IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v7y2018i12p248-d185515.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Training and Support Interventions on Small Businesses in the Expanded Public Works Programme—Pretoria Region

Author

Listed:
  • Lungisani Dladla

    (Graduate School of Business & Leadership, University of KwaZulu-Natal, GSB Building, Westville Campus, University Road, Westville, Durban 3600, South Africa)

  • Emmanuel Mutambara

    (Graduate School of Business & Leadership, University of KwaZulu-Natal, GSB Building, Westville Campus, University Road, Westville, Durban 3600, South Africa)

Abstract

The small business sector is regarded as a catalyst of employment for the largest number of people around the world. To reduce massive unemployment and inequality in the country, the Government of South Africa introduced various initiatives to stimulate and support small businesses, and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one such initiative. The enterprise development approach, which seeks to transfer income to poor households in the short to medium term, is one of the delivery mechanisms of the EPWP. This study critically assesses the impact and effectiveness of the training and support interventions provided to small businesses through the EPWP. The study employs a quantitative research method due to the size, availability, and ease of access of the participants, and the entire population of 20 small businesses, supported by the EPWP in the Pretoria region, was sampled. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted. The study demonstrates that the training intervention provided by the EPWP has a positive impact and achieves its intended goal of enhancing the business management skills of participants. It also reveals an interesting outcome, i.e., that the majority of the participants are women. The study also identified some weaknesses in the programme, which led to the recommendation that long-term support mechanisms are essential for ensuring the sustainability of emerging enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • Lungisani Dladla & Emmanuel Mutambara, 2018. "The Impact of Training and Support Interventions on Small Businesses in the Expanded Public Works Programme—Pretoria Region," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-15, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:12:p:248-:d:185515
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/12/248/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/12/248/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2017. "Business Practices in Small Firms in Developing Countries," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(9), pages 2967-2981, September.
    2. Czemiel-Grzybowska, Wioletta, 2013. "Barriers to financing small and medium business enterprises in Poland," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 9(4), pages 1-9.
    3. Wioletta Czemiel-Grzybowska, 2013. "Barriers to financing small and medium business enterprises in Poland," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 9(4), pages 44-52, December.
    4. Mathew J. Manimala & Sudhir Kumar, 2012. "Training Needs of Small and Medium Enterprises: Findings from an Empirical Investigation," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 1(2), pages 97-110, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wioletta Czemiel-Grzybowska, 2014. "Selected Constraints To Development Of Entrepreneurship In Poland," "e-Finanse", University of Information Technology and Management, Institute of Financial Research and Analysis, vol. 10(2), pages 21-27, August.
    2. Pawe³ Kliber, 2014. "Estimation Of Risk Neutral Measure For Polish Stock Market," "e-Finanse", University of Information Technology and Management, Institute of Financial Research and Analysis, vol. 10(2), pages 28-37, August.
    3. Kee, Daisy Mui Hung & Rahman, Nurulhasanah Abdul, 2017. "Analyzing entrepreneurial orientation impact on start-up success with support service as moderator: A PLS-SEM approach," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 13(2).
    4. Walicka Monika, 2014. "Tax risks sources and consequences as a part of intercultural management at family companies," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 6(4-1), pages 191-201, December.
    5. Daisy Mui Hung Kee, & Nurulhasanah Abdul Rahman, 2017. "Analyzing entrepreneurial orientation impact on start-up success with support service as moderator: A PLS-SEM approach," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 13(2), pages 128-141, May.
    6. Ondřej Dvouletý, 2017. "Effects of Soft Loans and Credit Guarantees on Performance of Supported Firms: Evidence from the Czech Public Programme START," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Vittorio Bassi & Raffaela Muoio & Tommaso Porzio & Ritwika Sen & Esau Tugume, 2022. "Achieving Scale Collectively," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2937-2978, November.
    8. Bassi, Vittorio & Nyshadham, Anant & Tamayo, Jorge & Adhvaryu, Achyuta, 2020. "No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm," CEPR Discussion Papers 14554, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Atonu Rabbani, 2017. "Can Leaders Promote Better Health Behavior? Learning from a Sanitation and Hygiene Communication Experiment in Rural Bangladesh," Working Papers id:11904, eSocialSciences.
    10. Axel Demenet, 2016. "Does Managerial Capital also Matter Among Micro and Small Firms in Developing Countries?," Working Papers DT/2016/12, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    11. Axel Demenet & Quynh Hoang, 2018. "How important are management practices for the productivity of small and medium enterprises?," WIDER Working Paper Series 69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Christopher Cornwell & Ian M. Schmutte & Daniela Scur, 2021. "Building a Productive Workforce: The Role of Structured Management Practices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7308-7321, December.
    13. Ubfal,Diego Javier, 2024. "What Works in Supporting Women-Led Businesses ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10744, The World Bank.
    14. Catia Batista & Sandra Sequeira & Pedro C. Vicente, 2022. "Closing the Gender Profit Gap?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8553-8567, December.
    15. Lakemann, Tabea & Beber, Bernd & Lay, Jann & Priebe, Jan, 2024. "Light touch, lean tally: Impacts of an MSME support program in Côte d'Ivoire," GIGA Working Papers 342, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    16. David McKenzie, 2017. "Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2278-2307, August.
    17. Neba Bhalla & Rakesh Kumar Sharma & Inderjit Kaur, 2023. "Effect of Goods and Service Tax System on Business Performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    18. Mayra Buvinic & Megan O’Donnell, 2017. "Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions: A Research Review," Working Papers id:11926, eSocialSciences.
    19. Yuki Higuchi & Vu Hoang Nam & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2023. "Do Management Interventions Last? Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs," Working Papers DP-2022-42, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    20. Igarashi, Takiko & Takeda, Asami & Truong, Hoa T. & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2022. "Evolving Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Asia," ADBI Working Papers 1286, Asian Development Bank Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:12:p:248-:d:185515. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.