Bibliography: leaves 116-138 / Bibliography: leaves 116-138 / The purpose of this research study was to examine the impact of institutional constraints, management competencies, strategic and structural constraints on the performance of black-owned small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). A quantitative survey was conducted using the probability sampling (N=353) of the black-owned SMMEs in CTMM. The Pearson’s correlational analysis was used to determine the relationship between institutional constraints, management competencies (as composite sets of human resources, financial resources and information resources), strategic and structural constraints, and the performance of the business (as composite sets of financial growth and organizational growth). The results indicated a negative relationship between the dependent variables and independent variables. The item analysis, dimensionality analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to determine the factor structure of all the independent and dependent variables, the results yielded a good fit of all the measurement models. These findings may provide new practical knowledge for the financial and non-financial institutions to consider the position of black-owned SMMEs when they design policies, which add to the theoretical knowledge in the SMMEs sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management (Finance))

MAdmin / Department of Public and Development Administration / This study focused on The Integrated Development Plan as a strategy to empower informal traders using Thohoyandou as the case study. The study was conducted at Thulamela Municipality and at the informal markets of Thohoyandou. The researcher used two population groups; the municipal officials and the informal traders. The researcher made use of both qualitative and quantitative methods as the study was explorative in nature; 50 informal traders were sampled and took part in the study and on the other hand, 20 municipal officials were sampled and participated in the study. The researcher made use a pilot survey to two groups of population to test the efficacy of the interviews schedule as well the questionnaires as data collection instruments. SPSS and Microsoft excel were used as tools for data analysis. The results show that Thulamela Municipality’s IDP strategy is not doing enough for the informal markets in Thohoyandou. However, respondents indicated that shortcomings such as Limited Budget affect the success of IDP on informal trading. Initiatives such as the provision of loans, workshops, training and promotion of LED programmes were indicated as having been put in place in an effort to empower informal traders, although a number of informal traders in the Thohoyandou area are forever increasing, through urbanisation and migration which pose serious control challenges to the municipality. To manage informal trading in Thohoyandou, the researcher recommended that there could be: preferences on trading fee/levies; provision of services and infrastructures to informal traders; enhancing public participation; limiting overtrading, integrated management planning, policy formulations and that future researchers can be more specific on aspects such as: situation of foreign traders; constitutionality of by-laws and trading at intersections.

Green information and communication technology (ICT) is viewed as a pioneering initiative that plays a key role in reducing the negative impact of ICT on the environment. The research problem of the study was the low green ICT adoption rate in South African small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The primary objective was to identify the most prominent barriers resulting in this low adoption rate. The first secondary objective was to determine the barrier with the strongest underlying correlation resulting in the low adoption rate of green ICT in South African SMEs. The second secondary objective was to recommend strategies on how to improve the adoption rate of green ICT. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data through electronic and paper-based surveys. A census study was conducted among owners and managers of high-technology-based SMEs located in Gauteng. An exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify the barriers resulting in the low adoption rate of green ICT. These barriers were found to be a lack of funding, awareness, legislation, skills, and knowledge based on complexity and uncertainty. A lack of funding was identified as the most prominent barrier to adopting low green ICT. Although five constructs were discussed in the literature, the overall results presented six components, with the construct of knowledge being made up of two parts – complexity and uncertainty. This study recommends that SMEs align green ICT initiatives with their strategic goals and that government consider more adequate support structures for SMEs. The study confirmed a low green ICT adoption rate in South African SMEs, and more research is required to explore the impact of each of the factors above on the environment. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

