Rikhotso, Masana Ludwick2024-08-122024-08-122023Rikhotso, Masana Ludwick . (2023). Sustainability of SMEs in the South African manufacturing and agriculture sector from 2010 to 2020 [Master’s dissertation PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40064A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023Aim: South Africa’s start-up SME failure rate is on the higher end. Estimates place the failure rate of formal SMEs in South Africa between 70% and 80% in the first 5 years (News24, 2022, p. 1). This study investigates the relationship that demographic factors of SMEs play to their survivability. The main aim will be to identify predictors of SME survival and make recommendations that will assist other SMEs to increase their odds of survival. Methods: Secondary data were obtained from the South African Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC), which is a South African registered company that facilitates SMEs to get access to business and finances from larger organisations. The scope of the research is limited to SMEs that operate in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The research only focuses on formal SMEs, which are those that have been registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and thus file for taxes. Given a lack of a formal database available to extract the data, individual files were sent to the researcher from the SASDC data administrators. The files sent comprised of data on an individual SME in the format of a Microsoft Word document and a PDF. The data were manually collated by the researcher to create a database that could be analysed through the STATA 17 statistical tool. The selection of variables was based on available demographic data in the files informed by literature from previous similar studies. A bivariate analysis was conducted to assess if there is a relationship between the dependent variable (survival) and the independent factors. To conduct the analysis, Kaplan-Meier and life tables were used alongside the Cox proportional hazard model. Results: The multi-variable analysis found that demographic factors could indeed be associated with SME failure. For example, SMEs that had owners with less work experience had lower survival odds. Overall, using the Cox proportional hazards model, the hazard ratios for work experience and the gender of the CEO identified these as factors that played a role in SME survival. 10 Conclusions: The findings highlight that although there is further research that needs to be done on this topic, there are demographic factors associated with failed SMEs and these factors can be used as predictors of SMEs. Caution must be taken not to discriminate against SMEs with these factors but to equip these SME CEOs with tools to prevent failureen© 2023 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.SMESurvival analysisSustainabilityUCTDSDG-12: Responsible consumption and productionDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg