This research would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance I received from the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development, the Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe and small business owners who gave up their time to assist me. This study found that the challenges faced by SMEs before the National Policy and Strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe were still widespread after its formulation.
- I NTRODUCTION
- B ACKGROUND AND C ONTEXT
- R ESEARCH P ROBLEM AND R ESEARCH O BJECTIVES
- Research Problem
- Research Objectives
- Research Questions
- N EED FOR THE STUDY
- O VERVIEW OF R ESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY
- S TUDY L IMITATIONS
- S TRUCTURE OF D ISSERTATION
- S UMMARY
More specifically, the focus of the study is to evaluate the 2002 National Policy and Strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe. To what extent have the objectives of the Policy and Strategy Framework for SMEs in Zimbabwe been achieved.
I NTRODUCTION
It is therefore possible to offer a descriptive definition of an SME rather than trying to define what an SME is. Differences in how international organizations define SMEs contribute to the dispute over the definition of SMEs.
D EFINITION OF SME S IN Z IMBABWE
Mutambanengwe’s (2013) classification of SMEs as registered enterprises is a digression from Chigwenya and Mudzengerere (2013:4), who consider that the informal sector is part of SMEs. The working definition is therefore a combination of the definition in the National Policy and Strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe and that offered by SMEAZ.
D ETERMINANTS OF E NTREPRENEURSHIP WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SME DEVELOPMENT
- Regulatory Framework
- Access to Finance
- Entrepreneurial Capabilities
- Market Conditions
- Research and Development (R&D) and Technology
- Culture
Therefore, the regulatory environment is an important determinant of the development of SMEs in a country. The regulatory framework is critical to the development of small businesses as it defines the environment in which SMEs can operate.
M EASURES TAKEN BY THE G OVERNMENT OF Z IMBABWE TO CREATE A CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
- SME Policy Index: Analysis of the Policy and Strategy Framework for SMEs in Zimbabwe . 45
- Cheaper and faster start-up
- Taxation and financial matters
- Strengthening SMEs’ technological capacity
- Gender Dimension
- Institutional Support
This section is a discussion of the National Policy and Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe, which is the SME Policy. Such a situation shows that the chances of passing the Small Business Act are slim due to the government's incompetence. The importance of the Small Business Act is such that the SME Policy Index (2012:4) emphasizes that simplifying legislation reduces administrative and legislative barriers for SMEs.
Recognizing the importance of technology to the effective operation of small businesses is important. The SME Policy and Strategy Framework (2002:3) also highlights SEDCO as one of the institutions established by the government with a mandate to support the SME sector.
S UMMARY
Now that the procurement law that favors small businesses has been passed, the government should take the initiative to contract small businesses. There is therefore an urgent need for government to implement legislation and actually provide contracts to small businesses. Nevertheless, small businesses can also be part of the problem, as noted by Loader. Loader says there are challenges in government procurement, such as the struggle of small and medium-sized businesses to find the resources to participate in a bureaucratic process, and that they are disproportionately affected compared to larger suppliers.
Although there is a Procurement Law, there is also a need to monitor the quality of goods and services provided by small businesses. This section discussed the Zimbabwe National SME Policy and Strategy as a policy aimed at creating an enabling environment by addressing the challenges facing small businesses in Zimbabwe.
I NTRODUCTION
T HE E VALUATION F RAMEWORK
- Rationale
- Appropriateness
- Superiority
- Systemic Efficiency
- Own Efficiency
- Adaptive Efficiency
- Additionality
Generation of sustainable jobs, reduction of poverty, stimulation of growth and generation of foreign exchange are other overarching objectives of the policy and strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe (National Policy and Strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe, 2002:5). This setting of priorities and determining the allocation of limited public resources forms part of the policy and strategy framework for SMEs in Zimbabwe's specific objectives (National Policy and Strategy for SMEs, 2002:5). In this study, the effectiveness of the national policy and strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe was done by designing questionnaire items that measure respondents' views.
3 Systemic Efficiency of National Policy and Strategy for SMEs in Zimbabwe Government Action SME Policy Interaction Point Description. The policy and strategy framework for SMEs in Zimbabwe should be part of the broader national framework.
S UMMARY
The broken lines show what would have happened without the policy over the years, and the solid line shows the observed outcome with the intervention (Storey, 2008). Therefore, the difference between what would have happened without the intervention and the outcome observed with the intervention is the impact of the policy. The analysis of self-efficacy was complicated by the inaccessibility of relevant documents mainly due to confidentiality in government departments.
Most of the records and documents involved in determining whether the policy was implemented in a cost-effective manner were inaccessible, making it difficult to analyze whether the policy was implemented in a cost-effective manner. Adaptive effectiveness can only be examined after this study as it is concerned with the implementation of the results of the evaluation process.
I NTRODUCTION
This section was instrumental in determining the rationale and appropriateness of Zimbabwe's national policy and strategy for SMEs. The findings of this study show that most of the respondents owned and operated their own business. Most respondents in this study strongly agreed that limited access to finance was a challenge for their business.
None of the respondents agreed that limited access to finance and the cost of finance were a challenge. Official registration is at the heart of the policy and strategic framework for SMEs in Zimbabwe.
R ESEARCH P ARADIGM
- Research approach for the Pragmatic paradigm
R ESEARCH APPROACH
- Mixed method approach designs
- Explanatory sequential design
- Exploratory sequential design
- Convergent design
S TUDY SITE
T ARGET POPULATION
S AMPLING
- Sample Size
- Sampling strategies
D ATA COLLECTION METHODS
- Secondary Data
- Primary Data
- Questionnaires
- In-depth Interviewing
D ATA A NALYSIS
- Quantitative Data Analysis
- Descriptive Statistics
- Inferential Statistics
- Qualitative Data Analysis
First the coding of the answers from the questionnaires and then the interpretation of interviews. Since the data in this study are not normally distributed, reference will be made to the non-parametric alternative to the Pearson correlation coefficient, which is Spearman's Rank Correlation (rho). The table is a summary of the data analysis process where different statistical tools were used to achieve different objectives.