South Africa, in general, is plagued by high unemployment, especially among the youth. The study explores how mentorship can be employed to foster youth entrepreneurship at Telkom, South Africa. The primary focus of the investigation was to establish whether mentorship could be the answer to the declining youth entrepreneurship in the city of Tshwane. The study was done by conducting a qualitative research, using the Telkom mentorship programme as the sample. The sample consisted of mentors and youth mentees from the Telkom mentorship database. Data was collected using semi-structured open-ended interviews. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis with Atlas Ti 8.0. The literature showed that mentoring has benefits for both mentors and entrepreneur mentees. It also showed that the government and private sectors can play a key role in youth entrepreneur mentorship. The findings of the study have proven that mentorship yields positive results for youth entrepreneurs, which supports the literature in this study. The findings of the study yielded five themes, which were: success factors for mentorship, inhibiting factors for mentorship, role of government in mentorship, role of private sector in mentorship and influence of mentorship on successful youth entrepreneurship. In addressing the objectives of this study, the findings have proven that there is a relationship between mentorship and successful youth entrepreneurship, as per the first objective. The role of government and the private sector were identified as key in the mentorship of youth entrepreneurs. The recommendations made in this study include improvements in the mentorship programme for mentees and mentors, initiatives by government that include more mentorship programmes and better communication as well as providing funding for mentorship programmes. Additionally, the private sector needs initiatives to make their programmes more accessible to the public. Further research to establish the correlation between mentorship and successful entrepreneurship is recommended / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

D. Tech (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are economic drivers and key in job creation in emerging economies. In the past, the difficulties faced by women have deprived them of opportunities to establish and run successful businesses. Previous research reveals that women’s involvement in businesses creates sustainable economic growth, thereby reducing poverty. Women-owned SMEs in South Africa receive minimal government support, and many women lack the resources required to run a business successfully. Ensuring growth and profitability in women-run enterprises can alleviate the extent to which women have been disadvantaged in South Africa. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women have a significant role in creating jobs, which can grow the South African economy. This study aimed to determine the influence of strategy implementation in women-owned SMEs in South Africa, specifically Gauteng Province. The study considered constructs such as strategy implementation, financial performance and SME survival in women-owned SMEs. Against this background, a deductive reasoning based quantitative approach was adopted using a cross-sectional survey design to assess the connection between the constructs under consideration. The final sample consisted of 347 women entrepreneurs and managers and employees of selected SMEs in various regions of Gauteng Province. The data collected were analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Scientists (SPSS) version 25.0 software. Statistical analyses techniques applied in the study included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, person correlations and regression analyses. The results of the study showed that corporate and business strategies exert a significant influence on SME financial performance. However, operational strategy was statistically insignificant. Financial performance, in turn, influenced SME survival. Additionally, all three strategies, namely, corporate, business and operational, significantly influenced SME survival. Thus, the financial performance and ultimate survival of women-owned SMEs in South Africa are both dependent on strategy formulation and implementation. The research is practical in that its results may be used as a reference source for ideas in strategy formulation and implementation in stakeholder committees. The results may then be directed towards alleviating the challenges facing women-owned SMEs in South Africa and stimulate their chances of success. The study, therefore, has implications in generating employment, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of women-owned SMEs. Theoretically, the study contributes by closing the gap in literature within the area of the nexus between strategy implementation, financial performance and SME survival in the context of South Africa.

Thesis (M.Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Development projects, including the Fetša Tlala Initiative, were designed to contribute to the National Development Plan, 2030. The objectives of this research assessed how effective the Fetša Tlala project was in improving food and nutrition security of women farmers and the degree of empowerment the project afforded them. A semi-structured interview guide was applied to 16 purposefully selected respondents during face-to-face interviews as the data collection method. The findings indicated that physical resources provided to beneficiaries contributed to the effectiveness of the project. However, the inconsistent institutional support provided by the project initiators were considered to detract from the effectiveness. The findings also revealed that the beneficiaries were empowered by the opportunities afforded through the initiative, but were further empowered by their own resilience in the face of adversity. The study concludes by recommending the continuation of the project with improved institutional support.

