are very high. An interesting aspect
is that the women imply that they do not have had the same degree of motivation in the beginning
when joining the network. Several stories point out for us that the extent of confidence, openness to
33
new experience and curiosity has grown. According to Wang and Noe (2010), this also means that the
motivation to engage in knowledge sharing is higher.
5.3 Opportunity
Opportunity includes the concepts of organizational structure, culture characteristics, network
attributes and attributes regarding the team. These consist of topics like for example ties within the
network, whether there is a creative climate and where decisions are taken in the organization.
A network’s knowledge sharing is more efficient if there is a decentralized organization structure
rather than a centralized one, according to Wang and Noe (2010). All women agree that they are
involved in the decision making and can come up with ideas on what to talk about during trainings
and activities. The board has significant impact, but there is plenty of room to also make your voice
heard. This indicates that GSWIM has at least some features of a decentralized organization structure.
Furthermore, the impact of management support and empowering leadership is something that results
in efficient knowledge sharing (Wang & Noe, 2010). In GSWIM, the board members are highly
involved in the activities and are willing to share their stories. The board also has good insight in the
entrepreneurs’ work and background stories and this is appreciated among the women. The board
members are said to be good at following up which indicates a supportive relationship between the
members and the board.
Many of the board members have a lot of experience of entrepreneurship and have a high educational
level. These shared characteristics make them in a way similar to the rest of the members. In the
meantime, the board gets a lot of respect. However, if they are too experienced this can drag down
the feeling of collectivism. Nevertheless, the higher level of experience can become handy since the
results of relationships, in terms of mentors and role models, can strengthen the individuals’ belief in
their own capacity (Eger, Miller & Scarles, 2018). Many of the women emphasise how Nantume, the
founder of GSWIM, is especially important to them. She is a role model and mentor for everyone,
inspires and shares her experience and ideas. Just like Wang and Noe (2010) express, the absence of
empowering leadership can have great influence on a network. The women say that the network
would not be the same without Nantume.
The culture in GSWIM is characterized by openness. You are free to think outside the box, talking
and learning from failure is encouraged and the women express that they are not afraid of not being of
not being accepted when sharing thoughts and experiences. According to Wang and Noe (2010),
cultural characteristics like these are closely related to opportunity. However, one thing that might
prevent members of a group to share knowledge, is if they consider one person not being a proper
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member of the group (Wang & Noe, 2010). This could be the case when members are continuously
added.
A global or multinational organization comes with barriers for knowledge sharing both in terms of
geographical distance, but also because differences among members might be too large in terms of
ethics, morals and values (Vuori, Helander & Mäenpää, 2019). Further, communication might be
more difficult and that is especially important for knowledge sharing. GSWIM is not multinational,
nor a global organization. But geographical distance is still an aspect in terms of the context of the
network. Not all members are from the area of Kampala, but most of them are. The founder also
mentions having dreams of a larger network, and to extend GSWIM not only in Uganda but also
internationally. These actions could add barriers, which the network does not have to conquer today.
In fact, to stay in Kampala might be preferable. Communication styles are further discussed by Wang
and Noe (2010). Seeing each other in person usually facilitates communication and comprehension
between one another. However, the women appreciate the WhatsApp conversations, since they add
continuity between the trainings which sometimes occur only every other month. However, the
WhatsApp group would not be enough without having meetings in between. If the WhatsApp group
did not exist, however, maybe there would emerge a need for more frequent meetings.
One member emphasizes that it has been valuable to have relations to women in the network that have
more experience then she has. According to Stromquist (2015), being able to learn from other people's
experience is a very important factor in building women empowerment. That the network has resulted
in many new relations and friendships is something that all the women agree on. The relationships
that have started in the network, also connect the women outside GSWIM. One woman describes how
the network has become her new family since she has no connection to her biological family. Wang
and Noe (2010) express the value of close relations inside a network and the feeling of collectivism.
There are several indicators of that the network has strong ties and that the women feel a sense of
belonging to GSWIM.
