Submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for D Phil: Management Sciences (Marketing), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / There has been substantial research related to small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises in various countries. However, little research has been done on marketing by Chinese entrepreneurs in South Africa. Furthermore, no documented research has been conducted on the use of marketing intelligence by Chinese entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal. For entrepreneurs, marketing intelligence plays an important role in the performance of their businesses. This study is aimed at assessing the application of marketing intelligence by Chinese entrepreneurs regarding their survival, growth and success in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study was conducted within the main industrial areas in KwaZulu-Natal, where Chinese entrepreneurs are based. The research was of a quantitative, descriptive and cross sectional nature, conducted among a sample of 120 business owners, managers, marketing executives and senior staff. The results revealed that the use of marketing intelligence in strategic decision-making by Chinese entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal is very limited. The extent of awareness of marketing intelligence was fairly low. It also emerged that most of the respondents still acknowledged the importance of marketing intelligence and the role it could play in their businesses’ success. Pursuant to the general requirement for an original contribution in a doctoral thesis, the study provides a framework for current and potential Chinese entrepreneurs with regard to the application of marketing intelligence in their marketing planning. / D

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa (SA) contribute significantly to job creation, wealth, social stability, economic growth and reduction of poverty. While research has been conducted, with regard to customer’s perception for entire world, not too many studies have focused on the automotive sector, with specific reference to the Durban Metropolitan areas. Therefore the understanding of the factors affecting Automotive SMEs are clearly defined and explained, in order to help entrepreneurs to improve product quality and attract customers to the business. Furthermore, the study focused on examining the customers’ perceptions towards product quality. The research sample was selected using convenience sampling because populations are easily available to the researcher. The target population for this study were all owners of SMEs in the automotive sector in Durban. Based on the census study, the sample size of the study was 120 owners of the SMEs in the Durban Metropolitan Areas. A combined method of both quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed, while the analysis of data was done using the Statistics Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 23.0, with the result presented by figures developed in Microsoft Excel and cross tabulation tables. Various techniques were tested such as (Pearson Chi-square Test, qualitative analysis and, factor analysis). However, the report based on testing techniques were as follows: The result of the gender participants of males were greater than females who participated in the study. Therefore, the Pearson Chi-square Test was done and the result state that p = .000. Qualitative analysis was tested and the result report of “what exactly are the customers’ perceptions towards product quality in the business”. However, the result of the qualitative analysis shows that the larger number of the respondents, they felt that “good customer service” were their customers’ perceptions in the study. Factor analysis was also tested using KMO and Bartlett’s Test to present results. The result of Bartleytt’s Test of Sphericity was = 212.800; Sig = .000 this indicated that the data were appropriate for the purpose of factors analysis. The result of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was = .609. This result shows that there were sufficient items for each factor. The findings of the study revealed that lack of managerial skills and development negatively compromises product quality of the automotive sector. The findings further revealed that creativity and necessary entrepreneurial skills influence implementation of sustainable growth of SMEs, and the entrepreneur’s success depends on the identification of crucial entrepreneurial skills for starting a business as well as for helping the business to survive and grow in the early stages. Therefore, capacity building for SME owners to sustain business growth is recommended. The results of the study further revealed that the absence of financial support from financial institutions delays the improvement of stock in the business as this is an obstacle resulting in the unsustainability of the SMEs in the long term. / M

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / This study explored humanistic management philosophy in governance with specific reference to Port Shepstone minibus taxi industry, KwaZulu-Natal. The study arose from a concern that there is no governance model which addresses the challenges of small businesses. Informal businesses like minibus taxi industry are facing a phletora of challenges, namely fatal accidents, corruption and fraud, disregard of stakeholders, taxi wars, poor service delivery and failure by the government to formalise the sector. The study discusses humanistic management philosophy in governance using Ubuntu theory as the theoretical framework. The researcher adopted the mixed method methodology which is embedded in the post- positivist research paradigm. The post-positivist research paradigm explains the way things are and views objectivity as an ideal that can never be achieved, however research should be conducted with greater awareness of subjectivity. By combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies (Triangulation mixed method approach), it assisted the study to strike a balance and avoid being subjective on issues of humanistic management leadership, humanistic management strategy, humanistic management culture and humanistic management ethics. The research methods used in this study include questionnaires, interviews and observations. The findings from qualitative and quantitative data were integrated to come up with a generalisation. The findings of the study showed that there are limitations in the implementation of humanistic management philosophy for minibus taxi industry governance. Although the minibus taxi leaders were aware of their humanistic management leadership role and responsibilities, they were not applying them. The Minibus taxi industry leadership were applying non humanistic management leadership styles. Moreover, humanistic management strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation were not being done. Humanistic management ethics were found to be a challenge within the minibus taxi industry when governing their businesses. The study revealed that the minibus taxi industry was adopting a different culture from their community which affected their humanistic management culture and the reputation of the minibus taxi industry governance. This was not inline with the Ubuntu principles practised by the society in which the minibus taxi industry operated. Possible areas for future research were highlighted and recommendations were made, for example the researcher recommends minibus taxi operators should be educated on humanistic management philosophy in governance which makes their businesses legitimate in society’s view. Minibus taxi operators should be encouraged to use stakeholder approach in the humanistic management strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Support and monitoring systems should be in place for proper implementation of code of conducts. Whistleblowers should be protected by the taxi associations and the police force. A humanistic management culture should be developed and implemented with the incorporation of community inputs. The taxi association should develop and enforce a human resource policy to safeguard the interests of the minibus taxi industry employees. The study identified a possible alternative model for the implementation of humanistic management philosophy in governance. The model can be applied to all informal and formal sectors. / D

