Masters Degrees (Entrepreneurship)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/15166

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Critical success factors of female entrepreneurs in maledominated spaces: An exploratory study of the logistics sector in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2023) Dladla, Nompilo Sharon.; Derera, Evelyn.
This study examines the key success factors of female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study explores the five key success factors of financial capital, human capital, innovation, social capital and work-life balance, to understand the lived experiences of females in the logistics sector. This research is qualitative as it gathers in-depth insights from 15 female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector in Pietermaritzburg and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa using the snowball sampling technique. The physical and virtual in-depth interviews which lasted approximately 45 minutes were conducted during May to July 2022. The interviews were transcribed and recorded by the researcher. Data was analysed using NVIVO 12 software. The findings revealed that financial capital, human capital, innovation, social capital and work-life balance enhances the success of female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector. In terms of financial capital, most females reinvested their profit into the businesses and skills development. Human capital assisted the females to develop stakeholder relations, self-confidence, business innovation which led to improved business performance. Although social capital is crucial for the success of female entrepreneurs, their networking abilities were limited by male dominance in the sector and barriers such as sexual harassment and inability to grasp business lingo used in the sectors. Lastly, achieving work-life balance proved to be challenging to female entrepreneurs due to the multiple roles and responsibilities expected of them. Nonetheless, the females developed survival strategies which include effective time management, good communication and setting boundaries between work and family responsibilities. Having a good support system from family members or a spouse is essential to achieving work-life balance. This improves business productivity, promotes creativity and good mental health. This study, therefore, concludes that the five key success factors enhance the success of female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector. Consequently, the study recommends that the government should continue to prioritise and reduce bureaucratic requirements for female entrepreneur support programs. The government and the private sector are encouraged to prioritise female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector by outsourcing business from them and by contributing a portion of their corporate social responsibility towards programs that support female entrepreneurship. Future research studies should consider conducting a comparative study of female and male entrepreneurs in different male dominated spaces such as construction and engineering to examine the success factors and draw possible learnings for better representation and advancement of gender equality. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on female entrepreneurship in maledominated spaces. The study is valuable to policymakers who are instrumental in enacting and implementing gender policy. The study acknowledges its limitation in that it gathered data from a sample of 15 female entrepreneurs. Therefore, the study results cannot be generalised to female entrepreneurs in the logistics sector in Pietermaritzburg and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. However, the study laid a foundation for future studies on the subject.
The significance of microfinance in the growth of small and medium enterprises in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
(2022) Makekita, Renate Ntumpi.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Despite the recognised potential of South African small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in addressing the socio-economic issues, access to microfinance services has always been one of the major challenges faced by most SMEs in the country, which hinders their growth and development. To determine the financial and nonfinancial options provided by microfinance institutions and how they influence growth of SMEs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The study focuses on the microfinancing options available for the development of SMEs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The study adopted a descriptive research approach. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 153 SMEs’ owners and managers, identified randomly. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 were used to analyse data. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used to test for independence or association of categorical variables to determine the relationship between variables that form the basis of the study. The study revealed that a significant number of SMEs are not gaining access to microfinance whilst a limited number do and are experiencing growth. SMEs obtained financial assistance in the form of loans to start-up their businesses. Significant nonfinancial assistance accessed by SMEs from microfinance institutions included business plan writing and business governance. SMEs faced challenges of lack of awareness, employment formality and nationality constraints in accessing microfinance services. The chi-square test results reveal that significant growth is influenced by age, level of education, type of business, motivation of opening business, and access to MFIs.
Responsible and sustainable business practices: An empirical study of KwaZulu-Natal-based small and medium enterprises.
