This dissertation demonstrates how ACE has successfully equipped thousands of poor Filipinos with the tools necessary for them to raise themselves out of poverty by offering them a culture-specific curriculum that they can implement in their businesses. Furthermore, it will be argued that ACE's culture-specific curriculum could theoretically be applied in Mexico, where the "culture of poverty" exists in abundance.

This Research was undertaken to explore and better understand the perceptions of SMME owners, in South Africa, of the financial and non financial barriers and facilitators to the formalization/transitioning process. The study was motivated by the lack of data on the South African context of the barriers and facilitators of the formalization process. The conversion of enterprises from informal to formal concerns is not well researched and understood. In the absence of hard data, experienced observers and practitioners in the small business field express extreme skepticism about the efficacy of attempts to convert informal businesses to formal ones, (Bernstein, 2004). The research was conducted, mostly in Alexandra township Johannesburg, by means of 20 in-depth, semi-structured, face to face interviews with SMME owners; 10 operating informally and 10 who formally were, but have since transitioned/formalized. The resulting findings showed that lack of access to information on formalization and limited access to cash or credit are the major non financial and financial barriers respectively. Improved access to information on formalization is the major non financial facilitator and ability to access a bigger market plus increased access to cash or credit are the major financial facilitators. These findings also indicate that there may be a difference in the barriers and facilitators to formalization in South Africa as compared to what’s reported internationally in the literature. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This analysis will characterize the informal sector in Managua, Nicaragua as small-scale units engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services whose primary objective is to generate employment for the participants rather than maximize their profits. Managua's informal sector employs forty-eight percent of the total employed urban population and plays an important role in the development of the country. Historically, informal sector growth has been constrained by the inaccessibility of credit. However in recent years, credit programs that focus on micro-enterprise lending have been established and are significantly stimulating informal sector activities. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of micro-enterprise credit as a tool for promoting socio-economic development for informal-sector participants. Its principal findings are that micro-enterprise credit promotes economic development by generating income and employment, increasing borrower assets, and facilitating expansion of micro-business enterprises. Secondly, micro-enterprise credit promotes social development by empowering females in the home and business, benefits to children, and improving borrowers' personal well being. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

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.

Over 13 million people live in Guatemala, and among this population more than 50% live below the poverty line. One proposed solution to mitigate the large percentage of poverty in the country is micro-entrepreneurship. A compost micro-enterprise is a small business, which collects organic raw material and processes it into stable humus material for the purpose of applying to soils to increase crop yields. Developing such micro-enterprises could not only indirectly improve current soil nutrient deficiencies specific to the region, but also provide alternative incomes for the already agriculturally involved community. The success or failure of enterprises practicing composting may be measured by a plethora of figures or outcomes. Employee characteristics are one variable that should be taken into consideration when estimating the efficiency of an agricultural enterprise's operations and productivity. While a variable, such as an employee characteristic, may not be able to be quantified exactly it should be argued that this variable can have a structural impact on productivity. Another crucial variable considered when developing such a micro-enterprise is accounting for its input and output. It is explained the issue of costs within micro-enterprises is complex and should be considered not only in terms of fees but also in terms of payments in any kind, such as entry and exit presence, and the duration of the apprenticeship. When an enterprise has failed to account for its various inputs and consequent output, it has become unsustainable because it has not satisfied basic economic, social and security needs presently and for its future. This study identified and described employee characteristics and documented the inputs and outputs of compost micro-enterprises in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The study found that employee characteristics, particularly gender, age, and occupation affected a micro-enterprise's access to markets as well as row materials, and how efficiently tasks were completed. Costs of labor, raw material, transport, packaging, energy and the location the micro-enterprise itself heavily influenced profitability. The production of any product on a large scale must anticipate how positive financial outcomes will occur because profitability may not arrive as planned. If the revenue cannot be determined and/or made, compost micro-enterprise may fail to be a sustainable, much less a viable option for alternative income streams.

This Thesis deals with the methodological support for the creation of an e-shop for importers of specialist, small series cars. The intention is to design the methodical pattern of making electronic commerce for businesses with defined characters and its verification in a business operating in the specified field. The first step to achieving the target is characterized by the essential elements of the business entity and analyzing the current state of knowledge in the area of e-commerce. The following step is to chose the formulation of the methodological pattern. The final step is a formal description of the methodological model, which is then verified in the importer environment. The results of the methodical pattern may be used by other similar businesses to create their own e-shop.

