Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Project success is essential for the survival of modern organizations that are increasingly turning towards project management to implement their strategy and make significant business changes. Evaluating the success of these projects is however not well understood and definitely not a precise science. Despite all the ambiguity surrounding project success there is at least agreement that the extent of project failure is much higher than it should be. The term project portfolio management is very vaguely defined and the contribution thereof to project success is not yet clearly understood. In order to establish the contribution of project portfolio management to project success, it is required to firstly - - - - - - -- distinguish. between pr"o-ject success and project management success. Project succ",.~ is essentially the contribution of the project deliverables to the organization's strategic intent. Project management success differs significantly from project success in that it measures the delivery of the project's objectives within the time, budget and resource allocation. In order to understand this difference the study first focuses on the factors contributing towards project success and project management success respectively. T~o _ key"_~~~ings_ are that (1) project management success is but a component of project success on the time dimension and (2) that alignment between project deliverables and organizational strategic intent is fundamental to project success. The various concepts of project management, program management, enterprise project management and project portfolio management are investigated in order to - obtain full understanding of the contribution of each concept to both project and project management success respectively. Project portfolio management, which is often confused with enterprise project management, is examined by tracing it back to its origin in portfolio management theory, as presented by Markowitz in 1960 and widely applied in financial markets. The m~in contribution of project portfolio management towards project success lies in aligning project objectives with organizational strategic intent. Project portfolio management also provides an analysis of project status, not project management status, and establishes project priorities which are essential for resource allocation. Allocating resources is however the role of enterprise project management, a management function complimentary to project portfolio management. By providing an independent view on the project status, as well the contribution of the project to strategic intent, project portfolio management becomes a catalyst to emphasise the correct projects on the one hand and annihilating incorrect projects on the other. The ro les of line, project, program, enterprise project, project portfolio and strategic management are shown to all contribute on diffe[ent dimensions towards project success and ultimately organisational success. It is argued that only when these different contributions are properly u~derstood , can it be appropriately assigned and will accountability for project succ~ss be tied down to specific organisational roles. A proposed framework -fo-r -p-ro-ject - success is finally presented. This proposed - - ~ framework could lead to further research and ultimately provide a synQPsis of all factors contributing to project success. An important component of this framework is project portfolio management that ensures alignment of project deliverables with organisational strategic intent. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Projeksukses is noodsaaklik vir die voortbestaan van moderne organisasies wat toenemend projekbestuur gebruik om organisasie strategie te implementeer en wesenlike organisatoriese veranderinge te maak. EvaJuasie van die sukses van hierdie projekte word egter nie algemeen begryp nie en is beslis nie In presiese wetenskap nie. Ten spyle van al die teenstrydhede rakende projeksukses, is daar ten minste ooreenstemming dat die omvang van projekfalings veel hoer is as wat dit behoort te wees. Die beg rip projekportefeuljebestuur is baie vaag gedefinieer en die bydrae daarvan tot projeksukses word nie duidelik begryp nie. Ten einde die bydrae van projekportefeuljebestuur tot projeksukses te bepaal, is dit eerstens nodig om tussen projeksukses en projekbestuursukses te onderskei. Projeksukses is essensieel die bydrae van die projek se aflewerbares tot die organisasie se strategiese doelwiUe. Projekbestuursukses verskil wesenlik van projeksukses in die sin dat dit die aflewering van die projek S8 doelwitte binne die tydsraamwerk, begroting en hulpbrontoedeling meet. Ten einde die onderskeid te verstaan, fokus hierdie studie eerstens op die faktore wat tot onderskeidelik projeksukses en projekbestuursukses bydrae. Twee sleutelbevindinge is dat (1) projekbestuursukses bloot 'n komponent van projeksukses op die tyd dimensie is en (2) dat ondersteuning van die projek se aflewerbares vir die organisasie se strategiese doelwitte essensieel is vir projeksukses. Die verskillende aspekte van projekbestuur, programbestuur, ondernemingsprojekbestuur en projekportefeuljebestuur is ondersoek om die bydrae van elkeen tot onderskeidelik projeksukses en projekbestuursukses ten volle te begryp. Projekportefeuljebestuur, wat dikwels met ondernemingsprojekbestuur verwar word , is ondersoek deur dit terug te volg na portefeuljebestuurteorie. 