Influence of personal attributes and selected business support services on growth of micro enterprises in Kigoma District, Tanzania
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Date
2015
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
This study examined the influence of personal attributes (i.e self-motivation and
innovation) and selected business supportive services (i.e financial services and enterprise
networking) on micro enterprises growth in Kigoma District. The study also sought to
identify the best predictor of micro enterprises growth among personal attributes and
business support services. To attain these objectives a cross sectional research design was
used in which 110 micro enterprise owners in two sectors of the economy (i.e retail and
services) in the District were interviewed. Both purposive and simple random sampling
techniques were used in the study in which descriptive and multiple linear regression
model were used to analyze data. The findings confirmed positive influence of self
motivation on the growth of micro enterprises implying that self motivated owners are
more likely to open more enterprises, spend more hours in managing their enterprises and
desire to generate profits for further business expansion. However, innovation of micro
enterprises was found to have no influence on growth of micro enterprises. Networking
recorded negative influence on growth of micro enterprises suggesting that the more time
owners spend in enterprise networking activities the less the enterprise growth is realized.
This is due to the fact that enterprise partners build a relationship on non enterprise
activities which could not create network capability for enterprise advantage. Financial
services of micro enterprises has no influence on growth of micro enterprise suggesting
that financial services do not influence growth of enterprises in the study area. Financial
services in the study area were not accessible to enterprise owners due to tough collaterals,
high interest rates and short payback period. The best predictor that explains variance of
growth of micro enterprises is self motivation due to its high p values compared to
business support services.
Description
The Degree of Master of Rural Development
Keywords
Business support services, Micro enterprises, Personal attributes, Kigoma District, Tanzania