Abstract Micro financing is perceived to contribute towards poverty reduction by developing small enterprises. We examined the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction (CFPR) programme implemented by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) between 2002 and 2007. We selected this case because it used a different approach of micro financing where assets were transferred rather than cash to participants. We examined two aspects of the programme: (i) the impact of micro financing through asset transfer instead of cash on reducing poverty; (ii) the factors that contributed to positive impact or little or no impact on the economic conditions of the participant households and the trajectories of changes experienced in these economic conditions. These were analysed using data gathered from a survey of 21 beneficiaries and also from the in-depth interviews of 8 of these households, which included both successful and not so successful cases. The study found that the asset transferring programme resulted in significant improvement in the livelihood of the majority of members. However, in some cases the beneficiaries did not see any or significant improvement in their livelihood. The study revealed that households that demonstrated proper planning, hard work, and personal interest in the business they started have witnessed improved quality of life through micro financing, while idleness of members and absence of proper planning resulted in failures. To some extent, it was found that social barriers can also contribute to failures, even if the beneficiaries work hard and are highly motivated. Based on these findings, the study makes some policy recommendations

Yes / This article examines a ‘deprived’ UK community to identify how (dis)connections between context and enterprise are produced within accounts of a particular locality. We used a discursive psychological approach to examine how the community depicted itself as a context for enterprise. Our analysis identified three discursive repertoires mobilised by a range of voices in the community which combined to portray an unenterprising community and create a conceptual deadlock for enterprise. We suggest it is too deterministic to assume context is fixed and controls the potential for entrepreneurial development. Instead, we should consider social practices, including talk, that help construct the contexts in which entrepreneurship is expected to occur. / The research resorted in this article was funded by an Economic and Social Research Council studentship.

MEs are considered as the major sources of employment creation. Global experiences show that an efficient ME sector is conducive to industrial growth and a flexible industrial structure, which are the cornerstones of a vibrant entrepreneurial economy. The contributions of MEs to the national economy can be measured in terms of some inter-related issues: economic (income generation), social (poverty reduction) and political (wealth redistribution). Current studies show a strong link between entrepreneurship and economic development (ED). The impact of entrepreneurship on ED depends on the level of business performance, and economy is an affect for which entrepreneurship is the cause. ED theories generally emphasise on employment creation by industrialisation with the use of advanced technology. Thus economic histories of the developed countries show the notion that ED has benefited from widespread large scale entrepreneurial activity. However, developing countries (DC) have begun to realize the necessity of encouraging entrepreneurship to achieve their ED goals. But, they in reality can’t achieve these goals like the developed countries, because they don’t have sufficient capital and advanced technology. As a result they need to depend on small scale enterprise development by exploiting available resources, small capital, and indigenous technology. It indicates a strong link between micro enterprise development (MED) and entrepreneurship development. Therefore, national ED policies of DCs should focus on linking MED, entrepreneurship development and ED. Despite these recognized importance, MEs face severe problems and challenges in DCs. They lack appropriate policies and programmes to promote MEs towards ED. This study critically examines the existing MED Policies (MEDP) and the role of different MED Organizations (MEDOs) with a view to articulating appropriate policy recommendations. Based on the objectives and literature review four themes (state of affairs of MEDPs, support services to MEs, financing MEs and networking of ME stakeholders) were identified to establish the interview protocols. This study employed a qualitative inductive approach, case study strategy and in depth interviews with semi-structured protocols to collect primary data based on phenomenology. Thirty five respondents from different ME stakeholders (policy makers, implementing agencies, and the recipients) were interviewed and interpretative phenomenological analysis technique was used for data analysis. The findings confirm that there are fragmentations and incoherency in existing MEDPs, as a result, they failed to achieve the goals of MED. Specifically, support services and infrastructural facilities to MEs are not well designed, financing systems are not fully supportive to all the MEs, and networking of ME stakeholders are very floppy. Overall a favourable entrepreneurial culture to MED is absent in Bangladesh. The government has failed to plan realistically to mobilize the resources, to exercise control over factors of MED and to give appropriate direction to the developmental process. This study offers a list of practical recommendations to formulate a coherent and comprehensive MEDP based on solid evidences. Especially, a model for appropriate government intervention to MED by linking the main three concepts of this study MED, entrepreneurship development and ED, and an alternative model for ‘interest free ME financing’ are proposed. This study hopes that these recommendations will provide appropriate inputs to the policy makers and concerned ME stakeholders in the DCs, particularly Bangladesh and more generally to the MED literature.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / A problem of the South African economy is the pervasive unemployment in particular amongst the black population. Double-digit unemployment figures had become the norm within post - apartheid South Africa. The newly elected government in 1994 identified the informal sector as a strategic growth area. The SMME sector was seen as unexplored and a potential conduit and possible answer to create employment opportunities and address the unemployment crisis. The question that guided the research was What are the challenges faced by the SMME sector, in particular black SMMEs, in becoming a sustainable and financially viable business? The study was qualitative in nature and the case methodology was used for this research. The key findings were that, there is an over - reliance on the business owner that in many instances, has very little business experience. Furthermore ,that government support programmes are not well known amongst the SMMEs. The major recommendations are that Government must provide the support to the SMME sector to become sustainable and contribute to employment creation. Government must explore the possibility of financially supporting the SMMEs. Lastly, that Government must review the regulatory and policy framework to reduce and create an enabling environment for SMMEs to grow and become lucrative.

