1,720,955 research outputs found
Government policies and strategies in dealing with challenges confronting small and medium enterprises : a case of Harare, Zimbabwe.
Full text linkDoctor of Philosophy in Management. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.This study focuses on the success the Zimbabwe government policies and strategies in addressing the challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study was conducted with a view to developing a policy and strategy framework for promoting the development of SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe. Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, was used as a study site.
Pragmatism constituted the research philosophy for the study. The study adopted a case study design in which SMEs in Harare were studied. The mixed-methods approach was employed, along with concurrent triangulation. SMEs, officials from the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development (MSMECD), officials from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Corporation (SMEDCO) and academics from three state universities in Harare constituted the population under study. The study employed purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Stratified random sampling was employed, in which the SMEs were divided into three strata: primary, secondary and tertiary. Purposive sampling was used to select the officials from the MSMECD and SMEDCO, as well as the key informants from three state universities in Harare. The study used a sample of six business advisors from SMEDCO and another six from the MSMECD. A sample of 382 SMEs was selected for the collection of empirical data using questionnaires. Of the 382 distributed questionnaires, 344 were returned, representing a response rate of 90 %. Primary data was gathered using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Questionnaires were administered to the SMEs, while in-depth interviews were conducted with the officials from SMEDCO and the MSMECD, as well as key informants from the three state universities. Documents were employed as secondary sources of data for the study.
The quantitative data collected through the questionnaires was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data was presented using figures, tables, graphs, pie charts, and percentages. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used to analyse the quantitative data. SPSS was also used to calculate the Cronbach’s alpha. The alpha coefficient ranged from 0.729 to 0.878, indicating that the questionnaire was a reliable data collection instrument.
Content analysis was employed in the analysis of the qualitative data gathered from the in-depth interviews. The intention was to achieve an adequate and detailed analysis of the data in order to obtain sufficient information relating to the challenges faced by SMEs in Harare, the
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government policies and strategies employed to address these challenges, and the success of the policies and strategies.
The findings of the study showed that SMEs in Harare are confronted with challenges which include limited access to funding, limited access to markets, a lack of technical and management skills, antiquated machinery and equipment, increasing competition in the market, infrastructural challenges, and restrictive government laws and regulations. It was empirically confirmed that the government responded by creating partnerships with the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and other countries in the provision of funding, training and technology transfer. The study also revealed that the government promoted SME access to markets through participation in local and international trade fairs, business expos, and exhibitions, as well as facilitating SME involvement in public procurement. The government also imposed import duties to protect domestic businesses from foreign competition. Higher education institutions, which constitute part of the government’s overall strategy of promoting SME growth, have been instrumental in addressing SME challenges.
However, despite its various policies and strategies, the government of Zimbabwe, on the whole, has not been successful in addressing the key challenges confronting the SME sector in Harare. This study builds on and broadens the current knowledge on the success of government policies and strategies in addressing SME challenges in Harare, Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the study proposes a policy and strategy framework for promoting the development of SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe
Employer perspectives on sustainable employability skills for TVET engineering graduates in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
No full textTechnical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is arguably the sector closely
connected to industry and employers. The development of the South African economy partly hinged on
individuals with both technical and soft skills that are needed by industry. Against this backdrop, sufficiently
prepared TVET engineering graduates are an important resource for industry development. However, employees
note that the TVET sector does not address the skills needs of industry. Addressing the skills needs of industry
is critical for the South African economy. This study seeks to explore employer perceptions on sustainable
employability skills for TVET engineering graduates in industry and develop appropriate strategies for
addressing the industry needs in the context of South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative case study
approach in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect empirical evidence from a conveniently and
purposively selected sample of twelve (12) employers from industry. The human capital theory constitutes the
theoretical framework of the study. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that
employers needed graduates with both technical and soft skills for sustainable employability. TVET engineering
graduates fall short of the skills required by industry. The study recommends strong emphasis on career
guidance and development to help programme selection. Furthermore, misalignment of skills could be curbed
by ensuring strong ties and communication among role players. A revision on the curriculum was necessary to
align with the new technology and address the industry needs.Further studies could focus on how companies
could be lured to collaborate with TVET Colleges so that their training becomes a meaningful and empowering
experience. Future research could also focus on the relevance of the TVET curriculum to industry needs
The influence of entrepreneurial characteristics on the profitability of SMEs in Zambia
Full text linkSmall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are central to the Zambia’s economy, but often struggle with sustained profitability. This study examined the influence of entrepreneurial characteristics on SME profitability in Zambia. Specifically, the study aimed at; (i) identifying the key influential entrepreneurial characteristic and (ii) analysing the relationships between entrepreneurial characteristics and SME profitability. Entrepreneurial characteristics examined included; innovativeness, risk-taking, autonomy, confidence/negotiation skills, readiness, need for achievement, experience and education. Data were collected from 201 SMEs registered with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) across seven urban canters through structured questionnaires administered in face-to-face approach. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select respondents. Factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and chi-square tests were used to analyse the data. Findings revealed that entrepreneurial characteristics significantly influence SME profitability, with autonomy emerging as the most influential characteristic. However, correlation analysis indicated that autonomy and other characteristics including; education, experience, innovativeness, readiness, confidence, need for achievement, and risk-taking do not have a significant direct linear relationship, implying that their influence is contingent on contextual factors like finance, regulations, and markets. The study concludes that entrepreneurial characteristics alone are insufficient for profitability; instead, their influence depends on their alignment with environmental opportunities, offering insights for policy, training, and SME support interventions. Therefore, policy and practice should move beyond narrow emphasis on formal education or abstract entrepreneurial characteristics. Interventions should promote adaptive leadership, decision-making under uncertainty, and resource mobilisation that promote autonomous behaviour.  
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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