Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2006 / The high unemployment rate in South Africa has forced many people to think of creative ways to derive an income. This in turn has resulted in the increase of microentrepreneurs who could contribute positively to the economy if given the opportunity. According to the White Paper on National Strategy for the Development and Promotion of Small Business in South Africa (1995), the objective is to stimulate and promote small businesses by providing access to requisite resources. However, what has become apparent is the lack of resources for micro-entrepreneurs, as well as problems with accessibility to the few available resources. Popular literature often refers to money being made available by government or foreign donors to assist micro-entrepreneurs in getting businesses started. There is also much talk about empowerment of entrepreneurs via financial resources as well as through skills training. However, much of the assistance is available for opportunity entrepreneurs and not for the survivalist entrepreneurs. Although there has been a commitment by government to promote small business, it yet again focuses on the opportunist entrepreneur rather than the survivalist entrepreneur. Survivalist micro-entrepreneurs face huge challenges in accessing any type of resources. Although there is much talk about promotion of small business, there seems to be a gap in what is being advocated and what is being done. What has happened thus far is that small and medium enterprises have been branded under one label, proving detrimental to the micro-entrepreneur. The opportunist entrepreneur and the survivalist entrepreneur have vasy different needs and the resources made available should address the different needs. This study focused on micro-entrepreneurship in the Cape Flats area of the Western Cape, specifically on survivalist micro-entrepreneurs, and excluded the opportunist entrepreneur.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / The 2010 FIFA World Cup toumament could provide valuable opportunities for the tourism entrepreneur in Cape Town. This study focuses on the factors that affect the entrepreneurwho chooses to make tourism a career in Cape Town. The aim of the study is to examine the tourism entrepreneurs' ability to be sustainable and is focused on the single tourism owner operating a service business in the Cape Town CBO such as small tour operators, tour guides and accommodation agents. Using the quantitative research method, a questionnaire as well as individual interviews, the data collection techniques have helped to provide valuable information as to the influencing factors on entrepreneurship, operational challenges and the extemal environment affecting tourism business in Cape Town. The results which could be useful to an aspirant entrepreneur indicate that the survey participants were generally positive about the FIFA event and that success for them is the ability to understand the market and plan strategically in order to operate a business effectively that will meet specific market requirements.

Dissertation (MTech( Mechanical Engineering)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / Lean thinking and its principles, as described by Womack and Jones (1996) has been successfully applied to the manufacturing and operational environment, as evidenced by associated case studies. Fostered by a rapid spread into many other sectors beyond the automotive industry, there has been a significant development and localisation of the lean concept in general. This research study sets out to investigate the effects of lean thinking on production processes in a Small and Medium Engineering Enterprise (SMEE). It is hoped that the methodology adopted and the results of the study in the form of a concise lean principle model will assist SMEEs in the strategic planning of their manufacturing processes and improve their sustainability. The case described here, where lean principles were adopted at a transformer manufacturing company (referred to as ABZ), was considered a success by most of those involved at the company. The production cycle time improved from 33 days to 4.5 days within a few weeks of the implementation. In addition; product quality, worker morale, and housekeeping also improved drastically.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / The main objective of this research project was to explore organisational electronic commerce (e-commerce) adoption barriers experienced by SMMEs (Small Medium Micro Enterprises). In order for an SMME to become an e-business model. An SMME may start-up as an e-business without any transformation. Barriers to e-commerce adoption in htis research need to be identified. The research study should provide guidlines for SMMEs to use and pro-actively avoid possible barriers before and during the adoption process of e-business.

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Public Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The purpose of this study is to develop a business framework for the effective start-up and operation of African immigrant businesses in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area of South Africa. The question that guides this research is: how do African immigrants use their entrepreneurial attributes to acquire the resources necessary to start-up and operate successful businesses in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area?The study was conducted within the context of the economic development mandate as prescribed by the constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 1996. The development agenda also includes community, social and welfare promotion premised on the Keynesian principles that the government introduces interventions where there is an economic failure. In the South African context, this relates to unemployment and due to the prevailing economic down turns a greater reliance by the populace for social and welfare support. In recent years, immigrants especially from African countries have found themselves in a similar situation (That is in need of economic, social and welfare support). However, the government, particularly local government does not have the resources, especially financial resources to assist all local entrepreneurs, including immigrant entrepreneurs. Although there is a wide coverage of immigrant entrepreneurship in developed countries, much still has to be done as far as developing countries are concerned. From a South African perspective, there is so far no study entirely devoted to African immigrant entrepreneurship. This notwithstanding, there seems to be a growing consensus on the fact that SMMEs in South Africa are disproportionately constrained by start-up and operational factors such as finance, insufficient demand, lack of business skills and lack of information, although one cannot generalise especially as immigrant entrepreneurs face a slightly different dynamic. No studies focusing on immigrant-owned businesses in general and particularly how they tap into their entrepreneurial traits to start-up and grow successful businesses has been conducted in South Africa. At one level, the finding of this study provides vital information for new immigrants venturing into self employment. At another level, the study may provide vital insight into immigrant entrepreneurship in South Africa. Limited job opportunities force African immigrants into self-employment. However, due to the numerous challenges that they face, only a few of the immigrant-owned businesses get off the ground, let alone grow. It may be argued that most of these African immigrant-owned businesses fail to reach their full potential because they (the owners) are unable to exploit the entrepreneurial attributes that they bring or have at their disposal upon arrival. Three interrelated concepts: entrepreneurial attributes, business start-up and operation resources, and business success, are linked in this study to develop a framework for the effective start-up and operation of immigrant-owned businesses. The proposed framework seeks to encourage African immigrants to match the entrepreneurial attributes that they come with to the business opportunities and challenges that they may face in establishing and growing their businesses in South Africa.The study was designed within the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms, in which a triangulation of three methods was utilised to collect and analyse the data. From a quantitative perspective, the survey questionnaire was used. To complement the quantitative approach, personal interviews and focus groups were utilised as the methods within the qualitative approach paradigm. The research revealed that an African immigrant entrepreneur is most likely to be a male within the age range of 19 and 41 who has been forced to immigrate because of political circumstances back home. The decision to immigrate as well as the choice of South Africa as a host country was entirely dependent on the immigrant. Once in South Africa, limited job opportunities forced these immigrants into setting up their own businesses within the informal sector as their starting point. In order of importance, financial, physical, human, and informational resources were identified as being critical for the start-up and operation of a business in South Africa. In terms of acquiring the resources to start-up and operate a business, and from a financial perspective point, African immigrant entrepreneurs unwillingly made use of personal savings to finance their businesses during the start-up phase of the business. Financial resources played a double role in that they determined the main sources of physical resources used. From a human resource standpoint, African immigrant entrepreneurs preferred employing South Africans during the start-up phase of the business, and the reverse was true during the growth or operational phase. To a limited extent, family labour was involved at both the start-up as well as the operational phases of the business; with formal education and prior experience playing a significant role as far as the human resource mix was concerned. In terms of information, African immigrant entrepreneurs made use of two primary sources of information namely, their ethnic networks and friends from somewhere else.

