Woman to woman empowerment in the corporate environment of Eswatini

Abstract

This study was pursued to find and establish characteristics of woman-to-woman empowerment in the corporate world of Eswatini and how these characteristics may contribute to economic redevelopment and business growth. Women empowerment has been the conversation for a while but there have been little said about women empowering each other and how that benefits an organisation. With women having been the marginalised group in society, this study sought to find what women are doing to empower each other, what hinderances they face in the journey, and what benefit they bring to business by empowering each other. The research was conducted based on transformational leadership theory and behavioural leadership theory, linking it to the shine theory. The research followed the qualitative research design with a focus on interpretivism and the narrative type of research study, data was collected through interviews from a sample of 15 women who occupy different levels of authority within their organisations. The data collected was then coded utilising thematic analysis and to develop the overarching themes of the study. The key findings were that there were still a few women represented in positions of power in the country which in effect led to the difficulty in evaluating woman-to-woman empowerment and the benefits it has yielded for organisations. The women that were found to be involved in empowering activities, were involved in such outside of their organisations mostly directed to young girls and then a few to women in professional groupings. The study concluded that because women are still underrepresented in leadership, it is important for company executives, men included, to advocate for and foster beneficial relationship amongst the women at all levels of their organisations by encouraging fellow female empowerment as the inclusion of women in leadership brings about diversity in decision making which benefits the organisation