- Title
- Effects of absorptive capacity and knowledge management on innovation capabilities in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs)
- Creator
- Gwena, Courage
- Subject
- Absorptive capacity (Economics) Knowledge management Small business
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- Business Management
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11839
- Identifier
- vital:39111
- Description
- Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are increasingly becoming an influential factor behind economic growth. On the other hand, knowledge management is credited with being critical to the success of modern business enterprises. Consequently, researchers have a growing interest in understanding knowledge management and its effects on various phenomena within an enterprise. Although SMMEs are tipped to be major providers of employment, innovations and economic growth, it is important that they be investigated in light of factors that influence their sustainability and growth. Notably there is evident lack of research exploring the relationship among absorptive capacity, knowledge management and innovation capabilities from a South African perspective as many of the related studies are concentrated in the developed world. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of knowledge management on innovation capabilities in SMMEs with focus on the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. South African SMMEs are experiencing worrying failure rates, whilst on the other hand; knowledge management is credited with organisational success. This trend has presented an opportunity to test how knowledge management affects South African SMMEs innovation capabilities. Above this, the increasing value being attached to SMMEs in solving problems, such as unemployment and trade imbalance have attracted interest as a subject of research. A quantitative research approach was followed in carrying out this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to answer the research questions of the study. The respondents (n=280) were SMMEs representatives for SMMEs operating in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Findings of the study revealed that absorptive capacity exerts positive a effect on the innovative capabilities of SMMEs the same way knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing were found to have positive statistically significant on the innovation capabilities of SMMEs. The findings also show that knowledge sharing and knowledge acquisition exerts a positive effect on SMMEs innovative capabilities. Findings from the study could assist various practitioners directly or indirectly involved in business development to develop strategies that improve SMMEs growth and sustainability. These practitioners include strategic management researchers, policy makers, SMME owners, managers, and lecturers.
- Format
- 189 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Management and Commerce
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of Business Management
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | COURAGE_GWENA_MASTERS_THESIS_2018_.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |