Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Venture capital is a major source of funding for the entrepreneurial community and usually focuses on the early stage, more risk orientated business endeavours. This study explores and identifies the investment criteria used by South African venture capitalists in their venture screening and evaluation process and compares these criteria with the results obtained in similar studies abroad. By identifying the criteria that are deemed as important, venture capitalists can enhance their decision-making process and entrepreneurs can adjust their preparation for venture capital application to maximise their success rate. By alerting entrepreneurs of these criteria, some potentially flawed proposals can be corrected beforehand, hence enhancing the venture capital process for both the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur. By making use of a questionnaire, data was gathered from a population of 16 identified South African venture capitalists, of which 75% replied. The most important criteria was identified by evaluating the mean ratings assigned to them and was found to be, the entrepreneurs honesty and integrity, a good expected market acceptance and a high IRR. The data was further analysed using the Friedman two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by ranks test, the Sign test and factor analysis. It was found that the South African venture capitalists, just like their overseas counterparts, rate the entrepreneur and management team, as the most important category of criteria when evaluating new projects for investment. In addition, two lists of factors were identified by using factor analysis to reduce the criteria obtained from the questionnaire. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Waagkapitaal is een van die belangrikste bronne van befondsing waarvan entrepreneurs gebruik kan maak. Dit fokus hoofsaaklik op besighede in 'n vroeë besigheid lewensiklus, waar hoër risiko aan die orde van die dag is. Hierdie studie identifiseer en analiseer die beleggings maatstawwe wat gebruik word vir waagkapitaal belegging besluitneming in Suid-Afrika en vergelyk die resultate met soortgelyke studies wat reeds in die buiteland uitgevoer is. Die besluitnemingsproses vir die waagkapitalis kan ook vergemaklik word deur die identifisering van die mees belangrikste maatstawwe en terselfdertyd kan entrepreneurs dit ook gebruik vir beter voorbereiding in hul aansoek om waagkapitaal. Deur entrepreneurs se aandag op die belangrike faktore te vestig kan potensiële swak voorleggings vroegtydig gekorrigeer word, wat 'n positiewe bydrae sal lewer tot die beleggingsproses vir beide die waagkapitalis en die entrepreneur. Daar is gebruik gemaak van 'n vraelys wat gestuur is aan 16 Suid-Afrikaanse waagkapitaal beleggers, 75% het die vraelys voltooi. Deur vergelyking van die gemiddelde waardes is vasgestel dat die belangrikste maatstawwe die entrepreneur se eerlikheid en integriteit, goeie verwagte aanvaarding en aanvraag na die produk en 'n hoë “IRR” is, daarna is die data geanaliseer deur middel van die “Friedman two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by ranks test”, die ”Sign test” en “factor analysis”. Daar is bevind dat die Suid-Afrikaanse waagkapitalis net soos sy oorsese eweknie, die entrepreneur en bestuurspan as die mees belangrikste afdeling van maatstawwe ag wanneer gekyk word na nuwe projekte vir beleggings. Daar is ook twee addisionele lyste van belangrike maatstawwe opgestel deur die aantal faktore te verminder deur faktor analise.