Thesis (MTech(Human Resource Management)-- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / While the relationship between training and organisational commitment has to some extent been widely researched, most of the information available in literature is based on studies done in western countries. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the research variables of employee perceptions of training (measured by perceived availability of training, perceived supervisor support for training and perceived co-worker support for training) and organisational commitment (measured by affective and continuance commitment) an their impact on turnover intentions among employees of SMMEs within the hotel sector of the Cape Metropole area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa.A quantitative descriptive approach to research was adopted through the use of survey questionnaire to elicit relevant information from the respondents. In the absence of a sample frame (comprising only small hotels within the Cape Metropole area) and in order to meet the criteria laid down by the National Business Act for small business, non-probability judgemental sampling was deemed appropriate and was used to identify 10 SMME hotels to participate in this study. A total 127 respondents were drawn from across the 10 hotels. The research variables were measured using validated instruments from prior studies.

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / The emphasis on economic development of rural communities, especially small businesses within it has attracted the attention of most local, regional and national governments and non governmental agencies alike. As we move towards technology-oriented global market, community development now becomes a veritable strategy for ''pushing back the frontier of poverty" and maintaining socio-economic stability. This research argues that the deployment and use of appropriate e-commerce technology to facilitate this strategy is useful, and possibly, more suitable than any other tool or strategy. The research further examines the opportunities offered by ecommerce for small business development within the Western Cape. A framework that describes how e-commerce can support the addressing of the specific developmental needs of this community was developed. Six pilot communities involved in the pilot for the Cape Gateway Access Project initiated by the Centre for e-Innovation (Cel) of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape were investigated to find out how appropriate technologies are put to use and how they can be effectively deployed to promote entrepreneurship in these rural communities. The findings of this research reveal that the use of e-commerce by rural communities is a bit complicated. It is found that the availability and use of appropriate e-commerce technologies extend beyond provision of access, to provision of support outside technology and multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the economic situation of rural communities. The findings provide the basis for the recommendations and conclusions drawn in this research. However, the few entrepreneurs identified within the communities are found to be at different stages of e-commerce use. In general, most of the community members are unconsciously engaged in some form of e-commerce ranging from 828, 82C and G2C' , though not as significant as one would have envisaged.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Comm. / Although the marketing concept has been the cornerstone of the modern marketing discipline for twenty years, insufficient attention has been given to its implementation. In recent years there has been renewed interest from academics and practitioners regarding the marketing concept and market orientation. Market orientation, the skills and competencies related to it have accordingly prevailed in the marketing and management literature. This resurgence of interest is not surprising, since the implementation of the marketing concept represents the foundation of high quality marketing practice. Market orientation is a business philosophy that makes the customer the focal point of the company's entire operation. Becoming market orientated therefore requires significant changes in the culture, processes and structure of the traditional organization. Market orientated organizations nonetheless has an important competitive advantage in providing customer value and achieving superior performance. Market orientation is therefore a significant cause of business success. All over the world it has been recognized that the small business sector plays an important, if not critical role in the social and economic development of a country. This also applies to South Africa. Small businesses inadvertently have been more reluctant than larger firms to embrace the marketing concept to obtain organizational goals. The relative importance of both small businesses and market orientation in the business environment led to this study concerning the market orientation of small businesses. Therefore the research problem chosen for this study is to determine the market orientation of small businesses in South Africa.

The research problem addressed in this study is to determine what affect current labour legislation has on small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMME’s), in particular with regard to the procuring of Government contracts. To achieve this objective a literature study was undertaken to ascertain what knowledgeable people believed was the affects of labour legislation on SMME’s. The literature study included all relevant labour legislation promulgated by the Government since 1994 The literature study was then used to develop a questionnaire to test the degree to which SMME’s, operating in the Municipal areas of East London and King Williams Town, abided by the relevant labour legislation. The empirical results, in general, indicated a strong adherence to labour legislation. Those organisations that had not strictly adhered to labour legislation were, in most instances, not successful in securing contracts offered by Government or parastatals. The results indicated that all the role-players, namely businesses, trade unions and knowledgeable people have valid arguments both for and against labour legislation. Each group, is however, still concerned and suspicious that in one way or another, they will be placed at a disadvantage with respect to the others positions, and this places a serious strain on the South African economy.