D.Ed. / It is an accepted fact that one of the school's duties is to prepare a pupil vocationally as well as to be economically literate. One of the reasons why this study is deemed to be of current interest is that pupils are being educated to be job seekers instead of -providers. The shortage of entrepreneurs is therefore reaching national proportions. At this moment in time education in South Africa does not aim to establish a culture of entrepreneurship and the pupils believe the only requirement is to complete their school careers successfully. After completion of his/her school career a pupil is geared to enter the labour market as an employee. Only in the minority of cases parents and schools educate their children to form any alternative ideas about themselves and life in general. This study looks at the responsibility of the school with regard to teaching entrepreneurship as it exists in the South African society at present. The aim of this study was to establish the following: what entrepreneurship is and which factors outside the school context play an influencing role, the ways in which the school plays a role in the forming of entrepreneurial skills and what the school's responsibility is with regard to educating entrepreneurship. The method of research which was followed was of a twofold nature and consisted of an in depth study of the literature and an empirical investigation. In the study of the literature the profile of an entrepreneur and the characteristics which play a role in the development of entrepreneurs in the family context as well as the environment and culture were investigated. Personal characteristics were also taken into account. The factors which may play a role in advancing and/or restraining entrepreneurial training in the school context were also investigated. The findings and conclusions with regard to these investigations were stipulated and recommendations were made. A questionnaire intended for businessmen/women and teachers was handed out to the relevant people in the Magisterial District of Springs. The validity and reliability of the said instrument were verified beforehand. The results were processed and interpreted by means of a computer. When two or more frequencies were compared the Two-Way Chi-Square was utilised. For the purposes of this study, contextualities and differences between the respondents were accepted as statistically significant on the 5% significance level as well as the 1cY0 significance level. Findings forthcoming from this study were that the school has an enormous educational task with regard to entrepreneurship and the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in South Africa. The curriculum at school should be directed to the development of young entrepreneurs and should also be practice based. Entrepreneurship and the value thereof should already be emphasized at primary school level. Certain recommendations are made which could be of directive assistance with regard to the establishment of a culture of entrepreneurship and aspects regarding the education of entrepreneurship at school. It is estimated that between 350 000 and 400 000 employees in South Africa are introduced to the labour market annually. Only 50 000 will be employed in the formal sector. It is further estimated that between 33% and 45% of the economically active population (approximately 11 million inhabitants at present) are unemployed. Something could be done about this gloomy picture by starting to look at the schools' involvement and/or task with regard to the education of entrepreneurship. The teaching of entrepreneurship with a view to the future of South Africa specifically and a change in the economic school of thought is primarily regarded to be an educational issue. It should be seen•as an investment in the people of South Africa. The above mentioned reasons underline the importance of an investigation of this nature into the schools' involvement and/or task with regard to the education of entrepreneurship.

M.Com. (Financial Management) / Working capital management (WCM) is considered critical for the success of all business and especially for small businesses. A recession (such as the one that took place in 2009) complicates the working capital management of small businesses. Working capital management of a sample of small and medium enterprises in South Africa were investigated to determine how they manage their working capital during challenging economic conditions. The impact of the 2009 economic recession on WCM was specifically investigated by following a quantitative descriptive research approach. The study sample consisted of 44 companies listed on the JSE Ltd AltX Index. A trend analysis was applied on WCM variables to determine significant changes overthe study period. Because variables were not normally distributed, the Mann Whitney U test was conducted to determine the statistical significance of the WCM mean ranks pre-, during and post-recession phases. The trend analysis of working capital management over the six-year study period exhibited a significant improvement in the working capital management level during the economic recession. This was largely attributed to delaying payment to creditors. The analysis of the WCM variables pre-, during and post-recession phases indicated that there were no significant changes in WCM that can be attributed to the 2009 economic recession. It was concluded that although there were changes in working capital management over the study period, the changes could not only be attributed to the 2009 recession.

