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).

Thesis (M. Tech. Marketing) -- Central University of Technology, Free state, 2011 / In this study, the researcher employed literature review and an empirical study to: * Establish the effect of consumer behaviour on the expansion of the small, medium and micro manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) in Welkom. * Determine the marketing strategies adopted by the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The Government of South Africa (SA) enacted the Small Business Act to assist small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to contribute to job creation in SA (Lotter, 2009: 53). Furthermore, the government established the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) in an effort to relate more closely to the SMMEs, so that they could contribute more meaningfully to the economy of the country by creating employment. In addition, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and Youth Commission were established by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to assist young entrepreneurs financially and non-financially to start and run sustainable small enterprises (South Africa. National Small Business Act 102, 1996: 3). However, significant research done on SMMEs in SA found that they had made no meaningful contribution to job creation. This problem was in fact so serious that most SMMEs were shutting down, a problem which included SMMEs situated in Welkom (Lotter, 2009: 53). This research project therefore sought to investigate the possible sources of this shutdown of manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. Many other researchers had investigated possible causes such as the effect of the lack of business management skills, the closure of local gold mines, etc. However, the effect of consumer behaviour (CB) as the possible source of this shutdown problem had not been investigated; hence, this researcher chose to investigate the effect of CB on the development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The research design firstly identified the manufacturing SMMEs as the population for the study and the sample subjects as their top managers and supervisors. The mixed method was employed. The researcher used literature studies, the qualitative approach and the quantitative approach as the mixed method. Data collecting instruments were the personal interview and self administered questionnaires. The researcher employed the random sampling method and, in particular the systematic sampling method, to select the respondents. A letter of permission was obtained from the Matjhabeng municipality to conduct this research project and the subjects were given letters of assurance for ethical consideration. The aim of using literature studies was to determine the relevant model for this research study and to determine the findings of earlier researchers on this topic. The model was the theoretical foundation on which the research project was based. The model determined from the literature studies indicated that CB was influenced by internal and external factors. Examples of internal factors included perception, attitudes, learning, personality, and beliefs etc., while examples of external factors included family, marketing communication, friends, economic factors, etc. This model underpinned the empirical research conducted, and the interview and questionnaire items were based on the influencing factors outlined by this model. The empirical research was conducted to relevant collect data that could assist to answers the following research questions: * What are the effects of CB on the expansion of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom? * What are the growth strategies adopted by the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom? Interviews with top managers were recorded on voice recorder and supervisors completed questionnaires. Qualitative data were transcribed from the voice recordings, themes were developed from the transcripts and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the themes. Data from the quantitative method were analysed through the social package for social sciences (SPSS), employing descriptive statistics to determine the findings. The analysis for quantitative data was represented by cumulative frequency distribution tables for each option of the questionnaire items, while the analysis for qualitative data was represented on a template for data coding and also compressed into frequency tables. The study‟s findings both from literature studies and from empirical research revealed that negative attitude, economic situation, cultural changes and improved education level of consumers resulted in non development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The interview with the top managers further revealed that there was lack of specific marketing strategies adopted by the managers. Therefore, it was shown in this study that the effect of CB on the development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom was non development.

Thesis (D. Tech. (Business Administration )) - Central University of Technology, Free State / The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which certain selected factors serve as drivers of innovation in small accommodation businesses (SABs) in two developing economies in Southern Africa namely South Africa and Zimbabwe with the ultimate aim of assisting policy makers and support agencies in formulating innovation oriented strategies for the sector. Two samples were randomly selected from SABs in Zimbabwe and South Africa- two neighbouring Southern African countries. Parametric tests which include t-tests and one-way ANOVAs as well as Bonferonni tests as post-hoc measures were used to test whether SAB propensity to engage in different dimensions of innovation differs by gender; firm size, owner-managers’ years of experience and level of education respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were employed to assess the relationships between market orientation, learning orientation and innovation while Chi-square tests were performed to establish the inter-relationships between independent demographic variables, namely age, gender, education and work experience. In order to investigate whether there are any significant interaction effects between the age of the respondents and their experience in the accommodation sector on each of the five innovation measures, a series of two-way ANOVA tests were performed. Lastly, regression analysis was used to determine the relative efficacy of market orientation (MO), learning orientation (LO) and country in predicting innovation in a business. The results demonstrate that unlike firm size, gender and level of education, which have no association with innovation, there is a strong association between market orientation, learning orientation, owner/managers age and experience and innovation in the two countries. This positive association implies that SABs that are committed to, listen attentively to and learn proactively about their customers’ needs and expectations are better inclined to engage in all the different dimensions of innovation (product/service, process, marketing and organisational) than their counterparts who do not engage in these activities. Among other drivers of innovation, market orientation emerged as the main predictor implying that SABs that invest more in marketing tend to be better innovators than those that invest in learning irrespective of their country of operation. The study also revealed that younger owner/managers of SABs tend to be more innovative than their older, experienced counterparts. The study makes an important contribution to literature on the drivers of innovation in small accommodation businesses in developing economies by dispelling firm size, gender and level of education which were regarded as drivers of innovation across industries previously. Practice and policy wise, the study led to the development of a conceptual framework for investigating how best to drive innovation in local SABs in order to make them more competitive, survive and grow in the face of competition from large accommodation businesses that often happen to be multinational.

