3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
16 results
Search Results
Item Influences of context, motivation, and cognition of small business entrepreneaurs on enterprise performance(2018) Owoseni, Taofeek AdejareThe development of a viable small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) sector has been a major priority in the economic policy agenda of South Africa since 1995. However, there are challenges regarding the viability and performance of these SMMEs. Although several studies have made significant attempts in understanding the factors militating against the growth and performance of SMMEs including individual characteristics and systemic factors, there is no consensus on the major determinants of business performance. However, studies have already identified the methodological gaps. While key factors of motivation have been widely tested, the extant literature has not clearly identified the underlying cognitive factors and the effects of such factors on business performance in an African emerging market context. This study was designed to fill the research gap by testing the multidimensional model of enterprise performance regarding individual characteristics and contextual factors based on social cognitive theory to understand factors influencing business performance among SMMEs in South Africa. This study utilised a cross-sectional research design through a mixed-method primary data collection involving both quantitative and qualitative data. Data were collected in the three metros of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The quantitative phase involved the collection of data through questionnaires from 312 entrepreneurs at different stages of business. The qualitative phase involved in-depth interviews with 32 entrepreneurs. The quantitative data were analysed with SmartPLS version 3.2.4 and STATA version 13 in line with the objectives. Both descriptive and inferential statistics including partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) were used. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data with ATLAS.ti software. The main findings of the study were that the level of education and managerial experience enhanced enterprise performance. Statistically significant factors of motivation that influence financial performance are need for achievement (0.269, p<0.05), locus of control (-0.292, p<0.05) and risk-taking propensity (0.285, p<0.05). Further, cognitive factors of skills (0.189, p<0.05) and ability (0.160, p<0.05) were found to influence financial performance. Knowledge showed a significant relationship with relative performance (0.236, p<0.05) and satisfaction with performance (0.223, p<0.05). The combined influence of the need for achievement, locus of control, risk-taking propensity, skill and ability on the financial performance of the firm (R2=0.305) recorded the highest behavioural propensity combination. In addition, motivational factors of need for achievement, risk-taking propensity and the cognitive factor of knowledge significantly influenced performance indicators of relative (R2=0.236) and satisfaction with performance (R2=0.339) respectively. Further analysis shows entrepreneurs as being rational and purposive in their risk-taking according to normative socio-cultural, political and economic indicators in the country. There is consistency in the joint influence of some factors of motivation and cognition on different performance indicators within the interaction terms using contexts as moderators. There are indications that limited capacity may impact negatively on the coping capability of entrepreneurs in an unfavourable context leading to a cautious approach to risk-taking. The study concluded that both individual and cognitive factors played significant roles in the prospect of an SMME’s viability and overall performance, and that contexts matter. Overall, this study made significant methodological contributions, both in terms of the analytical approach adopted and the development of new measurement scales for key constructs. Keywords: Motivation, cognition, SMMEs, financial performance and South Africa.Item The relationship of labour relations on entrepreneur’s firm’s performance in Gauteng South Africa(2019) Lecage, Themba SebolaoThis study looks at labour unrest at automobile manufacturing plants in Gauteng South Africa. It is a qualitative study whereby management representative’s, workers and trade union representatives were interviewed about their challenges about their relationship in the workplace. Solutions are then discussed amongst the various stakeholders and a futurist view is then given to the researcher about the relationship. The idea of this topic came because of the high labour unrest in South Africa and the worry was its impact on private companies especially in the motor manufacturing industry where global markets play an essential role in terms of demand. Trade unions in South Africa have played a pivotal role in dismantling apartheid injustices in the workplace. Trade unions now in a democracy have to find their new sense of purpose in a democratic South Africa while protecting worker’s rights at the same time. This balance becomes very difficult especially with the current economic climate in South Africa. Entrepreneurs in South Africa are sceptical about hiring large amounts of labour in South Africa due to the threat of trade unions at their workplace. All of this becomes the fear of the unknown and a balance of power then erupts at the workplace and entrepreneurs fear the worst in investing in factories in the country because of this. This study finds the balance between these two powerful forces on how best can they work together so that ultimately more jobs can be created and the economy can benefit in the long run. This study opens the stereotype mind-sets people have of each other as a country and helps us find the common goal in achieving the best results for our companies and country.Item Determinants of the performance of construction SMEs in South Africa(2017) Tubane, NicholineThis research focuses on determinants that contribute to Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) performance in the construction industry. The post-apartheid South African government continues to experience challenges of unemployment in general. A 2011 census revealed that South Africa faces a number of economic challenges including unemployment, a lack of capital investment and a lack of Skills Development. In order to address these challenges, the South African government introduced the Skills Development Act (No. 97 of 1998) with the aim of improving skilled workforce competency, as well as reducing unemployment in the country. SMEs in South Africa were identified as a major role in the economy and a critical source of