(2021) Dlamini, Andile.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Historically, responsible and sustainable business practices have been mostly associated with large companies, not only in developing countries, but all around the world. However, since the joint sitting of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, embracing sustainable development has become paramount for all businesses regardless of their size. South Africa is one of the most prominent countries in Africa. In the past decades, it has undergone massive social and economic developments (increased large-scale trade, infrastructure developments, increase in industrialisation, technological advancements, etc.). Consequently, these developments have highly accelerated the severity of social and environmental deteriorations in the country. South African businesses now face unprecedented challenges such as climate change, environment degradation, scarcity of resources, etc. These challenges force businesses to implement more responsible business practices to support the current rapid pace of economic growth. In most developing countries, there is limited concrete evidence on the adoption of sustainable and responsible business practices, particularly in the small business sector. Previous studies have poorly highlighted the role of SMEs in social and environmental responsibility. This study sheds light on the dynamics of SMEs with regard to social and environmental engagement through viable business practices. This study has, among other key objectives, discussed the barriers that deter SMEs from becoming responsible enterprises and examined the key drivers behind SMEs’ engagement in responsible social and environmental undertakings. The Stakeholder theoretical framework has been the key guide for this study. A non-systematic literature review was conducted, where insights were drawn from a wide range of available secondary sources such as journal articles, books chapters, peer-reviewed publications research papers and online articles. Quantitative primary data were collected by means of a selfadministered survey instrument. A total sample size of 333 SMEs within the Durban Metropolitan area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were examined. Furthermore, a convenience sampling method was used to select participants with additional assistance from the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). The study, however, yielded a 52% overall response rate. The acquired data were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data were then further construed by the researcher using a series of descriptive statistical methods. The empirical findings of the study revealed that 40.2% of SMEs in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal are aware and understand the social and environmental issues surrounding their business. However, 45.4% of SMEs in the area still have a limited understanding of responsible and sustainable business practices. Even though some of the SMEs surveyed provided no concrete evidence that they are responsible businesses. The data sourced shows that 82.8% of SMEs in the area believe that they are responsible businesses and that that they engage in activities that enhance the social and environmental wellbeing of their surroundings. The study ascertained some of the challenges that SMEs face with regard to adopting responsible and sustainable business practices in the area. These challenges were, among others, are limited resources, time constraints, lack of knowledge of such business practices.
Effectiveness of institutional mechanisms on small businesses in Mokhotlong and Qacha’s Nek, Lesotho.
(2021) Molebatsi, Mokete Bernard.; Khoase, Refiloe Gladys.; Derera, Evelyn.
The Lesotho Government, like other governments, enacted the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) Policy to address the issue of MSME development. It is perceived worldwide that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitute a large sphere of economic activity that accounts for the major share of employment and is a powerful force for poverty reduction. However, SMEs are exposed to today’s risky business environment, which compels economies to intervene by effectively implementing MSMEs policies. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the institutional mechanism to assist MSMEs in the Mokhotlong and Qacha’s Nek districts in Lesotho. While economies have adopted mechanisms to develop Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), several studies have shown that most businesses still face challenges despite the efforts of their governments. Therefore, since the Lesotho Government had implemented the MSME Policy in 2016 to develop the sector, it is essential to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the Policy in Lesotho. Primary data was collected through the use of questionnaires that were distributed to MSME owners in both districts. The questionnaires were hand-delivered to a sample size of 331, however, only 202 responses were received by the researcher. The list of MSMEs registered with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in both districts was used by the researcher to select the respondents using probability sampling also known as the random sampling method. For the respondents who did not indicate their physical addresses on the list a nonprobability sampling method, namely, convenience sampling, was used. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Windows Version 26 was used to analyse the collected data. The Government of Lesotho has put in place several initiatives to boost MSMEs by establishing the Ministry of Small Business, Cooperatives and Marketing and the MSME Policy among others. While some MSMEs benefited from the Policy, others faced some challenges. Due to perceived barriers such as access to finance, access to training and poor infrastructure, among others, some MSMEs decided to operate informally. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of the MSME Policy is vital as it might guide policymakers in amending the Policy by devising adequate strategies to create and enhance a conducive environment in which MSME owners can operate. Findings suggest that institutional mechanisms to assist MSMEs in Mokhotlong and Qacha’s Nek are ineffective in the development of MSMEs. The majority of respondents agreed that they are aware of the supporting institutions that are meant to assist MSMEs, and have received such assistance. However, a gap exists in the quality of services provided. Thus, the objective of the Policy will not be met if the various mechanisms put in place to assist MSMEs are not of the quality needed. In terms of the findings, the following recommendations can be made: • The institutional mechanism needs to be improved to achieve the set goals. • The supporting institutions should offer training based on the results of the assessment of the relevant needs of MSMEs. • The quality of service offered by the supporting institutions should be improved. • The market be opened to businesses that want to invest in financial institutions. • The use of new research findings be utilised by managers and policymakers to enable them to easily redesign policies based on scientific information.
