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The paper aims to investigate challenges facing small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in public procurement in Botswana from the view of a buyer.

The researchers conducted consultative workshops, succeeded by focus groups and follow-up telephone interviews, to collect and validate data. A total of 75 procurement officers from central government ministries and local governments participated in the study.

Results indicate that SMMEs find it difficult to deal with public procurement because of lack of capacity, unfair bias against SMMEs, inefficient government payment systems, unfair competition from their larger and established counterparts and centralized public procurement. The paper recommends a comprehensive integrated framework, improvement of SMME capacity and adopting policies to ensure greater public procurement market access.

This study aims to verify the influence of chief executive officer (CEO) cognitive trust and governmental support on marketing innovation. Additionally, it evaluated the influence of CEO cognitive trust on the marketing innovation of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

The authors empirically assessed the impact of CEO cognitive trust on SMME marketing innovation. Furthermore, the authors examined the mediating effect of governmental support on this relationship. The authors then studied a sample of 1,770 SMMEs in China by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The authors found that CEO cognitive trust was negatively associated with marketing innovation. Moreover, governmental support has a competitive mediating effect on this relationship. Thus, while governmental support is urgently needed to enhance the marketing innovation of SMMEs, CEO cognitive trust negatively impacts this relationship.

This study empirically establishes the importance of CEO cognitive trust and governmental support as antecedents in SMME marketing innovation. This contributes to the knowledge base of the management field, adding to important streams in the wider business literature, such as marketing studies, leadership management, strategic management and innovation. While the model is parsimonious, the relationships it highlights are robust and can be generalized to other contexts.

Managers must not only have high levels of trust and authority but must also embody these characteristics rationally. Simultaneously, managers must actively establish a trusting relationship with the government, thereby improving their company’s ability to integrate government policy information while also actively seeking governmental support. These measures are helpful in enhancing the marketing innovation capabilities of SMMEs.

SMMEs occupy an important position in all countries’ economies and their vitality directly determines the strength of the economy. Formulating reasonable marketing strategies will help enhance market competitiveness and promote the rapid development of SMMEs.

The literature on marketing innovation has paid little attention to CEO cognitive trust, while CEOs’ cognitive characteristics are an increasingly relevant antecedent in SMME marketing innovation. This study analyzed CEO cognitive trust as a possible antecedent of marketing innovation activities in SMMEs, with this influence path being evaluated. This study extends the current knowledge in this field by considering the effects of CEO cognitive trust on marketing innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to test the interaction effect of government support in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) survival in post-war communities in Northern Uganda.

Cross-sectional research design was used in the study and quantitative data were collected from 304 SMMEs located in Gulu District using a semi-structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) through the use of analysis of moment structures was adopted to establish the interaction effect of government support in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and SMMEs survival in post-war communities in Northern Uganda. Furthermore, Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to show the association between the variables under study.

The results revealed that there is a significant interaction effect of government support in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and SMMEs survival in post-war communities in Northern Uganda. Besides, the results indicated that business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and government support have significant and positive impacts on SMMEs survival in post-war communities in Northern Uganda.

The study employed cross-sectional research design, thus, ignoring longitudinal study approach. Besides, the sample was selected from only Gulu District, therefore, leaving out other Districts located in Northern Uganda.

Advocates of recovery programs and interventions in developing countries should consider government support as a vital factor in promoting business skill, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, and entrepreneurial education in order to enhance SMMEs growth in post-war communities. In addition, governments in developing countries should offer investment incentives and tax waivers to infant SMMEs in post-war communities like in Northern Uganda.

The study examined the interaction effect of government support in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and SMMEs survival in post-war communities in developing countries. Thus, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to test the interaction effect of government support in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and SMMEs survival in post-war communities in Northern Uganda. The use of government support as a moderator in the relationship between business skills, capital adequacy, access to finance, access to market, entrepreneurial education, and SMMEs survival is scarce in entrepreneurship literature and theory. This creates uniqueness in this study.

Activities in the manufacturing sector are often considered the bedrock of an economy and a key driver of growth and development. Within the South African manufacturing sector, operations skills are reported to be deficient and are often cited as a main cause of failure in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). This study aims to explore and test this fragile relationship between operations skills and SMME sustainability. It also aims to conduct empirical investigations in a high density SMME manufacturing environment.

Building on previously established literature on SMME sustainability and operations skills, various measures are developed and tested for reliability and validity. Factor analysis is used to identify relevant factors in terms of operations skills. Correlational analysis is then employed to test the hypothesized relationship. The study is cross‐sectional in design and relies on trained fieldworkers administering surveys to a diverse set of SMMEs.

Five clear factors for operations skills are identified which further show links with business sustainability. The hypothesis is supported where significant correlations reveal that several operations skills are positively associated with sustainability.

