Academic literature on the topic 'Small business – Ethiopia'

This paper aims to analyze unfitness of micro and small enterprises with the existing trade law particularly partnership rules in Ethiopia. Qualitative research methodology is utilized in order to capture and analyze accurate and in-depth insight of the fact that micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia are not compatible with the existing partnership law though partnership form of firms are suitable for small business. The available literatures related to the issue were professionally scrutinized and analyzed for the purpose of the research. The results of this research shows that micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia are formed as simply business organization which does not specify the kind of firm structure. Formation, management, liability and dissolution of micro and small enterprises deviate from the partnership requirements stipulated under the Ethiopian commercial code. Furthermore, micro and small enterprises are operating as informal sector business though the sectors‘ development strategy clearly states that they should be organized under trade law. Therefore, micro and small enterprises system should be reformed in order to make them to be compatible with the existing commercial law.

Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) have become the focus of attention for the economic development, economic growth and job creations in the world. Majority of the firms worldwide are dominated by businesses of micro and small enterprises. In developing countries, the informal sector that mainly establishes MSE remains the major source of employment and income for the urban population. A study was conducted to examine the performance of MSE in three zones of Tigray State, namely, Southern zone, Mekelle zone and Eastern zone. The data was collected using structured questionnaire on 246 MSE business owners. The data are analyzed using multiple linear regressions (dummy), Cross tabulations and chi-square test for test of independence. The result revealed that Gender, initial capital, enterprise and job type are found to be important factors of performance of MSE. There is a gender difference on sector type, education level and work sheds of micro and small enterprises business owner. The result also showed that initial capital has positively affected the performance of business owners and men headed business owners have better performance than female headed business owners. Keywords: Micro- and Small Enterprises, Performance, Gender, Tigray, Ethiopia.

Microfinance institutions render essential services to start-up small, micro, medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) by way of extending loans to entrepreneurs. SMMEs operating in South Africa have relatively better access to microfinance loans in comparison with those operating in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. A survey was conducted in order to compare the relative ease of access to microfinance loans in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia based on a survey conducted in the four Sub-Saharan African countries. The ease of access to microfinance loans was assessed based on criteria defined by Barry and Tacneng (2014). A total of 401 SMMEs participated in the study. Loan applicants were asked to provide answers to questions that indicated the ease of securing loans and meeting loan repayment conditions. Emphasis was placed on the demand for collateral as a requirement for extending loans to applicants, the assessment of entrepreneurial and auditing skills of loan applicants, the difficulty of meeting loan repayment conditions, and adherence to regulations and guidelines recommended by governments. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate methods of data analyses were used for data analyses. The study found that about 21% of SMMEs were satisfied with the ease of securing loans, whereas the remaining 79% of SMMEs did not. The ease of access to microfinance loans varied by country in which South African loan applicants were the most satisfied in comparison with the remaining three countries. Securing microfinance loans, as well as fulfilling loan repayment conditions were easiest in South Africa, and most difficult in Ethiopia. In terms of ease of securing loans and meeting loan repayment conditions, the order of nations was ranked as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. In all four countries, the ease of access to microfinance loans was influenced by country of business operation, extent of benefits realized by SMMEs, and highest level of formal education.

The present research paper highlights small-scale business leadership in Ethiopia to assess the financial bureau in Yayu Woreda of Ilu Abba Bora Zone of Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. The other allied purpose relates to evaluating the budgetary performance of the Yayo Woreda finance office in the Ilu Abba Bora Zone. The sampling technique is based on simple random sampling, and scientifically there were 100 samples of respondents taken from approximately one thousand and three hundred and seventy-three employees in the woreda. The representative samples were included one head office person, the council head of the budget and finance committee, plus the committee members from the Audit Office, Auditor general, deputy auditor general, Audit manager, and the audit team of consolidated financial statements. Additionally, three employees were also included from each sector, such as planners, accountants, and internal auditors, to control appropriate utilization of limited resources and auditing performance for the allocated budget at the woreda finance office. The descriptive survey design was employed in this study, and appropriate data collection methods were used through questionnaires and interviews. However, the secondary data is extracted from the final report and oversight of the written books and brochures. The data were analyzed and interpreted while using an appropriate methodology of concurrent concern. The study established that the budget implementation and its performance have a negative relationship to some extent. It is recommended that the woreda must have to enhance its manpower, particularly in the budget process, to improve budgetary performance, particularly in the aspect of small-scale business leadership.

