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This paper aims to study the different factors that determine the performance or success of small-scale, non-farm enterprises in Lesotho. Evidence shows that small-scale enterprises in developing countries are confronted with different challenges and problems that make them less viable. As a result, the capacity of small-scale, non-farm enterprises in employment creation, income generation and providing the means of livelihood to the poor people is not significant. In Lesotho, many people who are retrenched from the South African mines are absorbed in small-scale, non-farm enterprises to make a living. However, small-scale enterprises are faced with different challenges. The research findings suggest that factors leading to success/performance of rural non-farm enterprises in Lesotho include gender of the entrepreneur, age of the entrepreneur, ability of the entrepreneur to establish wider social networks, large population/market, availability of communication networks and infrastructure, participation of enterprises in the international market and costs of doing business and competition. In this regard, the paper makes policy recommendations that can be used to improve performance/success of small-scale, non-farm enterprises.

This research uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyse data.

The main finding of the research is that foreign competition hinders the success of non-farm enterprises in Lesotho. The research findings further reveal that enterprises owned by women make the highest turnover compared to those owned by men.

This study brings in different factors that can ensure or hinder success/performance of small-scale, rural non-enterprises.

The research paper is of value in that it is the first study in Lesotho that considers different factors that determine business success in relation to employment creation, turnover and profitability.

The aim of this study is to understand how artisanal food entrepreneurs acting as businesses, which are grounded in the logic of profit and growth, navigate the anti-growth constraints of artisanal logic. The study answers the research question of, how and when do the artisanal entrepreneurs respond to tensions between the small-scale craftsmanship logic and the business growth logic?

This study consists of two cases of artisanal food entrepreneurs situated in rural regions of Sweden. The empirical material is collected through interviews, observations and secondary sources. The analysis consists of two steps: a narrative analysis and a categorization of institutional logics using Pache and Santos (2013) framework.

Our findings show that the artisanal food entrepreneurs used several types of response to the tensions between the two institutional logics. As businesses grew, business growth logic increasingly penetrated the companies' operations. They responded by combining and blending the two logics and avoided growing too large themselves by collaborating with suppliers and local farmers. In addition, other activities needed to be compartmentalized and hidden since these activities could threaten their business images and their own criteria for small-scale food artisans.

Much work on how different institutional logics affect businesses have been on a structural level. This study answers the call on that more research is needed on an individual level by studying how individuals interpret logics and use them in their business activities.

Examines the role and effect of the small scale private sector on Eastern Europe’s economic development, i.e. small private companies, partnerships and entrepreneurs, indicating why it is important in the reform programmes. Discusses the need for an entrenchment of the small scale private sector’s contribution to economic development, through adequate legislation and the right regulatory framework including a competition policy, and a commercial code for business formation and insolvency. Focuses mainly on Poland, and takes into account the author’s own views, observations, discussions and interviews whilst working in Poznan from 1996 to 1997. In particular, finds evidence of an abundance of innate entrepreneurial skills in Poland including the propensity for risk taking, and the presence of one of the best laid regulated economic climates of the transforming economies, although there is still a need for government to encourage small business into manufacturing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors explaining take-up rate of working capital management routines in small-scale businesses.

A cross-sectional survey research was employed using a sample of 450 small-scale businesses in the central business district of Kampala, Uganda. Common working capital management routines and activity rates were analyzed using descriptive statistics. While binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to discriminate between businesses that engage in working capital management frequently and those that do so less frequently.

The results show that on average, the most frequently performed routines relate to safeguarding cash and inventory, and credit risk assessment. Payment management routines are least performed. Second, business size, perceived usefulness and attitude explain high take-up rate of working capital management routines in small-scale businesses. Business age, level of education and financial management training are inconsequential in determining the likelihood to undertake working capital management frequently.

Paucity of studies world over on the input perspective of working capital management limited comparison of the findings with previous research. Future studies should be conducted to confirm the results.

