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Faculty of Management Sciences

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Small and Medium Enterprises

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Intrinsic motivation and business competences as predictors of small and medium growth : SME owner’s viewpoint
    (2023-05-15) Zondo, Robert Walter Dumisani; Ncube, Thandukwazi Richman
    Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of job creation, business growth and economic activity in South Africa. Therefore, sustainable development of SMEs is important for job creation, poverty reduction and economic development. The high failure rate during the first years of SME start-up negatively affects South Africa’s economic development. Hence, this study examines the arbitrating effect of the SME owner’s intrinsic motivation factors and competences on SME growth. These factors include the utilisation of effort for business growth, finding new solutions to business problems aimed at achieving growth, growing business for recognition, the belief to produce the desired outcomes, taking responsibilities for business expansion, the need for advancement, as well as the growth aspiration that enables the business owner to take risks in order to grow the business. This study has generated multifaceted data on the effect of intrinsic motivation factors and competences of SME owner on business growth. The SSPS was used to analyse data obtained from 112 SME owners of the furniture manufacturing organisations operating in the eThekwini District Municipality. The results indicate that intrinsic motivation factors in SME start-ups influences the personality traits in SME owners for small and medium business growth. SME growth depends on the extent SME owners are equipped with business competences to establish and grow their businesses. There is a statistical significant link between business competences and the SME growth motivation. Furthermore, the results indicate that personality traits mediate the relationship between motivational variables for SME start-ups and business growth.
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    Entrepreneurial attributes responsible for small and medium enterprise growth in South Africa : small and medium enterprise owners’ perspectives
    (International Journal of Special Education, 2022-03-03) Ncube, Thandukwazi Richman; Zondo, Robert Walter Dumisani
    Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) growth has been associated with overall business success and survival. The need to achieve success is the motive to do well and achieve a goal set for growth. Hence, this study examines the attributes embedded in small business owners that are responsible for the growth of SMEs in South Africa. It assesses creativity and entrepreneurial skills as attributes that influence SME growth within small business owners operating in the furniture-manufacturing sector. It was conducted in the eThekwini District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. Of the 127 SME owners who represented their businesses, 112 participated in the study, representing an 88 per cent participation rate. Correlative analyses were used to test the two objectives, that is, to examine if creativity and the entrepreneurial skills of small business owners have an influence on SME growth. This study reveals that SME success depends on the proper use of entrepreneurial skills for starting and growing the businesses in the early years of establishment. If creativity of SME owners can be enhanced, this will lead to a better support of national goals on job creation for South Africa. The original value of this paper is its approach in uncovering business owner attributes responsible for SME growth within enterprises operating in the furniture sector
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    Leadership and corporate governance of small and medium enterprises (SMES) in South Africa : Public Perceptions
    (Virtus Interpress, 2015) Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    The main, underlying constraint to the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a lack of corporate governance (CG) structure (Mahmood 2014). In considering the UK- Department for Business Innovation and Skills report (2012), this constraint is described as one of the fundamental problems holding back the growth of SMEs. The report states it is this lack of leadership and management capability that should be present, to drive performance and enable them to succeed. However, statistics support the indispensable role that SMEs perform in a country’s economy and when the significance of this sector is taken into account, the role that CG and its practices play within SMEs has to be clearly understood (Le Roux, 2010). Due to SMEs survival and growth being dependant on their good business leadership and corporate governance, the ability to lead, manage, and take full advantage of the resources available have, in recent years, been highlighted on global public platforms and the media. It has further been acknowledged, through prior research studies on SMEs that, for a business to be successful, the critical role of leadership and good CG has to be fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to report on South African public perceptions of leadership and corporate governance of SMEs. The study aimed to analyse and evaluate these perceptions towards SME owner/managers and their consequences, on the survival and growth of SMEs. A mixed method approach allowed for qualitative and quantitative techniques in collecting data from individual participants, with primary data collected from nine provinces of South Africa, and 180 participants as the sample. The research instrument consisted of closed-ended, questionnaires made up of 5-point Likert scale responses and 20 questionnaires were distributed to each province. Delivery of the questionnaires was done through email to individual respondents, with follow–up via telephone calls. The research findings indicate that most respondents believed that the growth and survival of SMEs is, due to the lack of business leadership and poor CG. In addition, respondents agreed that SME owners/managers are just average entrepreneurs, as they do not have leadership qualities or skills and that CG does not exist in many SMEs, particularly in South Africa. The paper’s benefit will be to the owners/managers of SMEs, as well as, policy makers and financial agencies for SMEs. It is recommended that further research, with a larger sample size, be drawn from various townships.
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    Leadership and corporate governance of small and medium enterprises (SMES) in South Africa
    (Virtus Interpress, 2015) Lekhanya, Lawrence Mpele
    The main, underlying constraint to the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a lack of corporate governance (CG) structure (Mahmood 2014). In considering the UK- Department for Business Innovation and Skills report (2012), this constraint is described as one of the fundamental problems holding back the growth of SMEs. The report states it is this lack of leadership and management capability that should be present, to drive performance and enable them to succeed. However, statistics support the indispensable role that SMEs perform in a country’s economy and when the significance of this sector is taken into account, the role that CG and its practices play within SMEs has to be clearly understood (Le Roux, 2010). Due to SMEs survival and growth being dependant on their good business leadership and corporate governance, the ability to lead, manage, and take full advantage of the resources available have, in recent years, been highlighted on global public platforms and the media. It has further been acknowledged, through prior research studies on SMEs that, for a business to be successful, the critical role of leadership and good CG has to be fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to report on South African public perceptions of leadership and corporate governance of SMEs. The study aimed to analyse and evaluate these perceptions towards SME owner/managers and their consequences, on the survival and growth of SMEs. A mixed method approach allowed for qualitative and quantitative techniques in collecting data from individual participants, with primary data collected from nine provinces of South Africa, and 180 participants as the sample. The research instrument consisted of closed-ended, questionnaires made up of 5-point Likert scale responses and 20 questionnaires were distributed to each province. Delivery of the questionnaires was done through email to individual respondents, with follow–up via telephone calls. The research findings indicate that most respondents believed that the growth and survival of SMEs is, due to the lack of business leadership and poor CG. In addition, respondents agreed that SME owners/managers are just average entrepreneurs, as they do not have leadership qualities or skills and that CG does not exist in many SMEs, particularly in South Africa. The paper’s benefit will be to the owners/managers of SMEs, as well as, policy makers and financial agencies for SMEs. It is recommended that further research, with a larger sample size, be drawn from various townships.