Team cohesiveness is positively associated with knowledge sharing (Wang & Noe, 2010) which
refers to the force that keeps members together. That most of the women interviewed have a
university education does not per default tell us that they come from a wealthy family. It rather tells us
that they have been fighting hard for their rights to be equal to men. The women in the network tell us
that they have been struggling more or less individually earlier in life, but now they belong to a group
that they know will watch their back. The gratefulness that the women express seems to have affected
the team cohesiveness, which in turn affects the knowledge sharing behaviour (Wang & Noe, 2010).
The fact that all the members are women might be a reason that they share the same expectations of
35
what it means to be a part of a network. This is because women in general approach networking from
an expressive perspective to a higher extent than males (Durbin, 2011). Further, similar expectations
and goals are a good prerequisite for a successful sharing network (Turner & Pennington, 2015).
The fact that the women have at least some differences in backgrounds, businesses and experience is
something that should, according to Wang and Noe (2010), not be minimized. Diversity is in general a
good thing when it comes to knowledge sharing. One requirement for being a member of GSWIM is
to be a woman. However, there are both men and women in the board of GSWIM and it is not unusual
that men are participating in the activities and trainings that GSWIM organize. Durbin (2011)
describes that being a minority based on gender correlates to less sharing of knowledge. Women in
Africa are in business associated situations always a minority, which is why platforms like GSWIM
are necessary.
None of the women have mentioned that the men have an impact on the atmosphere. However, we
cannot be sure that this is actually true. Durbin (2011) explains that a women’s network tends to be
less homophilous and broader, which might be the reason for why the members of GSWIM have no
problems with having both men and women attending the activities. Given the prerequisites of being a
women's network in Uganda, might come with advantages to have men on the board, rather than
destroying opportunities, since it might legitimize the importance of the network (Bhattacharya,
2019). However, it would probably be considered negative if the board was only consisting of males.
The board member that has the most influence on the members, according to themselves, is after all a
women, the founder Nantume.
To sum up, the level of opportunity in the network is quite high. The encouragement the members get
from the organization, combined with a lot of room for creativity and openness, indicates an
environment that creates opportunities. There are mainly two things that might indicate something
different. The first thing is that the organization could have a more decentralized strategy than they
already have, and the second is whether there are women in the network that are considered less
members than others.
5.4 Ability
According to Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa (2019), a network containing members with similar
resources, knowledge degree and time to spend, has less negative affect on knowledge sharing.
Ability includes the concepts of educational backgrounds and working experience, as well as the
built-in characteristics of knowledge. Together, these factors explain the ability to engage in
knowledge sharing activities.
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The interviewees share an interesting educational background. They all have a bachelor or a master’s
degree from university, but in many different majors. If you have a unique knowledge or expertise,
you are naturally more likely to share it (Wang & Noe, 2010). As previously mentioned, they have
more or less similar backgrounds which is positive as it affects the feeling of collectivism.
Furthermore, that they all have experience from university studies says something about the
knowledge levels. Even if the subjects might differ, the levels of knowledge can be presumed being
similar, in advantage for the knowledge sharing behaviour (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). One
specific resource that has become available for all members is, the education Nantume got from the
Capacity Building Program she attended in Sweden. The fact that she had unique knowledge might
have made her more willing to share, according to Wang and Noe (2010).
Back to the observation that all the women have at least a bachelor’s degree. This could prevent other
women that do not have a degree, to participate in the organization. At least, if there are women
without a bachelor’s degree in the network, they might be less willing to share knowledge knowing
that they have a lower educational level (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). As mentioned before,
the members describe the network as very welcoming and that everyone can be a member of GSWIM.
Nonetheless, since all the members have a higher degree, one might suspect that there is some kind of
unspoken requirement before entering the network. It will at least act as a barrier to overcome before
getting involved as a new member. However, it is not certain that it is a bad thing. Knowledge sharing
is, after all, more efficient in a group with similar knowledge degree (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa,
2019).