This study examines the factors that contributed to the failure of retrenched Telkom workers to start and run successful businesses after the company had provided them with start-up capital and also funds for training. Many of the factors contributing to the majority of Telkom retrenched employees not establishing businesses will be identified and recommendations that companies could implement in the future to limit the failure of businesses of retrenched employees will be made. The study was descriptive, exploratory and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews and a survey questionnaire specifically developed for this study were used to gather data. The study was conducted on ex-employees of Telkom residing in and around the townships and suburbs situated on the western side of Johannesburg (Mogale City, Randfontein and Soweto). Telkom provided retrenched employees with funds to attend external training so that they could be equipped to start and run their own businesses. Subsequently, Telkom also provided start-up capital so that these employees could start small businesses after they had left the company. Although the funds were provided, most employees did not utilise them to start their businesses and the few that did access the funds and start businesses experienced the failure of their businesses within a very short period of time. Three major issues of concern were identified: many of these ex-employees did not utilise the funds that were allocated for training; many did not make use of the start-up capital and the majority did not start businesses. The study investigated the following issues: a) Why the retrenched employees did not make use of the funds allocated for training b) Why the ex-employees did not make use of the start-up capital c) Why the ex-employees did not start businesses d) Of those that did start businesses, why did they fail within such a short period of time? The findings of the study confirm that most of the retrenched employees did not access either the training or the start-up funds. Detailed reasons for why the funds were not made use of are given and recommendations are also made for what the company should do in future if deciding to embark on a similar exercise. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

This dissertation deals with the effect of value-added tax on small to medium-sized developers of residential properties in South Africa. Firstly, the way value-added tax is applied to residential properties in South Africa was established. It was ascertained that no special concessions exist with regard to housing. Secondly, the application of value-added tax to residential properties in the United Kingdom was discussed. It was ascertained that supplies relating to new residential premises are zero-rated. Thirdly, the application of goods and services tax to residential properties in Canada was discussed. Canadian goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax legislation contains a broad range of special concessions relating to residential property developments. The harmonious sales tax which applies in some provinces, is a combination of goods and services tax and a provincial sales tax. Fourthly, the way goods and services tax is applied to residential property developments in Australia was determined. Australian legislation provides for a margin scheme to be applied to the development of residential properties. In terms of the margin scheme, goods and services tax is payable on the basis of profit rather than turnover. Transfer duty as applied in South Africa was examined as an alternative to the value-added tax being applied on residential properties developed by developers registered for value-added tax purposes. The legislation with regard to developers of residential properties registered for value-added tax, goods and services tax and harmonious sales tax purposes was measured against the principles of taxation. On the basis of these results, an alternative to the current application of value-added tax relating to developers registered for value-added tax purposes in South Africa was proposed that would be in line with that of the selected countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Accounting)

The positive role and fundamental contribution of entrepreneurship on a global and national level is an unconditional phenomenon pertaining to economic growth. There are though various perspectives and opinions on the format and context of contribution. One of these perspectives embraces the obstacles involved in the entrepreneurial process hindering contribution and economic catalisation. This study follows a focused approach towards investigating a critical obstacle and specifically the access to finance, within an indicated geographical area. The research intervention has obtained a large and reliable data set to examine the contention that there are obstacles faced by entrepreneurs in accessing small business finance in the Tshwane area. The findings of the study support this contention and also the fact that conventional financing mechanisms do not allow for cost-effective provision of finance to large numbers of entrepreneurs seeking small quantities of finance. Poverty and lack of assets mean that many people do not have the collateral needed to access formal financing. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