SMME owners, educators and service providers can all benefit from the study's findings by the increased awareness on the nature and associations that operational skills have on developing sustainable SMMEs.

The study focused on a neglected area of SMMEs – the importance of operations towards business sustainability, and has made a contribution towards theory development through empirical explorations. This is a first in South Africa where an instrument measuring operations skills has been validated and associated with SMME sustainability in a manufacturing context.

Innovation is regarded as a crucial determinant of growth and development in South Africa, and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have been earmarked as instruments for the achievement of the socio-economic goals and innovation as set out in the National Development Plan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of innovation on SMME performance in South Africa.

The empirical analysis was conducted using the quantile regression technique to examine the effect of innovation on the performance of firms at different sales levels. Data from the World Bank's enterprise survey was used for the analysis.

The results of the empirical analysis showed that R & D expenditures have a positive and significant effect on performance for firms with higher sales (high growth or larger firms). There is evidence that the introduction of new products/services promotes performance for low growth/ smaller firms.

The empirical results imply that innovation is crucial for SMMEs’ development and growth. However, smaller/low growth firms are not able to spend on R & D due to a lack of funds which could be the reason for their low survival rate. More support needs to be provided to smaller firms with lower sales growth, given the large financial outlay required for R & D expenditures. Despite the lack of funding for R & D expenditure, smaller firms are encouraged to introduce new products and methods of production that do not require major financial outlays.

There is scant empirical evidence on the impact of innovation on firm performance in South Africa. Most studies investigate the challenges faced by SMMEs and the different types of innovation approaches used by firms. Furthermore, the study employs the quantile regression approach which highlights the effect of innovation on firms of different sizes.

Public policy supported by effective institutions is one of the key strategies for promoting entrepreneurial activities. However, the problem is that an enabling environment that supports entrepreneurship is often lacking in several African countries. The aim of this article is to deepen our understanding of the mix of policy and institutional factors which create an enabling environment for enterprise growth in Swaziland.

Primary data are sourced from 200 enterprises across Swaziland's main regions and hypotheses are statistically tested using correlational and regression analyses.

Results show that a mix of different institutional and state support factors such as access to markets, education and training, access to finance, contract enforcement, regulations and business support programmes all have a significant and positive impact on enterprise growth.

Study implications relate to the need for specific and targeted policy interventions required to foster an enabling environment in order to stimulate enterprise growth in Swaziland.

Empirical investigations on enterprise growth in under-researched developing market contexts, such as Swaziland, are important since in many developing and emerging markets small enterprises are at the epicentre of the economy Moreover, this study adds to the stream of research highlighting that the application of institutional theory provides a detailed theoretical understanding of the actors and the process by which enterprise policy is formulated.

South Africa’s entry into the 1990s was dramatic. Change has become a reality and change always implies both opportunities and threats. The new government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) being a statement of intent, outlines definite principles in promoting small, medium and micro enterprise (SMMEs) in South Africa. South Africa has undeniably for many years been foremost among the world’s most deeply polarized and pathologically stressed societies. Affirmative action presupposes and follows on equal opportunity and should therefore be a supplement rather than a substitute for equal opportunity. Focuses on challenges facing SMMEs in South Africa amid present changes and resistance to change. Reflects the major trends of an explorative study just completed countrywide and provides some guidelines for transformational and visionary leadership.

This paper explores the impact of affirmative action on the culture of small business enterprises in South Africa. The functions of organizational culture are explored and utilized to reach a deeper understanding of the desired impact of affirmative action. Managers are identified as holding key roles as change agents. Recommendations include managing change from a culture perspective directed at creating participative management processes and shifting the enterprise’s essential values.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the empirical relationships that exist between two of the elements of a sound internal control system, namely internal control activities and managerial conduct, and the perceived sustainability of South African small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

Data were obtained from management and employees of 100 South African SMMEs operating in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. All participants were interviewed by means of face-to-face structured interviews due to the complexity of the questions posed.

Only general management competencies have a relationship with the economic sustainability of these business entities. The rejection of three of the four hypotheses supports the current poor sustainability rate with approximately 75 per cent of South African SMMEs having to close their doors after being in operation for only three years.

As this study is the first of its kind for SMMEs, and although limited relationships were identified, it is crucial for management of SMMEs as well as government bodies that have an influence sphere over these entities, to ensure that SMME management incorporate crucial internal control activities and appropriate management conduct in their businesses.

In order to be successful, micro‐enterprise owners in South Africa face several management challenges. To overcome these challenges it is crucial that they possess sufficient financial management skills to ensure business survival and growth. This article focuses on determining the extent to which the critical financial management skills that micro‐enterprise owners in South Africa require differ from those they possess, in order to identify specific interventions to develop the skills that are lacking. It was found that most micro‐enterprise owners do not possess the critical financial management skills required. Recommendations are made on how members of the accounting profession could become involved in developing these skills.