The small business sector has been identified as a target by government to reduce South Africa’s unemployment problem. There is existing research that most companies, including small business, avoid taking on new employees to avoid, perceived, stringent labour legislation. This research investigates whether small businesses adopt alternative employment strategies to labour as a means to avoiding labour legislation. The questionnaire was distributed to over 9000 small businesses in the metal and engineering manufacturing sectors. Of the 214 responses only 194 could be used. The results of the research point to a prevailing perception by those surveyed that labour legislation is stringent in South Africa and that small businesses, in their efforts to avoid compliance, chose to employ in the temporary and labour broker employment market. Mechanisation is also an option used by small business to avoid legislation. Legislation is, however, not always the only driver when businesses decide to mechanise. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / pagibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Thesis ( MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study focuses on the role of the minibus taxi industry in promoting the development of small businesses at Mankweng taxi ranks. This area of study has not been thoroughly researched; therefore, existing literature on the role of the taxi industry in promoting the development of small (especially informal) businesses is limited. This lack thereof does not help in casting a clear sense of how the taxi industry benefits small businesses around their operation centres. Therefore, this study specifically investigated the role of the minibus taxi industry in promoting the development of small businesses at Mankweng Taxi Ranks. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed, with the use of structured questionnaire and focus group interviews as techniques to collect data from Mankweng Taxi Ranks. The study had a target population of 300. Stratified random sampling was chosen for small businesses while random sampling was employed for taxi operators, and purposive sampling was applied for employees at Mankweng main taxi offices. This study had a sample size of 300, sampled differently with 180 participants forming part of stratified random sampling and 110 participants forming part of random sampling. Two different questionnaires were prepared for both small businesses and taxi operators. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to small businesses (30 hawkers, 15 filling stations, 69 street produce sellers, 15 car washers, 15 restaurants, and 36 caterers) and 110 taxi operators at different taxi ranks such as Mankweng, Boyne, Ga-Mothapo, Solomondale and Dikgale. Additionally, the focus group interviews were purposively conducted with 10 employees working at Boyne, as it is the main office of the Mankweng Taxi Association, and they hold more administrative information relating to the taxi business. The findings of the study show that, the taxi industry play a significant role in promoting the development of small businesses. The study further reveals that, poor business plans, inadequate working conditions, taxi violence, reckless driving, and a lack of funding affected the investigated businesses, as well as lack of exposure to new products, confronted the Mankweng Taxi Association. There seems to be a huge gap, both in research and government policy, that, seeks to promote the development of small businesses depending on the environment, and infrastructure, in which these businesses operate. Additionally, this study reveals the nature of the taxi industry and its crucial role in benefiting small businesses. All stakeholders in the taxi industry need to create an environment that, encourages the spirit of harmony, active cooperation and development dedicated to the betterment of the taxi industry.

Dissertation presented in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Masters of Industrial Sociology, in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zululand, Faculty of Arts, 2002. / This study focuses on the problems facing the development of the small-scale business industries at Esikhawini in Kwazulu Natal Province. The first chapter brings forth the primary information about the small-scale business as it started in other countries does. It came to South Africa with the missionaries from Europe. Via the Mediterranean Sea as their route until eventually reached Africa exchange of commodities begun. The African continent has generally poor infrastructure and because of illiteracy Europeans came to exploit African minerals and took Africans into slavery. All that missionaries introduced was their concern with literacy and religious instructions Missionaries failed to develop an African entrepreneur class. In chapter two-literature review shows that there are many problems that hinder the development of the small-scale business industries that could not be developed the government. Other authors reveal that the government failed to attend some of the problems because of the lack of skills for running the small-scale business. The geographical location of the business, as some of the business is located far from the source of raw material is another factor. The competition among the small -scale business further made them not to support the communities. Thus resulted in the decline of the small-scale business industries. Chapter three of the study reveals the purposive sampling method that was used in this study. It is because of its appropriateness to the study, that the data collection was done using self -administered questionnaires. The questionnaires comprises both close and open-ended questionnaires. They were distributed among the workers and the owners of the small -scale business industries In chapter four the data collected was analyzed using tables and the pie charts, in the data analysis the researcher found that the small scale business industries at Esikhawini were owned by the single untrained people, which contributes to their decline. Most of them know nothing about the running of the business and there is a lot of competition among these business which is a further hindrance to the development of this industry. In Chapter five, the researcher recommens and concluded that the problems feeing the development of the small -scale business industries is the global problem, because it is not centered at Kwazulu-Natal Province only, but all the small-scale industries in the world suffer from similar problems. The researcher suggests that the government's intervention through forming a department that would deal with small-scale industries could make small-scale business industries to develop to some considerable level.

