Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/References-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/References-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html References http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Conclusion-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Conclusion-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html Enterprises that are about to grow and employ 5-15 people and enterprises that are in the process of growing and employ 10-30 people, both claim that their most important constraint is short- and long-term capital. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Information-and-Networks-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Information-and-Networks-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html It has been said that no man is an island. Although the entrepreneurs did not say so explicitly, it was apparent that most of the larger enterprises had benefited greatly from obtaining outside influences. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Policies-and-Regulations-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Policies-and-Regulations-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html The enabling environment is important-especially as the enterprise grows. This would appear to be related to the fact that the larger the enterprise becomes, the more difficult it gets to operate outside the formal economy. In talking about the enabling environment entrepreneurs tend to emphasize macro-economic conditions per se, rather than specific regulations. This implies that they are quite capable of working their way through (or around) regulations, but that they find it more difficult to deal with economic downturns. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Human-Resources--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Human-Resources--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html Human resources are very important for enterprise growth (see e.g. PAPA, 2000). This becomes increasingly important the higher up in the organization one gets. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Market-Orientation-and-Competition--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Market-Orientation-and-Competition--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html Enterprises that grow do so because they are good at finding their market niche and understanding market demands. Most enterprises start by targeting the home market, often at the higher income niche. As the home market gets saturated, they look to expand their markets geographically, and eventually consider exporting. Few enterprises start exporting initially. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Financial-Management--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Financial-Management--Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html Whereas the enterprise managers are well aware of the importance of external finance, they seem to underestimate the importance of financial management. This is an issue that the entrepreneurs did not raise directly themselves as a constraint, but something that was deduced from analyzing the empirical data. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Access-to-Finance-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Access-to-Finance-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises.html The starting point for a Focus Group Discussion was an exercise whereby the participants were asked to write down constraints they had encountered in growing or trying to grow their enterprises. These responses were printed on cards, which were placed, in clusters of similar constraints, on the wall for all to see. They became the starting point for more in-depth discussions and were used to reflect the groups' main concerns. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Methodology-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/Methodology-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html The study involved nine Focus Group Discussions with altogether forty participants in three countries - Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/The-Nature-of-Growth-Oriented-Enterprises-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/African-Accounts/1652/The-Nature-of-Growth-Oriented-Enterprises-Constraints-of-growthoriented-enterprises-in-the-southern-and-eastern-African-region.html Categorizing an enterprise as "growth oriented" implies that there is an intention within the top management of the enterprise to grow. An initial assumption, when the current research was undertaken in 1999, was that being a growth-oriented enterprise per se does not imply anything about the size of the company. A self-employed person may have started an enterprise with the intent to grow, whereas an existing enterprise of twenty people may think they have grown enough.