Title: HRM competencies of women entrepreneurs in network marketing: a study on the influencing factors and their relationships on success

Authors: Sitalakshmi Venkatraman; Raveendranath Ravi Nayak

Addresses: School of Science, IT and Engineering, University of Ballarat, P.O. Box 663, Ballarat Vic. 3353, Australia ' The Business School, University of Ballarat, P.O. Box 663, Ballarat Vic. 3353, Australia

Abstract: There is scarcity of research that examines the importance of HRM competencies, influencing factors and their relationships with respect to successful personnel retention in network marketing. Since women entrepreneurs form major participants in the network marketing firms worldwide, the significant rise in their attrition rate requires prime attention. This study aims to explore the influence of HRM competencies on the retention rate of women entrepreneurs in network marketing. We developed a research model to test four relevant hypotheses using theoretical foundations. The paper draws upon a survey-based data collected from more than 400 women entrepreneurs. Statistical K-means clustering and classification tree modelling techniques have been used for data analysis. This study has unearthed six main reasons for the high attrition rate of women entrepreneurs in network marketing. The results confirm significant differences among the factors of HRM competences and degrees of influence on retention of women entrepreneurs in network marketing.

Keywords: network marketing; HRM competencies; women entrepreneurs; attrition rate; HRM female entrepreneurs; human resource management; personnel retention; K-means clustering; classification tree modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2014.057950

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2014 Vol.8 No.1, pp.69 - 106

Published online: 07 Jun 2014 *

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