Social entrepreneurship and the tensions between social, environmental, and business goals: a case of Uganda
- Authors: Okello, Emmanuel
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Social entrepreneurship Uganda , Climatic changes Uganda , Social responsibility of business Uganda , Sustainable development Uganda , Environmental responsibility Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419662 , vital:71664
- Description: Climate change has resulted in a global environmental crisis, with deforestation, plastic pollution, soil degradation, and species extinction increasing. Businesses have contributed significantly to these issues through their manufacturing processes. While many companies have implemented sustainability initiatives, systemic environmental problems persist, and businesses continue to play a significant role. One reason for this is that profit often takes priority over environmental considerations, limiting the effectiveness of sustainability programs. In response, environmental social enterprises are gaining prominence as a potent alternative to conventional business models. These enterprises are commended for placing environmental value generation at their core. Nevertheless, the simultaneous pursuit of financial, socio-economic, and environmental goals can instigate conflicts, including those related to performing, organizing, belonging, learning, and those spanning various levels of analysis. These conflicts impede the intended outcomes of these enterprises. This challenge is particularly under-addressed within contexts distinct from North America and Europe, like Uganda, which possesses unique geographic, political, and cultural attributes. Investigating how environmental social enterprises in Uganda navigate goal-related contradictions is pivotal for comprehending their internal mechanisms and strategies for economic sustainability. This study adopted a qualitative research strategy grounded in the interpretivist paradigm. Employing multi-qualitative methods, including interviews with 20 key decision-makers from 4 environmental social enterprises, the study delved into their experiences and practices. The findings revealed that these enterprises grapple with tensions stemming from their endeavors to balance economic, environmental, and social objectives. These tensions manifest both anticipated and unanticipated effects on organizational performance. Strategies for managing these tensions encompass collaborations with other organizations, experimentation with diverse management approaches, and acknowledging tensions as inherent and potentially beneficial. Nevertheless, the efficacy of these strategies hinges on the organizational context and systemic factors such as government regulations. While facing similar tensions, environmental social enterprises also adopt varied tactics—proactive, defensive, or a combination thereof—to address conflicts rooted in their goals. The chosen response method holds implications for ecological outcomes, underscoring the importance of framing tensions appropriately. Nonetheless, persistent tensions that resurface due to their dynamic nature pose a challenge. Consequently, addressing such tensions necessitates an iterative approach, often entailing a fusion of strategies. To address tensions between social, environmental, and economic objectives in environmental social enterprises, policymakers, governments, and social entrepreneurs should collaborate to institute supportive policies, encourage partnerships, invest in education and capacity building, and establish evaluation frameworks. Implementing these recommendations can adeptly manage such conflicts, fostering sustainable development and success. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2023
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An exploratory study on the impact of three critical incidents on SMEs within the Petroleum retail sector in South Africa
- Authors: Makhaya, Humbulani Portia
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Strikes and lockouts Petroleum industry South Africa , Motor fuels Taxation South Africa , Stockout South Africa , Small and medium enterprises South Africa , Service stations Location South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403025 , vital:69915
- Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of three critical incidents with a direct effect on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the Petroleum retail sector in South Africa. This study assessed three specific areas: (1) the impact of fuel levy increase on Petroleum retailers, (2) explore how fuel stock-outs are experienced by the SMEs, and (3) the effects of fuel distributors' strike on SMEs in the petroleum sector in South Africa. To address the research objectives, the study employed a qualitative research approach, based on a narrative research design. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with six SMEs in the fuel retail business in Johannesburg. An interview guide was used. Findings highlighted that the location of fuel retail SMEs is an important determinant of how the fuel retailers are affected by these three critical incidents of fuel levy increases, stock-outs and strikes. The study found that while the fuel levy increases are felt through reduced sales volumes, the impact is not the same across fuel retailers. The study revealed that the elasticity of demand varies depending on the location for which it is elastics for those retailers in high Living Standards Measure (LSM) locations and inelastic for those located in lower LSM locations. It was found that the impact is much less for those fuel retailers located in affluent suburbs with a high LSM. In locations such as Beyers Naude and Radiokop in Northern Johannesburg with a high LSM, the demand for fuel remains constant irrespective of price increases. The locations are also less likely to be adversely affected by protest actions. Concerning SMEs’ experiences of fuel stock-outs, the study found that stock-outs impact fuel retail business operations through overhead costs that are incurred while the fuel stations are out of stock. The small margins make it impossible for fuel retailers to quickly recover, as their profitability is dependent on sales volumes, which are compromised when there are stock-outs. Fuel retailers also suffer from reduced future sales volumes due to waning customer loyalty. Finally, the study found that the occurrence of wage-related strikes is minimal due to the nature of collective agreements that are signed within the sector. However, protests actions were found to have deleterious effects on the fuel retailer situated in lower LSM locations. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
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Stakeholder engagement in social enterprise: designing a sustainable business model for the ‘Food for Us’ mobile application
- Authors: Tantsi, Idah Thato
- Date: 2022-10
- Subjects: Business planning South Africa , Sustainability South Africa , Mobile apps South Africa , Social responsibility of business South Africa , Social entrepreneurship South Africa , Food for Us (Application software)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/317141 , vital:59904
