Small and Medium Enterprises are the engines of economic development. In developing countries, they play an irreplaceable role in poverty alleviation through creation of jobs and contribution towards the countries’ gross domestic products. South Africa is faced with a challenge of high failure rate of SMEs despite the efforts by government to support and grow this sector. For a country to have a strong sustainable economy, sustainable and successful SME sector is necessary. Literature reviews have demonstrated that incorporating sustainability aspect into entrepreneurship improves the performance of businesses. Research on implementation of sustainability principles by SMEs is limited and SMEs have been left out in sustainability teachings and monitoring. The purpose of the study was to analyse the role played by entrepreneurial mind-set and entrepreneurial education on sustainability of SMEs. The research was conducted amongst 10 SME owners/managers with businesses located in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Case study method using a semi-structured interview guide was conducted. Results were transcribed, analysed and interpreted. Results of the research demonstrated that SME owners/managers possess entrepreneurial mind-set, which is a necessity to run a successful business. There was also evidence that entrepreneurial education enhances entrepreneurial mind-set of SME owners/managers. SMEs owners/managers also demonstrated that they implement sustainability principles informally with no guiding documents. With regards to implementation of sustainability principles, there was no noticeable difference between SME owners/managers who had undergone entrepreneurship education and the ones who had not gone through entrepreneurship education. This highlighted the need to incorporate sustainability issues in entrepreneurship education courses. The study brings contribution towards building sustainable SMEs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:26905 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Mbanga, Nelisa |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MBA |
| Format | viii, 98 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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