Except from having a similar knowledge level - money and time are two important factors of
knowledge sharing. A lot of difference in resources like money could affect the ability to share
knowledge negatively (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). It becomes clear that the women value
knowledge, as mentioned by some woman, as more valuable than temporary money. However, that
the resources in terms of financial capital differ among the women might be a problem. One of the
women explains how she has had to come up with creative solutions for even the smallest orders, to
get a proportion of the payment in advance to be able to buy material. Further, that she has previously
been staying at friends’ houses because she had no place to stay and that the founder sometimes still
helps her out if her income is not enough to get proper food. Despite this, that kind of financial
situation is not very common among the members. Nevertheless, none of the women take money for
granted but some seems to be less struggling today than others. However, it is important to all of them
to clarify that it was not always easy to pay for education, neither unquestionably or definite.
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Regarding time, it also differs among the women since some of them run their business only during
weekends. If time is scarce, some gets help from family members. But not all of them have a family to
count on as a resource. However, resources in terms of time do not concern the women. Not a single
one of the women interviewed complained about the lack of time, instead they explain how they make
it work though having the tightest schedule. Though the time resources differ, which affects the ability
in a negative manner (Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa, 2019), they seem to have similar views of the
importance of time. The ones with more time to put on their business do not see that as an excuse to
become lazy. Additionally, no matter how tight their schedules are, the women prioritize coming to
the meetings of GSWIM. That they value time similarly might reduce the negative effect that time
disparity has on the degree of ability (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019).
One thing that distinguishes the women is that they all have specific skills and that they are eager to
teach whoever shows an interest in what they do. Teaching each other new skills is not considered
difficult, but teaching someone to completely carry on with their business might be harder. Some say
that it could work but that the person taking over needs to have at least some passion to make it
successful. The built-in characteristics of knowledge affects in which extent the knowledge is shared
(Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). Most of the women’s businesses are connected to creativity or
producing, rather than in the area of which they have studied at the university. This indicates that the
skills connected to the business areas are not complex. Since the barriers get higher along with the
complexity of knowledge (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019), the barriers would be higher if the
businesses would involve for example law firms or be related to medicine. However, the knowledge
needed in their businesses could be considered being tacit knowledge, meaning that you have to
actually try it out rather than reading an explanation before you can learn. That makes the sharing
more difficult according to Vuori, Helander and Maenpaa (2019). Despite that, the knowledge shared
is not considered critical to share and does not involve secrecy, to the knowledge sharing behaviour´s
advantage (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). Also, most of the knowledge that is shared within the
network is about customer care, marketing and branding, which is something all the members work
with on a daily basis. Therefore, whether the women have businesses containing tacit or explicit
knowledge, might not be too important in the sense of knowledge sharing.
Except for barriers like the ones mentioned above, ability is promoted by pro-entrepreneurial
organizational networks (Turner & Pennington, 2015). The GSWIM network provides access and
freedom of action to engage in knowledge sharing activities, which Turner and Pennington (2015)
defines as a pro-entrepreneurial network. Differences in education, time and experience are barriers
that could result in poor communication skills (Vuori, Helander & Maenpaa, 2019). Even if
communication issues are not what is depicted by the women interviewed, the ability to engage in
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knowledge sharing could probably be even higher if all members had similar time resources, for
example. Same goes for the knowledge. If they were all educated in the same area and ran their
business in the same industry, more detailed knowledge could be shared. The degree of ability in the
GSWIM network today is neither low or high, but somewhere in between.
5.5 Supportive organizations
Supportive organizations include the concepts of social support and mentorship. Social support and
empowerment of women is closely related to each other according to Kiani, Aghamohammadi and
Zafari (2018). All of the women explain how important it has been with follow-up by the board
members, and that it has been a crucial aspect of their success that they have felt pushed by GSWIM
to always do and achieve more. It is also mentioned that this is what makes the GSWIM network
different from other ones, wherefore GSWIM seems to have a high level of social support. Robb,
Valerio and Parton (2014) confirm that programs like GSWIM needs to be specifically tailored to its
participants and their backgrounds to be successful.