M.Ed. / This study is a result of the commitment of the Eastern Cape Technikon to provide training, research and development in skills needed by the communities it serves. The Eastern Cape Technology and Entrepreneurship Centre (ECTEC) was established in association with the Enterprising Edge and Niagara College. Consequently, a curriculum was made available in order to support the small, medium, and micro entrepreneurs (SMMEs) in Butterworth by educating and training them so that they could run their businesses successfully. Some of the issues that have arisen concerning this intervention, included whether an investigation into the educational and training needs of SMMEs had been done, as well as whether the proposed education and training programme would meet the needs of the intended SMME The aim of this research is to identify and describe the educational and training needs of SMMEs in Butterworth, by conducting a needs assessment. This needs assessment attempts to understand and explain what SMMEs perceive to be their educational and training needs. The sample was composed of SMMEs who are registered learners at the ECTEC. Questionnaires as well as semi—structured interviews were used for data collection. The questionnaire items were summarised and presented in the form of tables. The interview data was then analysed by means of a constant comparative method. The findings of this study show that the educational and training needs of SMMEs are related to issues like accessing finance, keeping proper records of transactions and preparation of books of business, namely, the balance sheet, income as well as cash flow statements. SMMEs also need to know how to undertake the marketing function of their businesses so that they can identify and reach their customers. Finally, SMMEs need to know how to prepare and analyse business plans. These needs should, as far as possible, be considered when designing or modifying the education and training programmes of the SMMEs in order to ensure that training addresses these needs. It is hoped that this study will help to make the course relevant, useful and applicable to the SMMEs in Butterworth and those studying at the ECTEC.

Magister Commercii - MCom / China is a country built on traditions and one of its most respected traditions is a preference for the family unit. The closeness of the family unit is carried over into the economic life of the country. Family members not only live together, but also work together in the fields or in enterprises. The advantage of this is that families have a guaranteed labour force that is not only loyal and can also be trusted. The disadvantage however is that positioning within the business is not always based on merit and competence, or trustworthiness which can ultimately impede growth. This research was an examination of Chinese family-owned businesses that focused on their management practices. The purpose of the study was to explore the management characteristics of Chinese family-owned businesses by means of interview data collected from five Chinese businesses in the Cape Metropolitan area. The emphasis of the project concentrated on the establishment, expansion and growth, ownership and leadership, management structure, the impact of cultural factors and the strategy for the future as well as challenges in terms of competitors and environments. / South Africa

