Networking: Gender differences and the association with firm performance

This study had two primary objectives. First, to determine whether there are any systematic networking diffesrences between male and female SME owners. Second, to determine if there is an association between networking and firm performance, for both male- and female-controlled SMEs. The results of examining 2,919 male- and 181 female-controlled SMEs (with at least one employee) over a three-year period suggest little difference in the networks accessed by male and female SME owners after controlling for education, experience, industry, age and size. The results also indicate that several formal and informal networks are positively associated with firm survival but only formal networks appear to be associated with growth. In particular, accessing an external accountant is associated with survival and growth for both male- and female-controlled SMEs.