Masters Degrees (Entrepreneurship)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/15166

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Farmers’ perceptions and attitudes to technology adoption in the Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2019) Kawula, Nomvikelelo.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Agricultural entrepreneurship is essential for fostering economic development and feeding growing populations in most less developed countries. Unfortunately, some farmers are experiencing a decline in production and failure to sustain their businesses. The main challenge for these farmers is the failure to embrace new and advanced agricultural technology. Agricultural technology adoption is a powerful tool for farmers to increase productivity and maximize their profits. Agricultural entrepreneurs are, in some instances, conservative and prefer to stick to traditional methods of farming. Based on the literature, many farmers fail to take advantage of the advancement in technology and as a result, find themselves not being as productive as they ought to be. Agricultural technology adoption has the potential to deepen the market share of agricultural output through which the smallholder farmers’ resource use and output diversification decisions could be guided increasingly by their objective of profit maximization. However, the major problem, according to literature, is that the new technology adoption rate by South African farmers is low. This study sought to investigate farmers’ perceptions and attitudes to technology adoption in the Ugu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study is descriptive in nature and thus qualitative research was conducted with the aim to gather the information that depicts the attributes of people, occurrences or circumstances. It also describes the technology adoption theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. Technology adoption theory examines the individual and the choices an individual makes to accept or reject an innovation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven farmers in Port Shepstone to collect the data in the study. Thematic analysis, which is the process of coding data and inducing of categories and themes, was used to analyse data. The study found that there are various factors such as lack of financial resources, lack of adoption by neighbouring farmers, perceived usefulness and size of the business contribute to farmers’ decision to adopt new agricultural technology. Farmers believe that technology is more expensive in early stages adoption but after that, it can help one grow their business and production. It was revealed that commercial farmers are more likely to adopt new technology than small-scale farmers.
Responsible and sustainable business practices: An empirical study of KwaZulu-Natal-based small and medium enterprises.
(2021) Dlamini, Andile.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Historically, responsible and sustainable business practices have been mostly associated with large companies, not only in developing countries, but all around the world. However, since the joint sitting of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, embracing sustainable development has become paramount for all businesses regardless of their size. South Africa is one of the most prominent countries in Africa. In the past decades, it has undergone massive social and economic developments (increased large-scale trade, infrastructure developments, increase in industrialisation, technological advancements, etc.). Consequently, these developments have highly accelerated the severity of social and environmental deteriorations in the country. South African businesses now face unprecedented challenges such as climate change, environment degradation, scarcity of resources, etc. These challenges force businesses to implement more responsible business practices to support the current rapid pace of economic growth. In most developing countries, there is limited concrete evidence on the adoption of sustainable and responsible business practices, particularly in the small business sector. Previous studies have poorly highlighted the role of SMEs in social and environmental responsibility. This study sheds light on the dynamics of SMEs with regard to social and environmental engagement through viable business practices. This study has, among other key objectives, discussed the barriers that deter SMEs from becoming responsible enterprises and examined the key drivers behind SMEs’ engagement in responsible social and environmental undertakings. The Stakeholder theoretical framework has been the key guide for this study. A non-systematic literature review was conducted, where insights were drawn from a wide range of available secondary sources such as journal articles, books chapters, peer-reviewed publications research papers and online articles. Quantitative primary data were collected by means of a selfadministered survey instrument. A total sample size of 333 SMEs within the Durban Metropolitan area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were examined. Furthermore, a convenience sampling method was used to select participants with additional assistance from the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). The study, however, yielded a 52% overall response rate. The acquired data were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data were then further construed by the researcher using a series of descriptive statistical methods. The empirical findings of the study revealed that 40.2% of SMEs in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal are aware and understand the social and environmental issues surrounding their business. However, 45.4% of SMEs in the area still have a limited understanding of responsible and sustainable business practices. Even though some of the SMEs surveyed provided no concrete evidence that they are responsible businesses. The data sourced shows that 82.8% of SMEs in the area believe that they are responsible businesses and that that they engage in activities that enhance the social and environmental wellbeing of their surroundings. The study ascertained some of the challenges that SMEs face with regard to adopting responsible and sustainable business practices in the area. These challenges were, among others, are limited resources, time constraints, lack of knowledge of such business practices.
The significance of microfinance in the growth of small and medium enterprises in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
(2022) Makekita, Renate Ntumpi.; Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman.
Despite the recognised potential of South African small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in addressing the socio-economic issues, access to microfinance services has always been one of the major challenges faced by most SMEs in the country, which hinders their growth and development. To determine the financial and nonfinancial options provided by microfinance institutions and how they influence growth of SMEs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The study focuses on the microfinancing options available for the development of SMEs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The study adopted a descriptive research approach. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 153 SMEs’ owners and managers, identified randomly. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 were used to analyse data. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used to test for independence or association of categorical variables to determine the relationship between variables that form the basis of the study. The study revealed that a significant number of SMEs are not gaining access to microfinance whilst a limited number do and are experiencing growth. SMEs obtained financial assistance in the form of loans to start-up their businesses. Significant nonfinancial assistance accessed by SMEs from microfinance institutions included business plan writing and business governance. SMEs faced challenges of lack of awareness, employment formality and nationality constraints in accessing microfinance services. The chi-square test results reveal that significant growth is influenced by age, level of education, type of business, motivation of opening business, and access to MFIs.

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Entrepreneurship) by Author "Gamede, Vangeli Wiseman."