The table shows how SPSS was used to address each of the objectives of this study and the different hypotheses that were tested using different data analysis techniques. An analysis of the respondents' responses enabled the researcher to identify trends that helped make sense of the responses from the questionnaires.
R ELIABILITY AND V ALIDITY
- Reliability
- Measuring reliability
- Validity
- Content validity
- Face validity
- External validity
- Argumentative validity
- Triangulation
This is related to the validity of the test to determine whether the results are useful. The researcher had to maintain neutrality to avoid manipulating the research process with personal opinions. It focuses on determining whether the research covers all possible aspects of the research topic (Sarantakos, 2012:79).
Central to external validity is the generalization of study findings to the population (Sarantakos, 2012:79). The presentation and discussion of the results is done in a way that preserves the integrity of the results.
P ILOT S TUDY
It is about identifying the possibility of errors in the design of measuring instruments, so preliminary testing helps in identifying possible errors. Powell notes that pretesting the questionnaire should give the researcher an opportunity to identify items that participants tend to misunderstand or fail to obtain the necessary information. Conducting a pilot test is important as it affects the response rate to the questionnaire.
In this study, the pilot study was conducted and respondents were asked to provide feedback on the clarity, language, length and appropriateness of the questions. Because of these concerns, some of the follow-up questions had to be dropped as they were less likely to be answered.
E THICAL C ONSIDERATIONS
Pretesting helps determine whether the research is measuring what it was designed to measure. Some of the concerns raised by the participants included the length of the questionnaire and a lack of clarity on some of the language as it was too technical. The use of language had to be clarified in such a way that the respondents understood what they were being asked for, but also to ensure that it retained its meaning to avoid distorting the study.
The purpose of this study was explained to the respondents so that they understood what they were agreeing to. Interviewees were asked to consent to recording and note-taking and were assured that the school would keep the recorded and recorded data secure and retain it for a specified period of time.
S UMMARY
I NTRODUCTION
R ESPONSE RATE
R ELIABILITY
D EMOGRAPHIC AND O RGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
- Demographic and Organisational Profile for SME operators
- Sector and number of employees
- Age Group
- Gender
- Role in business
- Year in which the business was established
- Annual turnover
- Demographic and Organisational Profile for Experts
This information is important to determine whether there have been changes in the number of SMEs over the years. The increase in the number of SMEs established over the years can be explained by. The SME policy can also help to explain the increase in the number of established small businesses.
Nevertheless, the data collected in this research show that there has been an increase in the number of SMEs established since 2002. The fact that 53.6 percent of the businesses in this study were established within the last five years supports the finding that Zimbabwe is currently sustaining small businesses.
P RESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS ACCORDING TO THE O BJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY
- Shapiro-Wilk Test
- Objective 1: To examine the challenges faced by SMEs in Zimbabwe
- Descriptive of challenges faced by SMEs in Zimbabwe
- Challenges to start-up a business
- Sources of start-up capital
- Bank Loan application
- Skills
- Correlation between limited access to finance and cost of finance
- Regression Model on the predictability of limited access to finance
- Objective 2: To analyse the extent to which the Policy and Strategy Framework for SMEs
- Government measures for SMEs
- Government support strategies
- Use of SEDCO services
- Mann-Whitney Test for measures to address challenges
- Objective 3: To assess the effectiveness of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and
- Descriptive statistics on the effectiveness of the MinSMECD
- Small businesses perception of the MinSMECD
- Objective 4: To investigate whether the objectives of the Policy and Strategy Framework for
- Creating an enabling environment
- Registration
- Test for differences in SMEs before and after the National Policy and Strategy for SMEs
Sub-sections 5.5.2.1 and 5.5.2.7 are an introduction and analysis of the challenges faced by SMEs in Zimbabwe. 56 percent of participants strongly agreed that limited access to finance has been a challenge to their business operations. There is an anomaly in respondents' views on the challenges posed to their businesses by limited access to finance and the cost of funding.
The responses to the lack of application for bank loans show that the limited access to financing is due to the financing costs mainly in the form of claims. The lack of results is a statistically significant predictor (β = 0.233, p = 0.044) of SMEs' limited access to finance. The results also show that 16.82 percent of the SMEs in this study have consulted MinSMECD.
The opinion of the majority of respondents is that MinSMECD has insufficient resources (average 1.98).
S UMMARY
I NTRODUCTION
O BJECTIVE 1: T O EXAMINE THE CHALLENGES FACED BY SME S IN Z IMBABWE
- Finance related challenges
- Sources of start-up capital
- Bank loan application
- Correlation between the cost of finance and the limited access to finance
- The Lack of skills
- Challenges to starting a business
- The effectiveness of support programmes by the Government
- SEDCO as an initiative to mitigate financial challenges
O BJECTIVE 3: T O ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE M INISTRY OF S MALL AND M EDIUM
O BJECTIVE 4: T O INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE P OLICY AND
- Creating an enabling environment
- Registration
- Days it took to register a business
S UMMARY
I NTRODUCTION
S UMMARY OF S TUDY
C ONCLUSIONS
- Objective 1: To examine the challenges faced by SMEs in Zimbabwe
- Objective 2: To analyse the extent to which the Policy and Strategy Framework for SMEs
- Objective 3: To assess the effectiveness of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and
- Objective 4: To investigate whether the objectives of the Policy and Strategy Framework for
R ECOMMENDATIONS
C ONTRIBUTION TO THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
L IMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
A REAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