The study findings imply that policy makers should develop work-based training programs that take into account the business size effect.

This study contributes to existing working capital management literature by explaining activity rate in a developing country perspective.

Small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities are particularly associated with their territory and, therefore, are very conditioned by the local culture. This paper aims to explore the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale Latin-American forestry-based enterprising communities.

This study used 212 surveys in companies linked to the production, industrialisation and commercialisation sector of the forestry industry in the province of Misiones (Argentina), using partial least squares to analyse the relationships thereof.

Culture and competitive advantages improve the growth of small-scale timber businesses and growth, in turn, increases financial performance. However, culture does not have an impact on competitive advantage and no interaction effect of culture on competitive advantage was detected. The results can indicate that there might be a need to incorporate other concepts and operationalisation that are better suited to the geographical and industrial contexts in developing countries.

The literature and measures used to operationalise variables in the survey did not necessarily succeed in capturing the culture in the studied small- and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the design of the sample and subjective measures may partially condition the results.

For business managers and consultants, this study indicates that they must take into account the local culture to improve performance. Entrepreneurs must reorient the company strategy towards the long term, integrating local culture into their strategy to generate competitive advantages.

Political authorities and social agents should also take into consideration the cultural aspects of the territory when implementing regulations and specific actions to improve the industry and strengthen the sense of community. The results highlight the vitality of animators and development agencies and of any factor that fosters social cohesion.

The paper shows a new approach to the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities, combining performance in a formal sector with the bazaar model.

To understand the drivers behind small‐scale retailers' collective success, even after a decade of sustained growth of the “modern” retail sector in Latin America.

The study described in this paper was sponsored by the Coca‐Cola Retailing Research Council – Latin America. Consumer research for this study was based both on primary and secondary sources. To understand the drivers behind small‐scale retailers' collective success, standard frameworks were adapted for evaluating their value proposition and business model. Customer‐facing value drivers were examined along with selected ratios from the strategic resource model.

In spite of being “poor,” emerging consumers have a substantial purchasing power as a group. They work with a very specific set of products, categories and store format needs that distinguish them from other consumers. These distinct needs imply that it is not “just a matter of money and time” for them to change their purchasing patterns over to the “modern trade”. In fact, the evidence shows that smaller scale retailers fit the needs of emerging consumers quite well. Despite perceptions that the small retail sector draws its resilience from informality, we conclude that that the sector can be surprisingly efficient. Furthermore, the retailers exhibit a sustainable business model.

Although a wide variety of studies have been developed around small‐scale retailers, less effort has been devoted to learn about local storekeepers that are actually conducting successful business, especially in reference to less developed countries.

Although literature indicated that business social responsibility (BSR) is now a common practice and accepted norm among business enterprises globally, the concept is not well understood and its influence on business performance is contradictory. Therefore, based on the stakeholder theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine the association among trust of BSR and the performance of small-scale industries in Nigeria with organizational culture as a moderating factor.

The hypotheses of the study were tested using personally administered survey questionnaires; the study obtained 486 valid questionnaires, which were evaluated using SmartPLS Algorithm and bootstrapping functions.

The research findings were established using SmartPLS Algorithm and bootstrapping functions. According to the results, the research constructs have a satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. Equally, the overall model has a very high predictive relevance. In addition, the results showed that all the predicting variables explained 40 percent variance in the criterion variable. Thus, the study established strong positive influence of trust of BSR on the small-scale industrial performance. Correspondingly, the study established a strong positive impact of organizational culture on the performance of the small-scale industries. However, the study could not establish the moderating influence of organizational culture on the constructs.

The study used perceptions of owner/managers and only small-scale industries.

The research findings may be found beneficial to policy makers and academics, particularly in understanding trust of social responsibility, its influence on performance of small-scale industries and fit between organizational culture and strategic direction of a business enterprise.