In South Africa, the small business sector has been identified as a sector that is not performing optimally. In a turbulent environment, this type of small business profile is magnified. Therefore, it is important to examine mechanisms through which the performance of this sector can be enhanced. Dynamic capabilities have emerged as a strategic tool of the highest order in terms of firm management and strengthening these capabilities is a key concern for firms that operate in a turbulent environment. Dynamic capabilities are described as the processes required to reconfigure existing resources into new functional competencies. Therefore, this study investigated the strategic processes of small businesses and developed a new strategic model and theory to illustrate and elucidate intervention mechanisms and strategies to strengthen the dynamic capabilities of these small businesses. Methodology: The retail community pharmacy sector was chosen as a model sector for this study since it is a sector that comprises mainly of small businesses and it is currently experiencing environmental turbulence. The methodology followed an initial exploratory, qualitative approach followed by a formal, empirical, quantitative approach. The research questionnaire was derived after ensuring that content validity, criterion related validity, construct validity and reliability criteria were met. This questionnaire was administered to a sample of 477 out of a population of 2549 small businesses in the retail community pharmacy sector, using an unrestricted, simple, random, probability sampling approach. As a consequence of having received 130 completed questionnaires, the results obtained in this study were expressed at the 95% confidence level with a confidence interval of 0.08. Results and Discussion: From a gap analysis of the level of importance of dynamic capabilities and their extent of implementation, seven dynamic capabilities whose implementation can be enhanced by an alteration of the management importance perception of them, were extracted. These capabilities revolve around staff reward, well-being, empowerment and education and training, as well as the abilities of the small business leadership to sense the environment and opportunities while being sensitive to stakeholder needs. Through a consolidation of the results of the gap analysis, a model for the initiation and the sustaining of innovative resource reconfigurations was developed. Conclusion: For the management practice setting, this study�s findings suggest that the dynamic capabilities of small firms operating in a turbulent environment can be enhanced and strengthened by the employment of the model developed by this study. From a management education perspective, this study�s findings also suggest that the employment of specific and focussed management education that revolves around the seven identified processes will enable not only the initiating phase of the proposed model but will also provide a multiplier effect in the model since management capability is also part of the general resource base of the firm. This study thus proposes the use of these management practice and educational approaches to strengthen and enhance the dynamic capabilities of small businesses operating in a turbulent environment. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D. BL.

SMMEs contribute to socio-economic development, and play a critical role in reducing unemployment. Information and communication technology infrastructures (ICTs) impacts on the establishment, growth, and success of SMMEs and also on how enterprises manage their operational activities. This study was conducted in Pretoria, South Africa, in Gauteng province, with the objective to study SMMEs owned by women in order to identify the challenges they encounter in accessing and using ICT infrastructures. The researcher addressed issues related to ICTs in general, and then assessed the challenges preventing business owners from accessing and using ICT infrastructures in order to improve their operational capabilities. A qualitative research methodology which included explorative and descriptive approaches was used. The findings of the study revealed the following challenges which women experience in their businesses: entrepreneurial challenges, infrastructure, ICTs, family responsibilities, support from government and other relevant bodies, lack of mentoring, financial and gender inequality. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially in economies around the world and in South Africa in particular. This study aimed to explore and describe the financial performance measures currently used by manufacturing SMEs in Pretoria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the participant SMEs’ premises in order to gather the information. It was found that most of the respondents use financial ratios, but to a limited extent, when measuring their financial performance. The use of bankruptcy prediction models is totally absent among the participants. It has been recommended that SMEs use more ratios from the literature that have been proven to be the best financial measures, and the six ratios that have worked well for some of the participants in the study. It is also recommended that SME owners enrol their financial staff for training in bankruptcy prediction models, and use financial software packages if they can afford them. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.Tech. (Business Administration))

This study was undertaken to explore the barriers to the sustainability of the spaza shops in Atteridgeville (wards, 51, 62, 63, 68, 71 and 72) and to identify the support strategies necessary to assist these shops to grow into sustainable businesses. The study was motivated by the role and contributions of these stores in creating jobs for the majority of the previously disadvantaged people, particularly in the black township areas of South Africa. The study was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from 18 spaza shop owners. The findings from the research indicated the following barriers to be responsible for the failure of the spaza shops: lack of financial support, lack of business management skills, expensive transportation, limited trading space, crime, negative competition among spaza shop owners, and lack of cooperatives among spaza shop owners. The study recommends that spaza shop owners should ensure that they have enough savings before embarking on business and that they should also attend training in business management to equip themselves. Spaza shop owners also need to establish collaborative ventures among themselves to enable them to voice their concerns as a collective, rather than as individuals. Government, in partnership with private sector, should improve the effectiveness of its support strategies, for example by assisting spaza shops in forming cooperatives and facilitating training in business skills. It is also recommended that the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, should continue to find out better ways to aid these stores financially. It is the researcher’s opinion that if these recommendations are followed, they could lead to the success of these stores. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)