Thesis (M.M. (Public Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Increasingly, literature suggests that there is a causal link between the development of the Small, Medium and Micro-enterprise (SMME) sector and economic and social development, especially in developing countries. It is for this reason that many countries are pursuing SMME development policies as part of their growth and social development strategies, including South Africa. To this effect, the South African government has also developed policies and established institutions to support SMME development. However, the development of the SMME sector in South Africa is still lagging behind that of many developing countries and the failure rate of SMME remains very high. Research has predominantly attempted to find reasons for SMME failure by focusing on challenges faced by SMMEs. However, literature now suggests that the problem also lies within the institutions that are meant to provide support to the SMMEs. The purpose of the study was to investigate short-comings in the provision of support services by Seda to SMMEs, particularly training and mentoring. In this regard, the study found that the main challenge faced by Seda is with regards to its poor accessibility. Other challenges include poor quality of trainers and mentors skills; training programmes that fail to respond to SMMEs‟ needs; lack of resources; poor monitoring and evaluation. The study concluded that the challenges faced by Seda have contributed, to some extent, to the slow progress in the development of SMMEs.

This study explores the worth of state sponsored Business Incubators to the South African economy in respect of job creation and enterprise development. Using The Innovation Hub Management Company (TIHMC)‟s Maxum Business Incubator as a case study, and employing mixed methods, this non experimental longitudinal research undertakes to interrogate the quality of service rendered by one of South Africa‟s premier enterprise development facilities and its contribution to employment generation since its formation in 2000. The study surveys Pre - Incubatees, Incubatees and Post - Incubatees and interviews key informants in the TIHMC management to unravel this relatively under-researched area. The results show that the TIHMC Maxum Business Incubator has nurtured up to 81 firms which in turn have provided a combined total of 821 jobs between 2000 and 2011 - constituting 0.10% of the 800,000 employment opportunities generated by the Gauteng Provincial Government within the same period. However, the results also indicate that a range of services, particularly business skills, planning, financial management and book-keeping training require vastly improved technical expertise to sustain the incubated firms‟ market potentials. Further, the TIHMC needs to develop accessible information management systems and evaluative tools to enable regular performance appraisals, beneficiary feed-back and tracking of success stories in order to improve its strategic visions. The study‟s ambitions were to inform the TIHMC management‟s future plans and to contribute more generally to informed national discourses, policy making and academic inquiry into the efficacy of the novel notion of Business Incubation and its value to developing world contexts.

abstract: This dissertation focused on the links among micro-enterprise development (MD), social capital building, and the accompanying social lives of Chinese female entrepreneurs in two China's urban areas—Nanjing and Haikou. It engaged with a few important discussions concerning China’s liberal politics during the reform era, the global trend of neo-liberal capitalism, and the social construction of a new worker-subject—the Chinese urban female entrepreneur shaped by the hybrid marriage of state politics and global capital. The research findings from this research project contributed to the tradition of feminist theories, which endeavors to explore the relationship between neo-liberalism and gender. In particular, gender was found to concretize the ways in which neo-liberal ideological forces have attempted to capture and exploit the productivity of women’s labor Drawing upon the data from in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and secondary data gathering, I examined the diffusion of the Western-centric concept and phenomena of social capital building in order to answer the question how Chinese women's life was inscribed in the larger context of China's relationship to global capitalism. My research findings manifested that the respondents considered affections (e.g., inter-dependence, obligation, and mutual trust) to be the foundation of establishing and maintaining their social networks regardless of the government's emphasis on market principles and the utility-based social capital conception. This opened up a new way of re-theorizing social capital. This dissertation also focused on how China’s integration with the global economy has affected women’s social identity construction. It emphasized the interaction between gender and class as one of the most salient sites where ideal citizens of China are imagined. Drawing from the perspectives of the respondents, I found that femininity has never been eliminated by the Chinese government. It has existed in China’s MD to challenge the government’s attempt of promoting the agendered (gender-neutral), universal model of women’s participation in self-employment. Moreover, I asserted that class was individualized while penetrating into other dimensions of identity (especially gender). The transformed dimensions of identity constituted a set of stratification schemes that constantly reshuffled social stratifications for maximizing the state’s profits from the control of citizens. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2015