A Thesis submitted to the Wits School of Governance in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg 2015 / The Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in South Africa have a mandate to provide finance to private and public sector organizations for investments that facilitate development. The main aim of DFIs is to invest in areas where the market fails to invest adequately and where there are institutional failures. DFIs specialise in offering long-term advances and loans and where defaults are experienced by investors, they are able to re-structure the loans to facilitate easier repayments. However, there are allegations of maladministration and poor management within DFIs as well as a high failure rate of funded enterprises. This study set out to explore the effectiveness of the DFIs by reviewing their contribution to economic growth in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). This study evaluated the role and effectiveness of four DFIs in the province, namely Ithala; Industrial Development Corporation (IDC); National Empowerment Fund (NEF); and Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal.The study attempts to answer the following questions: 1) Have the DFIs made a positive contribution to the economy in KZN based on their performance indicators? 2) How do the DFIs take funding decisions? 3) What is the success rate of the DFIs in creating sustainable businesses? 4) What support and monitoring mechanisms are in place in these DFIs to ensure that funded enterprises succeed? 5) What general performance issues face DFIs? The qualitative research approach was used in this study as the investigation was exploratory in nature. Data was collected using three different instruments: document analysis, structured questionnaires, and face-to-face interviews. The document analysis enabled the design and customization of the questionnaires used to collect data from different DFIs. Organisational effectiveness models and performance management theories were used as a reference to assess the effectiveness (performance) of the DFIs in KZN. The study found that the level of performance of the DFIs varied, as did their capacity and resources. All the DFIs made a positive contribution to the economy of the province, taking into consideration that some of the thriving small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) could not have started without the funding A review of the effectiveness of Development Finance Institutions in KwaZulu-Natal from these DFIs. There is however, massive room for improvement in DFI operations and level of contribution to the economy of the province. The study identified a number of weaknesses in the operations of the DFIs, such as their financial statements, which are characterised by high annual debt write-offs, high impairment rates, and low rates of loans and advance repayments. While there is evidence of job creation by each DFI, the rate thereof may not be commensurate with the costs involved. The study revealed that in some cases, funded enterprises are not supported to ensure that they succeed in creating sustainable businesses. A number of portfolios closed down prematurely leading to the need to write off loans. The yearly performance targets set by the DFIs are mostly not achieved; in some cases, these performance targets do not measure the actual performance towards the achievement of the DFI’s strategic objectives. There are too many DFIs in South Africa, some operational in all the provinces, a number of which were established during the apartheid era and may have been relevant at that time. At a macro level, there is a need to streamline DFIs in order to give relief to the fiscus. Increasing the efficiency of the DFIs would require a culture change with respect to information sharing and reporting to stakeholders. It is recommended that DFIs adhere to the funding criteria for each fund. This capacity to evaluate funding proposals needs to be reviewed continuously to avoid fruitless expenditure emanating from funding unsustainable business ventures. Effective monitoring of funded enterprises and implementation of an early warning system are recommended. Failure to repay loans and advances should have some consequences for enterprises in order to discourage perceptions of entitlement from most SMMEs, while at the same time DFIs should develop a tolerance level (a materiality framework) for non-performance of some of the loans and advances as a cost for creating/promoting entrepreneurship in South Africa. / MB2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management, specialising in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation Johannesburg, 2016 / The main thrust of this study was to investigate and explain the influence of human, social and financial capital on the internationalisation of SMMEs in South Africa in the context of women entrepreneurs. A cross-sectional quantitative study was employed on a sample of 135 women-owned SMMEs, by way of an online survey. This tested the association between social, human and financial capital, and the degree of internationalisation of women-owned SMMEs. This study revealed that women entrepreneurs in South Africa do not view international social ties and business networks, and financial capital availability as significant barriers to determining the degree of internationalisation. On the other hand, the study showed that women within this context believe that international education, knowledge and experience all play key roles in inducing the degree of internationalisation. The study suggests that the results may have deviated from widely accepted theories, due to emerging markets being different from developed economies, in which the majority of empirical studies have thus far been conducted. The findings strengthened the emerging, but sparsely researched second approach to the resource-based theory, which suggest that SMMEs internationalise to gain access to entrepreneurial capitals. The study further revealed that women entrepreneurs that had internationalised did so, through industries in which women are typically under-represented. Although not pervasive in literature, women entrepreneurs