job creation. In South Africa, SMEs account for about 91% of formal business entities, contributing between 51% and 57% of gross domestic product (GDP), and providing almost 60% of all employment (Kongolo, 2010). The significance of SMEs in contributing to the economic growth of South Africa was recognised by the government and, as such, a framework for SME support and development was established. The National Small Business Act (No. 102 of 1996) regulates SMEs in South Africa and also serves to establish the National Small Business Council. This study includes a review of specific literature with respect to regulatory compliance and the challenges faced by SMEs within the construction industry, as well as research methodology that includes research results from the construction industry. The South African Register of Contractors (RoC) was established by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in terms of the CIDB Act (No. 38 of 2000). The register was designed as a tool to measure construction companies’ performance in relation to growth, service delivery, and enterprise development, as well as to create sustainable enterprises. The study focused on how the RoC may be used by the construction industry to measure performance amongst contractors that are graded from one to six. Furthermore, the study demonstrated the correlation between the contractors’ competency and their ability to be competitive in developing their value proposition within the built environment. The CIDB keeps records of construction companies that are active. Qualitative methods were used in this study to understand determinants that contribute to SME performance within the construction industry. A conceptual model was drawn to measure the control variables against the independent variables. The main findings of the study reveal that many construction SMEs have technical skills challenges which inhibit them from reaching their financial goals. Furthermore, there is a lack of technical skills training which affects their project management skills and use of technology. Sub-contracting is one of the elements that affect the performance of many of these SMEs and needs to be regulated by governing bodies to avoid their exploitation. Sub-contractors are found to be more reliant on main contractors when it comes to strategic management and organisation of projects (White & Marasini, 2014). The study concludes that government should enforce the new B-BBEE Codes more effectively to ensure that big construction companies develop small contractors so that they can acquire the necessary skills and experience required to participate in the industry.Item Entrepreneurial orientation and corporate social responsibility: a focus on South African firm performance African firm performance(2019) Saini, MwilaEntrepreneurial Orientation incorporates firm-level processes, practices, and decision-making styles reflective of entrepreneurial behavioural involving the combination of innovativeness, risk taking, and proactiveness. CSR is defined, as a holistic set of activities and initiatives that primarily meet the economic, social and environmental triple bottom line needs of relevant stakeholders. The study looked at firms in South Africa participating in CSR projects and initiatives to exploring the relationship between a firm’s level of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), its CSR Activity, management performance and firm business performance. The study applied a quantitative method to analyze the relationship between the Entrepreneurial Orientation and the independent variables of management performance, business performance and CSR among 170 respondents. The empirical findings of the study revealed that EO had a positive effect on CSR activity and business performance indicators. The study finds that entrepreneurs, managers and CSR practitioners can configure CSR as a business tool that can contribute to the competitiveness of an enterprise as well as positively contribute to the developmental agenda of the environments enterprises operate in.Item The influence of work experience on entrepreneurial intentions and opportunity recognition: A focus on postgraduate students in South Africa(2019) Volkersz, RoderickThe objective of this study was to examine the relationships between the human capital variable work experience with opportunity identification and entrepreneurial intention. The study focused on postgraduate students with work experience and sought to establish the existence of links between their work experience and their opportunity recognition process, as well as their work experience and their entrepreneurial intention. The study examined previous literature, which highlighted that students with previous work experience had higher levels of entrepreneurial intention, compared with students without previous work experience. Thus, the study set out to examine the relationship between these constructs, including opportunity recognition in the process. The study was a cross-sectional, quantitative study, which followed a positivist paradigm approach. Primary data was collected from postgraduate students through a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis included exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity testing, linear regression and correlational analysis. The study found that work experience was not a significant predictor of opportunity recognition or entrepreneurial intention. The study also highlighted that there were negative relationships between work experience and opportunity recognition, as well as work experience and entrepreneurial intention. The study’s findings are important in that they could help the youth, in particular students, who would like to pursue their own entrepreneurial ventures to understand the knowledge and experience required to successfully develop a new business. Key words: work experience; opportunity recognition; entrepreneurial intention; postgraduate students; South Africa.Item On the application of management accounting tools in South Africa(2018) Rukowo, KwiriraiContingent theory stipulates that the use and application of management accounting tools varies from country to country and from industry to industry due to the impact of contingent factors. Taking a positivist approach, this study investigated the use of a series of management accounting tools in South Africa. The tools investigated were costing, budgeting, performance evaluation, profitability analysis, investment decision making and strategic management accounting tools. Data was obtained from firms registered with the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) as at 30 September 2016 through a questionnaire. The study concluded that all the thirty seven (from the six categories above) management accounting