Thesis (M.B.A.: Business Studies Unit)-Durban University of Technology, 2008. xi, 96 leaves / The amalgamation of municipalities came into effect as a legislative requirement brought about a number of challenges for the local government. One such major challenge relates to the impact that these amalgamations will have on human resource practices of the various municipalities. Literature study reveals that during any merger or amalgamation, less attention is paid to the human element of a merger until the merger is almost complete. This lack of attention impacts negatively on the merger results. Like other municipalities, Ethekwini Municipality is a product of this legislative requirement. It was formed as a result of the amalgamation of different municipal entities that had different human resource practices. The problem facing eThekwini Municipality is the misalignment of human resources policies and their effect on the working environment. This study looks at the impact of this amalgamation on the human resources practices of the eThekwini Municipality. The sub-objectives of the study are: to ascertain employees’ perceptions of amalgamation; to determine whether employees believe that the human resources’ matters are handled in a manner that will bring about stability and equity in the workplace; and to establish whether different perceptions exist between employees of the former Durban Metro Central and those of the erstwhile entities. / M

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 Masters in Management: Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation Johannesburg, 2015 (March 2015) / The purpose of this research is to investigate human capital and social capital as determinants to access to finance for women SMME owners in South Africa. The study focuses on Human capital which encompasses social capital and looks at access to finance within the South African context. It does not include all other factors discussed in entrepreneurship theory. The major theories underlying this research are Social Network theory and Human capital theory. Human capital theory is viewed as formal education, skills attained and knowledge gained through informal knowledge such as prior work experience, industry experience and apprenticeship opportunities. These variables are assessed to see if they determine access to finance; which is a barrier to entrepreneurship in South Africa for SMME owners. This constraint is stressed in all The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports from 2009 to 2014. This paper focuses on a single gender; females and assesses these capital factors as determinants to access finance for their entrepreneurial activity. Social capital as a factor is studied as a component of Human capital and two variables are assessed: strong ties and weak ties. Access to finance is evaluated as both debt and equity for entrepreneurs. Bivariate analysis was used to test the theories for results. The results showed an importance of human and social capital for entrepreneurs in running their businesses however not all human and social capital factors were confirmed to entirely determine access to finance for the women entrepreneurs. This study can potentially assist SMME owners within South Africa, financial institutions, policy makers and support organisations for women-owned businesses with insight into what determines accessing finance for business. / MT2016

This research project incorporates the theory that global integration is shaped by national, regional and local dynamics South Africa's integration into the globa arena is affected by its attempts to enhance empowerment, restructure the labour market, remove discrimination and increase participation. In this case study, the factors that encourage the retention of skilled IT professionals and graduates in KZN were investigated, to explore the reasons why despite opportunities for global advancement in the IT sector, skilled Individuals choose to remain in localities that are assumed to be " skill-exporting" areas This study has revealed that innovation is the key 10 a dynamic and successful IT sector in KZN. The formation of technology-intensive organizations is vital in order to develop local capabilities and 10 compete effectively in the global economy. They are also necessary to reinforce the relationship between academia, industry, and government and to encourage technological innovation. Innovation will not only contribute to the growth and development of the SMME sector, but also attract and retain skilled IT professionals and graduates in KZN. The potential of KZN to develop a successful IT sector can be significantly improved by employing a "cluster based approach" to attend to its development needs. The establishment of the Innovation Support Centre in KZN, therefore, can be regarded as a significant tool to promote regional development, and foster innovation and the development of a successful SMME sector in the province, which will in turn contribute to the retention of the skilled IT workforce in KZN. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Thesis (M.B.A.: Business Studies Unit)-Durban University of Technology, 2008. xi, 96 leaves / The amalgamation of municipalities came into effect as a legislative requirement brought about a number of challenges for the local government. One such major challenge relates to the impact that these amalgamations will have on human resource practices of the various municipalities. Literature study reveals that during any merger or amalgamation, less attention is paid to the human element of a merger until the merger is almost complete. This lack of attention impacts negatively on the merger results. Like other municipalities, Ethekwini Municipality is a product of this legislative requirement. It was formed as a result of the amalgamation of different municipal entities that had different human resource practices. The problem facing eThekwini Municipality is the misalignment of human resources policies and their effect on the working environment. This study looks at the impact of this amalgamation on the human resources practices of the eThekwini Municipality. The sub-objectives of the study are: to ascertain employees’ perceptions of amalgamation; to determine whether employees believe that the human resources’ matters are handled in a manner that will bring about stability and equity in the workplace; and to establish whether different perceptions exist between employees of the former Durban Metro Central and those of the erstwhile entities.