The study offers some meaningful contribution to knowledge on BSR by exploring the mechanisms connecting trust of BSR with performance. Also, research expert in the field of BSR usually explores the advantage of these findings by utilizing the action of BSR on internal and external stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the reasons for starting the new small business by the people and also to find out the difficulties they experienced at the time of and after starting their business at Pabna and Gazipur – two districts of Bangladesh.

To attain the objectives, both primary and secondary data have been used. To collect the primary data, an interview schedule has been used to interview the selected 250 small entrepreneurs. For secondary sources, the journal, article, web site, textbooks, etc. have been consulted.

The paper reveals that money earning for family, self‐employment, relief from the curse of unemployment, family business tradition, previous experience of the similar or different line of business, lack of higher formal education, etc. are the broad general reasons for start‐up of new business. Shortage of fixed and working capital, lack of training and business skill, lack of collateral free institutional support, lack of experienced and reliable employees, etc. are the common factors that inhibit the entrepreneurs to start and run their business smoothly.

The paper is limited to two districts and trading enterprises only. Owing to time and resource constraints and non‐availability of official records of the number of small‐scale traders, statistically representative sampling cannot be chosen. In order to capture a large sample size, almost all trading concerns of Pabna and Gazipur will have to be visited, which is almost impossible. However, some of the limitations are overcome by synthesizing information from a number of sources. The present paper provides a starting‐point for further research in the small‐scale trading of suburban areas of other districts.

The paper provides useful information about the starting of new small businesses and initial difficulties.

Despite the abundance of small-scale farms in the USA and their importance for both rural economic development and food availability, the extensive research on small business management and entrepreneurship has mostly neglected the agricultural context, leaving many of these farms' business challenges unexplored. The authors focus on informing a specific decision faced by small farm managers: selling directly to consumers (i.e. farmer's markets) versus selling through aggregators. By collecting historical data and a series of interviews with industry experts, the authors employ simulation methodology to offer a framework that advises how small-scale farmers can allocate their product across these two channels to increase revenue in a given season. The results, which are relevant for operations management, small business management and entrepreneurship literature, can help small-scale farmers improve their performance and compete against their larger counterparts.

The authors rely on historical and interview data from key industry players (an aggregator and a small farm manager) to design a simulation analysis that determines which factors influence season-long farm revenue performance under varying strategies of channel allocation and commodity production.

The model suggests that farm managers should plan to evenly split their production between the two distribution channels, but if an even split is not possible, they should plan to keep a larger percentage in the nonaggregator (farmers' market/direct) channel. Further, the authors find that farmers can benefit significantly from a strong aggregator channel customer base, which suggests that farmers should promote and advertise the aggregator channel even if they only use it for a limited amount of their product.

The authors integrate small business management and operations management literature to study a widely understudied context and present practical implications for the performance of small-scale farms.

Small businesses growth has become an important area of study in the field of entrepreneurship. This paper aims to extend the inquiry by investigating whether there is a significant difference in growth between firms from the formal sector and the informal sector in the least developing countries (LDCs), particularly Tanzania.

A survey strategy as well as non-probability sampling are used. The sampling included 50 formal and 61 informal small businesses from the furniture industry. Data collected were evaluated using chi square and compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) techniques.

The results indicate that firms from the formal sector do not grow faster than firms from the informal sector. on the contrary, our tests reveal that firms from the informal sector predominantly grow faster than firms from the formal sector.

The study was conducted in Tanzania which is just one of the 48 LDCs in the world. Second, the literature that is used predominantly applies to developed countries. Third, the field work dependent on the respondent’s perception. Finally, change of measurement scale from five to three is ought to have contributed to mixed findings.

The overall implications are that external factors like inadequate regulatory tax systems may affect growth of formal small businesses and thus influence market opportunities for informal small businesses. Further, internal factors like inefficiencies of workers from formal enterprises may affect growth and therefore create more opportunities for informal enterprises.

Exploring differences between firms from the formal sector and the informal sector, and the way five scales were aggregated into three scales in the methodology.