5005 voorgestel deur Markowitz in 1960 en algemeen toegepas in finansiele markte. Die hoofbydrae van projekportefeuljebestuur tot projeksukses is gelee in die rig van van projek se doelwiUe op die strategie van die onderneming. Projekportefeuljebestuur verskaf ook 'n analise van die projek status, nie die projekbestuur status nie, en bepaal projek prioriteite wat noodsaaklik is vir hulpbrontoedeling. Die toedeling van hulpbronne is egter die rol van ondernemingsprojekbestuur, 'n bestuursfunksie wat projekportefeuljebestuur komplimenteer. Deur 'n onafhanklike siening van projekstatus, asook die bydrae van die projek tot die organisasie se strategie te verskaf, word projekportefeuljebestuur 'n katalisator om die korrekte projekte aan die een kant te beklemtoon en die beeindiging van verkeerde projelcte aan die ander kant mee t8 bring. Daar word aangetoon dat die rolle van Iyn-, projek-, program-, ondernemingsprojek-, projekportefeulje- en strategiese bestuur almal op verskillende vlakke bydra tot projeksukses en uiteindelik organisasie sukses. Daar word geredeneer dat slegs wanneer hierdie verskillende bydraes behoorlik verstaan word, kan dit toepaslik geallokeer word en sal toerekeningsvatbaarheid vir projeksukses aan spesifieke rolle binne die organisasie vasgepen kan word. 'n Voorgestelde raamwerk VIr projeksukses word laastens aangebied. Hierdie voorgestelde raamwerk kan tot verdere navorsing aanleiding gee en uiteindelik 'n oorsig verskaf van al die faktore wat bydra tot projeksuses. 'n Belangrike komponent van die raamwerk is projekportefeuljebestuur am te verseker dat die projek se doelwilte gerig is op die organisasie S8 strategiese doelwitte.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Small businesses are the traditional source of local and national economic growth. Small businesses in South Africa absorb almost half the people formally employed in the private sector and contribute nearly thirty seven percent to the country's gross domestic product. Unfortunately small businesses also have the reputation of a high failure rate some literature quote figures as high as sixty six percent of all small businesses within the first six years of their existence. An Australian survey indicated that nearly sixty five percent of all business failures were caused by controllable factors, which implicates that the use of consultants, or simply better management of the small business, could have prevented the failure. This study explains why small business owners are so reluctant to make use of outside consultants and looks into the most common causes of small organisation failure. This research project is designed as an incremental development study, where an existing model is adjusted to focus on a smaller nische market. A consulting model, developed to use in large organisations, was evaluated by identifying the problem areas that most often cause small organisations to fail and then comparing them to the areas addressed in the existing model. The conclusion reached was that although this model will definitely help small business owners to improve their businesses, it doesn't address the mest common causes of small business failure and adjustments is needed to customise this product for the small organisation. Based on the available data on the most common causes of small organisational failure, a new model is developed, which addresses the specific causes of small organisation failure. The new model gives examples of what would be in place in an organisation where the relevant critical success factor is successfully implemented as well as examples of what the situation will be if the relvant factor is absent. The small business owners evaluate themselves on a scale of one to ten. The model has a dual purpose, firstly to create an awareness with the owner of the full spectrum of factors that need to receive attention in a small organisation, and secondly to give a benchmark against which progress on each of the critical success factors can be measured. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Klein besighede vorm die ruggraat van die Suid Afrikaanse ekonomie, met byna sewe-en-dertig persent van die Bruto Nasionale Produk (BNP), wat aan klein besighede toegeskryf kan word en as werkverskaffer aan bykans die helfte van alle werknemers wat formeel in diens is van die private sektor. Ongelukkig het klein besighede ook die reputasie van 'n groot mislukkingskoers met mislukkings so hoog as ses-en-sestig persent van alle klein besighede in die eerste ses jaar van die ondernemings se bestaan. 'n Australiese studie het getoon dat ongeveer vyf-en-sestig persent van die oorsake van klein besigheid mislukkings aan beheerbare faktore toegeskryf kan word. Met ander woorde hulp van konsultante, of bloot beter bestuur van die klein besigheid, kon die mislukking verhoed het. Hierdie werkstuk kyk na redes hoekom konsultante so min deur klein besighede gebruik word en na die mees algemene oorsake van klein besigheid mislukkings. Die werkstuk neem die vorm aan van 'n inkrementele ontwikkeling studie waar 'n reeds bestaande evaluasie model, aangepas word om te fokus op 'n kleiner nismark. 'n Konsultasie model, wat ontwikkel is vir gebruik in die diagnostiese fase van die konsultasieproses vir groot besighede, is ondersoek en daar is gekyk watter van die mees algemene faktore vir klein besigheid mislukking in hierdie model aangespreek is. Die gevolgtrekking was dat alhoewel die model definitief klein besigheids eienaars sal help om hul organisasies te verbeter, dit meeste van die oorsake vir mislukking in klein besighede nie direk aanspreek nie, en dat aanpassings van die model nodig is. Gebasseer op reeds bestaande navorsing oor die oorsake van klein besigheid mislukkings, is 'n nuwe model ontwikkel, wat spesifiek gerig is daarop om die mees algemene oorsake van mislukking aan te spreek. Die hersiene model gee voorbeelde van wat in plek sal wees in 'n organisasie waar die kritieke suksesfaktor suksesvol geimplementeer is asook voorbeelde van hoe die situasie daar sal uitsien indien die relevante faktor afwesig is. Klein besigheidseienaars evalueer hulself op 'n skaal van een tot tien. Die doel van die model is tweeledig, eerstens om die eienaar attent te maak op die volle omvang van faktore waaraan aandag gegee moet word, en tweedens om 'n riglyn te bied waarteen vordering op elkeen van die kritieke sukses faktore gemeet kan word.