Thesis

Entrepreneurial knowledge resources and rural women entrepreneurs in Oman : acquisition, intermediation, and impacts.

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2026
Thesis identifier
  • T18082
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202054676
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Entrepreneurial knowledge (EK) refers to the accumulated skills, insights, and understanding that enable entrepreneurs to recognise, evaluate, and exploit business opportunities. Entrepreneurship knowledge is a strategic pathway for business and capabilities development among entrepreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Yet, despite policy rhetoric, empirical evidence on how rural women entrepreneurs acquire, internalise, and utilise entrepreneurial knowledge resources remains underdeveloped, particularly in Oman. Existing literature tends to focus on urban entrepreneurs, university students, or start-ups, leaving a significant gap in understanding the lived realities of established women entrepreneurs in rural, resource-constrained contexts. This thesis addresses this gap by critically investigating how entrepreneurial knowledge is acquired and internalised, the role of intermediaries in facilitating access to entrepreneurial knowledge, and the impacts of entrepreneurial knowledge resources utilisation on business practices, thereby extending theoretical, methodological, and empirical debates in rural entrepreneurship studies. The study is theoretically anchored in the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Constructivist Learning Theory (LT). RBV frames entrepreneurial knowledge as a strategic resource that can be valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN), while LT provides a lens to explore how entrepreneurial knowledge is acquired and internalised through experiential, social, vicarious, and self-regulated learning. Integrating these perspectives allows for a dynamic analysis of how entrepreneurial knowledge is constructed, mediated, and transformed into entrepreneurial capabilities within challenging institutional and cultural environments. The conceptual framework, structured around Rea’s (2005) dimensions of know-what, know-who, and know-how, advances existing theory by positioning entrepreneurial knowledge as both contextually grounded and continuously reconstructed through iterative learning processes. Methodologically, the study employs a triangulated, mixed-methods design, capturing both breadth and depth. Data were collected from 141 rural women entrepreneurs across Oman through surveys, in-depth interviews (15 across two phases), online observation (three WhatsApp groups with 85–593 members each), and WhatsApp-based focus groups (three groups with 11 participants in total). The innovative use of digital ethnography—particularly observations of WhatsApp groups—extends conventional qualitative approaches by enabling access to hard-to-reach populations and providing real-time insights into how entrepreneurs exchange entrepreneurial knowledge, seek advice, and develop strategies. This methodological innovation responds to calls for new tools to study entrepreneurial learning in informal and dispersed communities and demonstrates the value of blending traditional and digital methods. The findings reveal three critical insights. First, entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition among rural women is predominantly shaped by informal and practice-based approaches (e.g., social, vicarious, and self-regulated learning) rather than structured institutional programmes (e.g., experiential learning). Women rely heavily on family networks, peer observations, and digital platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp to acquire and internalise entrepreneurial knowledge. While experiential learning is not accessible, social, vicarious, and self-regulated learning are increasingly crucial, enabling women to bypass geographic, social, and cultural barriers to access entrepreneurial knowledge. Second, the role of entrepreneurial intermediaries is both enabling and limiting. Government, academic institutions, and corporate-led initiatives provide important entry points to resources, yet their reach remains urban-centric and often gender-neutral, leaving rural women dependent on local intermediaries and NGOs. This highlights the structural inequities that constrain equal access to entrepreneurial knowledge. Third, the utilisation of entrepreneurial knowledge resources has impacts on business practices. Rural women entrepreneurs translate acquired entrepreneurial knowledge into operational practices, decision-making, and manage business processes. Overall, this thesis contributes theoretically by integrating RBV and LT to explain how entrepreneurial knowledge resources are acquired, internalised, utilised, and impact business practices in marginalised contexts. It contributes methodologically by employing a mixed-methods approach and pioneering the use of WhatsApp-based focus groups and digital ethnography in rural entrepreneurship research. Empirically, it advances understanding of how rural women entrepreneurs in Oman acquire, internalise, and utilise entrepreneurial knowledge resources, revealing the interplay between individual agency, intermediaries, and structural constraints. By filling a critical gap in the Omani and wider MENA literature, the study offers both scholarly insights and practical recommendations for designing inclusive, gender-sensitive, and contextually grounded strategies that enhance women’s entrepreneurial capabilities and business practices.
Advisor / supervisor
  • McMillan, Carolyn
  • MacBryde, Jill C.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2025

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