There is consensus that Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) exports play a critical role in the development of economies. It has been widely acknowledged in empirical research done around the world that small businesses make a significant contribution to economic development, employment, competitiveness and the reduction of regional disparities. However, empirical literature gives conflicting evidence on the determinants of export performance among SMEs. The study contributes towards the debate on SME exports by: (i) investigating the variables that determine export performance among SMEs in Zimbabwe (ii) establishing the competi-tiveness of Zimbabwe’s exports and (iii) ascertaining the major constraints faced by SME ex-porters in Zimbabwe The researcher gathered data from 120 SMEs and 10 institutions in Zimbabwe for the period 2009 to 2015. SME samples were chosen from Harare, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East provinces while all 10 of the institutions were chosen from Harare province. Convenient non-probability sampling method was used to select SMEs while stratified sampling technique was applied in the selection of institutions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. For the quantitative approach, panel data ordinary least squares method was used in the form of the gravity model of trade. Export intensity (used as a measure of exports) was regressed against support institutions, business ownership, research & development, educational years, use of export processing zones, product type, export years, firm size, firm age, gender, distance from trading partner, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of trading partner, and GDP of Zimbabwe. The random effects estimation method was used, basing on results from the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test. The null hypothesis was based on the premise that the variables under study do not determine export intensity of SMEs in Zimbabwe. Other null hypothesis were that the major constraint faced by SME exporters in Zimbabwe is not access to finance and that Zimbabwe’s exports are not competitive in the mining, agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The revealed comparative advantage index was computed to measure the competitiveness of Zimbabwe’s exports.For the qualitative approach, the study used the triangulation method which involved combining and utilising the questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussions. The results from the study indicated that following variables increased export intensity of Zimbabwean SMEs; business ownership, use of export processing zones, export years, firm size, and GDP of trading partner. The following variables have an inverse relationship with the export intensity of Zimbabwean SMEs: gender, distance from trading partner and research & development. The results also indicated that these further variables do not determine the export intensity of SMEs in Zimbabwe: support institutions, years of education, product type, firm age and GDP of Zimbabwe. The major constraint faced by exporting SMEs in Zimbabwe is limited access to finance. Zimbabwe is competitive in the agricultural and mining sector exports, but not in manufacturing sector exports The policy implication of the findings is that SME support needs to go beyond support institutions when it comes to SME export promotion. Further SMEs in the agriculture and mining sectors need to be promoted for export growth since Zimbabwe is competitive in these sectors. However the manufacturing sector cannot be ignored, since many economies have developed due to exports of manufactured products and a country needs to have balanced export growth in both primary and manufacturing sectors. In order to have motivated, career SME exporters, entrepreneurship education should begin from primary school right up to university so as to improve entrepreneurial aspirations, attitudes and behaviour in the long run.

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.

The study sought to investigate the performance measurement practice of retail Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Zimbabwe and to develop a performance measurement framework for monitoring and managing the performance of retail MSMEs in developing countries. The performance measurement framework may enhance the chances of success and survival of these retail MSMEs. The framework was developed based on a review of the literature and an empirical study. Questionnaires were administered to 373 owner/managers of which only 189 responded. Interviews were held with 20 senior employees in the accounts/finance departments of MSMEs. Stratified random sampling was employed to select the 20 senior employees interviewed. Interviews were also held with eight (8) owner/managers who were purposively selected from the 189 MSMEs who participated in the study. It was established that most of the MSMEs do not measure the CSFs identified from the literature review. The study identified innovation, management of costs, and management of customers, management of competitors, market scanning, employee motivation, and management of regulators as the factors that need to be measured and monitored if MSMEs are to succeed. The performance measurement framework which emerged from the study focused more on measurement of non-financial performance rather than financial performance. Most owner/managers interviewed indicated that the proposed performance measurement framework can be used to enhance the performance of MSMEs. The study recommends that a confirmatory study such as structural equation modelling should be carried out in order to test the cause-effect relationship between the CSFs identified in this study. The study also recommends a longitudinal study where the researcher will assess the performance measurement practices of the retail MSMEs over time rather than relying on the perceptions of owner/managers and employees of the MSMEs. Keywords: Critical success factors, MSMEs, performance measurement, / Management Accounting / D. Phil. (Management Accounting)