The study focuses on “perception towards regulatory burden on small and medium enterprise performance” in Shashemene town, west Arsi zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. The study adopted a qualitative research approach to address broad objective through answering research questions developed by a researchers. Specifically, this study used questionnaire to collect data from SMEs business owners, managers and employees and in-depth interview conducted. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The information obtained from a samples of the 140 small and medium enterprise and through face-to-face interview of 10 owners of SMEs business. The respondents were selected using stratified sampling techniques. The result of the study show that small and medium enterprise challenges from different factors as they perceived from the challenges of regulatory burden and identifies mechanisms used to mitigate problems from regulatory burden and how much the regulators have smooth contact with them and to what extent regulators made inspections. Moreover, the result indicated the perception of SMEs businesses towards regulatory burden. As a whole, the study suggests a series of measures should be taken by government policy, makers and regulators for SMEs performance. Researchers’ conclude and recommend that government bodies, Small and medium enterprise business owners, managers, employees and policy makers should focus on regulation to reduce regulatory burden on small and medium enterprises.

The study investigated the effect of market orientation on the performance of small and medium enterprises in case of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Primary data was collected from a total of 250 owners/managers of small and medium enterprises using structured questionnaire. A multivariate data analysis technique of structural equation modelling was employed to analyse the data. The result indicated that customer orientation and interfunctional coordination dimensions of MO are significantly and positively affected small and medium enterprises performance. However, competitor orientation dimension was not found to have a positive and significant effect on the performance. The findings revealed that small and medium enterprises need to be more market oriented to realize superior performance. In addition, the different beta coefficient of market orientation indicated that new business ventures are highly recommended to conduct a market orientation profile and take care in investing their scarce resources. Moreover, the mixed results indicate that firms are advised to replicate market orientation to score superior performance with due care in considering the contexts and time in the industry they are operating and match strategies with their internal resources and core competencies. Finally, this study contributed to the almost wholly overlooked research on market orientation and performance linkages in Ethiopian case and the empirical context of this study is quite novel and helpful for developed nations firms who are trying to operate in emerging economies such as Ethiopia.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of causation and effectuation behaviour of Ethiopian entrepreneurs on the eventual performance of their newly established small firms. It adds new knowledge and insights to advance the theory of effectuation by extending its scope into the domain of entrepreneurial behaviour and firm performance and by testing one of the operationalized scales in an African context. Design/methodology/approach This empirical research is conducted amongst Ethiopian tour operators (n=118) based on primary data from the field. The scales are based on Chandler et al. (2011), which are adapted to fit to the tourism sector and validated in an African context using a two-stage exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Hierarchical multiple regression is used to assess the ability of entrepreneurs’ behaviour (i.e. causation and effectuation) at the startup phase to predict the eventual performance of their newly established firms (self-reported changes in employment size, sales, profit and assets) over three years (January 2012-2015). Findings The findings reveal a varied effect of causation and effectuation on financial and non-financial measures. Causation is positively related to an increase in employment size, whereas the overall effect of effectuation is positively related to financial performance measures, although its dimensions vary in their effects on sales, profit and assets increase. The paper concludes that causation and effectuation have varied implications on firm performance. In other words, unlike the findings of other research in Western contexts, a strong empirical support is not found to claim that effectuation is superior to causation in outcomes such as firm performance in Ethiopian context. Research limitations/implications While this paper provides a new data set for entrepreneurship literature, its findings may lack generalisability. Not only it is industry specific (tourism sector), but also it is conducted in a single African country (Ethiopia). Despite its limitations, the paper adds new knowledge and insights for empirical studies in entrepreneurship field on the effects of entrepreneurs’ behaviour, such as causation and effectuation; on firm performance. Future research should focus on other economic sectors and in different African countries before making generalisations about the effect of causation and effectuation behaviour of African entrepreneurs on firm performance. Practical implications The findings of this paper can be used in other hospitality and tourism sectors like hotels and souvenir shops since tour operating business includes a broad range of service activities such as sightseeing, accommodation, transportation, recreational activities and shopping. Besides, these results have practical implications to prepare and provide business and management training tools to enhance entrepreneurial and managerial skills of owners of small tourism firms in Ethiopia. The findings of the study can also be applied in other African countries with similar culture and business environments to promote tourism development and success in Africa. Originality/value There have been hardly any empirical studies that are undertaken on the implications of entrepreneurial behaviour such as causation and effectuation on the performance of small tourism firms, particularly in an African context. The paper addresses this research gap in entrepreneurship literature in drawing on empirical evidence from small tourism firms (tour operators) in Ethiopia.

