This content requires Adobe Flash Player version
or later.
Either you do not have Adobe Flash Player installed,
or your version is too old,
or there is a problem with your Flash installation and we were unable to detect it.
THE IMPORTANCE LEVEL OF SPECIFIC SKILLS AS PERCEIVED BY SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS OWNERS
12 ABSTRACT
In an attempt to understand the underlying factors contributing to the high failure rate of small and medium businesses, this study focused on the extent to which small and medium business owners from two age groups perceived five identified skills generally associated with entrepreneurial behaviour as conducive to either success or failure. The following five skills were selected: the skill of leadership; the skill of creativity and innovation; the skill networking; the skill of time management and the skill of goal setting and commitment. For this purpose a literature as well as a quantitative research approach was exploited. The sample consisted of small and medium enterprises conveniently selected from small and medium entrepreneurs across the Johannesburg Metropolitan area. A measuring instrument was distributed and 150 usable questionnaires were returned. The validity of the measuring instrument was assessed by means of a factor analysis and its reliability was evaluated by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficients. Inferential statistics were used to assess whether the mean scores for the five identified skills differed significantly between the two targeted age groups namely small and medium business managers aged 40 years and older and those younger than 40 years. The analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS and recommendations were made.
KEYWORDS
Small and Medium Owners, Leadership, Innovation, Creativity, Networking and Time Management