The main objective of the thesis was to investigate the factors that determine capital structures of financial firms using two separate samples of banks and insurance companies. In the first instance, the results of the study showed that the financing behaviour of banks mirrors that of non-financial firms. It was also observed bank financing behaviour can be best explained by the pecking order theory. Risk and size variables were observed to be negatively related to the Tier 1 regulatory capital ratio, whereas the dividend variable was positively related. Similarly, risk and size were found to be negatively associated with buffer capital, while dividends were positively related. The 2007–2009 global financial crisis (GFC) was found to have negatively affected the financial structures of banks. Consistent with similar studies, it was observed that banks have a target capital structure, and adjust to this target at an adjustment speed of 44%. With regard to insurance companies, it was observed that the firm-level determinants of capital structure explain insurer leveraging. Unlike banks, the 2007–2009 GFC positively affected the capital structure of insurance companies. Similar to banks, results showed that insurers have target capital structures which they seek to achieve in their financing and adjust to such targets at a rate of 21%, which is lower than that of banks. The study contributes to the body of knowledge in four major ways. Firstly, it adds to the literature on the capital structure of financial firms, which area has not been extensively and conclusively studied. Using a different environment, it validates the ‘standard corporate finance view’ as has been observed in the few studies on financial firms. Secondly, it validates the ‘buffer view’ and ‘regulatory view’ of capital structures of financial firms that have taken prominence since the last GFC. Thirdly, the study recognises that banks and insurance companies are fundamentally different with regard to capital structure and regulation and therefore warranted separate treatment in studies. This is in contrast with recent studies that do not recognise the heterogeneity of the two types of firms. Fourthly, to the researcher’s knowledge this study is the first to examine the impact of business cycles/financial crises on the financing patterns of financial firms. Confirming the fundamental differences between banks and insurance companies, the study observed that financial crises have a negative impact on capital structures of banks (meaning that they deleverage during crises). In contrast, financial crises have a positive impact on capital structures of insurance companies (meaning, unlike banks, they leverage during crises). / Business Management / D. Phil. (Management Studies)

It is evident that natural fish stocks are in rapid decline and that millions of people around the world rely on these resources for food and for securing a livelihood. This has brought many social scientists, biologists and fisheries experts to acknowledge that communities need to take more control in managing their natural resources. The paradigm shift in fisheries management from a top-down resource orientated control to a participatory people-centred control is now being advocated in many maritime nations in facilitating community-based natural resource management. At the heart of these projects is the establishment of institutions and social networks that allow for clear communication and information sharing, based on scientific data and traditional knowledge which ultimately allow empowered communities to collectively manage their resources in partnership with government, market actors and many other stakeholders. Central to the problem is the issue of access rights. In many situations where co-management of natural resources through community-government partnerships is advocated, the failure of coastal states to provide adequate legislature and regulatory frameworks has jeopardised such projects. A second issue is the failure of many states to provide adequate investments in social and human capital which will enable communities to become the primary stakeholder in the co-management of their natural resources. Whilst investments like capacity building, education, skills training and development, communications and institution building can initially require high financial investments, the regulatory costs for monitoring, controlling and surveying fish stocks along the coastline will go down as communities take ownership of their resources under sustainable awareness. The main unit of investment therefore is social capital which allows for the increase in trust, cooperativeness, assertiveness, collective action and general capabilities of natural resource governance. High levels of social capital require good social relations and interactions which ultimately create a social network of fishers, community members and leaders, government officials, market players, researchers and various other stakeholders. Co-management thus has an inherent network structure made up of social relations on a horizontal scale amongst community members as well as on a vertical scale with government and fisheries authorities. These bonding relations between people and the bridging relations with institutions provide the social capital currency that allows for a successful co-management solution to community-based natural resource governance. The South African coastline is home to thousands of people who harvest the marine resources for food security and securing a basic income. Fishing is a major cultural and historical component of the livelihoods of many people along the coastline, particularly along the Wild Coast of South Africa located on its South-eastern shoreline. Due to the geopolitical nature of South Africa’s apartheid past many people were located in former tribal lands called Bantustans. The Transkei, one of the biggest homelands, is home to some of South Africa’s poorest people, many of whom rely on the marine resources. By 1998 the government sought to acknowledge the previously unrecognised subsistence sector that lived along the South African coastline with the promulgation of the Marine Living Resources Act. The act sought to legalise access rights for fishers and provide opportunities for the development of commercial fisheries. The act and many subsequent policies largely called for co-management as a solution to the management of the subsistence sector. This thesis largely explains the administrative and legislative difficulties in transporting the participatory components of co-management to the ground level. As such co-management has largely remained in rhetoric whilst the government provides a contradictory policy regarding the management of subsistence and small-scale fishers. This thesis attempts to provide qualitative ethnographic research of the East Coast Rock Lobster fishery located in a small fishing village in the Transkei. The fishery falls somewhere on the spectrum between the small-scale and subsistence sector as there are a basket of high and low value resources being harvested. It will be argued that in order to economically and socially develop the fishery the social capital and social networks of the community and various stakeholders needs to be analysed in order to effectively create a co-management network that can create a successful collective management of natural resources thereby sustaining these communities in the future.