Environmental sustainability management in the small business sector: a case of Pietermaritzburg small, medium and micro enterprises.
(2021) Bhengu, Nonkululeko Cellular.; Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.
The present study examines the environmental sustainability management in the small business sector with specific reference to the Pietermaritzburg area. As a business sector the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have impact that can be negative or positive on the environment. Few studies, in the subject area that the researcher have explored, have focused on the environmental sustainability management of SMMEs. For that reason, this study in its own humble way, contributes to the expansion of scholarship and literature in the area. The study has aimed to understand the measures taken by South African SMMEs to minimise and or prevent the negative impact they might have on the environment. Factors that motivate environmental preservation and protection by SMMEs have also been examined in this study as well as those factors or challenges that hinder the SMMEs from engaging in environmentally sustainable business practices. Methodologically, the study adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the opinions, perceptions and experiences of environmental sustainability of the practitioners of business in the SMME sector in the area of Pietermaritzburg as unit within the South African small business landscape. The qualitative methodological strategy of convenience sampling was deployed to collect data from 21 SMMEs in the elected area. Primary data was obtained through the use of face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and duly analysed using thematic analysis. Further, 7 articles were selected for review using a PRISMA method for secondary data. The results of the study indicated that the owners and managers of SMMEs in Pietermaritzburg have understanding and knowledge of the necessity for environmental sustainability management and they pursuantly engage is practices that foster environmental sustainability. They engage in recycling of resources and they try to use eco-friendly and recyclable products. Like other businesses, SMMEs are driven by a profit motive; in particular they receive revenue from selling the recyclables and build a good business image. The results of the study also indicated that some SMMEs lag behind in implementing environmental practices because of lack of resources including finance. The lack of knowledge, limited education and lack of government support are a hindrance. The study concluded that the SMMEs are aware of the fundamentals of environmental sustainability management and are largely willing to comply with the requirements although they encounter challenges and limitations on their way. They need governmental support in form of finance, education and encouragement.
The role of entrepreneurial education in fostering student entrepreneurship.
(2021) Nqoko, Nompumelelo Sindiswa.; Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.
Entrepreneurship preparation has been generally recognised as important to leading to economic growth. Graduates may have different qualifications, but they still find themselves without a career. However, graduates are also hesitant to see entrepreneurship as a feasible career choice, even in times of high unemployment. University degrees and qualifications no longer carry the guarantee of availability of jobs for pupils, since hundreds of thousands of graduates cannot afford to do so. After acquiring degrees, graduates rarely consider entrepreneurship as a good and sustainable career option. This research was an exploratory study that adopted a mixed-method research approach for data collection and interpretation. This method allows both quantitative and qualitative data to be obtained in one analysis, it further offers more enhanced insight into the research problem and questions presented. The adoption of a mixed method allows for comparison and corroboration of research findings for a fuller understanding of the research problem. The mixed method was therefore, adopted to gather data from both third-year and postgraduate students in the discipline of management and entrepreneurship. Where self-administered questionnaires were adopted for quantitative which were administered to both third year (undergraduate) and honours students. Qualitative data was collected from postgraduate students to gather information about their entrepreneurial intentions. SPSS version 21 was used to include quantitative data with informative and inferential statistics; and NVivo (version 11) was utilised to analyse qualitative data. There was also a need to apportion the methods equally to each strand of the quantitative and qualitative data. Purposive sampling was utilised to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents who were in the best position to engender such information. The sample for this study included the third- and fourth-year students enrolled in the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance, in the discipline of Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. This included three UKZN campuses, namely, the Westville Campus, and Howard College campus located in Durban, and the UKZN campus located in Pietermaritzburg. The sample for the study was drawn from students who had studied entrepreneurship modules during their programme, and had been exposed to entrepreneurial education for a minimum of a year. The overall enrolment of all students when the study was conducted was 330, composed of 233 third year students and 97 honorary students. The study used Krejcie and Morgan (1970) statistical table, to determine the sample size for quantitative data which was estimated at 180. The total number of questionnaires returned for quantitative was 169. The study achieved a response rate of 93%. 