Business networks and the moderating impact of innovation on business performance
| dc.contributor.author | Jordaan,Brigitta | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Msimango-Galawe, Jabulile | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-09-30T12:48:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-09-30T12:48:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description | A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021 | |
| dc.description.abstract | South Africa faces frighteningly high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty. Like many other emerging economies, the South African government has recognised the importance of entrepreneurial activity. It widely views SME's (Small or Medium- sized Enterprises) as the lynchpin to realising growth and expansion. However, a common challenge to the performance and growth of many SME's is the lack of access to resources. Additionally, as advancements in innovation have so rapidly evolved in recent years, a business's innovative capabilities have become just as crucial to its performance capabilities and sustaining a competitive advantage. This study mainly focused on investigating the extent to which networks, particularly supplier, consumer and competitor networks, moderated by innovation, impacted the financial performance of SME's in South Africa. Data collection from SME owners and managers throughout South Africa using self-administered surveys, distributed via Qualtrics. The results show that two supplier networks and consumer networks moderated by innovation significantly impact business performance. Consequently, no factors from the consumer networks construct were extracted in the EFA analysis to determine consumer networks' impact on business performance. As such, no conclusions could be determined in considering the consumer network's impact on firm performance. Findings suggest that the study be replicated with a significantly larger sample. It is also recommended that further research explores the extent to which network activities and network resources, when moderated by innovation, impacts business performance, with a view on measuring alternate performance metrics such as growth, market share and consumer and employee satisfaction and growth | |
| dc.description.submitter | MM2024 | |
| dc.faculty | Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Jordaan,Brigitta. (2021). Business networks and the moderating impact of innovation on business performance [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/41215 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10539/41215 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | |
| dc.rights | © 2021 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. | |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | |
| dc.school | WITS Business School | |
| dc.subject | Business networks | |
| dc.subject | Innovation | |
| dc.subject | Business performance | |
| dc.subject | SMEs | |
| dc.subject | Consumers | |
| dc.subject | Suppliers | |
| dc.subject | Competitors engagement and collaboration | |
| dc.subject.other | SDG-8: Decent work and economic growth | |
| dc.title | Business networks and the moderating impact of innovation on business performance | |
| dc.type | Dissertation |