The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the perspectives of current members of the cooperative regarding the role of social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative on the Suid Bokkeveld in the Northern Cape, South Africa (SA). This cooperative has been cited by several researchers as being successful for various reasons, including the existence of a marketable resource, a steady increase in production, and certification through Fairtrade, resulting in an export market. Social capital, as a contributing factor to the success of the cooperative, has not however previously been investigated in depth. In light of the unique success of this cooperative, it is important to obtain an in-depth understanding of the role of social capital, if any, in its success, particularly in the formation and day-to-day operation of the cooperative. With a particular focus on the members’ perspectives of the cooperative, this qualitative research adopted a case study approach to explore and to gain multiple and subjective understanding of the role played by social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative. This may assist the organisation under study, as well as similar initiatives, in strategically harnessing the benefits of social capital as a resource in future. This report has three interrelated sections. The first part is an academic paper, which includes a condensed literature review, research methods, results and discussions. The second part is an expanded literature review, while the third section details the research methods. It is vital to note that these sections are separate, but interrelated. Convenience sampling was used to identify current members of the cooperative who participated in this exploratory qualitative study. Four heterogeneous focus group discussions, with a total of 44 members of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Suid Bokkeveld, were conducted. The focus groups were heterogeneous, as they included ordinary members, founding members and committee members. A guideline with questions based on the theory of social capital was developed, and used to initiate or stimulate discussion among the members of the cooperative in order to address the key research question, namely: What was the role of social capital, if any, in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Northern Cape as perceived by current cooperative members? The primary source of data was collected through focus group discussions, while secondary data was obtained from documents in a form of internal reports and papers written for the Heiveld Cooperative. Data was analysed using open coding and constant comparison techniques in order to induce emerging themes from the data. Findings of this study revealed that social capital played a major and influential role during the inception and also in the successful operation of the Heiveld Cooperative, by bonding and bridging not just between individual members, but also between communities, trading partners and other collaborators. Another key finding of this study is that social capital was also critical in enhancing supportive knowledge sharing, and the promotion of pride and shared identity, which the study identifies as aspects of cognitive social capital. Interestingly, the cognitive dimension of social capital in the Heiveld Cooperative has contributed to the weakening of social capital, as evident in claims related to lack of transparency and procedural injustice. Last, but not least, leveraging the sense of community has also been useful in promoting collective efficacy, strengthening familial togetherness, and enhanced democratisation of decision-making. Diminished trust, based on perceived oligarchy and nepotism is gradually weakening relational social capital. Findings in this study are illuminated using the social capital theory described by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) to depict the social, cognitive and relational aspect of social capital that are at work at Heiveld Cooperative. Additionally, the social network theory by Hoppe and Reinelt (2010) is used to highlight the systemic view of social capital, which embraces the structural, relational and cognitive nature not only internal to but also between networks of the cooperative. Recommendations are provided to ensure social capital is harnessed, rather than undermined. These include the need to promote the processes of learning, monitoring and discussion that have been implemented; harnessing the benefits of bonding and bridging social capital; leveraging the sense of community and applying a more systemic view of social capital; and addressing perverse aspects of social capital such as nepotism and oligarchy that have been identified.

