by Waswa Balunywa Director Makerere University Business School Kampala, Uganda Abstract It is now generally agreed that small businesses are one of the key engines of growth in many developing countries by contributing to employment creation. In this paper, it is argued that micro and small businesses cannot grow or suceed unless they are entrepreneurial. It is with this view in mind that this paper proposed that effort must be placed on the development of entrepreneurial behaviour in small businesses if growth in Africa is to be achieved.
The emerging pattern of business in Uganda is that small businesses will continue to be the source of jobs and growth in the economy. Many studies have been undertaken and have identified numerous problems as being associated with small businesses, such as lack of finance and access to it, lack of market information, lack of managerial skills and many others. Little attention however has been paid to entrepreneurship which is the underlying factor to the development of any business.
Entrepreneurship is the ability to seek out opportunities and turn them to profitable businesses. The failure of businesses in Uganda, particularly the parastatal sector, has been attributed to many factors some of which are management and political interference. The failure of many companies has also bee attributed to the entrepreneurial factor.
On of the issues of concern to many African countries is the performance of the Asian business people that appear to be very successful. While these two communities have much in common in terms of group orientation, power distance and other culture dimensions, they differ much on the subject of uncertainty avoidance where the Asian community is low while the African community is high (Hofstede). While this is not actual risk aversiveness, it is closely related. Entrepreneurship is closely associated with risk taking and the desire to succeed.
To learn more about this author, visit Makerere University Business School's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
|
|
Makerere University Business School
(Visit Makerere University's Website)
The Makerere University Business School
(MUBS) is at the centre stage of Business
and Management Education in Uganda. It is
the leading institution in providing
business and management education at the
certificate, diploma, Undergraduate and
Postgraduate levels and a benchmark for
other institutions both nationally and
regionally.
It also facilitates professional
development, promotes entrepreneurship and
is a leading business Management research
institution in Uganda.
|
|
|
Makerere University Business School's
Complete
List Of
African-Accounts
Articles
|
|
If you enjoyed this article, get Makerere University Business School's Complete List of African-Accounts Articles For FREE!
|
|
|
|