within South Africa were motivated to internationalise mainly due to external growth prospects and not by poor domestic demand. / MT2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Building / Literature is replete with what constitutes barriers and challenges to the development of small, midsized and micro enterprise (SMME) contractors, often referred to as emerging contractors. The International Labour Organization (1987) proposed three solutions geared towards contractor development in developing countries. This research alludes to the importance of understanding the South African context wherein these proposed solutions are operational. The research begins with efforts made by the new democratic government, post 1994, to addressing the institutionalised inequalities - legacies of the previous regimes (colonization and apartheid) - via black economic empowerment, preferential procurement and construction industry development board (CIDB) legislations amongst others. The CIDB was instituted to promote amongst others the sustainable participation of emerging contractors in the construction industry; it is in this context that the national contractor development programme emerged. This research concerns itself with matters of knowledge or lack thereof as the underlying factor responsible for underdevelopment of emerging contractors. To do this, it looks at knowledge theories including its creation and transfer mechanism vis a vis organizational learning in an attempt to answer the question of nature and characteristics of learning in a specified contractor development programme (CDP). This research is a cross-sectional study that lends itself to an interpretivist paradigm and inductive logic with qualitative methods (semi-structure interviews). This research does not cover mentorship and its theories. It also does not cover issues of improvements to knowledge transfer between emerging contractors and mentor-engineers. The research concluded that much as knowledge transfer was observed within the contractor development programming, it occurred within a context and was content specific. However it is difficult to describe knowledge transfers in its entirety as it is multi-layered in nature and complexity of the make-up of emerging contractors and their interactions / GR2018

Masters of Management in Finance and Investment Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, 2016 / It is known that entrepreneurship has great advantages on the economy as a whole. In South Africa, SMEs constitute majority of business in the formal sector. Yet, many firms struggle and some diminish because of finance. Many do not have access to external finance as such this study proposed internal finance to be an avenue that can be explored. This paper argues that access to internal finance leads to firm growth. Thus the following research question is proposed: To what extent does internal finance impact the growth of SME in South Africa and how? A second question is proposed as there are different types of internal finance: What component of internal finance is available for South African SMEs and to what extent does it affect their growth? Moreover, the other factors of firm growth and, further, their impact on internal finance were focused in order to fully understand the relationship between internal finance and firm growth. The study employed a sample of SMEs registered on the AltX section of the JSE. A panel data set was used in combination with Fixed Effects Method and Random Effects Model to run simple and multiple linear regression analysis to obtain results. A significant but ambiguous relationship between internal finance and firm growth was found. The study further recognized a negative relationship between internal finance and the two types of internal finance: retained earnings and fixed assets. In addition, the study established equity, debt, and taxes to have a significant impact on firm growth and internal finance. These three factors are proposed to be the underlying factors of both firm growth and internal finance. Though performed on listed SMEs; these findings would allow policy makers to design policies that truly promote SME growth. / XL2018

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the role that they play in the economy have been widely studied. SMEs are of particular interest because they are seen as greatly contributing to innovation, economic competitiveness, equity and redistribution, employment creation. Given the positive role that they are seen as playing in the economy, the growth and transformation of small enterprises into medium enterprises is welcomed. It is seen as increasing the benefits of the SMEs to the economy and society in general. The research sought to analyze and draw insights on the growth of enterprises from small to medium size. This issue has been widely studied but as late as 2007, reviewing the state of knowledge about growth in small businesses, Dobbs and Hamilton (2007, p.296) observed that despite the growing volume of applied research, our knowledge base still lacks a body of theory capable of explaining the growth of small businesses. This research therefore responds to this call by Dobbs and Hamilton (2007) for new theoretical perspectives and alternative types of research. It does so by focusing on the practical role that the entrepreneur plays in facilitating or hindering growth. It also responds to this call by using a methodological approach that has not been widely used in this field to date. In addition, not sufficient attention has been paid to the role of the entrepreneur as the dynamic element in the growth and transformation process, neither globally but even less so in the Southern African case in general but even less so in the South African construction setting specifically and in Gauteng in particular. The lack of sufficient attention to the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or hindering the growth and transformation process is very pronounced in the context of the Southern Africa region. This thesis therefore seeks to address this gap. This thesis takes as its departure, the decisiveness of the entrepreneur in the business system. It places the