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study project for a proposed framework to facilitate strategic execution aims to formulate a methodology with a set of standard tools, to enable organisations to be successful in strategy execution on a continuous basis. The framework is to be implemented within a team in the Honeywell site office structure, which is responsible for delivering support services in the hydrocarbon processing industry. The framework is based on a six step process to facilitate continuous alignment to strategy, by following the continuous improvement methodology of the Deming wheel. The components of the framework are "landscapinq", "team maturity", "gap analysis", "alignmenf, "action plan" and "review". The first four components represent the "pian", the second to final component represent the "do", and the last component represents the "check" or "study" section of the Deming wheel's PDSA (plan, do, study, act) cycle. These main components in the framework are fixed, but the tools utilised in the execution of the components are flexible. This is to allow the implementers to choose the tools that they are most comfortable with and that will have the greatest chance of success in their environments. Tools that are used in this study include a change cycle assessment and objective setting tools. The implementation also relies on specific assumptions and existing methodologies. These include value based management, performance management that is based on focussing on strengths and not competencies, as well as the assumption that similar methodologies are used throughout the organisation. The components of the framework are explained in chapter two and then implemented in chapter four. The process is followed from landscaping through to the review section, where all alignment plans are evaluated against the specified definitions of victory and its related critical success factors. The most important section is arguably the team maturity component. This determines maturity in terms of skill levels, team effectiveness and readiness for change and ultimately whether the implementation can continue or whether the status quo should be improved before continuation. During this implementation the framework continues through the team maturity component to the execution of four identified priority action plans. The priority plans include a communication and information delivery infrastructure, complete organisational restructuring, performance management and skills development. The results from the implementation based on statistical matched pair experiments and the interpretation of the p-values concludes that the framework is a successful methodology, that ensures continuous alignment and ultimately strategic execution. The study concludes by recommending further additions to the framework that include a feedback loop to senior management, that will serve as input for future strategy formulation. Finally, the study also recommends the expansion of success metries to include the skills assessment and ultimately the metries that will measure success or failure of the high level objectives set by senior management. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie projek vir 'n voorgestelde belynings raamwerk om strategiese uitvoering te fasiliteer mik daarna om 'n metodologie te formuleer met 'n stel standaard hulpmiddels om maatskappye met suksesvolle strategiese uitvoering op 'n volhoudbare basis te help. Die raamwerk word dan geimplementeer op 'n span binne die organisasie struktuur van die Honeywell aanleg kantoor wat verantwoordelik is vir ondersteunings dienslewering in die hidro-koolstof verwerkings industrie. Die raamwerk is op 'n ses stap proses gebaseer om aanhoudende belyning tot stratgie te fasiliteer en volg 'n aanhoudende verbeterings metodologie van die Deming wiel. Die komponente van die raamwerk is "uitlegging" I "span volwassenheid", "gaping analisse", "belyning", "implementeer plan" en "hersien". Die eerste vier komponente verteenwoodig die "beplan", die tweede laaste komponent verteenwoordig die "doen" en die laaste komponent verteenwoordig die "hersien" of "studeer" gedeelte van die Deming wiel se SDSA (beplan, doen, studeer, aksie) siklus. Die hoof raamwerk komponente in die metodologie is vas, maar die hulpmiddels wat gebruik kan word in die uitvoering van die komponente is aanpasbaar om sodoende die implementeerders toe te laat om die hulpmiddels te kies waarmee hulle die gemaklikste is en wat die beste resultate in hulomgewing sal lewer. Hulpmiddels wat in hierdie studie gebruik word sluit in 'n veranderingsiklus evaluering en doelstelling hulpmiddels. Die implementasie steun ook op spesifieke aannames en bestaande metodologieë. Hierdie sluit in waarde gebaseerde bestuur, prestasie bestuur wat gebaseer is op sterkpunte en nie bevoegdhede nie, sowel as die aaname dat soortgelyke metodologieë regdeur die organisasie gebruik word. Die komponente van die raamwerk word verduidelik in hoofstuk twee en word daarna in hoofstuk vier geïmplementeer. Die proses word gevolg vanaf uitlegging regdeur tot die hersien afdeling waar al die belynde planne ge-evalueer word teen die