Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the South African economy, especially in light of the recent global recession. For family businesses, namely copreneurs in the restaurant industry, to be afforded a better opportunity to perform better and be viable and sustainable, a deeper understanding and insight into their dynamics is required. Researching and implementing strategies or recommendations to improve the influence of copreneurial relationships in the restaurant industry is fundamentally important to the growth and sustainability of restaurants in the hospitality industry, in the Nelson Mandela Metropole (NMM). However, no known studies have been performed in this area of copreneurship. This study sought to present exploratory research in the rapidly expanding and critically important sector family business, namely copreneurships specifically in the restaurant industry in the NMM, in South Africa. The primary research objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding and insight into the influence of copreneurial relationships in the restaurant industry in the NMM. A phenomenological, or qualitative, research paradigm, through the use of focused one-on-one interviews, was employed to probe and analyse relational factors of copreneurial relationships. A qualifying questionnaire was constructed to determine the most effective sample for the study followed by an extensive questionnaire constructed to probe into the demographics and the specifically identified relational factors of the ten qualifying copreneurships. The collected data was then analysed and inferences were derived from the findings of the study. The findings revealed that what restaurant copreneurships perceive to be the most important relationship factors are very closely linked to the relationship factors perceived important to personally work on and improve. Of the relational factors considered for this study, namely: Commitment, communication, conflict, division of labour, emotional attachment, relationship bond, respect, spousal harmony, trust and the spousal values system, several factors stood out as those baring greatest influence on copreneurial relationships and their business. This study, from an analysis of the collected interview data and subsequent findings, determined communication to stand out above all other factors as being the most critical to copreneurial relationships. All other factors emanated as important but division of labour, values system, respect and relationship bond were revealed as extremely important, just behind communication. In light of these findings, as well as the discovery of other affecting factors, the study concluded that the viability and sustainability of restaurant copreneurships is of paramount significance. In order to facilitate this, copreneurial couples must cherish their relationships with each other, understand the dynamics of the relational factors affecting their relationships, invoke relational improvements for their viability and sustainability, not neglect family responsibilities and preservation in light of business needs and work together as a team.

The South African economy and especially its retail environment are continuously experiencing the impact of globalisation. The continuous expansions of large public retail businesses that consist of numerous chain stores are evident in both the local and international arena. South Africa has witnessed large amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI) invested into its retail sector. The above mentioned facts hold a serious challenge for small and medium retail businesses in South Africa (SMEs). In order for SME retail businesses to stay competitive against these global retail businesses, it needs to be able to withstand the competition in the environment it operates. This is not always an easy challenge given the limited access to resources that the majority of SME businesses have access to. This study presents how South African SME retail businesses can remain competent and profitable in spite of serious competition from large retail businesses of both local and international origin. In order to suggest recommendations for South African SME retail businesses to be more competent in relation to large retail businesses, the researcher identified some areas of improvement, which is perceived to be the most important for enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. These variables include uniqueness, entrepreneurial leadership, cost effectiveness, technology and quality management. These variables were researched to understand how they affect SME retail businesses and where tested using quantitative analysis to ascertain if managers and owners of SME retail businesses believed that these variables would help them to improve the level of competitiveness in relation to large retail businesses. The results indicated that SME owners and managers felt that uniqueness, entrepreneurial leadership, cost effectiveness, technology and quality management all contributes to the competitiveness of their business. Empirical evidence shows that owners and managers of SME retail business felt that all of the above factors will result in their SME retail business being more competitive as compared to large retail businesses. The former will lead to better chances of success which again are most likely to lead to increased probability.

Many countries that have achieved economic development have a dynamic co-operative sector which contributes substantially to the development of these economies. From a global perspective, co-operatives have been proven to be flexible in meeting a wide variety of social and economic human needs such as job creation, alleviation of poverty and building of communities. With the drive to decrease poverty in South Africa, there has been an increased interest to support co-operatives with the intention to provide employment, social development and building communities/ community care. It seems, however, that South Africa has not yet reached the same momentum in the co-operatives movement as elsewhere in the world and the economy is still characterized by a high unemployment rate and a low growth rate (Van der Walt, 2002). This study is an attempt to determine the factors for business success in co-operatives by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of co-operative businesses within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape. The study includes an extensive literature review on the nature and prevalence of co-operatives in South Africa where challenges faced by South African co-operatives and particularly those in the Eastern Cape Province, are indicated. It also highlights international best practice and reveals that for co-operative success, apart for functioning by the International Seven Cooperative Principles, knowledge and expertise in business management are absolutely necessary so that co-operatives can be profitable and sustainable. With this knowledge, an adapted form of the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) Small Business Assessment Tool was used to formulate the questionnaire and to review business management literature. A survey conducted involved fifty-one co-operative members on the database of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Business Unit. The opinions of the respondents were compared with the guidelines provided by the literature in the study in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these co-operatives, which then determine the critical success factors for business success in co-operatives. The empirical results show that the co-operative members understand co-operative principles and function through them. They have a fairly general knowledge of business management. The results also show significantly positive correlations between Marketing Management, Financial Management, Operations Management, Human Resources Management and General Management, on the one hand, and the business success of co-operatives, on the other hand. This indicates that these respondents recognize the importance of these business functions in the success of their businesses. However, failures and weaknesses experienced in these areas lead to the recommendations that they need to be mentored as they cannot put this knowledge into application, and secondly, they need financial assistance and support to sustain the co-operative businesses.