42% of the respondents were male and 58% were female. It was found that 72% of the respondents were pursuing an undergraduate bachelor’s degree, 28% were enrolled in a postgraduate honours degree. From the 169 questionnaires that were returned, twenty students were purposively selected to form a focus group for the qualitative data; however, only fifteen were available to participate in the focus-group discussion. The findings revealed that the university offered entrepreneurship modules as an elective. It is those students in small business management that had high entrepreneurial intentions. Students who took entrepreneurship modules as an elective plan to start their business five years after they complete their studies, and that entrepreneurship will be an option should they not find employment. The results also showed that entrepreneurial education does develop entrepreneurial intentions among the students if the curriculum is well structured. Furthermore, reflect that individuals with high entrepreneurial intentions are fully capable of taking entrepreneurial action. The research further confirmed that individuals with a high entrepreneurial mentality are more likely to have entrepreneurial ambitions and a deep desire to start a business. These studies have shown that entrepreneurial education has had a positive effect on the entrepreneurial attitude of students and their intentions towards entrepreneurship, their employability and their position in society and the economy as a whole. There has been a growing consensus among scholars that allowing students to work in interdisciplinary teams and engage with actual entrepreneurs is an especially effective way to cultivate entrepreneurial ambitions among students. The study highlighted the importance of entrepreneurial education in fostering student entrepreneurship, and also discovered that entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial action scores are higher if students are considered to have a need to research entrepreneurship at the university. Hence entrepreneurial education should strictly focus on influencing students' mind-set towards entrepreneurship, as a possible career. Furthermore, entrepreneurial education can make students experience more fulfilling by being explored to both theory and practice. The results of entrepreneurial education are focused on the belief that being an entrepreneur is a deliberately orchestrated action. The relation between expectations, actions and action is used on the basis of the "Theory of Planned Behavior" (TPB). If students' attitudes towards entrepreneurship are favourably affected by entrepreneurship education, their entrepreneurship intentions will or may be improved. Therefore, the present study applied TBP, this theory clearly explains human behaviour using three major variables, perceived behavioural control, attitude and subjective norms.
Entrepreneur perceptions of sustainable entrepreneurship: a case of Pietermaritzburg SMMEs.
(2020) Ramlal, Naisha.; Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.
Understanding the effects of entrepreneurs’ intentions towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship can serve as an initial step in developing true sustainable entrepreneurs. However, limited research has been conducted on the intention of practising entrepreneurs, specifically amongst owners of SMMEs, towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Previous studies focused on the traditional entrepreneurial process, with limited studies having been done to investigate the intentions of entrepreneurs to engage in Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Studies focusing on intention towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship are limited, more so in South Africa. Not much has been known regarding the antecedents of intention towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship in South Africa. Studies conducted by various researchers have successfully explained how entrepreneurs practise Sustainable Entrepreneurship and what their contributions are. Unfortunately, the intention and motivation that drive entrepreneurs towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship, have not been addressed adequately in the current literature. Therefore, to address this research gap, this study investigated the perceptions of entrepreneurs on Sustainable Entrepreneurship. The study used a quantitative research approach to collect data from a sample of 234 SMMEs owners. Simple random sampling was used to select the participants from the population. Data was obtained through a questionnaire and were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that the entrepreneur's intentions to adopt sustainable practices were mostly influenced by the pressures they felt from their customers, investors, society, employees, and colleagues (subjective norms), their attitudes about sustainability, and their perceived behavioural controls. The results further indicated that attitude was the most critical determinant of the intention of entrepreneurs to engage in Sustainable Entrepreneurship. From a managerial perspective, this study recommends that SMMEs in Pietermaritzburg should align their business practices towards the values of their external stakeholders. From a policy perspective, this study recommends that the government and entrepreneurs should prioritise interventions aimed at developing and strengthening intrinsic and extrinsic motivations among entrepreneurs towards sustainability. The main limitation of the study was that the sample for this study was SMMEs which were registered under the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) in Pietermaritzburg. This population does not represent all SMMEs in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, or South Africa as a whole. As a result, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire population of South African entrepreneurs.