GSWIM has only existed for approximately two years but have a lot of experience compared to
similar organizations, according to the women. The connections of GSWIM are wider and they are
good at promoting and market themselves through different platforms. Also, even if the network is
mainly providing indirect support, they do invest something in their members for taking their time.
For example, by buying them a nice meal for some of the meetings or they make sure to get finance
enough to perform trainings at some kind of facility like a hotel. Making investments in social support
for women, can be seen as an investment for future generations according to by Kiani,
Aghamohammadi and Zafari (2018). GSWIM perform indirect support in terms of being a platform
for valuable connections. Even if most of the women say that they have not received any particular
help from the society, there are exceptions. A lot of speakers share their contact information and are
willing to connect members with people in their networks. Several women have been connected to the
government through this kind of networking and have received support from them in how to construct
their business. Some have even got financial support from the government. That is an example of that
indirect support, such as knowledge sharing and networking, from supporting organizations, can be as
important as financial support (Guma, 2015).
Stromquist (2015) says that state-led schools are not always a safe space for women, and that not all
life skills needed might be taught there. He also points out that non-formal educations sometimes do
better in terms of empowerment and knowledge creation. All of our interviewees have been educated
at university level, and no one has mentioned regretting doing so. However, it might tell us something
that very few of them are actually working in the area of their university education and that they still
39
feel the need of participating in a non-formal education program like GSWIM. That non-formal
educations can be efficient is also presented by Robb, Valerio and Parton (2014). However, they
emphasize that what is rarely included, but necessary to teach, is the entrepreneurial mindset. On this
point, GSWIM has succeeded.
Robb, Valerio and Parton (2014) emphasizes on the desire for business community mentorship as one
of the crucial factors to successful empowerment through entrepreneurship. It becomes clear when
speaking to the women, that some people are acting more like mentors both within the network and
also outside GSWIM. Through mentorship, and what they have learned about mentorship in GSWIM,
the women also contribute to the situation for women in Uganda on their own and make a difference
for empowerment. Further, GSWIM is good at attracting members to stay for a longer term. When
there is a diverse mix of old and new members, mentorship seems to be a natural result.
In general, the women's descriptions about the GSWIM network have similar characteristics. The
reasons for why they are a part of the network are in some ways different, and in some ways similar.
However, they all seem to be very appreciative and grateful.
6. Discussion
The following section will consist of a discussion about the outputs that needs to be further examine.
Further, a final section deals with GSWIM in the context of empowerment. Thereafter, the thesis ends
with conclusions and suggestions for further research.
Since motivation, opportunity and ability exist, so does the knowledge sharing behaviour. However,
what is more interesting is the efficiency of the knowledge sharing, which depends on the levels of
each factor respectively. Even though they have now been analysed separately, the most important
thing is that none of the components have been left out. There are many aspects that indicates that
GSWIM facilitates the knowledge sharing behaviour. However, there are a few outcomes that deserve
some extra attention.
6.1 Follow-up, motivation and team cohesiveness
The board members of GSWIM seem to be of great importance when it comes to the network’s
supportive environment. The women especially mention the board’s work with following up as
something positive. Following up was also mentioned during the interview with Bhattacharya (2019).
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She says that follow-ups has been the focal point in the Capacity Building Programs in Sweden.
Nantume went back to Uganda and performed her project that involved developing the existing
GSWIM network in Uganda, with Bhattacharya as a mentor. What might have been the case was that
Nantume learned and understood the importance of follow-up in Sweden, which she took advantage
of and applied in her own network for when she herself is mentoring others. The chain of knowledge
sharing seems to work.
The level of motivation in the network of GSWIM is considered to be very high. All the members feel
responsible to play an important part for the total success of the network and they have a strong belief
in the power of sharing knowledge. The full name of the network is Grooming a Successful Woman
with an Intellectual Mind. The correlation between success and knowledge is already a part of the
title, and they have accomplished to make the women believe in it. During trainings and activities
there is plenty of scheduled time for brainstorming, sharing failure as well as success, to speak about
barriers and together they discuss how to overcome them. The overall impression is that the activities
GSWIM has offered the women an increase in the extent of confidence, openness to new experience
and curiosity.