South Africa and more specifically Port Elizabeth is faced with many challenges with regard to economic growth and unemployment. It is generally acknowledged that the “Small to Medium Enterprises” (SME) are the largest employers in any economy, additionally SME’s are large contributors to the gross domestic product. Successful SME’s are the catalysts of the economy and over time they can develop into large enterprises. It is clear that in order for a country to have a strong and sustainable economy it needs to have a strong and successful SME sector. Unfortunately the South African SME sector performs relatively poorly in comparison with the SME sectors around the world (Herrington, Kew & Kew, 2009). With the knowledge of the importance of the SME sector to the economy and the knowledge that the South African SME’s are generally underperforming, this study will identify how to improve the relative success rate of the SME sector in Port Elizabeth South Africa. In order to achieve this, this study needs to identify why the SME sector is not performing on a par with other SME sectors from around the globe and what initiatives need to be implemented in Port Elizabeth that will enable its SME sector to perform at the same level or better than other SME sectors from around the globe. This study identifies that the South African SME’s are provided with a number of support initiatives. Some of these support initiatives have been very effective, while other support initiatives have been unsuccessful or have failed. This study concludes by identifying a number of areas that need improvement; of these areas two are identified as being critical to SME’s success and sustainability, these two areas are: · The need to make SME’s more aware of the government / business initiatives that are available; and · Establish more effective mentoring and coaching. In order to address these critical areas, the study suggests the use of an internet portal that can be used to coordinate all the activities between the mentors and the SME’s. This internet portal will be expanded to become the core information hub and collaboration centre for the flow of information between the SME’s and any of their stakeholders. Once all this information is centralised it will be a relatively simple process to measure the success rate of the SME’s and the effectiveness of the different mentors.

An increase in the global competitiveness has forced manufacturing organisations to re-look their facility from a labour productivity standpoint. Leveraging a manufacturing operation into a competitive avantage must at all times support the organisation’s objective. It is therefore critical that the operation reviews its strategy so that it fulfils the ever changing needs in the market. Purpose – The main objective of this research is to identify the critical success factors to improve direct labour efficiency within Johnson Controls Automotive South Africa (Pty) Ltd (JCI). Design/methodology/approach – A combination of a comprehensive literature review and visits to the Uitenhage plant and head office were employed in the study. JCI practices were observed to highlight the level of direct labour productivity. This was followed by interviewing relevant and key personel who had an involvement in achieving direct labour productivity in the plant. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 83 valid survey responses were received from staff in the Uitenhage plant, together with head office staff who directly supported the plant. The questionnaire was designed to identify and test perceptions of employees, regarding the factors of production, identified as sub variables. The research aim was to determine the most practical and effective strategies to improve direct labour productivity. Results were analysed and interpreted after which recommendations were formulated. Findings – Several critical success factors identified as sub variables were tested to understand their impact on direct labour productivity. Empirical results showed that organisational culture, leadership culture, employee engagement, communication and skills, development and training, had a significant effect on direct labour productivity. Respective ratings of these elements were discussed with the focus of improving this going forward. Research limitations/implications – Continued scepticim within JCI about the benefits of direct labour productivity to their business is one of the fundamental limitations this research faces. Originality/value – The novelty of the research project stems from the realization of key factors contributing to the improvement of direct labour productivity within the JCI enviroment. The results would provide JCI with indicators and guidelines for a successful implementation of direct labour productivity initiatives in the Uitenhage plant.

The objective of the study was to investigate the role that social entrepreneurship can play in rural economic development. This objective was achieved by answering the following secondary research questions: How do for-profit social ventures create social value? How sustainable are the for-profit social venture projects in rural areas? What are the challenges facing for-profit social ventures in scaling up their projects? What metrics can be used to monitor and measure social ventures? What are the leadership traits of social entrepreneurs? The point of departure in resolving the objective of this study was to do an analysis of the available literature relevant to the research. The literature review covered was on rural development and social entrepreneurship. Rural development literature covered issues specific to rural development such as the history of rural development in South Africa, land redistribution and restitution and food security, amongst others. Social entrepreneurship literature dealt with the following issues: charity organisations, corporate social responsibility, for-profit social ventures and social capital, amongst others. The researcher used a multiple case study method to resolve the objective of the research. It was conducted with five projects of Amadlelo Agri in the Eastern Cape. An empirical and qualitative study was conducted with forty one employees and six senior managers of Amadlelo Agri respectively in order to test the theory. The results of the empirical and qualitative study were compared to the reviewed literature in order to ascertain whether Amadlelo Agri complied with the findings of the literature review. The research concludes that for-profit social ventures can play a very important role in rural development by turning latent community assets into profitable businesses for the benefit of the community; reducing unemployment and poverty; bringing financial and other resources needed in rural communities and by providing skills development.

The primary objective of the study was to establish the role that e-commerce can play in improving some Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business processes and transactions. This was undertaken by investigating how SMEs in the Eastern Cape can be empowered to use e-commerce and overcome barriers in the adoption of e-commerce. The study was modelled on the concept that there are four key factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce, namely: level of e-commerce awareness, level of computer literacy, availability of Information Technology and telecommunication infrastructure, as well as trust and security of e-commerce applications. The literature study revealed that SMEs play a vital role in the development and growth of a country’s economy. The literature review also identified a wide-range of barriers hindering e-commerce development and adoption by SMEs, namely: lack of computer skills, low level of e-commerce awareness, lack of Information Technology and telecommunication infrastructure, as well as lack of e-commerce trust and security. Further, the literature study showed that Internet availability and affordability is key to e-commerce growth and development, as in developing countries Internet is not yet universally accessible. This is due to a lack of necessary policies and infrastructure enabling wide-spread Internet use. The empirical study consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to a population of executive management, middle management, operational employees and directors/owners in various SMEs in the Eastern Cape. The structured questionnaire was aimed at gathering views about e-commerce development and adoption by SMEs in the Eastern Cape with a special focus on barriers to the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. The results of the empirical study revealed that: E-commerce awareness needs to be created among SMEs. Awareness needs to be created among SMEs about all aspects surrounding the use of e-commerce. Improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure could reduce the unreliable connections experienced by SMEs. Skills development strategies could assist in equipping SMEs with skills required in the e-commerce environment. Non-governmental organizations, government and companies assisting SMEs could provide free Internet access to SMEs. Alternatively, Internet cafes could be placed at different places and charge reasonable fees. NGO’s and higher education institutions could help in developing electronic literacy skills among SMEs. Companies assisting SMEs with funding could provide more funds to allow SMEs interested in e-commerce to start e-commerce systems.

The role of entrepreneurship in small to medium tourism enterprises is well recognised and acknowledged as a significant contributor to economic development and employment opportunities. Worldwide, small to medium tourism enterprises play a dominant role in the tourism industry. These businesses are often vulnerable to external economic forces and find it increasingly difficult to transform their strategic and operational management to face the challenges placed upon them. This study focuses on small to medium tourism enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province, which is economically the poorest province of South Africa. To ensure the growth and sustainability of small to medium tourism enterprises, owners need to make efficient and effective business decisions regarding the challenges their businesses face. The study examines the factors impacting customer relationship management in the context of small to medium tourism enterprises in the Eastern Cape. Customer relationship management, that is, building relationships with customers, has become of pivotal importance to many organisations as businesses strive to be competitive and profitable. While large organisations practice customer relationship management to enable them to better target profitable customers, improve customer services, enhance customer retention and ultimately improve business performance, small businesses often need assistance in understanding and effecting this complex relationship. The factors that could impact customer relationship management in the organisations are the focus of this study. Three major factors were identified, namely, strategic, operational, and organisational factors. The study furthermore examined the extent to which these factors are present in the tourism and hospitality sector of the Eastern Cape and investigated the relationships between these factors. Quantitative research was deemed appropriate for this study. Systematic random sampling was employed to select a sample of 332 respondent organisations from the 2012 database of the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency consisting of formally registered small to medium tourism enterprises. A total of 310 usable questionnaires were finally obtained. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the study. Descriptive statistics were computed to reflect the organisations‟ and respondent managers‟ general characteristics and to summarise their measurement scores. Using inferential statistics, the study further investigated relationships between customer relationship management factors, as well as demographic factors. Data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and both the validity (refer to section 2.10.1) and reliability (refer to section 2.10.2) of the research instrument was assessed. The relationships between customer relationship management variables were also investigated (refer to section 2.11.4). The research results support an overall significant association between customer relationship management readiness and business strategy, customer strategy, touch points and competencies, skills and technology. Relationships were also explored among customer relationship management factors and demographic characteristics. Significant results were found between perceived business performance and the gender of managers, family businesses and gross annual turnover. The most salient contributions of this research can be summarised as follows. The overview of the importance of tourism and the role of small to medium enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry of the Eastern Cape will benefit researchers and potential owners who have an interest in this sector. The study contributes to an improved understanding of the factors that should precede customer relationship management. The study established a profile of the small to medium tourism enterprises in the Eastern Cape which can serve as a basis for future research. A measuring instrument for assessing respondents‟ views on the existence of the strategic, operational and organisational factors in their organisations was developed. This instrument showed good internal validity and reliability and can serve as a basis for the same purpose in contexts other than the tourism and hospitality sector. This research has made a contribution toward a largely under-researched area concerning customer relationship management in small to medium enterprises. Recommendations for managers and consideration of future research included the following. Managers need to have a strategic vision and a strong customer-centric focus. Through understanding customers and their needs, offerings can be tailored to maximize the overall value of customers, thereby, improving business performance. Through efficient operational processes in place, enhanced customer service levels can be attained in the organisations. Managers need to effectively manage customer information through data warehousing and technology. Top management commitment is a crucial element for ensuring improved customer services. Managers need to train staff with respect to customer services, thus enhancing CRM. Future researchers can conduct a longitudinal study and investigate the same factors which could impact customer relationship management. A verification of the usefulness of the measuring instrument in examining the determinants of customer relationship management and the level of development regarding other small businesses is suggested. It is recommended that this study be replicated abroad in an effort to verify to what extent the determinants of customer relationship management are evident in small businesses of other countries.

