Rural enterprise development as a means to poverty alleviation
- Authors: Bodley, David Cyril
- Date: 2020-12
- Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa , Rural development projects -- South Africa , Economic assistance, Domestic -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/49759 , vital:41797
- Description: South Africa’s disappointing economic performance over the last decade has resulted in a socio-economic crisis, with unemployment and inequality rates being of the highest rates anywhere in the world. Furthermore, unemployment is concentrated among the young, unskilled, and previously disadvantaged population posing a considerable threat to South Africa’s new democracy. Internationally, a method to absorb job seekers into the economy is to make small business the engine-room of economic growth and development. Consequently, the South African Government has identified in its National Development Plan the establishment of small businesses as a priority, including the development of small businesses in rural and marginalised communities. As rural communities in South Africa experience systemic problems such as the lack of infrastructure, financial capital, skills and potential markets, establishing enterprises in rural settings is often more complex than those more advanced parts of the economy elsewhere where fewer constraints exist. This makes the task of establishing and growing rural entities particularly challenging, suggesting bespoke policy and support is required. This study analyses the literature to gain an understanding of economic development theory and how this intersects with and informs small enterprise development policy. It then looks at South Africa’s strategy and policy framework pertaining to enterprise development. Specifically, the literature examines the role of rural enterprise development to establish whether this enables people to move out of poverty or further entraps people in poverty. The study collates data from a rural and marginalised community through observation and interview techniques. Firstly, multiple in-depth interviews were conducted with nineteen entrepreneurs in a rural community to collect data on business opportunities and explore the type of support entrepreneurs would require from government. Secondly, a focus group interview was conducted with entrepreneurs that had ii experienced institutional support to understand how well current policy and programmes support rural enterprise development. The primary data was analysed in conjunction with the literature on economic theory and enterprise development using the technique of triangulation to avoid logic leaps and formation of false assumptions. The insights and findings from the analysis reinforced certain facts within the body of knowledge pertaining to enterprise development, but there were also some interesting new insights that emanate from the data. South Africa has been able to introduce a wide range of policy initiatives and has multiple programmes and strategies to support small enterprise development. It has achieved firm success and impetus as well as experiencing certain failures. The study clearly highlights both and makes recommendations to improve policy promoting rural enterprise development as a means to alleviate poverty. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Management Sciences, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020-12
Rural enterprise development as a means to poverty alleviation
- Authors: Bodley, David Cyril
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rural development -- South Africa , Economic development projects -- South Africa Poverty alleviation -- methods -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50361 , vital:42118
- Description: South Africa’s disappointing economic performance over the last decade has resulted in a socio-economic crisis, with unemployment and inequality rates being of the highest rates anywhere in the world. Furthermore, unemployment is concentrated among the young, unskilled, and previously disadvantaged population posing a considerable threat to South Africa’s new democracy. Internationally, a method to absorb job seekers into the economy is to make small business the engine-room of economic growth and development. Consequently, the South African Government has identified in its National Development Plan the establishment of small businesses as a priority, including the development of small businesses in rural and marginalised communities. As rural communities in South Africa experience systemic problems such as the lack of infrastructure, financial capital, skills and potential markets, establishing enterprises in rural settings is often more complex than those more advanced parts of the economy elsewhere where fewer constraints exist. This makes the task of establishing and growing rural entities particularly challenging, suggesting bespoke policy and support is required. This study analyses the literature to gain an understanding of economic development theory and how this intersects with and informs small enterprise development policy. It then looks at South Africa’s strategy and policy framework pertaining to enterprise development. Specifically, the literature examines the role of rural enterprise development to establish whether this enables people to move out of poverty or further entraps people in poverty. The study collates data from a rural and marginalised community through observation and interview techniques. Firstly, multiple in-depth interviews were conducted with nineteen entrepreneurs in a rural community to collect data on business opportunities and explore the type of support entrepreneurs would require from government. Secondly, a focus group interview was conducted with entrepreneurs that had experienced institutional support to understand how well current policy and programmes support rural enterprise development. The primary data was analysed in conjunction with the literature on economic theory and enterprise development using the technique of triangulation to avoid logic leaps and formation of false assumptions. The insights and findings from the analysis reinforced certain facts within the body of knowledge pertaining to enterprise development, but there were also some interesting new insights that emanate from the data. South Africa has been able to introduce a wide range of policy initiatives and has multiple programmes and strategies to support small enterprise development. It has achieved firm success and impetus as well as experiencing certain failures. The study clearly highlights both and makes recommendations to improve policy promoting rural enterprise development as a means to alleviate poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The relationship between opportunity-related aspects and the performance of primary co-operatives in South Africa
- Authors: Bodley, David Cyril
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Organizational effectiveness -- Measurement Performance , Small business -- Management Success in business
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14653 , vital:27813
- Description: South Africa is a country facing divisive social and economic challenges. It has a history that generated imbalances within the economy and requires urgent solutions to one of the most significant issues the country faces, having too few South Africans in work. Globally, a key solution to creating work has been to make small business the engine-room of economies. Consequently, the South African Government has identified the establishment of small businesses as a priority, which incorporates the development of collaborative forms of businesses in marginalised communities. The co-operative form of business and a strong co-operative movement is, therefore, a critical element of government’s initiative to create work and economic independence for South Africans. Governed by the seven International Labour Organization (ILO) principles, this form of business is often more complex than a typical firm, making the task of establishing and growing these entities particularly challenging. This study analyses the literature to gain an understanding of co-operative movements across the globe. It then looks at the specific challenges the movement faces in South Africa, followed by an analysis of best practice that a business should engage in its establishment and growth. Specifically, the literature examines whether there is a relationship between opportunity-related industry, market and entrepreneurial team aspects and improved business performance of business entities such as co-operatives. The study collates data from co-operatives in the South African economy using two separate methodologies. Firstly, a structured interview was used to acquire information on the opportunity-related aspects. Secondly, business transactions were recorded and basic financial statements were produced for each co-operative, enabling a rating on business performance. The primary data was then analysed within Chapter 6, to investigate the strength of the relationship between opportunity-related aspects and business performance. The findings extracted from the primary data reinforced certain facts within the body of knowledge as it relates to the relationship between opportunity-related aspects and business performance, but there were also some interesting new insights that were extracted from the data. The South African co-operative movement has achieved certain success and momentum as well as experiencing certain failures, and the study clearly highlights both, and makes recommendations to improve the movements and government’s efforts to establish a vibrant and meaningful co-operative sector.
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- Date Issued: 2017