Entrepreneurial marketing is a non-conventional marketing technique that provides business owners a method to successfully operate their business with limited resources. The main objective of this study is to therefore investigate whether entrepreneurial marketing can affect the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Ethiopia, specifically in the city of Jimma. A purposive sampling technique was employed to gather data from 100 business owners that have been on market for more than 7 years. The data were analysed using Minitab and SPSS statistical software packages. The study showed that some elements of entrepreneurial marketing indeed affect the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. Innovation orientation and customer intensity have a positive relationship with the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises and are statistically significant, while risk-taking orientation has a negative relationship and is statistically significant. It is therefore recommended that business owners apply the concept of entrepreneurial marketing to leverage their limited resources to cope with competitors and maintain the sustainability of their business.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the determinants of financing preferences of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) owners in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia in light of the Pecking Order Hypothesis (POH).Design/methodology/approachStructured questionnaires were used to collect data from 120 MSEs in six zonal towns of Tigray regional state. Logistic regression model was used to empirically test the literature‐driven hypotheses.FindingsKey findings include that POH holds true for MSE owners in Tigray regional state as the educational level of owners decreases and there is less intrusion in the form of ownership. On the other hand, MSE owners with a higher degree of entrepreneurial skills are found to conform with the predictions of POH. Furthermore, factors such as ownership type, acquisition type, level of education of the owner/s and reason for business startups are found to be major determinants of MSE owners' financing preferences.Research limitations/implicationsThere are of course elements that could determine MSE owners' financing preferences that require better understanding before a reliable prescriptive position on SME financing can be reached. At the same time, in this paper, data were collected from one regional state of Ethiopia that limits the generalization power of the conclusions reached. A need for more in‐depth qualitative investigation is further pointed out.Originality/valueThe research shows significance of ownership structure, entrepreneurability and MSE owners' education level in financing decisions of MSEs. The paper empirically tests POH in MSEs in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is fast growing economy among countries in the continent of Africa and the participation of skilled women in the small business enterprises has become interesting for the analysis come across. The role of education of women is the crucial one, especially for third world countries like Ethiopia. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the participation of skilled women in Micro & Small Enterprises in case of Mettu town. This study has attempted to portray participation of educated women in Micro and Small Enterprises in the study area. To conduct this study, the data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources of data obtained through structured questionnaire, interviews and observations however the secondary sources of data are books, journals and different written documents of government as well as NGOs. Descriptive method of statistics has been used to analyze the data. The findings of the study reveal that despite of financial crunches the participation of women particularly skilled in MSEs gradually increasing over the period of time in town. Educated women are more likely preferring service sector followed by trade sector in the study area.

The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a facilitator and enabler for development and poverty reduction has been increasingly recognised by many international organisations. ICTs need to be diffused in society to have their effects realised. The diffusion of ICTs in developing countries is lagging behind the developed countries creating the digital divide. Although the divide is reducing in many sub-Saharan countries, in Ethiopia it is increasing. The purpose of this study is to find the factors that affect the adoption and nonadoption of ICTs in small and micro businesses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A number of sectors were explored and the hotel and tour operator sector was found to have both adopters and non-adopters. The hotel and tour operator business in Addis Ababa was selected to be the study population. The main research question was to find the connection between the political, economic, and social factors and the adoption and use of ICT in this sector. While cultural, social-economic, political and legal factors affect the adoption of innovation in both developed and developing countries, these factors are more pronounced in the developing countries. Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory is a good initial theoretical candidate for understanding the ICT diffusion factors. However, to include the national level factors, a theoretical framework was proposed based on Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory. An exploratory research method was used to shed light on the adoption and non-adoption factors. It uses mixed methods research methodology in two phases to collect data from owners/managers. In the first phase in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 hoteliers who adopted ICT in their businesses. In the second phase survey questionnaires were used to collect data from 128 hoteliers and 57 tour operators. In this phase both adopters and non-adopters of ICT were included. Data were analysed using NVivo and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software packages. This study argues that the telecommunications monopoly, the non-affordability of ICT products and services, the general economic situation, lack of knowledge and awareness of the technology, and lack of legal protection for small hotels affect the adoption negatively. On the other hand, network externalities, competition among hoteliers, and major customers (foreign) act as a facilitator agent and have a positive impact on the adoption of ICT. The researcher argues that the political, social, economic, technological and legal policies are the sources of the adoption and non-adoption factors of ICTs in the hotel and tour operator business.

Prior studies have revealed that recent Asian and Hispanic immigrant entrepreneurs have made significant contributions to social change in the United States. Although African immigrant entrepreneurs have made such contributions, few studies exist about them, and there is limited knowledge about this business community. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the barriers of growth in Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrant-owned firms in the Washington, DC area who were in business for a minimum of 3 years and represented various trade lines and geographical locations. The enhanced integrated model of ethnic business development, which proposes growth strategies by analyzing the interaction of opportunity structures, ethnic resources, and entrepreneurial and management skills, was used as the conceptual framework to guide this study. Semistructured interview data were gathered from the business owners and then analyzed by employing a pattern matching technique. The data analysis revealed the themes of management deficiencies and the lack of organizational support system as the main growth barriers of the firms studied. These findings suggested the improvement of management skills and the creation of an organizational support system. This effort demands a collaboration of public, private, and community organizations. The results of this study may have positive social change implications to local economies by facilitating the growth of immigrant-owned businesses and enhancing their job and income-creating potential.