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 main aim of this graduation thesis is a proposal of future marketing strategy for a particular micro-enterprise based on its strategic analysis. Micro-enterprise is specialty retailer in field of cell phones and accessories. In theoretical part (two chapters) are firstly defined small and middle entrepreneurs and specified their importance. The second chapter describes strategic marketing, marketing mix and useful methods for marketing analysis. Introduction to practical part is third chapter describing history of mobile communication, current cell phone market and incoming progress. The fourth chapter introduces the analyzed company. In chapters five and six is conducted situational analysis and an overview of the current marketing mix. The seventh chapter is based on results of the previous chapters. It contains suggestions and recommendations for marketing mix strategy of the company.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / In the Dominican Republic (DR) the development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas is of great importance because SMEs generate employment and increase local capacity in areas with the highest poverty rates in the country. Ultimately, SME development can contribute to poverty alleviation especially in rural areas. Micro-enterprise training as a form of capacity development initiatives aim at effective empowerment of entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs, which allow them to build capacities to develop their business. These capacities will enhance their ability to ensure sustainability of decisions that influence their quality of life. So far, very little research has been conducted on the precise effects and overall effectiveness of SME-related training in the Dominican Republic. Against this background, it is of great benefit to evaluate impacts of micro-enterprise training initiatives on the development of SMEs in rural DR, in order to find out which factors stimulate the creation and growth of enterprises and which factors hinder their development. This allows effective adjustments of future support initiatives in the development sector and it contributes to the existing empirical evidence base in this field. This study applies Human Capital Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour as theoretical frameworks to analyze impacts of micro-enterprise training on SME development. Secondary data for this study was drawn from the Dominican tourism-project La Ruta del Cacao, applying a mixed-method approach for the data collection. Quantitative research methods in the form of a semi-structured questionnaire helped to quantify the impacts of provided micro-enterprise training. Qualitative methods in the form of Focus Group Discussions allowed an in-depth analysis of training impacts on respondents, with the aim of identifying influencing factors, especially those which the theoretical framework may not have covered. The theoretical discussion of this study identified that entrepreneurial intentions are mediated by the attitude toward entrepreneurship, perceived subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. The empirical results show that the provided training is likely to have slightly improved the participants attitude towards enterprise creation. Perceived subjective norms have not decreased due to the training and appear not to have played a role in the participants decision to start or not start a business. The participants perceived behavioural control is not likely to have increased due to the training. On the other hand, results indicate that the training provided participants with useful entrepreneurship-related skills and knowledge. Overall, the participants entrepreneurial intentions slightly improved as a result of the training. However, the impact of these outputs on SME development was rather modest. Identified external factors which influenced the participants entrepreneurial behaviour were a lack of capital, job loss, having a family to take care of, being part of an entrepreneurial family and the existence of an entrepreneurial role model. Intrinsic characteristics were identified as the most influential in demonstrating successful entrepreneurial behaviour and SME creation. The findings of this research contribute firstly to the existing evidence base of micro-enterprise training impacts in rural Dominican Republic. In addition, the findings contribute to the literature base on applications of both Human Capital Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour in the field of entrepreneurship education.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Micro-enterprises solve many socio-economic issues facing developing nations because of their large contribution to economic development and progress. Micro-enterprises have been influenced by the continued globalisation, digitisation and modernisation of business practices. As a result, micro-enterprises’ are investing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance enterprise and economic growth, performance, productivity and a competitive advantage. However, the benefits of these investments are not always realised, often because of the ad hoc nature in which micro-enterprises function and a lack of formalised methods and strategy. When these are not realised, micro-enterprise suffer in terms of competitiveness, performance and returns. Maturity models, are tools that help solve issues relating to an enterprise’s current status in terms of its capabilities and resources, and how these issues can be improved. Maturity models may present the ideal solution for micro-enterprise to invest in ICT. Larger enterprises have been able to use maturity models for strategic ICT investments realising benefits. The benefits of using maturity models as a guide to ICT investment include: saving on long-term operational and tactical costs, self-evaluation and linking business and ICT strategy among others. This research sought to determine how micro-enterprises in the Western Cape can use a maturity model in planning strategy for investments in ICT. Data was gathered from micro-enterprises and their stakeholders to find the best maturity model fit. These model fitness considered the entire internal and external environmental factors influencing micro-enterprise ICT investment decision-making. The research investigated micro-enterprises, their current practices, focus and strategic, tactical and operational behaviour in terms of business and ICT. Of the 34 micro-enterprises that took part, most them knew of the concept of growth and maturity of the enterprise, they used none discernable metric to measure their internal and external activities regarding ICT investment. It highlighted the alignment of business and ICT as a major issue that needed to be addressed in order for micro-enterprises to be competitive, improve performance and returns. The recommended model from the research provides a formalised process that covers both the micro-enterprises internal and external matrices when deciding on the ICT investment to be made.