Exploratory study : how do Somali shop owners (SSO) succeed in running businesses in Soweto : a South African perspective
- Authors: Mokitlane, Ofentse Clifford
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business enterprises, Foreign -- South Africa , Small business -- Management , Small business -- South Africa , Foreign workers -- South Africa , Employment in foreign countries , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:842 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015653
- Description: This is a qualitative study which seeks to understand how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in the township of Soweto in South Africa. This research report has three sections, namely (1) the academic paper which comprises a shortened literature review, the research method, findings, and the discussion; (2) an extended literature review and (3) the research methodology. It is important to mention that these three sections are related and not necessarily stand-alone sections. Despite the hostilities faced by the Somali shop owners from the host communities in South Africa, it is notable that they are successful, small-sized entrepreneurs in most townships of South Africa (SA). Previous research on Somalis has predominantly focused on their assimilation into the societies in their host countries, and on how they are led into self-employment because of the unfavourable labour markets in the host country. In this vein, there is a need to understand how they run successful businesses in the townships of SA. This study seeks to answer the following research question: How Do Somali Shop Owners Succeed in Running Businesses in Soweto, South Africa (SA)? In pursuit of answers to the above research question, this study was confined to three locations in Soweto, namely Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville which have a relatively high number of Somali entrepreneurs who have been in operation for longer than three years. This qualitative study explored the multiple perspectives of reality of Somali shop owners. Purposively, 14 Somali shop owners were identified initially using purposive sampling. Subsequently, theoretical sampling was used to identify Somali shop owners who were interviewed regarding how they successfully run their businesses in the locations of Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville in the township of Soweto. A total of eighteen semi-structured, in-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with these shop owners as a means of gathering data to the point of saturating their perspectives. Data collection ceased when new perspectives were no longer evident as interviewees were being repetitive. Open-coding and constant comparison was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study show that ethnicity plays a predominant role in the success of the Somali shop owners. The intra-ethnic networks and trust-based support systems are pivotal to how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in Soweto. The key findings manifested showed that various forms of support came from Somali communities, family and fellow countrymen which were also central to their success. Another key finding showed that Somali shop owners run their businesses by complementing, rather than predominantly competing with the other local businesses, which ultimately differentiates them in this way. The study also revealed that responsiveness to local customer needs by enhancing the value of their business to the locality is also characteristic of how Somali shop owners build customer loyalty. This study contributes to our understanding of how Somali entrepreneurs conduct successful businesses in a hostile host country. The findings have implications for business development training and programmes which support immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings may also be extended to inform how business development programmes would be designed to equally support local entrepreneurs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Strategic planning as a tool for investment decision-making for SMEs in Nelson Mandela Metropole
- Authors: Kikine, Bereng Nimrode
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Small business -- Management , Strategic planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6455 , vital:21092
- Description: All around the world, SMEs are perceived as the engine room of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation, due to their flexibility and quick adaptability to change. It is believed that, for developing countries to address their social and economic challenges, it would be beneficial if they leverage the potential that the SME sector potentially possess. However, despite the government focus on supporting and encouraging the establishment of SMEs through the small business development programmes in order to address these social challenges, SME sector has experienced a high degree of business mortality, which impacts negatively on the ability to create sustainable employment opportunities in the long term. This view is supported by the work of (Ligthelm and Cant 2003). According to the global economic monitor (GEM), the small business mortality in South Africa is among the highest in the world. It is said that that most newly established SMEs will not survive beyond 48 months Von Broembsen, as cited in Olawale and Garwe (2010: 730). One of the reasons that lead to the high failure rate of SMEs is the lack of strategic planning and the poor allocation of resources. The literature review suggests that SMEs that embark on strategic planning are the ones that are most likely to experience sales growth, personnel growth and asset value growth, as opposed those that do not do any strategic planning at all. The primary objective of this research was to establish how a strategic planning process can be used as an investment decision-making tool for manufacturing SMEs in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. In order to address this research problem, the following sub-problems had to be solved: - What strategic planning processes do current SME managers use? - What strategic performance measurement systems do SME owner-managers currently use? - What capital budgeting techniques are currently being used by SME’s in the region? - How do SME owner-managers evaluate the risk of the projects at hand? The research design was methodological triangulation in nature, that is, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, though a quantitative paradigm was more dominant that the qualitative paradigm. A questionnaire was designed as a primary source of data collection from a selected sample group. The empirical study revealed that there is some level of strategic planning amongst SMEs, however, it is mostly informal and unstructured. It also emerged that strategic planning can be used as more than just a performance measurement tool, it can contribute more effectively to strategic alignment, organisational learning and diffusion of knowledge throughout the organisation. The empirical study also suggests that SMEs understand that capital budgeting is critical for the success of the organisations. However, very few SMEs have a formal capital budgeting process. It also became evident that most SMEs are still relying on the traditional capital budgeting techniques; that is, ‘gut feel’ and the payback methods of evaluating projects. The empirical study suggests that the largest group of SMEs rely on break-even analysis and scenario planning as the major indicators of the impact the projects will or may have on the organisation. The recommendations have thus been made to address the challenges facing SMEs with regard to strategic planning, strategic performance measurement, capital budgeting and project risk evaluation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Strategic planning as a tool for investment decision-making for SMEs in Nelson Mandela Metropole
