The study investigates the concept and development of social entrepreneurial models in South Africa to demonstrate how social business initiatives can thrive and increase their impact on quality of life. Extreme poverty and diminishing natural resources threaten the future existence of the human race. Transformative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions are necessary to address the most challenging social problems. The study explores the speculation that creation of social value naturally progressed to increase economic value. Governments and philanthropic efforts have to date, failed to offer effective solutions to social problems. Independently, no sector is able to handle the scale, cost and extent of the current social issues facing humanity. In order to address this gap the study considers the business models followed by the public, private and non-profit sectors. It then introduces the concept of social entrepreneurship and explores the use of a hybrid business model as a possible solution. It is argued that transformative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions to the most critical social problems within South Africa can only be generated once these different sectors collaborate to leverage public and private resources. The method used in approaching the study was: Identifying the need for new forms of social value creation and identifying specific ventures emerging to address these needs; Recognising the key factors enabling social entrepreneurs to accomplish ambitious task, create large social impact and influence economic value; Establishing the most predominant social problems threatening the future sustainability of society and economy in South Africa; Identifying the most strategic business model able to create transformation, sustainability and deliver both economic and social value; Establishing the guidelines, support and resources needed to strengthen social entrepreneurial behaviour and social entrepreneurial initiatives within South Africa. The objective of the study was firstly achieved through an analysis of literature related to the topic of social entrepreneurship. The literature study explored the origins of traditional entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial characteristics. It then went on to discover the concept of social entrepreneurship and made a clear definition between the different types of social entrepreneurship, separating the social entrepreneurial venture from charity and corporate social responsibility. The literature study looked further into the characteristics of a social entrepreneur, the need for new forms of social value creation, the opportunities that exist and the impact created by social entrepreneurship. The second part of the analysis strictly focussed on social entrepreneurship in South Africa and the role each sector plays in addressing social issues. The most critical social issues in South Africa were identified with emphasise on the change needed. The methodology used was the case study method. A single-case study was conducted with the Freeplay Energy Group, presenting a successful social entrepreneurial venture, serving as a good business model example for the South African environment. A qualitative approach was followed with the objective of testing theory. By comparing the theory identified in the literary review with the findings of the case study, it was possible to investigate the concept and development of social entrepreneurial models in South Africa. The conclusions demonstrate how social business initiatives can thrive and increase their impact on quality of life. The most strategic business model identified was one which integrated the public, private and non-profit sectors with social entrepreneurship. The collaboration of all the sectors with social entrepreneurship results in social value creation which gives impetus to economic value creation. The findings were documented with specific conclusions being made and offered suggestions for future research.

Given the rapid inflow of African immigrant entrepreneurs into South Africa, as well as the lack of understanding and research attention given to African immigrant entrepreneurial orientation, the failure rate of their businesses in South Africa is very high. The purpose of this study is to contribute to more effective and robust African immigrant entrepreneurship in South Africa by investigating the impact of African immigrant entrepreneurial orientation on business performance. With this purpose in mind, the primary objective of this study is to establish the level of entrepreneurial orientation of African immigrant-owned small businesses in the Eastern Cape Province, and to determine the influence of this orientation on business performance. This study sets out to pull together previous findings and theories on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, and business performance, to find support for the theories on the determinants of entrepreneurial orientation in the literature, and to combine these findings into a simple model. An overview of small businesses was first conducted, in which the nature of small businesses and African immigrant-owned small businesses was taken into consideration, as well as the role small businesses play within the economy and the different challenges small businesses face. The dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation were discussed. These included Innovativeness, Pro-activeness, Risk-taking, Competitive aggressiveness, and Autonomy. Business performance was discussed and was measured in terms of financial and non-financial measures. The resource based view was also discussed and human, social, and financial capitals were taken into consideration. A proposed theoretical framework was established to show the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance of African immigrant-owned small businesses and this was later tested by developing a hypothesis. A structured questionnaire was developed and data was collected through these self-administered questionnaires. They were made available to the respondents by a means of the snowball technique and data was collected from 218 respondents. Each construct was defined and operationalised. This was done by using themes from previous studies, as well as self developed themes. Cronbach‟s alpha coefficients were used to confirm reliability and validity of the measuring instruments. Completed questionnaires were subject to different statistical tests. A descriptive analysis was carried out, as well as an exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression and an analysis of variance. The findings of this study showed that Innovativeness has a negative relationship to Business performance whilst Competitive aggressiveness, Proactiveness, Risk-taking, and Autonomy have a significant positive relationship to Business performance. Furthermore, the findings established that Financial capital has a significant relationship to Competitive aggressiveness, Innovativeness, and Proactiveness, whilst there is no relationship to Risk-taking and Autonomy. In addition, it was established that there is a significant relationship between Human capital and Competitive aggressiveness, Proactiveness, and Autonomy, whilst there is no relationship to Innovativeness and Risk-taking. Moreover, the study also showed that a relationship exists between some selected demographic variables of the African immigrant-owned small business and entrepreneurial orientation, as measured by Innovativeness (H1a), Pro-activeness (H1b), Risk-taking (H1c), Competitive aggressiveness (H1d) and Autonomy (H1e). An exception was the demographic variable, the Level of education, which was not found to be as stipulated in the hypothesis. In the context of this study, it was found that 62% of change in African immigrant-owned small business performance is affected by entrepreneurial orientation while other factors accounted for the remaining 38%. Management should revisit its entrepreneurial orientation capabilities and determine whether these are delivering values. This will require a review of policies and procedures in addition to benchmarking these activities to identify whether the business is committing an unwarranted and misplaced amount of resources to a given entrepreneurial orientation activity. Blind pursuit of the uniform implementation of an entrepreneurial dimension is not an effective way for African immigrant-owned small businesses to create an advantage.

Thesis (M. Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of the financial bootstrapping strategies used by rural based small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The study was guided by the following objectives, (1) To investigate the financial bootstrapping strategies used by rural entrepreneurs, (2) To examine the effect of the education of the owners on the financial bootstrapping strategies used by rural entrepreneurs, (3) To determine the effect of the age of the owners on the financial bootstrapping strategies used by rural entrepreneurs and (4) To investigate the effect of the gender of the owners on the financial bootstrapping strategies used by rural entrepreneurs. The research followed a quantitative research method with a descriptive research design. A sample of 104 rural SMMEs participated in the survey. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaires in a survey. The participants in the study were rural SMME owners in Fetakgomo Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The study utilised the convenience and snowball sampling techniques to obtain data from the respondents. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, T-test and regression analysis. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure reliability. The results indicated that rural SMMEs have a low usage and adoption rate of bootstrapping finance. The research also found that rural SMMEs mainly utilised owner’s finance as the primary bootstrapping method. The results of the T-test showed significant differences between gender and bootstrapping methods as well as between the level of education and the bootstrapping methods used by rural SMMEs. However, there was no significant difference between age of the owners and bootstrapping methods used by rural SMMEs. Recommendations were ii proposed for the government to create an enabling environment for rural SMEs by embarking on a variety of strategies to raise awareness on the importance of bootstrapping finance. Rural SMME owners were recommended to enrol for a certificate course in financial management to sharpen their skills. Keywords: entrepreneurs’ characteristics, financial bootstrapping, rural area, SMMEs, South Africa.

Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The aim of the study was to determine the relationships between determinants of mobile commerce adoption and the actual adoption of mobile commerce by Small and Medium Enterprises in Polokwane Municipality. The study utilised the quantitative research approach with 146 SME owner respondents from population of 261 owners using a random sampling technique. The questionnaire was developed from the empirical literature review. The determinants of m-commerce were represented by technological, organisational and environmental contextual factors. M-commerce was measured using 11 questions against all other contextual factor variables . Data was cleaned to enhance its fitness for further analysis. To attain this, normality, mean and standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were performed. The data was found to be fit for the purpose of the study. Furthermore, the data was tested for validity and reliability and it satisfied the requirements. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. ANOVA was used to test for sub-hypotheses and to make a decision on whether to accept or reject the stated hypotheses based on the significance level. Regression analysis was used to test main hypotheses. ANOVA results showed that all technological factors (perceived benefits, perceived costs, perceived compatibility), organisational factors (technology readiness), environ mental factors (customer pressure, supplier pressure, competitor pressure) and technology acceptance model factors (perceived usefulness) significantly predicted m commerce adoption. On the other hand, factors such as gender, age, level of education and perceived ease of use were not significant predictors of m-commerce adoption. Based on the above results, SMEs should improve on their handling of determinants of m-commerce as they effectively influence the adoption of m-commerce. The government also needs to boost the SME sector by introducing several measures which can expose small businesses to enabling business environment.

Thesis(M. Com.(Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are an important vehicle in income redistribution, poverty alleviation, employment creation and contribute to the gross domestic product of South Africa. However, SMEs in South Africa suffer from weak performance and thus a high failure rate. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of learning and marketing orientation on the performance of SMEs. A quantitative approach was used, while a self-administered questionnaire was also employed during the data collection process. A four section questionnaire covering demographic information, learning orientation variables, marketing orientation variables and performance variables was prepared and distributed randomly to a selected sample of 390 SME owners in Msukaligwa Local Municipality in Mpumalanga Province. A total of 181 questionnaires were returned. Descriptive statistics was undertaken to evaluate the respondents’ characteristics against the three research variables (learning orientation, marketing orientation and performance). The software used to analyse information gathered and to ensure accuracy and reliability of the study results was Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between learning orientation and performance, and the relationship between marketing orientation and performance. The Cronbach’s alpha was used as a measure of reliability. The results of the study revealed that both learning and marketing orientation positively impact on the performance of SMEs. Recommendations to improve the marketing and learning orientation of SMEs are suggested.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy / Ethical investing has become increasingly prevalent in recent years and mirrors a rise in shareholder activism, consumer ethics and corporate social responsibility. Shariah funds are a subset of ethical funds. The rise in popularity of ethical funds has raised questions as to whether ethical funds perform better than conventional funds, and whether ethical funds are riskier than conventional funds. A number of studies have been carried out in different countries utilising the traditional performance measures as well as factor models to determine the risk profile and returns of ethical funds compared to conventional funds. These studies have shown that the results are country specific and hence each country needs to be analysed separately. The aim of this study is to investigate ethical funds (incorporating Shariah funds) in the South African context. The study examines the performance and risk profile of ethical funds relative to conventional funds utilising traditional performance methods as well as the CAPM model and Fama French 3-factor model. Furthermore, the study determines the factors that influence investors to invest in ethical funds and to examine their investment preferences when choosing between conventional funds and ethical funds through a survey of Muslim investors. Finally, the study examines the role of advertising in ethical fund investment and investigates whether the marketing material of ethical funds is aligned to investor requirements by utilising content analysis to compare the fact sheets of various mutual funds for the presence of factors identified as important by investors. The empirical results show that conventional funds outperformed ethical funds with a greater variability of return over a truncated time period. Both ethical and conventional funds were driven primarily by the market return with no clear style bias. In fact, ethical funds had a stronger beta to the ALSI than to the JSE SRI index. The qualitative analysis showed that the sampled investors perceived conventional funds as offering better returns, but being more risky. The sampled investors were willing to undertake financial sacrifice in order to invest according to their faith. The most important source of information regarding investments was cited as professional advice, followed by word of mouth and advice from family and friends. Advertising came in behind these factors and was not an influential source of information for the sampled investors. The factors most important to investors when deciding to invest in a fund was the philosophy of the fund (i.e. it’s investment strategy or ideology) followed by the risk profile of the fund and past returns of the fund. The content analysis showed that the factsheets of South African mutual funds were aligned to the factors identified by the sample of investors as most important with influencing their decision to invest. Moreover, conventional funds focused more on returns than risk, with ethical funds focusing more on risk than return – thus funds tended to emphasise their strong points most in their factsheets. / MB2016

Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accounting, 2016. / The mode of reporting performance by firms has shifted radically in recent years from a set of audited annual financial statements, to the inclusion of integrated and sustainability reports. This move has been particularly important for South African listed firms, which are required to prepare integrated reports (and therefore sustainability reports) due to the revision of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing requirements. Although there are no specific accounting standards at present particularly for sustainability reports, certain reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, have influenced and become leaders in such reporting. The value relevance of the quality of sustainability reports is the focus of this study. This research report tests whether report quality as measured by the GRI reporting categories is value relevant for JSE listed companies, whether better reporting companies achieve better long term performance over the period 2007 to 2015. Value relevance is measured using a 4 tiered portfolio construction technique, which uses the GRI reporting categories to define comparative investment portfolios. The results indicate that GRI firms with the highest report qualities underperformed significantly when compared to the market, with the exception of the C report firms, which showed some level of outperformance in the later portfolio years. Interestingly, the portfolio of firms using frameworks other than the GRI outperformed all of the categories of GRI framework firms, as well as the market. The results for the GRI category firms therefore contradict some of the previous research on the value relevance of sustainability reporting which used different measurement proxies for quality, while the non GRI reporting firm results find similar conclusions. This research report therefore concludes that the GRI framework implementation is relatively low in a South African context, and that the GRI report categories do not provide a measure of report quality for the purpose of measuring value relevance, and rather measure the breadth of reporting. This is partly due to the early stage of development of sustainability reporting within South Africa, as well as the lack of a mandatory assured reporting framework such as the GRI, resulting in many firms preferring not to use the globally favoured GRI framework. It appears that most firms are tailoring the various frameworks available to their needs rather than using a consistent framework, which results in reports not being based on the same framework, and therefore not being comparable, even on a high level indicator basis. This highlights the need for revisions to be introduced in the King IV report which will hopefully assist in formalising the leading sustainability framework, and therefore standardising sustainability reporting, together with providing a linkage to the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa, which requires investors to integrate their investment decisions with sustainability considerations. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation. Johannesburg, 2017 / The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment’s (BBBEE’s) enterprise development practice is one of the tools employed by the South African government in an attempt to redress the country’s past economic injustices that are a result of apartheid’s discriminatory economic segregationist policies. This research undertook to study the perceptual impact of BBBEE’s enterprise development in mining communities, by focusing on black entrepreneurs and the support they receive from mining companies – or lack thereof – according to the BBBEE’s codes of good conduct. The support that mining companies provide to mining community entrepreneurs could have come in the form of, inter alia,business funding, business incubation, granting guarantees for business loans and business coaching. The study took apositivist approach with data collected using aquestionnaire. The research findings indicate that mining community entrepreneurs do not feel that mining companies provide business support, therefore leading to the conclusion that BBBEE’s enterprise development does not fulfil its objective of redressing South Africa’s past economic injustices by supporting black entrepreneurs. The research took a positivist paradigm in that data collection was quantitative. A positivist approach is viewed as a scientific, rational and empirical way of gathering data that is in turn used in knowledge construction (Ryan, 2006). The research design was cross-sectional because the researcher intended to study the perceptual impact of enterprise development on mining communities over a long time without having to make observations over many years. A cross-sectional study is the observation of subjects at one stage of an external intervention process to determine the impact of, for example, intervention by a third party or exposure to a third party. The population involved in this study was made up of black male and female entrepreneurs 18 years old or older, from three mining towns situated in following three provinces: Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the North West province. The research instrument was research questionnaire in the form of a five-point Likert scale. The limitation in this study was the limited population sample of 127 respondents from only three provinces, as they can’t be representative of the entire South African mining communities’ population. / MT2017

