Strategic Management in Small Businesses in South Africa
Date
2012-10-08
Authors
Rappard, Gregory
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Abstract
Small businesses are essential to the South African economy contributing in
2005 approximately 40% to the gross domestic product (GDP). With failure
rates of small businesses approaching 80%, the South African government is
focused on supporting and assisting small businesses in order to help them
thrive.
This research is focused on determining whether small businesses conduct
formal strategic management with the aid of instruments and taking the longterm
into consideration. A review of literature indicates that small businesses
that conduct strategic management as defined show improved performance.
A strategic management matrix was developed that aided in gathering data
from interviews with owner-managers. The responses were analysed according
to the data analysis spiral.
The overall conclusion is that small businesses conduct informal strategic
management, without the use of strategic management instruments and only
take the short-term into account.
For small businesses to survive and thrive in the world of today and tomorrow,
the owner-managers of these businesses need to develop strategic awareness
as a capability. Without achieving strategic awareness, small businesses are
likely to become part of the 80% failure statistic.
Description
MBA thesis - WBS
Keywords
Small businesses, Strategic management