entrepreneur at the centre of the enterprise and analyses the role that the entrepreneur plays in facilitating or hindering the growth of the enterprise from small to medium size. Freel (2000: p.321) observed that more significantly, the internal dynamics of firm growth have remained something of a 'black box'. Focusing on growth, this research seeks to identify the key drivers of why some firms grow and others do not. It seeks to unravel the "black box" of small enterprise growth in the context of South Africa. In this process, the research sought to focus on the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or inhibiting growth. The main question that this research sought to answer is: Is the entrepreneur the main driver of small enterprise growth and graduation, and what role does he or she play and how does he or she facilitate the growth and graduation of small into medium enterprises in South Africa? Building on the main and sub research questions the research sought and successfully proved the following Propositions: Proposition One (P 1): The entrepreneur is the key driver of small enterprise growth and graduation in South Africa. Proposition Two (P 11): The entrepreneur is the main inhibitor of small enterprise growth and graduation in non- growth small enterprises in South Africa. Proposition Three (P 111): Macro - economic environmental factors are a key but not the decisive driver for growth and transformation of SMEs. Proposition Four (P 1 V): The growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector is a key but not decisive driver of growth and competitiveness of SMEs. This research was undertaken within the framework of qualitative research. It was undertaken in four phases, namely: Phase One: Sector and SME Selection Phase Two: Individual Interview Phase Three: Document Analysis Phase Four: Case Study Development focusing on the role of the Entrepreneur in the Growth Process The data analysis was driven by the model of the drivers of SME growth and transformation already outlined above. It sought to apportion qualitative weightings to key already identified drivers of growth and transformation: macro-economic environment, industry sub sector, access to finance, technology, and BDS and the entrepreneur's motivation and skills. The data analysis delved deeper into the last category of drivers, entrepreneur's motivation and skills. It dissected the role that the entrepreneur's skill played in the overall growth and transformation of the enterprise. The data gathered from the three methods, namely individual interviews, follow up telephonic interviews and the document analysis were analyzed to arrive at the role that the entrepreneur's skills played in the growth and transformation process. Qualitative analysis of the entrepreneur's responses was undertaken to apportion the weighting given to the key drivers of the growth and transformation process. The data analysis also sought to unravel the key constituents of the entrepreneur's skills. It identified what constitutes the entrepreneur's skills that are crucial to the growth and transformation process. Focus was on the technical, managerial or leadership aspects. Findings from the data analysis assist in the conclusions and recommendations. This study was limited to Gauteng province of South Africa. It is hoped that this province will represent the best construction macro-economic environment in South Africa. This study concentrated on the sectors that were selected from the sector selection process. The study interviewed entrepreneurs and enterprises that are exclusively in the selected sector. The study was limited to medium sized enterprises that grew out of small enterprises that were formal - registered, licensed and operating within the framework of the law. The medium enterprises that this study focused on were not subsidiaries of larger conglomerates. This study also did not focus on medium enterprises that were created as medium enterprises and did not grow in size. The study is based on three key assumptions: the growth in employment is a sufficient reflection of the growth process, changes in the structure of the business are a direct result of the growth in employment and what the entrepreneur does directly reflects itself in the growth or lack of growth in the enterprise. This study has the following limitations: the peculiarities of the selected sector construction, growth in employment may not capture the entirety of the growth process and the fact that the study was conducted in the period of the Soccer World Cup 2010 affected the perceptions of the owner managers to be more positive than could have been experienced outside of this unique event. This research has proven through the data gathered, presented and analyzed that the owner manager of the respondent enterprises is the fulcrum upon which all the major decisions in the enterprise revolve. It is the quality of these decisions that drive or hinder the growth process. The owner manager makes the key decisions regarding: - the role and nature of interaction with the government, - the structure of the enterprise and the roles and responsibilities of the staff within the enterprise, - the marketing strategy, - the quality and skill level of the staff, - the role information technology, the nature and type of communication within the enterprise and between the enterprise and its external stakeholders, - the culture of the enterprise, - the interaction between the business and family and, - the management of the book of accounts. It is the cumulative impact of these decisions that the owner manager makes that propel the enterprise to growth. This confirms that the entrepreneur is the main driver of enterprise growth and graduation from small to medium enterprise size through the decisions that he or she makes. This research has also identified that it is not only the decisions that the owner manager makes that matter. It is also the management style that the owner manager adopts that facilitates or hinders growth. The owner manager needs to adopt a participatory management style which empowers the staff, to facilitate enterprise growth and transformation. Based on the data gathered this research