The team cohesiveness of the network stands out, with its positive associations with knowledge
sharing. All the women express how they have been fighting hard for their rights to be equal to men.
In GSWIM, there are only women from Uganda and all of them somehow share a background with
inequalities and oppression. A network for entrepreneurial women in a western country would
probably not have as much team cohesiveness as the GSWIM network in Uganda because of this. The
force that keeps women in Uganda together is probably stronger, and the feeling of collectivism of
greater importance. The degree of each component in the MOA model and surrounding LTO-concept
is fairly high, and so is the knowledge sharing. However, there are room for improvements.
6.2 Increased ability, the role of male and females, and new members
On the subject of education levels several perspectives exist, one of them being communication styles.
The women are well educated, but in a lot of different areas. If they were all educated in the same area
and ran their business in the same industry, more detailed knowledge could probably be shared and
communication might be facilitated. In the meantime, it might contribute to getting stuck thinking in
old ways, while a mix of business areas allows you to think outside the box. However, having more
equal resources would increase the degree of ability.
Regarding what could have been done differently, we would like to get back to the discussion of
diversity in the network and whether the presence of male board members in a women's network is
41
good or bad. However, there are several potential reasons for why the women would not mention if
they would prefer not having men present. One thing is that they are so used to the presence of men in
higher positions, that they are not aware of the benefits that might occur if the board would only
consist of women. Another reason is that the men actually do have an impact, to an extent where the
women know that if they would be questioning their positions it might result in consequences. A third
reason is that they do prefer having the males present since it means a lot to have their support. If the
men do not abuse their powerful position of being on the board, it is probably not a problem. Instead,
they might only contribute with a diverse perspective. You could interpret that having men on the
board as a good thing since it is, especially in Africa, a way to legitimize the network. Just by being
present, they prove that having women entrepreneurs is important, and that a network on their behalf
is worth spending time on. From the data we got, we are fairly certain that, in this case, having the
male members in the board is a good thing.
Regardless of the sex of the board members, having a more decentralized organization structure
would make a difference for the knowledge sharing. However, the network is currently facing an
interesting set of restructuring in a near future. The main adjustments are that the founder is going to
quit her job to start working full time with the GSWIM network, the organization is turning into an
NGO and they will get a brand new office. What happens to the organizational structure, and how it
affects the knowledge sharing behaviour when the organization turns into an NGO, remains to be seen
(It is today registered as a company which doesn't bring in any money. It is completely financed by
other activities under the same company name) (Nantume, 2020).
In GSWIM, not only old members are supposed to share their ideas but also the new ones. The
network is built on the sharing initiative as well as mutual effort. You are probably nervous to do so
when being new to the network but if you do not perform, the balance might become unstable. Also, if
the incentive for the women to share their experiences is only because of expectations to do so, it
might result in an environment with too high levels of individual competition. However, one
indication of an open environment is that one of the oldest members says that she really enjoys and
appreciates when new members arrive. She says that it is when new members share their ideas the
organization grows and moves forward. It would have been a problem if old members saw newcomers
as a threat. From what has been brought to light for us, it seems like the opposite of a hostile
environment in the network. The two women we had interviews with that were not members of
GSWIM from the very beginning, said that they easily became a part of the network. In conclusion, to
do a proper closure of the subject we would need a broader width of data to analyse. All of the women
we have been talking to are very active members.
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The new prerequisites could allow the network to grow bigger. Naturally, the growth of the network is
desirable, but it can in the meantime affect the culture and trust and in turn the knowledge sharing.
One alternative to examine is if it would make a difference if new members would only be welcome,
all at the same time, for instance twice a year. The group might become more stable and trust could be
built if you always knew which members would take part in the activities. However, this solution
might prevent mixed groups of old and new members to initiate. Most likely, new relationships would
mainly be established among “newly added members”.