spesifieke definisies van sukses en die verwante kritieke sukses faktore. Die mees belangrikste afdeling kan gesien word as die span volwassenheids komponent wat volwassenheid in terme van vaardigheidsvlakke, span effektiwiteit en gereedheid vir verandering bepaal en uiteindelik of die implementasie kan voortgaan of die staus quo eers verbeter moet word. Gedurende hierdie implementasie duur die raamwerk voort van die span volwassenheid komponent tot die uitvoering van vier geïndentifiseerde prioriteit aksie planne. Die prioriteit planne sluit in 'n kommunikasie en informasie infrastruktuur voorsiening, volledige organisasie herstruktuering, prestasie bestuur en vaardigheidsontwikkeling. Die uitkoms van hierdie implementasie, gebaseer op statistiese ooreenstemmende paar eksperimente en die intrepetasie van die p-waardes, tref die gevolgtrekking dat die raamwerk 'n suksesvolle metodologie is wat volhoubare belyning en uiteindelikke strategie uitvoering verseker. Hierdie studie kom tot 'n gevolg deur verdere byvoegings tot die raamwerk voor te stel. Byvoegings sluit in 'n terugvoerings meganisme na senior bestuur wat as insette vir toekomstige strategie formulering kan dien. Ten slotte stel hierdie studie voor dat sukses metings uitgebrei word om die vaardigheidsevaluering in te sluit en uiteindelik ook die metings te gebruik wat die sukses of mislukking van hoë vlak doelstellings deur senior bestuur daar gestel, te meet.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this thesis is an exploratory study into which leadership competencies provides a sustainable competitive advantage, and in all probability leads to sustainable profitable growth in an organisation today. As part of his research, the author presented a set of questions to three successful business and political leaders in South Africa. The objective was to identify the common characteristics between these exceptional individuals, thereby proposing an ideal armourment, which when borne by leaders, will assist their organisations in achieving sustainable profitable growth. These common characteristics, identified amongst these leaders, can serve as building blocks to build a competency model for an organisation to achieve sustainable profitable growth. Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker and others have said that leaders are people who do the right things and managers are people who do things right. This research aims to determine what are these things and why are they the right things? "Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest." - Mark Twain / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is verkennende navorsing ten einde te bepaal watter leierskapsvaardighede waarskynlik vandag 'n mededingende voordeel bied en aanleiding gee tot volhoubare groei in 'n organisasie. Kern tot die navorsing is 'n stel vrae wat deur drie suksesvolle Suid-Afrikaanse sake en politieke leiers beantwoord is. Die doelwit van die studie is die identifisering van die betrokke leiers se gemeenskaplike leierskapvaardighede as basis tot die formulering van 'n ideaIe stel leierskapsvaardighede ten einde 'n organisasie in staat te stel om volhoubare groei te bewerkstellig. Hierdie vaardigheidsmodel kan deur organisasies gebruik word as hoekstene van die organisasie se leierskapontwikkelingsprogram om sodoende aanleiding te gee tot die bou van 'n langtermyn mededingende voordeel en volhoubare groei. Volgens Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker en andere kan leiers beskryf word as persone wat die regte dinge doen en bestuurders as persone wat dinge reg doen. Hierdie navorsing poog om vas te stel wat hierdie dinge is en hoekom hulle die regte dinge is. "Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest." - Mark Twain

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Namakwa Sands experienced a severe breakdown in labour relations resulting in a protected strike in 2006. During the ensuing strike, conditions deteriorated to such an extent that the mass action spiralled out of control and led to destruction of company property and subsequently the dismissal of employees. Following this, the company further underwent a dramatic organisational change during the latter quarter of 2008 and through 2009 when Anglo American Public Limited Company (PLC) divested its share of mineral sands business to Exxaro Resources. This study investigated the successes and failures encountered during this change management programme, taking cognisance of the poor labour relations prior to the acquisition by Exxaro Resources. Change management is a systemic and structured approach to move people from a state of dissatisfaction to a future position of satisfaction that benefits the organisation. Various models and well-defined literature currently exist to guide management during a successful process of change management. The focus of this research report is on the change management process followed during the transition period of change of ownership from Anglo American to Exxaro Resources, determining the successes and failures during this period as measured by the “Best Company to Work for” (BC2W4) surveys conducted by Deloitte and Touche. A further comparison is done between the process followed by Namakwa Sands and that of subject literature and two existing, well-recognised change management models generally in use, namely the ADKAR Model and John Kotter’s eight-step change management process model. “Overall, change management is about helping people through change. It is the process, tools and techniques for proactively managing the people side of change in order to achieve the desired business results” (Hiatt & Creasy, 2003: 10).

