Abstract
Orientation: The South African economy and, in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have shown uninspiring performance, reflected in low levels of job creation, worryingly low levels of total early-stage entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial employee activity (EEA). As SMEs are the innovation and growth engine of an economy, the poor EEA levels (0.7%) indicate lacklustre levels of innovation and intrapreneurial activity.Research purpose: This study aims to fill the void by assessing the effect of intrapreneurial orientation (IO) at the employee level on internal SME growth.Motivation for the study: Despite this bleak outlook, to date no study has attempted to determine the influence of an IO on SME growth metrics.Research design, approach and method: The study is quantitative in nature, using an adapted questionnaire and employing a random sampling approach. Data were analysed by means of factor, correlation and regression analyses. A total of 290 responses were received from SME employees across South Africa.Main findings: The empirical study showed that only risk-taking, innovativeness, personal control, self-esteem and certain managerial factors positively relate to the growth of an SME.Practical/managerial implications: The findings provide insights for managers within SMEs on improving employee entrepreneurial activity and growth rates, by means of focusing on growth-supportive IO interventions.Contribution/value-add: The findings of this research are beneficial to academia and industry as the framework and measuring instrument offer additional insights into IO within SMEs.
Highlights
Long regarded as the economic powerhouse of sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has experienced social and economic turmoil in recent times
While responses were received from all nine provinces, the majority originated from the economic powerhouse of South Africa, Gauteng (60.7%), followed by Mpumalanga (17.2%), North-West province (6.9%), Western Cape (5.5%), Free State (3.1%) and Limpopo (2.8%)
The results of this study indicated that the adapted measuring instrument displays adequate internal consistency
Summary
Long regarded as the economic powerhouse of sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has experienced social and economic turmoil in recent times. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have long been touted as the solution to these socio-economic woes, with increasing reliance placed on entrepreneurs and SMEs to keep the economy buoyant, create new employment opportunities and thereby reduce unemployment (Herrington, Kew & Mwanga 2017; SEDA 2017). The importance of SMEs can be seen in their economic significance; SMEs account for approximately 91% of formalised businesses in South Africa, providing 60% of employment opportunities to the labour force and contributing an estimated 34% of the GDP (Abor & Quartey 2010; SEDA 2017). The 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) points to South Africa as only one of three economies, besides Burkina Faso and Colombia, in which 15% of entrepreneurs expect to create no jobs at all because of a lack of growth and a subdued economic environment. The report further casts the spotlight on the country’s low total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rate of 6.9%, which is among the http://www.actacommercii.co.za
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