The small enterprise has become a major sphere of interest for policy makers and donors. Despite the institutional and policy support, these enterprises have fallen short of expectations. This study is intended to fill the gap by exploring the challenges and prospects of the entrepreneurs in the small enterprise in general and specifically rate the challenges across each sector in Mekelle and Adigrat, Tigray Regional State of Ethiopia. Generally, 154 samples of the small enterprise were selected using a stratified proportional random sampling technique, from which the required data were generated and analysed employing the descriptive and exploratory research design. In the first part, the characteristics and prospects of the entrepreneurs and the small enterprise are presented. The finding reveals that the gender of the entrepreneurs is dominated by and is in favour of male entrepreneurs when compared to that of their female counterparts. The majority of respondents lack the relevant experiences and operate as sole proprietors. Furthermore, business plan is found out to be used only to meet the requirements of the financial institutions. The result also revealed that small enterprises are operated mainly by the owners of the business themselves and hence their contributions to employment and income generation for others is very limited. Financial constraint is found out as a general challenge to entrepreneurs of the small enterprises. In addition, different constraints such as training, access to finance, market opportunities, policy and legal measures are examined and rated across different business types where each factors are found to affect small enterprises at a different rates. What is severe problem for one sector is found out to be not a problem when compared to other sectors. These imply that policies and support programs need to take in to account the heterogeneous nature of enterprises and entrepreneurs. Overall, the result discloses a high failure rate of the small enterprises in the study sites and one can conclude that there is a lack of innovation from the side of entrepreneurs and a weak support from the government and other supporting institutions. In view of these, the researcher recommends an innovative support schemes to ameliorate and accelerate the growth of the small enterprises.
Development Studies
D. Phil. (Development Studies)

The primary objective of this study was to examine how and to what extent entrepreneurial orientation, firm internal resources and capital structure decisions affect growth of small enterprises, following the resource- based view on determinants of growth and static trade-off theory of capital structure as theoretical frameworks. Regardless of the number of earlier study, there is no consensus among scholars on determinants of growth due to the existence of different theories and metrics of growth. Moreover, as the earlier studies were undertaken in developed countries, their research findings could not permit generalization on the effect of the explanatory variables on growth in less developed countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this research tried to fill the gap in the existing body of knowledge on determinants of growth by contextualizing the association of growth with firm specific factors and EO from the Ethiopian context, more specifically from the context of Tigray Regional State. Besides, extra variables that were either not considered or might have been tested separately in earlier studies in Ethiopia were integrated into the regression model. In this mixed explanatory cross-sectional research, systematic random sampling techniques and structure questionnaire were applied to collect primary data from 333 small enterprises operating in five urban towns of Tigray region. Dependent variable of the study was growth of small enterprises, defined as logarithm of change in number of employees at the time of establishment and time of survey. The explanatory variables comprise of entrepreneurial orientation with three dimensions, tangible and intangible resources under the control of a given enterprises, capital structure decisions, external factors such as marketing related problems cost and accessibility of infrastructure, government policies and bureaucracy, business development services were also included in the regression model. Descriptive statistics, statistical difference tests, multiple regression analysis and Propensity Score Matching were applied for the purpose of data analysis with the help of Stata version 12 software. Majority of the small enterprises demonstrated moderate degree of entrepreneurial orientation and location nearer to major customers, entrepreneurial orientation, strong financial position, access to credit and leverage have statistically significant positive effect on growth of small enterprises which support the resource based view and static trade-off theory of capital structure as well as the perceived hypothesis. On the other hand, consistent to the hypothesis, age and size of small enterprises showed negative significant effect on growth, that supports Jovanovich’s learning model but against the Girbat’s law of proportionate effect. Moreover, the relationship between education and growth was found to be non-linear or volatile-growth of SEs tend to declined until certain level, reached a minimum level after which SEs with more educated owners tend to grow faster. This implies that unless owners’ years of education reach a very high level of schooling, a given increase in years of schooling could not necessarily result into higher growth rate. Based on the findings, the researcher suggests (i) in order to solve financial constraints of SEs, stakeholder need introduction of National Credit Guarantee Fund, Promotion of non-bank financial services, introduce Mandatory Minimum Bank Loan to small enterprises, establish specialized banking system that specifically support the small enterprise sector, (ii) provide working premises such as shades at concessional cost, (iii) facilitate establishment of small enterprise commercial centers, (iv) strengthen the clustering practices,(v) facilitate provision of adequate infrastructure at reasonable price, (vi) as TVET completed individuals outperform in growth rate, educational institutions in Ethiopia need to incorporate competence based training system and entrepreneurship into their syllabus by strengthening the industry university linkages
Business Management
DBL