Farmers’ perceptions and attitudes to technology adoption in the Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2019) Kawula, Nomvikelelo.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Agricultural entrepreneurship is essential for fostering economic development and feeding growing populations in most less developed countries. Unfortunately, some farmers are experiencing a decline in production and failure to sustain their businesses. The main challenge for these farmers is the failure to embrace new and advanced agricultural technology. Agricultural technology adoption is a powerful tool for farmers to increase productivity and maximize their profits. Agricultural entrepreneurs are, in some instances, conservative and prefer to stick to traditional methods of farming. Based on the literature, many farmers fail to take advantage of the advancement in technology and as a result, find themselves not being as productive as they ought to be. Agricultural technology adoption has the potential to deepen the market share of agricultural output through which the smallholder farmers’ resource use and output diversification decisions could be guided increasingly by their objective of profit maximization. However, the major problem, according to literature, is that the new technology adoption rate by South African farmers is low. This study sought to investigate farmers’ perceptions and attitudes to technology adoption in the Ugu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study is descriptive in nature and thus qualitative research was conducted with the aim to gather the information that depicts the attributes of people, occurrences or circumstances. It also describes the technology adoption theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. Technology adoption theory examines the individual and the choices an individual makes to accept or reject an innovation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven farmers in Port Shepstone to collect the data in the study. Thematic analysis, which is the process of coding data and inducing of categories and themes, was used to analyse data. The study found that there are various factors such as lack of financial resources, lack of adoption by neighbouring farmers, perceived usefulness and size of the business contribute to farmers’ decision to adopt new agricultural technology. Farmers believe that technology is more expensive in early stages adoption but after that, it can help one grow their business and production. It was revealed that commercial farmers are more likely to adopt new technology than small-scale farmers.
The influence of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurial intentions of UKZN female entrepreneurship students.
(2019) Zulu, Mzwandile Boss Raymond.; Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.
Entrepreneurship intent resulting from entrepreneurship education provides a solid framework for understanding entrepreneurial activity globally. While the number of entrepreneurship education programmes is growing, their influence on the entrepreneurial intent of female entrepreneurship students has not been sufficiently investigated from a South African perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the influence of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurship intentions of female students who are enrolled for entrepreneurship at UKZN. The study used a quantitative research approach to collect data from a sample of 175 female students who had enrolled for entrepreneurship modules in their second year, of which 74 responded. Nonprobability sampling known as purposive samplingwas used to select the respondents to the study. Data was obtained through a questionnaire and analysed with both descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The results revealed that entrepreneurship education has an influence on entrepreneurship intentions amongst female students. The results also indicated that the content and topics covered within entrepreneurship modules are a strong contributing factor affecting students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The study also discovered that behavioural control plays a prominent role in determining the entrepreneurial intentions of students. The results draw attention to the importance of introducing entrepreneurial modules to the curriculum of undergraduate students. Therefore, this study recommends that entrepreneurship modules should be compulsory for all students across the different disciplines to promote entrepreneurial intentions in female university students. Future research studies should compare the differences in entrepreneurship intentions between males and females that pursue entrepreneurship education at UKZN and probe the understanding of those causes in the differences, if they exist, with the view to maximising the impact of entrepreneurship education.
Factors that influence entrepreneurial intentions of rural youth: a case of Narysec Free State.
(2019) Makhwedzha, Murendeni.; Chiweshe, Nigel Tawanda Farayi.
Poverty alleviation in South Africa has been placed high on the government agenda in the past decades. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA, 2017), the unemployment rate in the country has risen rapidly in the past few decades, increasing from 7per cent in 1980, to 18per cent in 1991 and 27.5per cent in 2019. The government has a political and moral obligation to alleviate the burden of poverty, create jobs and ensure that it stimulates economic growth and development through the creation of a conducive environment which will enable the small businesses to survive and thrive. The purpose of the study was to identify factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention of the National Rural Youth Service Corp students. The study draws heavily from entrepreneurial intention models and focuses on the relationship between key variables, namely, exposure to entrepreneurial education and social capital. The institutions of higher learning play a crucial role in stimulating entrepreneurial intentions of students, hence the university students are perceived to be more effective in their role of developing entrepreneurial intentions leading to the emergence of new ventures and to the growth of small, medium and macro enterprises. Entrepreneurial education has an important role to play in enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the influence of social capital on entrepreneurship intentions. A survey was conducted amongst the NARYSEC students. The respondents of the study comprised of 103 students who were identified by means of simple random technique. The total numbers of 103 questionnaires were completed by the NARYSEC students at Thaba Nchu College in the Free-State and the response rate was 84.3per cent. The data was quantitatively analysed with the use of SPSS computer software. The results show that the majority of students have strong intentions to become entrepreneurs in the near future. Students had positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship as they would prefer to be entrepreneurs rather than to be employed and some of them indicated that they are already in a process of starting their own businesses. Most students admitted that their families are everything to them and whatever they do is aimed at pleasing them however they do not choose a career based on their family’s advice. To overcome the challenges, this study recommended the review of curriculum to determine success, failures and gaps as well as stimulating entrepreneurship intentions by allowing students to discuss and implement their own business ideas in class as a research project. The study concluded by recommending that the government should expose every South African learner to entrepreneurship from primary level so that they can grow up thinking and reasoning about entrepreneurship which will propel them to put their ideas into action.