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: DRDGOLD is a mining company forming part of the declining South African gold industry. During the turn of the century, the opportunity to innovate the business model arose. Without proactive intent, DRDGOLD tapped into the opportunity and revised their business model with great success. The success is evident in the improvement of headline earnings from 2002 to 2012. To discuss the changes to the business model, the author conducted a literature review on business models and innovation. From the review, the author selected the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas as the most suitable framework to discuss the changes of the business model. The Osterwalder Business Model includes the business-centric approach and is thus favoured for this discussion. First, the business model was populated with the information to have a comprehensible business model, and secondly, the changes to the business model were identified. The information for the study was sourced from public company documentation, mainly annual reports, secondary sources like Datamonitor, and interviews with four members of the leadership team. The four interviewees were Niel Pretorius, chief executive officer (CEO), Kobus Dissel group financial manager, Charles Symons, chief operating officer (COO), and Craig Barnes, chief financial officer (CFO). The four members had a long-standing relationship with the company and were part of the change process that took place at the company. The period before the study made the business model innovation possible. Firstly, the long mining history around Johannesburg produced the mine dumps that formed the core resource of the operations. Secondly, the craze to buy anything that looks like gold during the end of the 1990s introduced DRDGOLD to the surface retreatment operations with the purchase of Crown. The environment of the operations started to change, not only the operating environment, but also the other stakeholders. The importance of the community grew, the dividend yield to the shareholder increased in importance, the engagement with the regulators changed to a proactive engagement, and the environment was managed for a long-term perspective. The risks and returns for DRDGOLD started to misalign. The risk of pursuing the underground operations further increased considerably and unintentionally drove the costs up. Within the context of South Africa, the returns of underground operations started to erode as unscheduled stoppages increased. These stoppages were caused by events outside the control of the company, for example power failures, seismic activities and labour unrest. DRDGOLD repositioned itself as a factory that has a high throughput in material on a 24/7-operation rooster. The yields are significantly lower than the underground operations, but the risk of the new setup is also reduced greatly. Seismic activity does not impact the operations anymore. The production time of the operations has increased with less unscheduled stoppages. DRDGOLD changed to have itself valued on the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. The company’s share price is now valued on the DCF method based on the operational revenues. This is contrary to the gold mining industry valuation of South African mines. These mines are mainly valued on the reserves statement multiplied by the commodity price. The share price of DRDGOLD is heavily leveraged on the spot price of gold and the exchange rate of the South African Rand (ZAR) to the United States Dollar (US$). Any movement in these two indicators will have a significant impact on the share price.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 2008/2009 economic downturn had a major impact on the international steel industry. With economic activities declining, the demand for steel decreased and subsequently, prices started to tumble. This put a great deal of pressure on steel manufacturing companies’ financials and they had to focus on cost reduction initiatives to survive. Steel companies who did not follow a turnaround strategy were not able to keep up with the competition. This research study focused on determining the details pertaining to the ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works turnaround strategy, as it is viewed as one of the most successful in the steel industry. Data was obtained from discussions with various role players and managers at ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works. The aim of the interviews was to get the detail of all the steps taken by the company to turn around its performance. Quantitative data describing the operational as well as financial and cost performance was sourced from the ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works Key Performance Indicator (KPI) system and from financial statements and progress reports. It was found that the basis for the turnaround strategy of ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works was World Class Manufacturing as it provided the vehicles through which improvements were managed with the aid of mainly the Autonomous Maintenance (AM), Professional Maintenance(PM), People Development (PD), Focused Improvement (FI), Product Quality (PQ) and Safety Pillars. The Cost Deployment (CD) Pillar was used to identify the biggest losses that needed to be addressed. ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works moved from one of the highest-cost producers in the ArcelorMittal group during 2010 to the second-lowest-cost producer in the group at the end of 2013. It reduced its total cost of production with $70 per ton over this period, without any major capital expenditure. The study concluded that the turnaround of ArcelorMittal Saldanha Works was successful and it is sustainable. This can be seen from the increase in the overall equipment availability, amount of hot-rolled coil tons produced, as well as the EBITDA figures reported in the study.