The purpose of this study was to investigate internationalisation of Ethiopian SMEs by examining internal and external factors that motivate or restrict internationalization process and the impact of internal and external barriers on SMEs export performance. The small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) sector in Ethiopia is a significant group within the economy in terms of firm numbers and total employment. However, the SMEs sector’s share of exports is disproportionately small, which raised considerable research concerns. Firm export propensity and export performance were the dependent variables and export stimuli and barrier factors were used as explanatory variables. The study was conducted through mixed research design. A questionnaire was administered to 90(36 exporting and 54 nonexporting) SMEs in Leather and Leather Products Industry in Addis Ababa selected through stratified random sampling. In order to complement survey results nine (4 exporting and 5 non-exporting) SMEs were selected through critical case purposive sampling and an in-depth interviews were conducted. Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20) was used to analyse the quantitative data whereas, qualitative data were analysed manually. Analytical techniques used were, Chisquare test of independence, Spearman rank order correlation, factor analysis, binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The statistical results of binary logistic regression analysis and chi-square tests indicated that managerial factors, internal marketing factors and foreign government related factors, firm ownership and size are the most significant motivators of SMEs internationalisation in Ethiopia. On the contrary the result showed that, logistics problem, insufficient finance, functional barriers, lack of export knowledge and information, procedural barriers and international trade barriers are the factors hindering it. Further analysis was conducted to examine the impact of export barriers on performance of firms. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that, export barriers significantly and negatively affect export performance. The overall results revealed that explanatory variables used in the analysis significantly predict the dependent variable at 95% confidence level. Considering these results numerous implications for theory, practice, and future research were recommended. Finally, the study concluded that internationalisation of SMEs has to be encouraged by mitigating both internal and external barriers identified in this study.
Business Management
D. Admin. (Business Management)

Poor people benefit from microfinance and positively improve their poverty and socio-economic conditions. Microfinance support serves as development tool to redress the exclusion of the poor from the development process and outcomes in the mainstream intervention frameworks. As developing countries and poverty context are diverse and contextual, comprehensive knowledge about and empirical evidence on the impact of microfinance is scant. Specifically, the impact of microfinance services on the development of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) owned by women is scant. The findings of available studies and policy practice reports on microfinance in Ethiopia are not holistic in terms of a theoretical lens and methodological pluralism. Available studies do not consider the impact of microfinance and non-financial services on women-owned MSEs at household, individual and enterprise levels thereby reducing the poverty context and holistic empowerment at these levels. This study used multiple theoretical and conceptual frameworks: Hulme’s (2000, p. 79 - 81) microfinance impact assessment tool, debates on survivalist and growth-orientation perspectives of MSEs (Harvie, 2003, p. 27; Snodgrass & Biggs, 1996, p. 43; Hallberg, 2001, p. 19; Nichter & Goldmark, 2005, p. 67), women empowerment continuum model of interpretation (Filmon, 2009, p. 87) and policy practice at the epicenter of governance and policy decision-making (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital). The assessment considered three elements of microfinance impact assessment, generating primary evidence from 120 micro and small business owners (women entrepreneurs) whose firms stayed two years and above in the market and as clients of selected microfinance institutions. The clients considered were those who accessed at least two loan cycles and above. The respondents were randomly selected from three randomly selected microfinance institutions and a survey questionnaire was administered. The data sets were analysed using multiple tests (non-parametric statistical tests such as Pearson Correlation, Paired-Sample, Chi-Square, Wilcoxon Rank and McNemar tests) as well as parametric tests were conducted using logit econometric model. These tests were conducted to determine statistical difference of microfinance services after program intervention and the contribution of total loans taken on expenditure and businesses investment. The results indicated both developmental or survivalist firms. The result also indicated the empowerment of the women (MSEs owners). A significant number of women entrepreneurs owning MSEs improved their living house, cash savings, household income, child education, household health, household food and diet, business investment, and decision making status in their households. In terms of policy support, the study identified that there were specific affirmative interventions (as stipulated in the policy documents) to support women entrepreneurs owning MSEs in terms of targeted financial service, provision of working and selling premises, designing and implementing training and skill development programs, market networking and tax support on their products and sales. The study recommends that different institutions that work on women empowerment and women associations have to design women focused affirmative policy and strategy interventions to scale-up the positive results (growth-orientation of the MSEs) and address the bottlenecks that limit women entrepreneurs who own MSEs from accessing services that can transform the survivalist MSEs to profitable and empowering businesses for women. The recommendations are proposed to link women empowerment with working policy support.
Development Studies
D. Ph. (Development Studies)

