Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Small, Medium and Micro enterprise (SMME) development was identified by the South African
government as a priority for creating jobs to solve the problem of the high unemployment rate in
South Africa. The government focused primarily on SMMEs in previously disadvantaged
communities. SMME training can be approached from different angles. The main areas of concern
are:
• Business skills training
o Covers all the conventional management training areas in a business
• Technical skills training
o Addresses the ability to use knowledge or techniques of a particular discipline to
attain certain ends
• Entrepreneurial skills training
o Involves the birth and growth of a business enterprise and includes, among other
entrepreneurial traits, creativity and innovation, risk propensity and need for
achievement.
If small business owners are not in a large team environment, with colleagues to offer advice and
tasks being covered by people with different strengths, then it is hardly surprising that they make
wrong moves in business. This supports the idea that learning from the real experience of a mentor
who has been in business proves to be an effective training model for the SMME environment.
A number of initiatives are aimed at building the capacity of small business owners in the Western
Cape, South Africa. This study will focus on a new initiative presented by the Small Business
Academy (SBA) at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). This initiative is an
entrepreneurial development programme for small business owners from Khayelitsha, combining
an academic training programme with a mentoring programme in one single development
programme. The programme was a pilot programme and needed to be evaluated throughout the
process.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the pilot programme in terms of the selection of participants
and mentors, the academic training programme and the mentoring journey. The study proves to
highlight the successes of the programme as well as adjustments needed to improve its
effectiveness.
The evaluation of the programme was crucial for the following critical reasons:
• To ensure success and growth of the programme and its expansion to other parts of South
Africa and Africa in the future.• To ensure future funding for the programme, as it is at present subsidised by the USB and
corporate sponsorships.
• To ensure the necessary adjustments to the programme in order to improve its effectiveness.
Key findings of the programme were that the pilot programme was extremely successful in all three
aspects evaluated. The best of the best were selected, the participants excelled academically and
the programme achieved a graduation rate of sixty seven per cent. The mentoring journey had an
immense impact on the participants’ view of approaching their way of doing business.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/97407 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Wehmeyer, Martha Maria Wilhelmina |
| Contributors | Van Coller-Peter, Salome, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Graduate School of Business. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xiii, 164 pages |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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