Entrepreneurship in South Africa

The﻿purpose﻿of﻿this﻿study﻿is﻿to﻿contribute﻿to﻿the﻿promotion﻿and﻿development﻿of﻿entrepreneurship﻿in﻿ South﻿Africa. ﻿The﻿objective﻿was﻿to﻿develop﻿and﻿test﻿a﻿model﻿which﻿could﻿be﻿used﻿in﻿the﻿development﻿ and﻿training﻿of﻿entrepreneurs. ﻿Officially,﻿27.7%﻿of﻿South﻿Africans﻿are﻿unemployed. ﻿This﻿is﻿especially﻿ important﻿in﻿that,﻿the﻿South﻿African﻿economy﻿is﻿battling﻿to﻿recover﻿from﻿the﻿world﻿economic﻿crisis﻿ of﻿2009/10,﻿putting﻿pressure﻿on﻿government﻿to﻿alleviate﻿growing﻿unemployment﻿and﻿curtail﻿social﻿ unrest. ﻿The﻿study﻿comprised﻿of﻿a﻿literature﻿review﻿as﻿to﻿how﻿globally﻿entrepreneurs﻿are﻿developed,﻿ culminating﻿in﻿the﻿perceived﻿success﻿factors﻿for﻿entrepreneurship. ﻿These﻿factors﻿were﻿then﻿tested﻿on﻿ small﻿business﻿owners﻿operating﻿in﻿South﻿Africa. ﻿The﻿authors﻿argue﻿that,﻿in﻿order﻿to﻿successfully﻿ develop﻿entrepreneurs:﻿1)﻿99%﻿of﻿entrepreneurs﻿will﻿need﻿to﻿have﻿the﻿required﻿socio-emotional﻿ skills;﻿2)﻿99%﻿of﻿entrepreneurs﻿will﻿require﻿mentorship;﻿and﻿3)﻿95%﻿of﻿entrepreneurs﻿will﻿require﻿ access﻿to﻿start-up﻿capital. KEywoRdS Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Development, Entrepreneurial Education, Entrepreneurial Mentorship, Entrepreneurial Training, Mentorship, South African Entrepreneurship, Start-Up Capital INTRodUCTIoN ANd METHodoLoGy Entrepreneurial﻿ education﻿ and﻿ training﻿ are﻿ needed﻿ for﻿ the﻿ empowerment﻿ of﻿ South﻿ Africans﻿ entrepreneurs. ﻿ Technical﻿ entrepreneurship﻿ education﻿ studies﻿ would﻿ also﻿ have﻿ positive﻿ spin-offs﻿ (Tengeh,﻿ Iwu﻿ &﻿ Nchu,﻿ 2015). ﻿ By﻿ researching﻿ the﻿ global﻿ methods﻿ used﻿ for﻿ the﻿ development﻿ of﻿ entrepreneurs,﻿ in﻿ comparison﻿ to﻿ South﻿ African﻿ methods,﻿ it﻿ is﻿ believed﻿ this﻿ study﻿ will﻿ positively﻿ contribute﻿to﻿the﻿entrepreneurship﻿in﻿South﻿Africa. Some﻿researchers﻿argue﻿that﻿ the﻿stimulation﻿of﻿entrepreneurship﻿is﻿a﻿possible﻿solution﻿to﻿ the﻿ unemployment﻿problem,﻿through﻿business﻿formations﻿and﻿expansions﻿(Mahadea,﻿Ramroop﻿&﻿Zewotir,﻿ 2011). ﻿Therefore,﻿entrepreneurial﻿activity﻿and﻿the﻿creation﻿of﻿new﻿ventures﻿is﻿considered﻿to﻿be﻿a﻿major﻿ economic﻿force﻿with﻿the﻿potential﻿to﻿reduce﻿unemployment﻿by﻿creating﻿jobs,﻿create﻿economic﻿growth﻿ and﻿general﻿prosperity﻿and,﻿to﻿an﻿extent,﻿to﻿enhance﻿national﻿competitiveness﻿in﻿the﻿global﻿business﻿ arena﻿(Nicolaides,﻿2011). Journal of Media Management and Entrepreneurship Volume 2 • Issue 1 • January-June 2020 71 Background to the Problem In﻿South﻿Africa,﻿entrepreneurial﻿intentions,﻿which﻿refer﻿to﻿the﻿willingness﻿to﻿start﻿a﻿new﻿venture,﻿ have﻿ dropped﻿ from﻿ 15.4%﻿ to﻿ 11.8%﻿ when﻿ compared﻿ with﻿ 2013﻿ statistics. ﻿ When﻿ South﻿ Africa’s﻿ nascent﻿entrepreneurial﻿activity﻿between﻿the﻿ages﻿of﻿18﻿and﻿64﻿years﻿in﻿2014﻿is﻿compared﻿with﻿that﻿ of﻿other﻿African﻿countries,﻿South﻿Africa﻿rates﻿the﻿lowest﻿at﻿3.2%,﻿with﻿the﻿group﻿average﻿being﻿14.1%﻿ (Herrington,﻿Kew﻿&﻿Kew,﻿2013). The Problem Formulation To﻿identify﻿the﻿major﻿contributors﻿to﻿the﻿developmental﻿training﻿support﻿of﻿successful﻿entrepreneurs﻿ in﻿South﻿Africa. Formulating the Research Questions and Hypothesis The﻿research﻿problem﻿was﻿addressed﻿by﻿formulating﻿a﻿set﻿of﻿research﻿questions. ﻿The﻿main﻿research﻿ question﻿for﻿this﻿research﻿effort﻿was: RQ1:﻿What﻿are﻿the﻿main﻿contributors﻿and﻿variables﻿that﻿positively﻿affect﻿the﻿developmental﻿training﻿ support﻿of﻿entrepreneurs﻿in﻿South﻿Africa﻿and﻿in﻿what﻿order﻿of﻿priority﻿should﻿they﻿be﻿applied﻿to﻿ the﻿development﻿of﻿entrepreneurial﻿activity? Hypotheses﻿ were﻿ created﻿ to﻿ test﻿ whether﻿ relationships﻿ exist﻿ between﻿ the﻿ main﻿ problem﻿ and﻿the﻿factors﻿identified﻿which﻿may﻿contribute﻿to﻿the﻿successful﻿development﻿and﻿training﻿of﻿ entrepreneurs,﻿in﻿South﻿Africa. ﻿The﻿hypotheses﻿were﻿centred﻿on﻿Global,﻿Individual﻿and﻿Financial﻿ success﻿for﻿entrepreneurship. Purpose and Research objective of the Study Once﻿ the﻿ identified﻿ factors﻿were﻿ tested﻿ and﻿ the﻿ relationships﻿ analysed,﻿ a﻿model﻿was﻿ created,﻿ showing﻿ the﻿ various﻿ stakeholders﻿ for﻿ entrepreneurial﻿ development. ﻿ A﻿ model﻿ was﻿ then﻿ constructed﻿to﻿depict﻿these﻿findings﻿and﻿involvement﻿of﻿the﻿various﻿contributing﻿stakeholders﻿ for﻿entrepreneurship﻿(Figure﻿1). The Sample 332﻿responses﻿were﻿collected﻿randomly﻿from﻿South﻿African﻿business﻿owners. ﻿46%﻿were﻿from﻿familyrun﻿businesses. ﻿75%﻿of﻿the﻿responses﻿came﻿from﻿males﻿with﻿the﻿majority﻿coming﻿from﻿ages﻿between﻿ 40﻿and﻿70﻿years﻿old. Measuring Instrument All﻿questionnaire﻿items﻿were﻿linked﻿to﻿a﻿7-point﻿Likert-type﻿scale﻿with﻿strongly﻿agree﻿scored﻿as﻿1﻿ and﻿strongly﻿disagree﻿scored﻿as﻿7. ﻿Structural﻿Equation﻿Modelling﻿(SEM)﻿was﻿used﻿to﻿analyse﻿the﻿ quantitative﻿data﻿received﻿from﻿the﻿respondents. Statistical Procedures In﻿order﻿to﻿identify﻿the﻿unique﻿factors﻿in﻿the﻿data,﻿an﻿exploratory﻿factor﻿analysis﻿was﻿conducted. ﻿ The﻿software﻿application,﻿LISREL﻿version﻿8.8﻿was﻿used﻿to﻿determine﻿the﻿discriminant﻿validity﻿ of﻿ the﻿data. ﻿To﻿confirm﻿ the﻿ reliability﻿of﻿ the﻿ instruments﻿used,﻿each﻿ factor’s﻿Cronbach﻿alpha﻿ coefficient﻿ was﻿ calculated. ﻿ Structural﻿ equation﻿ modelling﻿ (SEM)﻿ was﻿ used﻿ to﻿ measure﻿ the﻿ relationships﻿ amongst﻿ the﻿dependent﻿ variables,﻿ identified﻿ as﻿ perceived﻿Global﻿ and﻿perceived﻿ Individual﻿success﻿of﻿entrepreneurs. 14 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/entrepreneurship-in-southafrica/246067? camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Communications and Social Science. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/? id=2