Abstract in English, Southern Sotho and Xhosa
Global poverty remains one of the significant challenges of human beings in the twenty-first century, despite the United Nation’s declaration that all people have the right to education, work, health, well-being; a healthier environment and equal opportunities. The active role of business organisations is vital and necessary to tackle this challenge. One of the mechanisms that can ensure the participation of business organisations in tackling the challenges of human beings is corporate social responsibility (CSR). Accordingly, the primary purpose of the study was to explore CSR initiatives in Ethiopia, focusing on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the Tigrai Regional State. More specifically, the study aimed at assessing the perceptions SME owners and managers’ perceptions of CSR regarding their economic, legal, ethical, environmental and philanthropic responsibilities. The aim was also to investigate their CSR initiatives and to analyse the driving forces of and barriers to CSR interventions. An exploratory survey research design and a mixed method approach were followed to achieve these objectives. A probability sampling technique was applied to select the 400 sample respondents. A convenient sampling technique was applied to select 15 participants for interviews. Questionnaires, key-informant interviews and secondary documents were used as a means of data collection. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means, and standard deviations were applied to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative data was analysed using content analysis where items were transcribed, and emergent themes were identified. The findings of this study are that the SMEs surveyed have an appreciable level of CSR initiatives. They have care and concern towards their employees; the local community and the environment. Furthermore, the SMEs relatively protect the health and safety of their employees, protect against substance abuse and harassment of employees in the workplace; strive to provide professional training to their employees, and arrange orientation programmes, to mention but a few. SMEs have energy and water measurement systems and carry out philanthropic activities that can protect the well-being of the environment, but they are weak in recycling and energy conservation and in creating environmentally friendly new products. At community level, SMEs assist sports activities, road construction, religious organisations and local government. Furthermore, they create gainful employment opportunities. However, they give minimal attention to helping the disabled, war veterans, women, education, and similar areas. The quest for image building, keeping the well-being of the environment, ethical reasons and improving customer relations and loyalty were among the prime factors that motivated SMEs to participate in CSR initiatives. However, the concerted efforts of the enterprises’ participation in CSR activities were constrained by factors such as shortage of finance, lack of skilled and educated workforce who can implement the CSR initiatives and lack of training and information about CSR. To alleviate these constraints, thereby making SMEs the major actors in CSR initiatives, interventions by government and other stakeholders such as NGOs is essential. Furthermore, SMEs should follow a culture-oriented, ethics primary, motivated and collaborative approach rather than profit-oriented CSR.
Ubuhlwempu ehlabathini busengomnye umngeni onzima eluntwini kule nkulungwane yamashumi amabini ananye, nangona iZizwe Ezimanyeneyo zibethelela ukuba bonke abantu banelungelo lokufumana imfundo, umsebenzi, impilo, intlalontle, okusingqongileyo okunempilo namathuba alinganayo. Indima edlalwa ngamaqumrhu orhwebo ingundoqo nesidingo esibalulekileyo ekuhlaseleni lo mngeni. Enye indlela yokuqinisekisa ukuthatha inxaxheba kwamaqumrhu ezorhwebo ekulweni imingeni yoluntu kukulandela inkqubo yoXanduva Lwamaqumrhu Eluntwini, eyaziwa ngokuba yicorporate social responsibilityokanye eshunqulelwa ngokuba yiCSR. Ngoko ke injongo ephambili yolu phando yayikukuqwalasela imizamo yeCSR kwilizwe lase-Ethiopia, kugxininiswa kumashishini amancinci naphakathi (iiSME) kwiphondo eliyiTigrai Regional State. Ngokuthe gca, uphando lwalujolise ekuvavanyeni izimvo zabanini nabaphathi beeSMEngeCSR malunga noxanduva kwezoqoqosho, ezoMthetho, iinqobo zokuziphatha, ezendalo engqongileyo nezenzo zenceba. Enye injongo yayikukufumanisa ngamalinge eCSR nokuhlalutya iimeko eziphembelela nezithibaza imizamo yeCSR. Kwaqala kwenziwa uhlolo zimvo ekutshayeleleni uphando, kwalandeliswa ngomxube weendlela zophando ukuze kuphunyezwe iinjongo. Isampulu yabathathi nxaxheba abangama-400 yayingabantu abakhethwe nje kungajongwanga mpawu zithile. Kwabuya kwakhethwa isampulu yabathathi nxaxheba abali-15 kubantu ababekufuphi nabafumaneka lula ukuze kuqhutywe udliwano ndlebe nabo. Kwaqokelelwa iinkcukacha zolwazi/idatha ngokusebenzisa uluhlu lwemibuzo, udliwano ndlebe nabantu abaphambili nemibhalo eseyikade ikho ngalo mbandela. Ekuhlalutyeni idatha esekelwe kumanani kwenziwa ubalo ngokucacisa amanani anika iipesenti, imindilili neyantlukwano yezibalo ezifunyenweyo nomndilili. Idatha esekelwe kwingxoxo nokuzathuza yahlalutywa ngokuphengulula iziqulatho apho kwabhalwa ulwazi, kwaza kwachongwa imixholo ethile edulayo. Olu phando lufumanise ukuba iiSME zinamalinge eCSR ancomekayo. Zibonakalisa inkathalo kubaqeshwa bazo; kubahlali