This study examined the motivation of entrepreneurs in starting a business. More specifically, it aimed to identify whether entrepreneurs have common motives for starting their own business, and to determine whether men and women have different reasons for becoming entrepreneurs. The empirical study was conducted on a sample of 101 entrepreneurs. A motivation scale and open-ended questions were used to measure motivation. The results indicated that men and women have various reasons for starting a business, and are primarily motivated by the need for independence, need for material incentives and the need for achievement. The need to contribute to the community was not an important motive. Comparatively, male entrepreneurs were more motivated by the need to give family security and to make a difference in the business, and female entrepreneurs were motivated more by the need to keep learning and the need for more money to survive. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

This study examines the factors appear to lead to the failure of small businesses in the Kagiso Township. The high failure rate can be partially attributed to the lack of support that the small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) receive from support institutions as well as to their own internal weaknesses. Strategies are recommended that will help small businesses be more successful. The study was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. Results indicated that the most common causes of business failure were lack of knowledge regarding legal matters, lack of funding and a general lack of business acumen. The study recommends that government should improve the effectiveness of its support mechanisms and that record keeping and cash flow management training is critical for SMEs. These recommendations, if applied properly, will ensure small businesses' success in Kagiso and the rest of South Africa. / Economics / M.Tech. (Business Administration)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Hedendaagse onderwys staan voor 'n omvattende voorligtings- en opleidingsopgawe om die jeug toe te rus om die arbeidsmark as entrepreneurs te betree. Onderwysers word toenemend voor die eis gestel om as fasiliteerders op te tree om leerlinge te begelei om beter by die eise van veranderende omstandighede, nuwe tegnologie en inligting aan te pas. In hierdie konteks vorm entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys een van die mees eietydse temas wat die onderwys moet aanspreek. Hoewel die voorsiening van entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys reeds in die nuwe Norme en standaarde vir onderwyseropleiding as 'n kruiskurrikulere aangeleentheid beskryf word, is die behoefte aan 'n omvattende entrepreneurskapsontwikkelingstrategie nog nie voldoende aangespreek nie. In 'n antwoord op hierdie leemte word 'n voorgestelde implementeringstrategie vir entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys in hierdie studie ontwikkel. In die verloop van die ondersoek moes daar deeglik rekening gehou word met aspekte soos: • die rol en betekenis van entrepreneurskap in die Suid-Afrikaanse skolekonteks; • faktore wat entrepreneuriese sukses of mislukking onderle; • die ontwikkeling van 'n positiewe entrepreneuriese ingesteldheid en entrepreneuriese vaardighede en • plaaslike en oorsese inisiatiewe om entrepreneurskap m die skoolkonteks te bevorder. In die empiriese ondersoek is die uitgangspunt gehuldig dat onderwysers se menings van deurslaggewende belang is om 'n entrepreneurskapsontwikkelingstrategie te rig. Onderwysers se menings is in elk van die volgende ondersoekvelde nagevors: • Onderwysers se toegerustheid om entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys aan leerlinge te voorsien; • Onderwysers se eie implementering van entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys; • Die behoefte by leerlinge aan entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys; • Onderwysers se geslaagdheid om entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys te implementeer; • Die aangewesenheid van entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys as 'n onderwyseropgawe. Die navorsingsresultate is aangewend om binne die raamwerk van die Suid-Afrikaanse skolekonteks en onderwysbeleid 'n strategie voor te stel om entrepreneurskapsgerigte onderwys te implementeer. Die onderwys kan hierdeur 'n aansienlike bydrae lewer om die jeug voor te berei om as volwaardige en verantwoordelike landsburgers hulle plek in die samelewing vol te staan. / Education today stands before the comprehensive task to empower our youth through appropriate guidance and training to enter the job market as entrepreneurs. Teachers are increasingly put to the task to act as facilitators in their guidance of the youth to adapt more effectively to changing circumstances, new technology and information. Within this context, education directed to entrepreneurship forms one of the most timely issues that education should address. Although the provision of education directed to entrepreneurship has been described as a cross curricular concern within the new Norms and standards for teacher education it does not provide in the need for a comprehensive strategy to develop entrepreneurship in education. In an answer to this deficiency, this study is directed to develop a proposed implementation strategy to enhance entrepreneurship in education. In the course of this investigation it was needed