Studies have shown that BBBEE parties are unsuccessful in raising banking finance due to a number of reasons. The objective of the enactment of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act is primarily to promote the participation of black people in the economy. The measurement of BBBEE is determined by the codes of good practice for Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSE), which consists of seven elements namely: ownership, management control, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development. Enterprises with annual turnover ranging from R5 million and R35 million qualify as QSE. These elements measure the level of BBBEE status. The enactment of the National Credit Act replaced the Usury Act, 1968 and the Credit Agreements Act, 1980. The objective of the act is to promote accessibility to the credit market and to prevent the over-indebtedness of consumers. The Act is applicable to natural persons with contractual capacity and juristic persons with monetary assets or annual turnover of less than R1 million. This study aims to establish the facilitation of access to banking finance for BBBEE SME’S within the George and Mossel Bay area as these towns form part of the Garden Route Business Banking Division of Nedbank. The effect of the BBBEE and NCA on the accessing of banking finance was studied and analysed. Credit applications are subject to stringent credit scoring systems to rate applicants, monitor performance and manage accounts. The Basel rating which measures the minimum level of capital a bank should hold to protect investors determines the interest rate charged for loans. These ratings affect the accessibility of banking finance. A framework for bank and SME relationship building shows the relationships between: • The accounts manager’s role in relationship management; • Branch staff role in relationship management; • Corporate policies as part of relationship management. A survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire in order to obtain primary information from two sample groups, banking officials and BBBEE clients to establish the relationship between the two sample groups. Quantitative techniques were used and the data obtained from the two sample groups were analysed. The study revealed that the by establishment of relationships between BBBEE clients and banking officials would facilitate access to banking.

Even though many organizations invest in IT, the value that IT is expected to contribute is still not clearly understood. Researchers agree that IT has become a crucial element to business operations and business existence. However, while there is continued investment in new information technologies and systems, organizations are not certain whether significant value is derived from IT investments. The failure to realize good return on IT investments is ascribed to a lack of understanding of IT by organizations and also the failure by organizations to align IT strategies with business strategies. The lack of alignment leads to the failure to match the right IT to the correct task, which leads to the poor application of systems and poor allocation of human resources to tasks. Therefore, organizations such as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in particular Boutique Hotels, are noted for their failure to derive better IT value. Their unique characteristics are understood to be influential in the way IT is used and managed by affecting the delivery of value from technology. In order to enable Boutique Hotels to derive more value from IT, the IT governance frameworks, Val IT and CobiT (ITGI, 2007), were examined as these integrate good practices to ensure that an organization‘s IT supports the business objectives. In addition, the Task Technology Fit (TTF) (Goodhue and Thompson, 1995) and Gap Analysis (Heeks, 2001) theories were highlighted as these prescribe the platform ideal for more value to be derived from IT. The current status of Boutique Hotels in Buffalo City was assessed through the use of questionnaires and interviews. The collected data was analyzed and resulted in the development of a model that can be used by Boutique Hotels in order to derive more value from IT and to maximize the use of IT.