bendawo nakwindalo ezingqongileyo. Ngaphezulu, iiSME ziyazama ukuyiqaphela impilo nokhuseleko lwabaqeshwa bazo, ziyabakhusela ekusebenziseni gwenxa iziyobisi nasekuphathweni gadalala emsebenzini; zizama nokuqhuba uqeqesho olusemgangathweni kubasebenzi nokucwangcisa iinkqubo zokuqhelisa abafiki emsebenzini – le yimigudu nje embalwa eyenziwa ziiSME. Ezi SME zineenkqubo zokumeta/zokulinganisela amanzi nombane kwaye zenza imisebenzi yenceba yokukhusela indalo ezingqongileyo kodwa zibuthathaka ekusebenziseni kaninzi iimveliso, ekongeni umbane nasekwenzeni iimveliso ezintsha nezingayonakalisiyo indalo engqongileyo. Ekuhlaleni, iiSME zinceda kwezemidlalo, ekwakhiweni kweendlela, kwimibutho yezenkolo naseburhulumenteni bendawo. Ngaphezulu, zidala amathuba omsebenzi aluncedo. Noxa kunjalo, aziniki ngqwalasela yaneleyo ekuncedeni amagqala emfazwe, abafazi, ezemfundo neminye imiba eyeleleyo. Ukunxanelwa ukwakha igama elihle, ukugcina indalo engqongileyo, ukuphucula intsebenziswano nokuthembeka kwabaxumi yaba zezinye izinto ezikhuthaza ukuba iiSME zithathe inxaxheba kumalinge eCSR. Noxa kunjalo, imizamo ezinikeleyo yenkampani kwimisebenzi yeCSR yayithityazwa zizinto ezifana nokunqaba kwemali, ukungabikho koqeqesho nolwazi ngeCSR, ukunqongophala kwabasebenzi abafundileyo nabanezakhono ababenokwazi ukuqhuba imisebenzi yeCSR. Ukususa le miqobo nokwenza iiSME zibe ngabadlali abaphambili kwimigudu yeCSR, kunyanzelekile ukuba urhulumente angenelele, ngokunjalo nabanye abathathi nxaxheba abafana namaqumrhu angengowaseburhulumenteni (iiNGO). Ngaphaya koko iiSME kufuneka zilandele indlela yokusebenza ethathela ingqalelo inkcubeko, iinqobo zokuziphatha, inkuthazo nentsebenziswano ngaphezu kokwenza ingeniso yeCSR.
Tlala lefatsheng e dula e le nngwe ya diphephetso tsa bohlokwa ho batho selemo-kgolong sa bomashome a mabedi a motso o le mong, ho sa natswe phatlalatso ya mokgatlo wa Matjhaba a Kopaneng wa hore batho bohle ba na le tokelo ya thuto, mosebetsi, bophelo bo botle, boiketlo; tikoloho e phetseng hantle le menyetla e lekanang. Tshebetso e matla ya mekgatlo ya kgwebo e bohlokwa mme e ya hlokeha ho sebetsana le bothata bona. E nngwe ya ditsela tse ka netefatsang bonkakarolo ba mekgatlo ya kgwebo ho lwantsheng diphephetso tsa batho ke boikarabello ba mekgatlo setjhabeng (CSR). Kahoo, morero wa sehlooho wa phuputso e ne e le ho batlisisa matsholo a CSR Ethiopia, re tsepame hodima dikgwebo tse nyane le tse mahareng (diSME) tsa Tigrai Regional State. Ka ho toba ho feta, phuputso e reretswe ho lekanya maikutlo a beng ba diSME le maikutlo a baokamedi mabapi le CSR ka boikarabello ba bona ba moruo, molao, boitshwaro, tikoloho le boikarabello ba ho thusa ba bang. Sepheo e ne boetse e le ho batlisisa matsholo a bona a CSR le ho manonna ditshumetso le dithibelo tsa matsholo a CSR. Ho latetse moralo wa kutullo wa dipatlisiso hammoho le katamelo ya mekgwa e fapaneng ho fihlella dipheo tsena. Tekgeniki ya ho etsa sampole ya monyetla e sebedisitswe ho kgetha sehlopha sa baarabi ba 400. Tekgeniki ya ho etsa sampole e bonolo e sebedisitswe ho kgetha bankakarolo ba 15 ba diinthavu. Ho sebedisitse mathathamo a dipotso, diinthavu tsa ditsebi tsa bohlokwa le ditokomane tsa bobedi jwalo ka mokgwa wa pokeletso ya tlhahisoleseding. Dipalopalo tse hlalosang tse jwalo ka diperesente, dikakaretso, le dikgeloho tse tlwaelehileng di sebedisitswe ho manolla tlhahisoleseding ya bongata. Tlhahisoleseding ya boleng e manollotswe ka tshebediso ya manollo ya dikateng moo dintho di ileng tsa ngolwa fatshe kamora kgatiso mme hwa hlwauwa ditema tse hlahellang. Diphetho tsa phuputso ena ke hore diSME tse fupuditsweng di na le boemo bo amohelehang ba matsholo a CSR. Di hlokomela le ho tsotella bahiruwa ba tsona; setjhaba sa lehae hammoho le tikolohoh. Ho feta moo, ka kakaretso diSME di sireletsa bophelo bo botle le polokeho ya basebetsi ba tsona,di sireletsa kgahlano le tlhekefetso ya dithethefatsi le tlhekefetso ya basebetsi sebakeng sa tshebetso;di sitlalletsa ho fana ka thupelo ya seporofeshenale ho basebetsi ba tsona, le ho hlophisa mananeo a tsebiso sebakeng, ho qolla tse mmallwa feela. DiSME di na le merero ya tekanyo ya matla le metsi hape di etsa mesebetsi ya ho thusa baahi e ka sireletsang boiketlo ba tikoloho, empa dia fokola ha ho tluwa ho tshebediso hape ya dintho le poloko ya matla le ho hlahiseng dihlahiswa tse ntjha tse bolokang tikoloho. Boemong ba setjhaba, diSME di thusa ditshebetsong tsa dipapadi, kahong ya ditsela, mekgatlong ya bodumedi le ho mmuso wa lehae. Ho feta moo, di fana ka menyetla ya mesebetsi ya bohlokwa. Leha ho le jwalo, ha di shebane haholo le ho thusa ba nang le bokowa, masole a kgale, basadi, thuto, le dibaka tse jwalo ka tseo. Telekiso ya ho aha seriti, ho boloka boiketlo ba tikoloho, mabaka a boitshwaro le ho ntlafatsa maqhama a bareki le botshepehi e ne le a mang a mabaka a mantlha a kgannelang diSME ho nka karolo matsholong a CSR. Empa, maiteko a matla a dikgwebo tsena a ho nka karolo mesebetsing ya CSR a ne a thibelwa ke dintlha tse ka reng ho fokola ha tjhelete, tlhokeho ya basebetsi ba nang le tsebo le thuto ba ka kenyang matsholo a CSR tshebetsong le tlhokeho ya thupelo le lesedi mabapi le CSR. Ho hlola mathata ana, e le ho etsa diSME dibapadi tsa mantlha matsholong a CSR, ho hlokeha hore mmuso le baamehi ba bang ba jwalo ka mekgatlo ya diNGO ba kene dipakeng. Hapehape, diSME di lokela ho latela katamelo ya setso, boitshwaro, tjantjello le tshebedisano ho ena le CSR e shebaneng le phaello.
Graduate School of Business Leadership
D. B. L.

