Female Entrepreneurial Networks in a Historical Perspective: The Case of Industrie Femminili Italiane (I.F.I.) at the Beginning of 20th Century

Studies on female businesses in a historical perspective has developed in recent times, but, with some exceptions, the international panorama of studies on businesswomen in non-Anglo-Saxon nations remains hidden. Moreover, in the analysis of the history of businesswomen, emerges the necessity of understanding the historical context within which the phenomenon developed. Recent studies has highlighted that to measure the success of a female entrepreneurship initiative it is central the influence of personal perceptions. This is not only required to get over “self-imposed barriers” or recognize opportunities, but also to model rules. So, developing skills and knowledge seems to be essential to support female businesses and to increase women’s personal awareness, and the presence of a network could significantly affect the success of female business experiences. This paper has the aim to analyse the role of a network in the development of female business experiences through the study of the Industrie Femminili Italiane (I.F.I.) (Italian Women’s Cooperative Enterprise), founded in 1903 in Rome to promote women's work and their economic conditions. It was established as a cooperative enterprise, operating in the lace-manufacturing sector. At the beginning of twentieth century, I.F.I. included 24 Italian enterprises located in different regions. Manufactured products were delivered to Rome headquarters and then distributed all over the world. This paper is based on social capital theory and on the role of knowledge of network in facilitating female entrepreneurship. This study focuses on the impact that social relationship between the cooperatives belonging to I.F.I. has on the acquisition of an awareness of entrepreneurial talent for Italian businesswomen at the beginning of the twentieth century. This study is based on the historical analysis of collected data and sources. The analysis of the context also adopts a historicist approach, which suggests that every treatment accounts for culture, events and practices of the period under examination.