to thouroughly account with concerns such as: • the role and significance of entrepreneurship within the South African school context; • factors which underlie entrepreneurial success or failure; • the development of a positive entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial skills and • local and foreign initiatives to enhance entrepreneurship within the school context. In the empirical investigation the v1ew is held that teachers opm10ns is of crucial importance to give direction towards a strategy to enhance entrepreneurship. Teachers views are examened within each of the following fields of investigation: • Teachers empoweredness to provide education directed to entrepreneurship to students. • Teachers own implementation of education directed to entrepreneurship • Students need for education directed to entrepreneurship. • Teachers sufficiency to implement education directed to entrepreneurship. • The appropriateness of education directed to entrepreneurship as a teacher concern. The results of the research is applied to propose an implementation strategy to enhance education directed to entrepreneurship within the framework of the South African school context and policy of education. The conclusion was reached that educators can greatly contribute to prepare our youth so that they can take up their positions in the community as responsible and able citizens. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Text in English / The thesis is a grounded analysis that seeks to understand small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMME) in the ICT sector that are particularly driven by women entrepreneurs in the Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province. Small businesses in the ICT sector owned and driven by women are still an understudied topic in South Africa, since there is not much literature that covers the topic from either a quantitative, or a qualitative perspective. The Eastern Cape Province is not an exception to the dearth of literature that focuses on SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector. The research interest of this research project emphasises the gap pertaining to the unavailability of gender-disaggregated data that indicates, for example: i) The number of women-owned ICT enterprises; ii) The nature of women-driven entrepreneurial activity in the ICT sector; iii) Evidence of how competitive women-owned ICT enterprises are; iv) Sustainable job creation by these ICT enterprises; iv) Availability of women with ICT skills; and v) Women who are occupying ICT core positions. These factors strengthen the case for employing a grounded approach to explore this substantive area of investigation. The researcher has no doubt that this study is one of the first studies to examine women-driven entrepreneurship of SMMEs in the ICT sector of the Eastern Cape Province, hence the adoption of a Multi-Grounded Theory (MGT) approach. This methodology is anchored in a qualitative approach that explores this phenomenon about which little is known. A moderate constructivist and interpretive approach guided by the voices of women entrepreneurs was employed to provide a meaningful account that added depth and breadth to the description and explanation of the status quo in relation to women-driven entrepreneurship in SMMEs. Emerging data from in-depth interviews conducted with 12 SMME women entrepreneurs and two experts from the ICT industry was matched with the two theories of entrepreneurship and cyberfeminism. These theories provided a theoretical lens through which data could be analysed and interpreted. This empirical and theory driven approach assisted in grounding the substantive theory. The research objectives provided answers to the empirical research questions that sought to gain an in-depth understanding of women entrepreneurs‘ perspective about: i) Conceptualisation of entrepreneurship and ICT technology as a concept; ii) Conceptualisation of the ICT sector; iii) The perceived importance of the ICT sector as an enabler in promoting SMME women-driven entrepreneurship; iv) How SMME women entrepreneurs use ICT as a core product and service; and v) The role played by government and the private sector in promoting SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector of the Eastern Cape Province. The findings uncovered concerns that women entrepreneurs perceived as having an influence on women-driven entrepreneurship. The findings included the manner in which women entrepreneurs responded to these issues. The findings for example, highlighted gender sensitivity issues which were of great concern to women entrepreneurs. Gender discrimination was amongst the key issues identified that lead to women‘s marginalisation inside the ICT sector, this entailing: i) ICT underrepresentation in core ICT environments; ii) Inaccessible tender opportunities; iii) Inaccessible funding; iv) Limited ICT knowledge and skills; and v) Lack of technical support. Considering the fact that SMME women-driven entrepreneurship within the ICT sector is on the radar screen of both government and the private sector‘s developmental agenda, the gap in research and literature presented a case that the study intended to address by developing a substantive theory which could contribute toward the transformative change in SMME women-driven entrepreneurship in the ICT sector of the province. / Communication Science / D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)