has dealt with the issue of the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the growth of the owner managed construction enterprises. Focusing on growth, this research has identified the key drivers of why some owner managed construction enterprises firms grow and others do not. The research has identified the macroeconomic environment as a key driver of the performance of the whole economy. A key element of the construction industry which positively benefitted the enterprises in the period 2002 - 2010 is the construction boom experienced because of the Soccer World Cup 2010. The construction bonanza was based on the ten new stadia to be build or renovated and the accompanying road infrastructure. This played a key factor in the positive growth experience by most of the firms in the industry. The South African economy performed well in the period 1994 - 2008. The good performance of the economy in the period 1994 - 2008, had a positive spillover effect on the construction sector and the enterprises in that sector. This proves that the macroeconomic environment is a key driver of growth and competitiveness. However, starting in 2008, the GEFC set in. The impact of the GEFC on the economy was very severe. The GDP declined dramatically and the inflation rose. This impacted the whole economy. Added to this was the impact of the newly introduced National Credit Act. The National Credit Act made access to credit especially for housing loans more difficult. Despite the combined negative consequences of the GEFC and the National Credit Act, the majority of the respondent enterprises continued to experience growth. One respondent enterprise suffered a dramatic decline in sales and growth in this period. This was more because of the 'wrong' marketing strategy it chose to respond to the overall down turn in the economy. Significantly, when the owner manager adjusted the marketing strategy, sales and growth have begun to pick up again. This proves that a positive macroeconomic environment is crucial as a driver of growth but is not a decisive factor because even when the macroeconomic environment turns negative, growth firms are able to maintain their growth path. So, in conclusion, the macroeconomic environment is a necessary but not sufficient condition for enterprise growth. The above conclusion on the macroeconomic environment is also true of the sector competitiveness and growth's impact on the growth of enterprises in that industrial sub sector. As the economy has grown, so has the construction industry. Within the period 2000 - 2008, the construction industry has also been performing well on the back of the good macro economic performance. As a result the RMB / BER and the FNB / BER Business Confidence Indexes have been on a gradual upward trend. The Respondent Enterprises in this research clearly benefited from this gradual upward trend in the economy in general and the construction industry in particular. The Respondent Enterprises experienced sustained growth in this period as well. This confirms that growth enterprises benefit from a growing and competitive industrial sub sector. However, the industrial sub sector took a negative turn on the back of the GEFC, the National Credit Act and the end of the 2010 Soccer World Cup construction boom in the pperiod 2008-2010. Despite this, the majority of the respondent enterprises continued to enjoy significant growth. This leads to the conclusion that the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector is a key but not decisive driver of growth and competitiveness of SMEs. This research has therefore unraveled the "black box" of owner managed small construction enterprise growth of the South Africa context by analyzing the role of the macroeconomic environment, the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sub sector and the owner manager. In this process the research has focused on the role of the entrepreneur in facilitating or inhibiting growth and highlighted the entrepreneur's centrality to the growth process. Through the use of the case study method this research has been able to address the how and why of construction enterprises growth in Gauteng. This study has added value to the existing body of literature on enterprise growth by delving deeper into many already known factors driving enterprise growth. This research in most of the identified areas has been to analyze deeply and give greater insight into the dynamics of how growth actually happens within the enterprise through the role of the owner manager. Through this process this research has helped in opening Freel (2000)'s 'black box" of enterprise growth with particular reference to the construction sector in Gauteng, South Africa. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the growth and transformation of SMEs globally. But specifically it makes a contribution to the understanding of the growth and transformation of the construction SMEs in Gauteng province of South Africa where there is a dearth of such studies. In a country and province where the issues of increasing black participation in the economy is topical, this study will increase society's understanding of how construction SME growth and transformation can contribute to the realization of this goal. This study assists in creating awareness within society of how entrepreneurship development can play a major role in achieving the goal of equitable distribution of the region's wealth. It contributes to a realization of a society that is supportive of enterprise development and an enterprise culture. The study contributes to the debate of what policy measures can assist in the development of a construction entrepreneurial class. The BEE policies attempt to create an environment which facilitates the growth and graduation of SMEs. This study will assist in informing how these policies can best be shaped. This study contributes to a greater understanding of this phenomenon in the context of the construction sector in South Africa. By focusing on the qualltative approach this study seeks to bring a different angle to the largely quantitative approach which has dominated the study of SME growth thus far. / Business Management / D.B.L.