tools were in use in South Africa. Using ordered probit regression analysis each of the 37 tools were analysed to identify the contingent factors that would make their usage in a South African context more likely. The study revealed that twenty seven of the thirty seven management accounting tools could be related to at least one of the contingent factors analysed. Of these contingent factors process diversity, product multiplicity, accounting practitioner education level and use of Just in Time were found to have a positive influence on the usage of management accounting tools in South Africa whenever a relationship was established. Results on the other six contingent factors studied were inconclusive with a combination of both positive and negative influences on the use of management accounting tools in South Africa.Item Facilitating high growth enterprises through seed stage investing in South Africa(2018) Zvobwo, MmathebeThis thesis finds its theoretical roots in the theory of the firm growth and focuses on high growth entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial orientation and venture capital funding also become central to the research particularly with regards to the identification of high growth enterprises (HGEs) and understanding their employment creation in the South African context. [Abbreviated Abstract]Item Work experience and evidence of entrepreneurial orientation of South Africa professionals(2018) Madlala, DuduzaThis research explores how work experience influences entrepreneurial behaviour in professionals. The study is mainly focused on engineering and commerce professionals who are employed in various sectors in South Africa. The research is inspired by the observable low total early-stage entrepreneurial activity and employee entrepreneurial activity rates in South Africa, despite empirical research showing that entrepreneurship increases economic growth and company performance in both financial and non-financial terms. This research conceptualises entrepreneurial behaviour in terms of an entrepreneurial orientation which is a combination of three sub-dimensions: innovativeness, proactiveness and a risk-taking propensity. An index is used to measure the individual’s entrepreneurial orientation. Work experience is characterised by a specialist career path (depth of experience), a generalist career path (breadth of experience), and job design. The specialist path refers to accumulated work experience within a domain where individuals become experts. The generalist path relates to accrued work experience across different fields where individuals become generalists. Job design is the structure and configuration of jobs in the workplace. The research is exploratory. The data was collected using a survey questionnaire. Eighteen professional disciplines across thirteen industries were sampled. The study achieved 202 valid responses, 61% being male and 39% female. All racial groups in South Africa were sampled. The findings reveal that the entrepreneurial orientation index is highest and lowest in the 18-24 and 55-64 age groups respectively. The male and female indices were comparable, with females showing a slightly higher index than males. Legal practitioners had the highest entrepreneurial orientation index compared to other professions. General managers showed the lowest index compared to other professional functions. Concerning hypotheses, the results find a negative correlation between the depth of experience in industry and individual entrepreneurial orientation. There was also a negative correlation iii between the depth of experience in a function and individual entrepreneurial orientation. There was no statistically significant relationship between broad experience in industry or function and individual entrepreneurial orientation. Concerning work experience, the variance of individual entrepreneurial orientation is largely explained by job design. The job functions that offer strategic and structural autonomy and those which allow employees to engage in a variety of tasks using a variety of skills are positively correlated to individual entrepreneurial orientation. The research has theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it reveals that work experience has an influence on the individual’s entrepreneurial orientation. The individual’s entrepreneurial orientation is studied in a developing country context using the measures that are derived from the original EO scale. This provides further academic insights in individual EO research. Practically, the research provides insight on the aspects of work experience that foster an entrepreneurial posture on the organisation’s human resource.Item Barries to growth and development of lower CIDB grade contractors(2017) Kuju, AdetayoLiterature 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 interactionsItem Determinants influencing adoption of cloud computing by small medium enterprises in South Africa(2017) Matandela, WandaSmall Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are now recognized as the driving force behind most thriving economies. This is mainly attributed to the role they play in most economies in reducing unemployment and their contribution towards Gross Domestic Product. This means that SMEs should have the right resources to enable them to enhance performance. Choosing the right technology to support their businesses is one of the important decisions that SMEs should make. Understanding the benefits and challenges of different technologies is often a problem for most SMEs. One of the new technologies that has gained prominence in recent years is cloud computing. Even though the value associated with this technology has been widely researched especially for large enterprises, the rate at which SMEs adopt cloud computing still remains low. The purpose of this research sought to explore and describe the determinants influencing the adoption of cloud computing by SMEs in South Africa. The study used Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework as the theoretical lens in understanding the adoption of Could Computing phenomenon. Further, this qualitative exploratory and descriptive study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from five SMEs based in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, operating in different industries and belonging to the National Small Business Chamber. The main factors that were identified as playing an important role in the adoption of cloud computing by SMEs are, relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, awareness, trialability, culture, top management support, size, regulation and trade partner relationship. It is worth noting that there was not enough evidence that competitive pressure played a significant role in SME cloud adoption.