Title: Networking as a business strategy among Brazilian female transnational entrepreneurs in Germany

Authors: Victoria B. de C. Cunha; Thiago Cavalcante Nascimento; Roberto Pessoa de Queiroz Falcão; Eduardo Picanço Cruz

Addresses: Department of Management and Economics, Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR), Rebouças, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil ' Department of Management and Economics, Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR), Rebouças, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil ' School of Applied Social Sciences, Universidade do Grande Rio (Unigranrio), Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ' Department of Entrepreneurship and Management, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Centro, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: Despite rising scholarly interest in European migration trends, the gendered nature of transnational networks within the Brazilian diasporic entrepreneurship phenomenon remains under-researched. We address this gap by analysing how Brazilian migrant women entrepreneurs use transnational networking to overcome structural barriers to the creation and development of their enterprises in Germany while also introducing changes from/in their country of origin. With extensive evidence collected from 47 interviews, we use neo-institutional elements to showcase the dynamics of growing transnational networking as a strategy in a processual mindset. Adopting this institutional approach to gendered relations in business, we provide insights into the principles governing female connections in transnational entrepreneurship, as well as examine agency potential to contest top-down structures found in the countries of origin and destination. Implications for international management concern the dual inter-dependency of diaspora governance and migration integration governance.

Keywords: international entrepreneurship; female entrepreneurship; co-ethnic networks; MSMEs; market structures; institutions; cultural sensemaking; business strategy; global south-north relationship.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.144616

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.25 No.3/4, pp.399 - 440

Received: 22 Jul 2023
Accepted: 22 Feb 2024
Published online: 25 Feb 2025 *

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