Ethiopian knowledge and intellectualism has been squinted for the millennia. Using a trans-disciplinary design, knowledge and intellectual crises in Ethiopia was analysed philosophically by tracing the networks of knowledge and mind. From the endeavor, it is found out that transdisciplinary orders and practices compelled Ethiopia to lose her true genealogy of epistemology. The theo-culture and social structure, events and practices accentuated the threaded sagas of knowledge. Empires and big Dynasties were redacted to small states and kingdoms. Through redaction of authentic knowledge and belief system, Ethiopian system was lost; universal knowledge has become very local and the antithesis is true. In Ethiopia, the forces of taboos were mightier than the forces of man and education. Besides, Ethiopian knowledge suffered from several socio-economic, psychological and historical phenomena. Together, people can do anything they can. Every Ethiopian shall explore true Ethiopianism in history and strive for deconstructing crises and reconstructing the ancient wonderful Ethiopia.

This study had the objective of assessing the roles and challenges of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in urban employment creation in Debre Berhan Town, Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. Mixed research approach was adopted and both primary and secondary data was collected. The study had a total of 352 respondents who were selected using systematic sampling technique. Tools of data collection were questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs). The findings of the study revealed that MSEs have indeed contributed significantly in creating urban employment, and in generating income of employees. However, the capacity of creating employment and generating income varies among MSE. While the construction and manufacturing sectors had better employment creation and income generation capacity, trade sector was the least in creating such opportunities. The challenges of MSEs in employment creation include lack of adequate finances, inputs, poor organizational structure and management, poor government support and regulations, and technological challenges.