- Description: This study aimed to develop a sustainable business model that is cognisant of the fundamental principles of social enterprises that can sustain the operation of the Food for Us mobile application that links farmers with buyers in Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. The Food for Us mobile application lacks a supporting sustainable social business model to sustain its continued operations, hence the need to develop one. In the study, data was generated qualitatively underpinned by an interpretive paradigm, in three workshops guided by the Delphi method. A stakeholder salience model was applied to identify key stakeholders and their salience. Three key stakeholders, namely users (farmers and buyers), Experts (App developers) and the consortium were identified. The study concluded that developing a sustainable social, innovative business model requires substantive consultation with multiple stakeholders in society. Every stakeholder is important and possesses varying salience, hence stakeholder mapping is an important exercise. The study further concluded that financial sustainability and social inclusion are critical social enterprise elements to consider in the process. The undertaking to enhance financial sustainability opens an understanding on the importance of income streams, the key activities, and value propositions offered by the mobile application. The need to remain socially inclusive brings forth questioning of value propositions, accessibility, user friendliness towards stakeholder diversity and needs. The study offers a solution for the Food for Us mobile application in the form of a prototype which is ready for testing, and if desired results are achieved, this can enhance the much needed continued operations of the mobile application. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
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Exploring the entrepreneurial intention of students in one Higher Education Institution (HEI)
- Authors: Kenye-Duma, Ayanda Rachel
- Date: 2022-04-06
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship South Africa , Intention , Entrepreneurship Study and teaching (Higher) South Africa , Students Attitudes , Social entrepreneurship , Social capital (Sociology) , Unemployment South Africa , Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/284514 , vital:56070
- Description: This study was interpretive and qualitatively explored students' entrepreneurial intentions at Rhodes University. It was conducted to understand entrepreneurship among students. Understanding students' entrepreneurship is critical as entrepreneurship is touted as a reasonable response to alleviate the high unemployment in South Africa. The study explored how students became entrepreneurs (or how their entrepreneurship intentions were formed) and the factors that enhanced (enablers and barriers) and inhibited them. The significance of living with and after COVID-19, youth and graduate unemployment alleviation places entrepreneurship development by institutions of higher learning, governments and private sector in the centre of economic recovery. The establishment of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) in 2016, highlights the commitment of the South African government, for Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to engage more in entrepreneurship and do more research to understand how students become entrepreneurs and unravel the challenges. Understanding students' entrepreneurship intentions can facilitate a supportive environment for students entrepreneurship. With “very little research about student entrepreneurship at this university” being the guiding research problem, the aim was to gain insight into the entrepreneurship intention of university students by exploring factors that influence students to become entrepreneurs. The study employed Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in terms of the underlying attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. The students who participated in the study fell into three categories of entrepreneurial intention: (i) Intending to start a business, (ii) starting a business, and (ii) those who were already operating a business. All the participants, irrespective of their stage of entrepreneurial intention, demonstrated a positive attitude and self-efficacy. All participants showed self-efficacy by identifying barriers and taking positive steps to overcome them. The main barriers were access to funding, capital, training, business opportunities with the university and lack of interaction with established entrepreneurs. The results demonstrated the close interplay of attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioural control in students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Social recognition of entrepreneurship, social capital, education and role models contributed to positive attitudes, and social norms influenced students’ entrepreneurial intentions. A supportive environment was found to be critical for nurturing entrepreneurship intentions. The study recommends a supportive climate cultivated by Rhodes University to promote entrepreneurship. The supportive environment must include the elevation of entrepreneurship in prominent offices of the university, strengthening entrepreneurship societies and interactions with established entrepreneurs, and engagement with the private sector to contribute and promote entrepreneurship among students. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
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The effectiveness of networking and collaboration in creative hubs: a case of Hub@Goethe
- Authors: De Beer, Magdalena Gertruda
- Date: 2022-04-06
- Subjects: Cultural industries South Africa , Cultural industries Economic aspects South Africa , Economic development projects South Africa , Social entrepreneurship South Africa , Creative ability Economic aspects South Africa , Social capital (Sociology) South Africa , Social networks South Africa , Hub@Goethe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/284504 , vital:56069
- Description: This research took the form of a case study investigating the effectiveness of a single hub in South Africa, namely Hub@Goethe in Johannesburg. The context of the creative economy and creative industries provided insight into the experiences of creative cultural labourers in the new economic model. The context emphasised the research problem which considered the difficulties experienced by creative and cultural entrepreneurs and their career paths who, through labour precarity, remain isolated from the market, without access to physical spaces, network connections and business knowledge to realise their business ideas. The literature reviewed revealed how co-working office spaces, creative spaces and hubs provide creative entrepreneurs with the spatial infrastructure, amenities, and network access to mitigate challenges in the creative cultural sectors. These spaces offer a multitude of different amenities which is specific to their community’s needs. Guided by the theory of social capital and structural holes reviewed in the literature, the effectiveness was assessed by the hub’s ability to provide network access benefits or resource endowments. The research looked at whether the hub could provide creative cultural entrepreneurs with resource benefits such as a) access to social interactions, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, b) access to business or professional skills-based education programmes and mentorship, c) access to market and d) generation both social and economic benefit. The research adopted a qualitative approach, seeking insights into the creative entrepreneurs’ experiences at the hub utilising one-to-one interviews. The thematic analysis confirmed that the hub was effective overall in providing entrepreneurs with access to benefits or resource endowments embedded in the network, confirming that hubs may be an effective tool in mitigating difficulties experienced by creative entrepreneurs in the creative industries. The research also showed areas of improvement where the hub could increase its experienced effectiveness, especially in reference to routes to market. The research findings inferred the importance of physical space, proximity and accessibility has on collaborative practices amongst creative entrepreneurs within the hub space. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2022
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