6.3 GSWIM in the context of empowerment
The major outcomes of the network are closely related to knowledge sharing. The women express that
they think they will never feel ready to leave the network as complete and flawless entrepreneurs.
Instead, they express how they always learn something new when participating in meetings. Further,
we have been told that their new knowledge does not only come from the more experienced women,
mentors or role models within the network. Additionally, they get new insights from the new
members. Since every member is supposed to share ideas and thoughts from the very beginning, the
new members are the ones who adds new perspectives and makes the network move forward.
What the network has achieved is more than helping women to overcome barriers of women
entrepreneurship. They have strengthened their confidence and belief in their own capacity. The
women themselves seem to be overwhelmed with these insights to the point that they have started
their own sharing initiatives in their local villages. While we thought this thesis was supposed to study
the last link in the chain of knowledge sharing, we have been proven that GSWIM is not the last but
rather a middle link. Further, the women we thought were going to be the end users have become just
another link that continues sharing what they have been taught.
All of the women have a university degree but few of them are working within the area of their
studies. Even if the women do not seem to regret their studies at university, the informal education
they get from GSWIM could be considered even more valuable. At least, it makes a difference for
their income and financial empowerment. Most of the women tells us that they are struggling less
today, even if they still do not take money for granted. Especially in Africa, cash will always be an
inducement and of great importance. However, the individuals in GSWIM express another long-term
benefit of engaging in knowledge sharing. Along with improved relationships, and the power of
collective effort, together they make a difference on the gender equality issues in Uganda.
Supportive organizations exist in various sizes, and some put special focus on addressing and
supporting the link between women entrepreneurship and women empowerment (Guma, 2015). The
43
GSWIM network is quite small, but nevertheless it has inspired women, increased knowledge sharing,
and meant something for women empowerment in Uganda.
7 Conclusions
The aim for this study was to increase our understanding of knowledge sharing within an
entrepreneurial network. We were also meant to do so with a gender perspective. The questions that
were to be answered revolved around how the GSWIM activities facilitate the knowledge sharing
among the women. We also wanted to analyse what aspects are crucial in terms of improved
knowledge sharing behaviour in GSWIM.
The final conclusion of this thesis is that there are a lot of things in GSWIM that are facilitating the
knowledge sharing behaviour. GSWIM motivate, inspire and are proficient in communicating the
value of sharing knowledge. Through a welcoming and supportive environment where they push and
follow-up on each other, among members as well as from the boards page, a culture is created where
opportunities can be utilized. The force that keeps the women in GSWIM together is strong, and the
feeling of collectivism is of great importance.
Some aspects are crucial, meaning that if they would be changed it might have positive consequences.
The first thing to point out is that the ability could be increased through for example having more
equal resources available. If the knowledge that is shared were more explicit rather than tacit, the
sharing would be facilitated. Further, the consequences of having a majority of, or solely, women on
the board would be interesting. Having a more decentralised structure could increase the level of
knowledge sharing. Last but not least, in the network today there might be some members that are
considered less members than others.
However, the fact that they have created a platform for women to meet and that they are pro-
entrepreneurial, providing access and freedom of action to engage in knowledge sharing activities, are
the very first prerequisites for successful knowledge sharing. Thereafter, that the long-term orientation
is well implemented among the members is vital. That is, along with the team cohesiveness, probably
two of the network’s major assets.
7.1 Further research
Being able to observe the interactions between the women in the network would have been valuable
for this thesis. That would have given us the opportunity to present a more multilateral and useful
exposition. Further, the interactions between men and women could have been studied. We cannot be
44
certain of what the situation would look like without having men involved in the network, since they
have been a part of the board from the start. In an extended version of this thesis it would have been
interesting, not only to be present and observe the dynamics, but to also interview one of the male
board members. Asking questions about their objectives and why they are a part of this board, would
definitely add a dimension to the discussions.