The impact of interventions from supporting institutions on managerial competencies: a case of small, medium and micro-sized enterprises in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
(2019) Moise, Lusambya Lukendo.; Khoase, Refiloe Gladys.; Derera, Evelyn.
The contribution of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) sector in the economic and social development of a country has been recognised worldwide. Governments around the world have designed interventions to promote the growth of the SMME sector in an attempt to stimulate national economic growth. The South African government, through public and private supporting institutions, devised interventions to provide financial and non-financial support to SMMEs. However, despite these interventions, the failure rate of small businesses in South Africa is still high. Numerous scholars identified lack of managerial competencies as one of the main causes to the failure of SMMEs. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of interventions from supporting institutions on managerial competencies of Small, Medium and Micro-Sized Enterprises (SMMEs) within the context of Pietermaritzburg city in South Africa. The nature of this study is descriptive. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 148 SMMEs’ owners and managers, identified through convenient and snowball sampling. Data were collected by means of personally administered questionnaires. Frequency analysis, crosstabulation analysis with chi-square, Spearman correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were statistical methods employed to analyse the data. The study found that government and private supporting institutions are not the primary sources of developing the managerial competencies of SMMEs’ owners and managers. SMME’s owners and managers rely more on job experience, formal education/training, and In-house training. Most SMMEs’ owners and managers are not utilising different interventions designed by supporting institutions, due to some challenges such as lack of awareness, lack of finance, and too much bureaucracy and red tape. Despite the non-utilisation of services offered by supporting institutions, the study found that receiving interventions from supporting institutions has a significant impact on developing some managerial competencies of SMME’s owners and managers such as conceptual skills and technical skills. Based on the research findings, practical recommendations were provided on how to promote SMMEs through interventions that enhance the managerial competencies of SMMEs’ owners and managers.
An exploratory study of Congolese refugees’ experiences in developing small, medium and micro entreprises in Durban city centre.
(2016) Mujinga, Prosperine Tshijika.; Mutinta, Given Chigaya.
Internationally, South Africa receives the highest annual number of asylum applications with about 106,904 of applications received in 2011 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2013) of which 16,970 were from the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) (UNHCR, 2012). Durban is a city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal with a considerable number of Congolese refugees, which makes it a good site for research about Congolese refugees, their place in the business arena and in small medium and micro enterprises (SMMES) in Durban. After taking the decision to open small businesses, DRC refugees in Durban encounter many difficulties (UNHCR, 2012). An exploratory qualitative research design was used to understand the experiences faced by Congolese refugees in developing SMMES using the structural opportunity theory on immigrant entrepreneurship. A qualitative research methodology allowed for exploration of the difficulties refugee entrepreneurs are facing in Durban city Centre. Non-probability sampling was used in particular purposive sampling technique. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study found that opening of any kind of business requires a lot of effort and resource mobilization is a crucial step for all who wanted to start business. The majority of participants in this study said that their business was not created to have a brilliant future but for family survival. Most refugees lack sufficient and true information about the process to get any legal documents for their businesses. Refugees who have no information about the process of obtaining business documents are afraid to invest more in their businesses and apply any element of novelty or creativity. However, they are aware that knowledge is an important element in their business activities in order to be successful in addition to being positive minded, having capital or belonging to a group of immigrants who are predisposed to be engaged in entrepreneurship.
Factors influencing the development of productive entrepreneurial behaviour among university students.
(2013) Memani, Mzwanele Mbonisi.; Fields, Ziska.