Access to loans and credit facilities has been, and still is, a major problem for a large portion of the South African society. The problem is particularly significant in the disadvantaged and rural areas where the majority of people do not have access to formal banking services. Against this background the government further exacerbated the problem by prescribing legislation, which is thought to protect borrowers from perceived usurious rates. This particular law in contention is the Usury Act (No.73 of 1968). The Act imposes interest rate ceilings on loan finance provided by money lending institutions. The objective of this study was to examine the impact that interest rate ceilings will have on the micro lending market. This was done through looking at a case study based on information obtained from a micro lender. Firstly the study undertook the financial impact analysis on a micro lending business to determine the effect of a change in the maximum interest rate that could be charged by the micro lenders. This process was conducted to help understand the costs, revenues and profits of a micro lending business. The data, which were based on the micro lender’s financial statements, were analysed and evaluated on the basis that the statements reflect the financial position of the micro lender charging an interest rate not exceeding 30 per cent. Calculations were then made to reflect their financial position in the event of them being allowed to charge a maximum rate of 20 per cent, 12.08 per cent and 10 per cent per month. The results showed that micro lenders could make a profit when charging rates of between 30 and 20 per cent. However when the interest rate is reduced to 10 per cent the micro lender start to lose. The bottom line for micro lenders is greatly influenced by their turnover, as large portions of their costs are fixed. Therefore one micro lender might earn economic profits at 12.08 per cent per month, while another might just break-even. Simple and multiple regression techniques were used to analyse the data pertinent to the study. The analyses were performed to show the impact, which ceilings on the interest rate have on the market structure, company size and on the characteristics of loan services. The results were evaluated according to their significance. The findings showed that interest rate ceilings can have positive significant effect on risk and the market structure. Based on the findings of both methods applied to this study, it is evident that the interest rate ceilings could act as a constraint to the provision of credit to low-income earners and operators of small and micro enterprises. The micro lenders offer small amounts of credit to a large number of people, therefore interest rate ceilings may not only ration consumers out of the legal market, but also drive smaller lenders from the market and thus diminish competition. / Dissertation (MSc (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) embrace a wide range of information systems and technology that range from basic bookkeeping and general purpose office packages, through to advanced E-Business Web portals and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). A survey, based on SABS ISO/IEC 17799 was administered to a select number of SME’s in the services sector, in the Eastern Cape. The results of the survey revealed that the level of information security awareness amongst SME leadership is as diverse as the state of practice of their information systems and technology. Although a minority of SME’s do embrace security frameworks such as SABS ISO/IEC 17799 or the International equivalent, BS7799, most SME leaders have not heard of security standards, and see information security as a technical intervention designed to address virus threats and data backups. Furthermore, there are several “stripped-down” standards and guidelines for SME’s, based mostly on SABS ISO/IEC 17799, but designed as streamlined, more easily implemented options. Again, these “lighter” frameworks are scarcely used and largely unknown by SME’s. Far from blaming SME leadership for not understanding the critical issues surrounding information security, the research concludes that SME leadership need to engage, understand and implement formal information security processes, failing which their organisations may be severely impacted by inadvertent threats / deliberate attacks on their information systems which could ultimately lead to business failure.

This is a qualitative study which seeks to understand how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in the township of Soweto in South Africa. This research report has three sections, namely (1) the academic paper which comprises a shortened literature review, the research method, findings, and the discussion; (2) an extended literature review and (3) the research methodology. It is important to mention that these three sections are related and not necessarily stand-alone sections. Despite the hostilities faced by the Somali shop owners from the host communities in South Africa, it is notable that they are successful, small-sized entrepreneurs in most townships of South Africa (SA). Previous research on Somalis has predominantly focused on their assimilation into the societies in their host countries, and on how they are led into self-employment because of the unfavourable labour markets in the host country. In this vein, there is a need to understand how they run successful businesses in the townships of SA. This study seeks to answer the following research question: How Do Somali Shop Owners Succeed in Running Businesses in Soweto, South Africa (SA)? In pursuit of answers to the above research question, this study was confined to three locations in Soweto, namely Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville which have a relatively high number of Somali entrepreneurs who have been in operation for longer than three years. This qualitative study explored the multiple perspectives of reality of Somali shop owners. Purposively, 14 Somali shop owners were identified initially using purposive sampling. Subsequently, theoretical sampling was used to identify Somali shop owners who were interviewed regarding how they successfully run their businesses in the locations of Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville in the township of Soweto. A total of eighteen semi-structured, in-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with these shop owners as a means of gathering data to the point of saturating their perspectives. Data collection ceased when new perspectives were no longer evident as interviewees were being repetitive. Open-coding and constant comparison was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study show that ethnicity plays a predominant role in the success of the Somali shop owners. The intra-ethnic networks and trust-based support systems are pivotal to how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in Soweto. The key findings manifested showed that various forms of support came from Somali communities, family and fellow countrymen which were also central to their success. Another key finding showed that Somali shop owners run their businesses by complementing, rather than predominantly competing with the other local businesses, which ultimately differentiates them in this way. The study also revealed that responsiveness to local customer needs by enhancing the value of their business to the locality is also characteristic of how Somali shop owners build customer loyalty. This study contributes to our understanding of how Somali entrepreneurs conduct successful businesses in a hostile host country. The findings have implications for business development training and programmes which support immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings may also be extended to inform how business development programmes would be designed to equally support local entrepreneurs.