The discussion of meeting frequency is a topic in question especially now when there are changes to
be made for the network. Theoretically, more frequent meetings could create more opportunities to
engage in knowledge sharing, and at the same time probably affect the communication styles. Having
more frequent meetings could probably be possible now when the organization will get an office and
when the founder will work full time with GSWIM. Along with the new prerequisites the network can
probably also be allowed to grow bigger, and the structure might become more decentralized. Further
research could be interesting to do for example a year from now, to be able to compare the
differences. The network will get more resources and when turning into an NGO, more cooperation
and support from outside will be made possible. What will be the major outcomes of these changes?
What will be lost? Will the network grow in number of members, and will that change the
environment and culture that exists today? There are a lot of questions to be asked and evaluations to
be made.
45
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Appendix
Preparatory notes for meeting with Alexandra Bhattacharya (WIPO) -
November 29th 2019
1. About us and our project
○ This is our project: knowledge sharing process. Our backgrounds.
2. About Alexandra
○ What does it mean to be a mentor for GSWIM? Bhattacharya
○ What is your previous connection to them? Have you been visiting?
○ Have you always been a part of the Capacity Building Program like now, coming to
visit in Sweden?
○ Capacity Building Program, when and how did it all start? Whose initiative was it?
○ Describe the role you have at WIPO, partly you are an expert within IP and gender?
3. About Uganda
○ Any recommendations, lessons learnt from previous known field studies?
○ Do WIPO have someone with special knowledge of Uganda?
○ Are you a mentor for other projects in Uganda?
4. Interviews/field study
○ The areas we would like to focus on while interviewing the women in GSWIM and
the network around it is there view of
i. the different activities the network offers
ii. the relationship between the members
iii. the value of being in a network and what consequences it may have on their
businesses
○ Considered the theme, can you see any ethical shortcomings that might occur while
interviewing women in Uganda about these subjects?
○ Having previous experience working with projects in LDC´s. Anything we should
prepare for in particular? LDC = least developed countries
○ What kind of businesses do you think we should put focus on?
○ Regarding interviewing in groups or individually, what do you think is to prefer?
49
○ We’ve been looking into ethical research permits. Do you think this will be needed
for a project of 2 months? we know previous students who needed it for refugee
camps in Uganda. But for our project..?
○ To what extent do they understand English? Has it ever been a problem for you with
communication to GSWIM?
Questions that might be sensitive to ask Nantume. Could be valuable when formulating
interview questions. In order to understand the organization better before our trip to Uganda
and GSWIM, we have some questions about GSWIM as a network.
○ What is your idea and experience of it?
○ GSWIM network, do you know what kind of relationships exists between the
women?
○ What do you know of the socio-economic status for the women in the network?
○ What kind of conditions do women in the network have? What is their background?
Do the women in the network GSWIM have a special background or are they like
most of the women in Uganda?
5. Our project will focus on knowledge sharing as you might know by now…
○ Do you have any factors that you consider as more successful/ important when it
comes to knowledge sharing. (Given special circumstances of LDC)
○ What is your view of the knowledge sharing process/chain within this project?
○ What kind of tools do you want to share through Capacity Development Programs?
○ What purpose is the most important one for you? What is your focus? What do you
want to achieve?
○ We agree that IP can be used as a tool for growth and development. How does it work
practically?
○ How successful would you say that this project has been?
50
Interview template - preparations for interview with Lilian Nantume
Preparatory questions April 7th 2020
1. Background
○ within business
○ education
○ the idea of GSWIM
○ main source of income
○ Private
i. Family
ii. Age
iii. Childhood?
iv. Daily life?
2. [Trying to create understanding for prerequisites existing in Kampala, especially for women ]
○ The situation for women
○ Education/work possibilities for women
○ The family (relationship within the family and how the average family look like)
3. [Inducements behind GSWIM]
○ How did it all started?
○ What is the main driving force?
○ Why is there a need for an organization like GSWIM?
○ Explain the structure of GSWIM, the management?
○ Who are the members of the organization
i. Explain the women
ii. Their businesses?
iii. Their background (same as the average women in Uganda/Kampala?)
iv. What kind of support do the women have from their families and the society?
v. What is required of the women involved in the organization?
vi. Can any women with interest take part in GSWIM?
vii. How do they find GSWIM?