South Africa experiences high levels of unemployment and poverty with an official unemployment rate at around 25%. In order to solve this malaise, entrepreneurship has played a very important role to job creation, poverty reduction and creation of sustainable communities. Literature review indicates that most developed and developing countries have embarked on strategies that develop new businesses which are innovative and present growth prospects. The emphasis is on innovative activities that benefit the entire society and these fall under productive entrepreneurship. The other types of entrepreneurship are unproductive and destructive; and these refer to activities such as crime and rent-seeking as they only benefit the entrepreneur but harm the society. Literature review suggests that the tertiary institutions play an important role in stimulating innovation and growth of new ventures. The university students are perceived to be more instrumental in starting these innovative ventures than their unskilled or less educated individuals. Other than the exposure they get at their tertiary institutions, university students can also be exposed to productive entrepreneurship from their family and community environments. Against this background, the objective of this research was to investigate the factors that influence the development of productive entrepreneurial behaviour among university students. The respondents were identified by means of convenience sampling and in total 350 questionnaires were completed by the students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg, Howard and Westville campuses. Given that the purpose of the study was not to generalise about the student population, only descriptive statistical analyses was used. The results of this research show that students consider entrepreneurship to be very important to the stimulation of economic growth leading to job creation and poverty reduction. Students had positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship as they perceived that it was more beneficial to start an own business and determine own salary rather than become an employee with job security. However, students were not likely to start a business immediately after graduation, given limited understanding and knowledge of running a business. More students admitted that their parents did not own a business and had never worked in a small business. Despite this lack of exposure within their family and community backgrounds, a significant number of respondents were exposed to entrepreneurship by the education system. The respondents highlighted that the tertiary institutions, in particular, had a major role to play in cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit among university students. Given that parties such as government, universities and the private sector tend to work independent of each other, and thereby lessening their impact; the results suggest that these parties need to work together to design initiatives that would have a greater impact for potential graduate entrepreneurs.
A review of government initiatives to stimulate women entrepreneurship in South Africa : 1955-2009.
(2011) Derera, Evelyn.; O'Neill, Richard Charles.
Worldwide, women entrepreneurs play a major role in the economic growth and development of any nation, yet women are still facing a multiplicity of challenges in the small business sector. Women entrepreneurs could play a more significant role in the small business sector given all the necessary support. The main objective of this study was to review the South African government initiatives that were designed to stimulate women entrepreneurship during 1995 to 2009. This topic is exploratory as well as descriptive in nature. As a result of this, qualitative and quantitative data was collected in order to address the research objectives of the study. A non probability sampling technique, known as snowballing was used to identify the research participants. The sample for the study was made up of two different groups of participants; namely women entrepreneurs and experts from the field of entrepreneurship. Data was analysed using content analysis. Although content analysis is often used for analysing qualitative data, it has a limitation in that it sometimes fails to interpret delicate and intricate texts (Denscombe, 2003:221). Because of this limitation, Kruskal Wallis and Chi square tests were used in order to complement content analysis. These two data analysis tools were adopted because of the non parametric nature of the research data. The main limitation of the study was that primary data was collected in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal due to limited resources. In addition to this, the sampling technique used has a disadvantage in that the results of the research cannot be generalized to the population at large. However, the empirical results in conjunction with the literature review could assist in policy evaluation of the initiatives that could stimulate the development of women entrepreneurs in this country to a higher level. The empirical findings of the study revealed that women entrepreneurs are still experiencing a lot of barriers to entry into the small business sector such as access to finance, lack of entrepreneurial training and lack of information, just to mention a few. The results also revealed that the government support programmes are failing to address the barriers to entry that women are experiencing in the small business sector. In as much as the government is making progress in providing support programmes towards women entrepreneurship, the empirical findings also revealed that the majority of women entrepreneurs are not aware of the available support programmes that are targeting them. Lack of awareness of the available government initiatives was cited as the major reason why women are not benefiting fully from the government support programmes. Based on the research findings, it could be recommended that the government should review the current policies and programmes that are designed to assist women entrepreneurs in this country in order to evaluate the weaknesses and strengths that are inherent in the system. Future programmes should be designed based on empirical research in order to match the actual needs of women entrepreneurs in relation to the challenges that they encounter. This is crucial because women in the small business sector are a heterogeneous group with different needs and challenges. For this reason, a small business research foundation should be established with the core mandate of carrying out on-going research on the small business sector in this country.

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