The question of agro/pastoral livelihoods adaptation is gaining attention in the rural development arena but little empirical evidence exists that has examined the performance and impact of diversified enterprises on agro/pastoral livelihoods and the environment in the ASAL, and on how to effectively support such initiatives. Additionally, there has been little evaluation of the type of behavioural patterns that agro/pastoral communities need to evolve in order to engage in such initiatives. This research study endeavours to bridge this knowledge-gap and assist the ASAL communities, NGOs, CBOs and government departments to understand the skills and resources required to develop climate-resilient, environmentally and economically sustainable bio-enterprises. This study examines the roles of bio-enterprise initiatives in enabling agro/pastoralists to develop more resilient livelihoods and incentivising positive community-led natural resource management and draws on different bio-enterprise initiatives located across the drylands of Kenya. In this study data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and from secondary data. The analysis of four agro/pastoral bio-enterprise initiatives compares the level of success of specifically orientated development-funded support schemes. A more in-depth study was made of one of the initiatives, the BDP. Two surveys were made one year apart and secondary data was collected of the BDP impact. This highlighted the probable factors that influence the communities’ up-take of these bio-enterprises. Results show that this diversification requires stakeholders and support-actors to gain a greater understanding of business development approaches. Other factors such as capacity development to ensure production meets market standards, strong linkages with ethical commercial operators, access to trade-finance and ongoing mentoring proved to be the main drivers of success in these initiatives. The results show that the outputs of the BDP service-providing activities and the ethical trade facilities have been a major factor in the level of success achieved by the BDP. The main policy implications that this study has shown are: Agro/pastoralists realise that they can improve their resilience, food security and incomes by developing bio-enterprises. If conducted using conservation practices, this is an effective conservation and drought management tool. Communities do not possess the necessary skills and business acumen to diversify from traditional activities. Due to the lack of market knowledge, business acumen and technical skills many development and government instigated rural enterprise initiatives have failed. The commercial sector has strong transferable skills and will assist in developing bio-enterprises where commercial gains can be attained. This study has shown that where government, development and the private sector work in synergy projects are more socially, environmentally and economically successful. International standards and certification for sustainable harvesting of indigenous plant materials will effectively assist communities to manage their natural resource utilization and market their products more competitively. Women have shown that they have control over small-scale diversified activities and are able to choose how to use the revenue they have raised. Due to the orientation of agro/pastoralists to collective-action a wide ripple-effect can be seen from well-targeted business development assistance such as: mentoring, skills development, access to affordable trade finance/capital, improved market opportunities and value-addition.

Enterprise is often described as risk for reward, but it may be possible to reduce the risk while improving returns. According to SEDA, failure rates of SMMEs in South Africa range from 70 to 80 percent. The need for this study arose when it was found that most SMMEs did not have a formal system in place to mitigate their risks right from the outset in the feasibility study, the business plan design and the start–up of the business. This lack of mitigation controls could be a result of a lack of understanding of the enterprise risk management (ERM) methodology or an inappropriate ERM decision–making model to assist them in a way that would mitigate their risk and minimise financial losses. The ERM approach can anticipate unplanned occurrences and is a systematic way of foreseeing the future. Entrepreneurs and business owners take on risks to pursue new business objectives within their respective risk appetites. This study also evaluated several models of risk identification and the ERM methodology. In this study an ERM model, ISO 31000, was applied in a business case and a comparison was made between the risks identified in the business plan and the ERM approach. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Enterprise is often described as risk for reward, but it may be possible to reduce the risk while improving returns. According to SEDA, failure rates of SMMEs in South Africa range from 70 to 80 percent. The need for this study arose when it was found that most SMMEs did not have a formal system in place to mitigate their risks right from the outset in the feasibility study, the business plan design and the start–up of the business. This lack of mitigation controls could be a result of a lack of understanding of the enterprise risk management (ERM) methodology or an inappropriate ERM decision–making model to assist them in a way that would mitigate their risk and minimise financial losses. The ERM approach can anticipate unplanned occurrences and is a systematic way of foreseeing the future. Entrepreneurs and business owners take on risks to pursue new business objectives within their respective risk appetites. This study also evaluated several models of risk identification and the ERM methodology. In this study an ERM model, ISO 31000, was applied in a business case and a comparison was made between the risks identified in the business plan and the ERM approach. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.