4. [Try to get a deeper understanding of the activities organized by GSWIM]
○ Explain the activities
i. How often?
ii. How much?
iii. What are the activities?
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iv. Where are they taking place?
v. How many women are taking part?
vi. Do the women take part of every session?
○ How are the women taking part?
i. Listening, doing, talking, performing, sharing…?
○ What are the subjects/themes of the different activities?
i. Who takes the decision of what to discuss/learn more about?
ii. Impact from the members?
Pilot Interview April 14th 2020
5. [What is Lilian's interpretation of the atmosphere within GSWIM]
Motivation
○ Is there a supportive environment between the women?
○ Can the women share/express themself as they like with a feeling of being accepted?
○ Do they have equal goals and dreams with their business?
○ Can the women within GSWIM say whatever they like?
Opportunity
○ How do the women know each other?
i. Relationships from before?
ii. Contact outside the network? Do you meet with members on private
occasions? Are there members that socialize outside the network?
iii. Activities in order to get to know each other?
○ Do the women in GSWIM have similar backgrounds?
i. Education?
ii. Business?
iii. Relationship to families?
iv. Age?
v. Geographical?
vi. Income level?
○ What is the view on learning by doing/failure?
i. Do you talk about failure?
ii. Are the women positive to share these experiences?
52
○ What do the women contribute with to the network?
○ Leadership? Are there any members that act more like mentors/leaders in the
organization?
Ability
○ [A lot of background questions are already asked earlier in the interview]
i. How much time do the women spend on their business?
ii. What are the alternatives to having their own business?
iii. Is there a lot of skills and talent within the network? How is it shared?
(Examples?)
LTO
○ Is there any stated goals for the organization?
○ What is the main reason, according to Lilian, of being a part of GSWIM?
○ How do you wanna develop the organization?
○ How much input do you get from the women?
Supportive organizations
○ How is the support from other organizations?
i. the government?
ii. NGOs?
○ Are you taking part in any other supportive organizations?
53
Interview template - interview questions for the women
(Questions with an asterisk might be unprioritized due to time limitations)
● Recording ok?
● Feel free to cancel at any time during the interview
1) Before GSWIM
● Background
○ Name
○ Age
○ Type of business
○ What is your educational background?
● Individual
○ What is the main reason for you being an entrepreneur?
○ Have you had previous work experience before becoming an entrepreneur?
○ How much time do you spend on your business? *
○ Is it easy to teach someone else to carry on with your business?
○ What kind of support do you get from your family and the society?
2) The first time of GSWIM
○ For how long have you been involved in GSWIM?
○ How did you find GSWIM?*
○ Was it easy to be a new member of GSWIM?
3) How does the network work?
● Atmosphere
○ Is there a supportive environment between the women of GSWIM?
○ Is there room for innovative thinking within GSWIM? *
○ Would you ever hesitate to share your experience within the network? Why?
○ Do you talk about failure with members of GSWIM?
○ Can you participate in decision making in the network? Otherwise, who decides? *
○ What does the management contribute to within GSWIM. *
54
● Ties/relations
○ Are there any members acting more like mentors? *
○ Can you describe your relation to the other network members?
○ Do you consider yourself being equal to the rest of the members?
○ Do you have similar knowledge/resources as the other members?
4) What has the membership in GSWIM contributed to?
○ What has been the major outcome of being a part of GSWIM? (Business)
○ Have you developed as a person since you became a member of GSWIM? How?
○ Have you established new relations within the network? *
○ Have you taught someone else in the network something from your own experience?
Have you learned something from someone?
5) Future
○ Do you consider yourself having equal goals and dreams as the other members in
GSWIM?
○ Explain what your business will look like in 5 years.
○ Is there an explicit goal within the organization that you are aware of? *
6) Other (Might be asked through email if not enough time)
○ Do you get support from anywhere else?
○ (If other experiences, supportive organization or formal education) What is the main
difference from other experiences compared to GSWIM?