9.0 The Entrepreneurial Firm Organization Form: Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa
9.0 The Entrepreneurial Firm Organization Form: Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa
There are many entrepreneurial activities and firms in Africa because selfemployment is a key driving force. Most of these are very small in size which makes them vulnerable. Failure rates are quite high, especially in the first two to five years. Women dominate the small and micro enterprises (SMEs) sector, both as owners and workers. Paid employment is limited, and the entrepreneurial activities' overall contribution to family income is limited; often below minimum wage levels. Thus, most of these entrepreneurs will remain poor (Horn, 1995). Most of these activities are located in rural areas, where mortality rates are also high (Charmes, 1999; Mead & Liedholm, 1998). While Kallon (1990) reported that Sierra Leone rural firms were more profitable because of competition in the urban areas, Mead and Liedholm (1998) reported that rural firms suffer from high mortality rates especially during the first five years.
Commerce (trading, vendors) dominates this sector, but manufacturing and services are gaining prominence, especially in the rural areas. Successful firms are more likely in manufacturing, rather than trading or services. Productivity and the capacity to innovate, to introduce new technology, and to manage strategically are related to owner entrepreneurial competencies, enterprise size, location, and networking or clustering.
In summary, there is no shortage of entrepreneurs or people willing to take risks to start business activities. Most of these are very small one-person operations mostly in the easy-to-enter trading and service sector, which is also the least profitable. They provide only a limited range of services or products, and do not innovate either by way of new products /services or markets. The more the macroeconomic conditions worsen, the more of these micro enterprises open up because they are predominantly a push type.
90 The Entrepreneurial Firm Organization Form Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa - To learn more about this author, visit Journal of Development Entrepreneurship's Website.
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(Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Oct 2002 by Kiggundu, Moses N)
There are many entrepreneurial activities and firms in Africa because selfemployment is a key driving force. Most of these are very small in size which makes them vulnerable. Failure rates are quite high, especially in the first two to five years. Women dominate the small and micro enterprises (SMEs) sector, both as owners and workers. Paid employment is limited, and the entrepreneurial activities' overall contribution to family income is limited; often below minimum wage levels. Thus, most of these entrepreneurs will remain poor (Horn, 1995). Most of these activities are located in rural areas, where mortality rates are also high (Charmes, 1999; Mead & Liedholm, 1998). While Kallon (1990) reported that Sierra Leone rural firms were more profitable because of competition in the urban areas, Mead and Liedholm (1998) reported that rural firms suffer from high mortality rates especially during the first five years.
Commerce (trading, vendors) dominates this sector, but manufacturing and services are gaining prominence, especially in the rural areas. Successful firms are more likely in manufacturing, rather than trading or services. Productivity and the capacity to innovate, to introduce new technology, and to manage strategically are related to owner entrepreneurial competencies, enterprise size, location, and networking or clustering.
In summary, there is no shortage of entrepreneurs or people willing to take risks to start business activities. Most of these are very small one-person operations mostly in the easy-to-enter trading and service sector, which is also the least profitable. They provide only a limited range of services or products, and do not innovate either by way of new products /services or markets. The more the macroeconomic conditions worsen, the more of these micro enterprises open up because they are predominantly a push type.
90 The Entrepreneurial Firm Organization Form Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa - To learn more about this author, visit Journal of Development Entrepreneurship's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
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