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There is general consensus that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a formidable role in contributing to employment creation, domestic and export earnings, and poverty reduction (OECD, 2004). They are therefore extremely important to the development of nations (particularly developing countries), as they constitute the bulk of economic contributors outside of agriculture (OECD, 2004). However, SMEs face a number of challenges as they work to realise these important contributions. Aside from the financial constraints that often mar the success rate of SMEs, several non-financial factors hinder their development and their ability to contribute to national development. Non-financial issues include access to markets, technology and training; sectoral support, business networking, and access to information and advice (Thomas, 2003). Based on the important role that SMEs play in developing economies, however, it is crucial that they receive the support needed to help them to succeed, through the provision of business development services. While the financial aspect of SME success is important, their non-financial needs should also be addressed to ensure the holistic survival of SMEs (European Commission, 2009). The role and development of adequate non-financial business development services to either complement financial resources, or to mitigate the lack thereof, is therefore imperative (International Finance Corporation, 2010). This research report explores the gap that currently exists between the financial and non-financial business development services that exist for SMEs in Namibia; and analyses how non-financial services can be enhanced and marketed, to complement financial services that currently exist, and of which SMEs are aware. The report assesses how SMEs can become better aware of, and best utilise business development services to promote their growth objectives. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of SMEs and Business Development Services (BDS) providers in Namibia is conducted, using a survey and questionnaire, and drawing on a literature review. Finally, the report provides a set of recommendations, based on international best practices, of business development instruments needed to transform the SME sector to promote long term sustainability. This research report finds that SMEs need to become better aware and make use of non-financial BDS support to realize the growth objectives of their businesses. The researcher recommends that government and NGOs streamline their support of BDS providers, to being more facilitative and less prescriptive. Additionally, it is recommended that incubation centres adopt best practices in terms of incubator creation, process and performance assessment; that sectoral support and industrial clusters for technical-know-how is promoted; and that BDS suppliers provide context-specific training in order to enhance the effects of training provided. Further recommendations include the promotion of BDS to the general public to increase awareness of the importance of these services; the harnessing of BDS in Namibia’s financial institutions for a more complementary approach; and the formation of a National SME Agency to oversee and facilitate the effective provision of business development services.

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) March 2017 / The objective of this study is twofold: first to evaluate the magnitude of the effect of endogenous and exogenous risk factors in the success of South African (SA) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); second, to develop a framework for an integrated risk assessment model that can be used to assess SA SMEs holistically. Drawing from the entrepreneurial ecosystem, systems perspective, GEM framework and complex theory, an integrated risk assessment model framework that is person-centric, interdisciplinary, and multidimensional (individual, firm and environment) is formulated. This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study, which followed a post-positivist approach. Primary data, with a sample size of 286, was collected from SA SMEs through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis included correlational analysis, backward elimination method, hierarchical multiple regression and mediation analysis. Financial capital, entrepreneurial self-efficacy on growth and risk perception emerged as significant predictors of SME success. However financial capital is by far the most influential predictor of financial performance. The results also confirmed the mediating effect of financial capital between entrepreneurial self-efficacy (finance and growth) and financial performance. Entrepreneurs who are confident can raise enough capital for their businesses, thus producing successful SMEs. Government policies and support programmes need to take a holistic view when supporting SMEs. While taking a holistic view, priority needs to be put on making capital available for entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses. Training programmes can focus on up-skilling entrepreneurs regarding entrepreneurial tasks that can improve their self-efficacy in management, financial understanding, and growth of their businesses. The study’s findings are important in that they help funders realise that business plans and financial projections are not the most important predictors of SME success, thus the need to review current risk assessment models. / MT 2017