- Authors: Kikine, Bereng Nimrode
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Small business -- Management , Strategic planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6465 , vital:21094
- Description: All around the world, SMEs are perceived as the engine room of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation, due to their flexibility and quick adaptability to change. It is believed that, for developing countries to address their social and economic challenges, it would be beneficial if they leverage the potential that the SME sector potentially possess. However, despite the government focus on supporting and encouraging the establishment of SMEs through the small business development programmes in order to address these social challenges, SME sector has experienced a high degree of business mortality, which impacts negatively on the ability to create sustainable employment opportunities in the long term. This view is supported by the work of (Ligthelm and Cant 2003). According to the global economic monitor (GEM), the small business mortality in South Africa is among the highest in the world. It is said that that most newly established SMEs will not survive beyond 48 months Von Broembsen, as cited in Olawale and Garwe (2010: 730). One of the reasons that lead to the high failure rate of SMEs is the lack of strategic planning and the poor allocation of resources. The literature review suggests that SMEs that embark on strategic planning are the ones that are most likely to experience sales growth, personnel growth and asset value growth, as opposed those that do not do any strategic planning at all. The primary objective of this research was to establish how a strategic planning process can be used as an investment decision-making tool for manufacturing SMEs in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. In order to address this research problem, the following sub-problems had to be solved: What strategic planning processes do current SME managers use?; What strategic performance measurement systems do SME owner-managers currently use?; What capital budgeting techniques are currently being used by SME’s in the region?; How do SME owner-managers evaluate the risk of the projects at hand?. The research design was methodological triangulation in nature, that is, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, though a quantitative paradigm was more dominant that the qualitative paradigm. A questionnaire was designed as a primary source of data collection from a selected sample group. The empirical study revealed that there is some level of strategic planning amongst SMEs, however, it is mostly informal and unstructured. It also emerged that strategic planning can be used as more than just a performance measurement tool, it can contribute more effectively to strategic alignment, organisational learning and diffusion of knowledge throughout the organisation. The empirical study also suggests that SMEs understand that capital budgeting is critical for the success of the organisations. However, very few SMEs have a formal capital budgeting process. It also became evident that most SMEs are still relying on the traditional capital budgeting techniques; that is, ‘gut feel’ and the payback methods of evaluating projects. The empirical study suggests that the largest group of SMEs rely on break-even analysis and scenario planning as the major indicators of the impact the projects will or may have on the organisation. The recommendations have thus been made to address the challenges facing SMEs with regard to strategic planning, strategic performance measurement, capital budgeting and project risk evaluation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The cultural determinants of success in Indian owned family businesses
- Authors: Adams, Leigh Christie
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Family-owned business enterprises -- Management , Indian business enterprises , Small business -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8543 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1258 , Family-owned business enterprises -- Management , Indian business enterprises , Small business -- Management
- Description: Family owned businesses play a vital role in the economy of a country, therefore their sustainability and succession is a topic that requires adequate research and analysis. This is required to determine the impact and contribution at a socioeconomic level and future development of the family owned business. Within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area previous research has been conducted analysing the above with regard to Greek family businesses. There is a little evidence to suggest similar studies have been conducted on Indian owned family businesses, specifically businesses operating at a third generation level. This research will therefore analyse Indian owned family businesses that are at a minimum level of third generation within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. The purpose is to investigate whether there is any specific cultural attributes of the Indian culture which have contributed to their success.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
The determination of critical success factors that impact on the performance of SMEs in e-commerce
- Authors: Zeelie, Eben Johannes
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Electronic commerce , Small business -- Management , New business enterprises -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:10905 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/118 , Electronic commerce , Small business -- Management , New business enterprises -- Management
- Description: The research problem addressed in this study is the determination of the critical success factors for SMEs in e-commerce. To achieve the objective, an integrated list of critical success factors, gathered from practitioner- and academic literature, had to be identified. The integrated list was developed through the following sub-processes: · The first consisted of a literature survey of the sources and the identification of critical success factors, which lead to insights into the role of critical success factors in strategic management and the objectivity of the CSF identification process. The second comprised surveying the literature dealing specifically with the unique characteristics of SMEs, to identify factors that are critical to the survival and growth of SMEs. · The third consisted of a survey of the academic and practitioner literature dealing with critical success factors in e-commerce, in order to develop an integrated list of critical success factors for SMEs in ecommerce. The integrated list that emerged from the literature study consisted of the following seventeen critical success factors: 1. Target the right customers 2. Involve all stakeholders 3. Provide access to all customer information 4. User-friendly web design 5. Let customers help themselves 6. Offer online and offline assistance to customer enquiries 7. Deliver personalized service 8. Foster online community 9. Top management support 10. Technical infrastructure 11. Security and control of the e-commerce system 12. Promotion of site 13. Financial planning and control of project 14. Loyalty 15. Development of a business plan 16. Branding of the site 17. Shipping and fulfilment The integrated list was used as the basis for the compilation of a survey questionnaire to identify the eight most critical success factors for SMEs in ecommerce. The survey questionnaire was sent to SMEs that are members of the Port Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have a website and comply with the criteria for SMEs. The empirical study identified the eight most critical success factors for SMEs in e-commerce and indicated strong concurrence with the unique characteristics of SMEs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002