The following study is about business angels financing small business start-ups. It explores the aspect of starting up an entrepreneurial venture in which the entrepreneur seeks to secure start-up finance from lenders, raising the various issues that are known to characterise this engagement between the entrepreneur and the lender. Using the phenomenological paradigm, the study seeks to determine the awareness of small scale financing by entrepreneurs in South Africa, to determine the most commonly used source of start-up business funding in South Africa, to assess the extent to which business angel financing could be used to finance businesses in South Africa and to determine the factors impacting the use of business angel financing in South Africa. From these objectives, the study will also seek to determine the extent to which business angel networks could facilitate the financing of business start-ups. Small businesses invariably come up in different policy spheres as the main avenues to social and economic construction across national and regional lines. The importance of a successful business start up to a growing economy should not be underestimated. In line with this is the particular factor of gaining access to start up capital, which continues to emerge as a leading contributor to the success or failure of business start ups. Studies continue to verify that the most common challenge faced by most emerging entrepreneurs is start-up capital, either in the lack of this capital, the unfavourable conditions surrounding its availability, the lack of assets to serve as collateral for its use or the ambiguous flow of crucial information between lenders and providers of finance in the funding relationship (Abor and Biekpe, 2006: 69;Hernandez-Trillo, Pagan and Paxton, 2005: 435, ISPESE, 2005: 7, CDE, 2004: 5; Musengi 2003: 11). Roger Sorheim (2005: 179) refers to business angels as private individuals who offer risk capital to unlisted companies that are struggling to obtain start up capital to finance their business ideas. Business angels are further defined as high net-worth bearers of substantial private capital who predominantly invest in the early stage of high risk high potential return business ventures with a positive further growth potential. Business angel finance is typically a ‘once-off’ early stage form of small firm financing compared to the more frequent later stage venture capitalist funding. Studies show that business angels represent an underutilised wealth creation mechanism when it comes to small firm start-ups as most business angels contribute expertise in addition to finance to the start-ups they get involved in. This brings valuable business insight to the commercialisation of a good business idea. The business angel network exposes a range of potentially viable business prospects to willing investors by facilitating the flow of information about entrepreneurs and their businesses, thereby eliminating ambiguity, information asymmetry and transaction costs (Aernoudt and Erikson, 2002: 178; Van Osnabrugge and Robinson, 2000:374; Macht, 2006:1; Ehlrich, De Noble, Moore and Weaver, 1994:70; Sorheim, 2005:179). To achieve a holistic approach to a phenomenon which appears to be relatively new in South African business circles, the study will follow a qualitative approach in which two categories of populations will be used, one of small business operators and the other of business angels in South Africa. In the study, 20 small business operators and five business angels in Grahamstown will be approached using the convenience and snowballing sampling methods respectively. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews will be used as a data collection method and content analysis will be used as a data analysis tool (Collis and Hussey, 2003:156, Driver, Wood, Segal and Herrington, 2001:32, National Small Business Act ). There has been very limited research on business angels in the South African context, therefore the study would significantly contribute in entrepreneurship, government and small business development circles as it brings about attention to what the researcher predicts is an underutilised business start-up financing option.

This study examined the influence of gender on access to venture capital and firm performance on Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises in King Williams Town, South Africa. This study sought to establish whether there was differential access to venture capital between genders; to establish whether men- and women-owned SMMEs differ in performance; to identify whether an association between gender and business related experience can be found; and to assess the extent to which the gender gap in SMME access to venture capital and performance could be allocated to gender differences in levels of business related experience. A total sample of 109 SMMEs was used which comprised 53 female- and 56 male-owned. The quota sampling technique was implemented and a self-administered questionnaire was used for the purpose of gathering primary data. Data for this study was gathered from SMME owners only as they were the targeted respondents. The t-test and Chi-square test were used for the statistical analysis in order to arrive at findings and conclusions. Based on a 64% survey response rate, the study reports the existence of statistically significant gender gap in SMME access to venture capital and SMME performance. In addition, this study also reports the existence of a gender gap in business related experience amongst SMME owners. However, after controlling for business related experience, the gender gap in SMMEs access to venture capital and performance disappears. This study therefore argues that the variation in business related experience between gender plays a major role in the noted gender gap. This study therefore concludes that addressing gender gap in business related experience is of vital importance as this would also assist in eliminating the apparent gender gap in access to venture capital and firm performance. To address the gender gap in business related experience, the study recommends that innovations in the design and delivery of training programmes should be implemented. Establishing and monitoring targets for current women managers who are also potential future business owners/SMME owners, should be a policy being practiced in both the private and public sector, among other recommendations outlined in the study.