This study sought to explore and explain the impact of labour laws on small firms, focusing on employer perceptions of the Labour Relations Act of 1995 and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 in three towns of the Eastern Cape. It is important to focus on this impact of labour laws on these firms because of the high unemployment that faces the country. In this regard, it must be emphasised, firstly, that small firms are central to job creation; therefore, they contribute to a reduction in the unemployment rate; hence, the strategies created by the government to reduce any burdens (including regulatory burdens) on small firms. It is therefore important to study the impact of labour law on small businesses in order to assess the regulatory burden on small firms. The theoretical framework which underpins this study on the impact of labour law on small firms arises from the neo-corporatist critique of neo-liberalism. The two frameworks maintain the extent to which the government should intervene in the industrial relations system. Liberalism maintains that there should be a minimum role of the government, which involves only the facilitation of a framework for negotiations between employers and employees. Corporatism, however, maintains a social democratic approach, and holds that there should be an active role of the government in the industrial relations system with business, labour and the state working co-operatively (Klerck, 2009). This theoretical framework therefore shapes the extent to which employers perceive labour laws or state’s regulatory role impacts small businesses. The data was collected through the qualitative inquiry; using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The findings in this study included negative employer perceptions of labour laws. More specifically, many of the employers that were interviewed claimed that labour laws were burdensome on their businesses. They claimed that labour laws imposed financial and administrative costs to their firms, negatively affected the employer-employee relationships in these firms as well as the employing decisions of the employers. As a result, the employers saw labour laws as undermining flexibility and imposing unfair rigidities on small firms. Furthermore, employers perceived South African labour laws as not addressing the unique iii circumstances of small firms. They maintained that labour laws treated small firms similarly to large firms. Even though the employers held these perceptions of labour laws, it was evident that these subjective perceptions did not reflect the objective impact of labour laws on small firms. This was firstly related to the fact that many of the employers that were interviewed had negative views of labour laws but these views were not substantiated by particular events in their firms. Secondly, it was revealed that the employers’ perceptions of labour laws were based on their misconception or misunderstanding of labour law. Thirdly, it was revealed in this thesis that small firms were not affected in the same way to big firms by labour regulation. This was related to the fact that many of the small firms’ employers that were interviewed tended to be less concerned by regulation. Specifically, although many employers that were interviewed claimed that labour laws were burdensome on their firms it was evident that regulation was avoided because of the informality that characterised these firms. Consequently informality mediated the impact of labour laws on these firms, and labour laws imposed less ‘costs’ on these firms. However, it cannot be argued that small firms are isolated from the sphere of labour laws. Rather, although these firms were governed by regulation it was found that the extent to which employers complied with regulation depended on the extent to which organisational practice already reflected similarity with the legislative objective. / Acrobat PDFMaker 10.1 for Word / Adobe PDF Library 10.0

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Management Sciences (Marketing), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are known to be important for the development of economies in developing countries. This is so because SMEs create jobs therefore reducing unemployment and alleviating poverty. The South African government has done a lot to help SMEs grow and become established businesses. They offer, among other things, financial assistance and expert advice in the field of marketing, technology and venturing into foreign markets (SEDA, 2014). However, it seems that it is difficult for SMEs to establish themselves in the different sectors such as the Manufacturing, Retail, Service, Financial and Agricultural sectors. They complain among other things, of financial constraints and the global economic crisis (NCR report 2011). Olawale and Garwe (2010) go on to say that, SMEs in South Africa have a high failure rate compared to other countries and only about 7% of new SMEs become fully established firms. The reason for this might be the inability of those firms to utilise marketing and in particular branding to market their firms. Branding is the process of stamping a product, which the marketer offers with some identifying name, mark or a combination of both (Sawant 2012). Thus branding creates individuality in the product or service offered facilitating it to be distinguished and recognised in the market from competitors. For this reason different aspects of branding especially brand dimensions will be explored to identify shortcoming of SMEs branding practices to assist them survive the dynamic business environment. The study involved SMEs in KwaZulu Natal in the manufacturing, retail, agriculture and financial services sectors. To address the research problem a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. Participants, more specifically those from the very small SME category, were selected and questionnaires were distributed to them. Those participants who responded to the questionnaire, in depth interviews were held with them. In both approaches a convenient samplings technique were used to select participants. The data will be analysed by using normal descriptive statistics and content analysis. The problem under investigation in this study is that SMEs in KZN may lack the ability to harness branding in support of their business survival. SMEs are limited financially when it comes to creating a brand. Randall (2000) says that companies face a number of challenges when it comes to creating a brand such as mature markets, brand proliferation, consumer revolt, management failure, fragmentation of media and retailer power. The contribution of the study is to help SMEs in KZN to understand branding and especially brand dimensions to assist them survive the dynamic business environment. The study found that SME owners have an understanding of brand creation and management. However, they agreed that more needs to be done when it comes to creating strong brands. SMEs express the brand dimension of sincerity and competence when branding their products. They face financial constraints, lack of creativity and competition as some of the challenges when it comes to creating brands. / M