Thesis (M.Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Small and Micro-Enterprises (SMEs) are considered sources of income that give people the purchasing power to meet their basic needs and improve their standard of living. Primarily, this study investigated the effects of SMEs on employment creation in Sefene Village, Limpopo Province (South Africa) with the following objectives: to determine the types, characteristics and challenges of SMEs in rural areas; to explore the management approaches for SMEs in rural areas; to examine the types and quality of employment created in rural areas; to determine the effects of SMEs on employment creation in rural areas; and to recommend measures that could enhance the effects of SMEs on employment creation in Sefene Village. The study used a literature review, interview schedule and semi-structured questionnaires. The findings of the study revealed that SMEs played a tremendous role in improving the local economic development of Sefene village. The SMEs are employment creators that have provided economic opportunities for the local people of Sefene village. In terms of employment creation, the SMEs in Sefene confronted challenges such as lack of access to finance, marketing aptitudes, markets, and lack of significant infrastructural facilities and management skills. In any case, literature and empirical data gathered at Sefene uncovered that the major challenge experienced by SMEs was a lack of access to finance. An entrepreneur can have the knowledge and skills but without funds, they are then constrained and impeded. The government institutions for SMEs ought to also target rural areas since that is where there are market potential and overwhelming poverty and unemployment. Further, the SMEs proprietors were aware of financial institutions but accessing them was a major challenge since they did not know about ways to approach them. Hence, the study has recommended that the government financial institutions needed to build relationships with the Molemole Local Municipality to extend access to their services by people who aspire to venture into SMEs. Similarly, the SMEs are major employment creators and need support from private sectors, community members, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and government institutions.

South Africa's biggest challenge remains the high rate of unemployment especially among the country's youth. Small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have been shown to be instrumental in many third world economies as a sustainable means not only to address unemployment but also to contribute significantly to economic growth. Despite government's good intentions and support, the South African SMME sector is not growing as expected and this is impacting negatively on unemployment creation in the country. Good business development services (BDS) is necessary to support SMMEs and specifically the Market Development Approach to the provision of BDS, where subsidies are replaced by private payment for services. Makana municipal area provided scope for analysing the constraints to the implementation of such business development services. Analysing the scope and magnitude of the constraints in this setting would contribute to understanding the constraints also in other parts of the country and help officials in local economic development make better informed decisions regarding support to SMMEs. Authors like Rogerson (2011), UNDP (2004), Miehlbradt and McVay, (2003), the Committee of Donor Agencies for SME Development (Blue book) (2001) and Bear et al., (2001) Gibson (2001), propose that the key to sustainable BDS is the implementation of the Market Development approach which focusses on for-profit activities in the provision of BDS to SMMEs. The aim of this study was to examine perceptions of key stakeholders towards SMME support and development, to identify the constraints to the implementation of a Market Development approach to the provision of business development services to SMMEs in the Makana area and to make recommendations to the Makana LED office of possible intervention strategies to address identified constraints. Purposive sampling was used to identify key stakeholders in SMME support in the Makana area in the categories of, big institutional buyers, public and private BDS providers as well the municipal LED office. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each stakeholder using questions shown in appendixes A to D. Perceptions of all key stakeholders were very positive with good intentions to support SMMEs. However, this was not consistent with procurement practice at the big institutional buyers. Constraints are summarized in the following five themes: Theme 1. Inconsistent practice in dealing with SMMEs across the organisation. Theme 2. Absence of a cooperative body or Chamber of Commerce. Theme 3. Fragmented Business Development Services. Theme 4. A lack of a culture of cost recovery. Theme 5. Limited awareness of BDS in the Makana area. A number of recommendations were suggested. Big institutional buyers like Rhodes University and Makana municipality need to take a longer term view and move the focus from employment creation to enterprise support which is a more sustainable and empowering source of employment (ILO, 2009). The Grahamstown Chamber of Commerce should become more representative and big institutional buyers also need to be convinced of the value of private BDS. Stakeholders should work together to combine resources to offer a comprehensive one-stop BDS for the Makana area (Chetty, 2009) and this comprehensive BDS should be provided according to the Market Development approach focusing on those services that lend themselves better to this approach whilst using subsidies only for those services with a low potential for cost recovery (UNDP, 2004).