Showing papers in "Small Enterprise Development in 1990"
TL;DR: Within APRACA (Asian and Pacific Regional Agricultural Credit Association), Indonesia has been the first to implement such a pilot project, which incorporates the major features of sustainability, such as reliance on institutional capacity, co-operation between governmental and private voluntary bodies and pre-exposure as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the past, credit programmes including subsidies and neglecting savings mobilization have undermined rural finance. In recent years, the number of countries has been growing in which banks mobilize savings and practise commercial banking; but the rural poor still have to rely on informal financial institutions, which are better adjusted to local conditions. During the early 1980s, a novel approach entered into the debate: linking informal and formal financial institutions, with financial self-help groups acting as intermediaries between microentrepreneurs and the banks. This reduces transaction costs substantially, for the benefit of both. Within APRACA (Asian and Pacific Regional Agricultural Credit Association), Indonesia has been the first to implement such a pilot project. In a favourable policy climate, a project was designed which incorporates the major features of sustainability, such as reliance on institutional capacity, co-operation between governmental and private voluntary bodies and pre-exi...
40 citations
TL;DR: In an attempt to gain a better understanding of women's enterprises in Southern African countries and in order to determine the extent to which support agencies do or could assist them, a meeting of most of the official small-scale support agencies and some of the NGOs in the SADCC countries was held in Harare in 1989 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In an attempt to gain a better understanding of women's enterprises in Southern African countries and in order to determine the extent to which support agencies do or could assist them, a meeting of most of the official small-scale support agencies and some of the NGOs in the SADCC countries was held in Harare in October 1989 to facilitate the exchange of experience and to discuss future directions. This paper draws on the substantial country papers which were prepared for the meeting, which was entitled 'Support for Women Entrepreneurs'.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the scope for development of the SSI sector is conditioned more by macroeconomic environment and to its role in fostering or hindering the sector's growth.
Abstract: Both as a result of ideological factors and from sheer necessity, international agencies and governments in developing countries have been looking increasingly in recent years towards the small-scale industrial (SSI) sector as a source of growth. In countries throughout the South, studies have been commissioned, strategies planned and policies implemented to promote the sector. A common feature of most of these strategies is a heavy emphasis on supply-side inputs, that is on the provision of a variety of services to small firms to encourage their development. Conversely, relatively little attention has been paid to the wider, macroeconomic environment and to its role in fostering or hindering the sector's growth.It is not the aim of this paper to argue that there is no role for government to play in fostering SSI by means of an improved package of assistance. On the contrary, much can be achieved in this field. Rather, the suggestion is that the scope for development of the sector is conditioned more by m...
16 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assert that the strategy for enterprise development is contingent upon certain variables which they proceed to define, and describe the critical tasks which must be addressed to match the requirements of each type of situation, and examine the capabilities an organization must have to address these tasks.
Abstract: A number of retrospective reviews have derived important lessons from the experience of a wide range of enterprise development organizations. Most concentrated, however, on the experiences of the agency commissioning the particular study, rather than examining what kind of enterprise development strategies organizations should adopt in different situations. In this paper the authors assert that the strategy for enterprise development is contingent upon certain variables which they proceed to define. They then describe the critical tasks which must be addressed to match the requirements of each type of situation, and examine the capabilities an organization must have to address these tasks.
12 citations
TL;DR: The macro-and meso-policy environment is of critical importance in determining technology choice and technology change as discussed by the authors and most efforts to promote small-scale enterprises and Appropriate Technology (AT) have been concentrated at the micro-level, in industrial estates supporting small enterprises and in projects to develop ATs.
Abstract: Macro-policies are those that concern aggregates in the economy, like the level of taxation, public expenditure, money supply, or exchange rate, while meso-policies are those that concern the distributional consequences of any given macro-policies, e.g. the sectoral distribution of public expenditure or the tax rates on different types of activity. The macro- and meso-policy environment is of critical importance in determining technology choice and technology change. Yet most efforts to promote small-scale enterprises and Appropriate Technology (AT) have been concentrated at the micro-level, in industrial estates supporting small enterprises and in projects to develop ATs. Despite a wide range of interventions, including, for example, boat-building, mini-cement plants and solar energy (see Carr (ed.), 1986), for a survey of a number of AT interventions), the effects have been confined mainly to a small number of firms and to particular areas. ATs have rarely been disseminated widely and in most countries ...
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new study of 70 small and medium enterprise (SME) projects in 36 countries is presented, with the primary objectives of these projects being: strengthening the financial and technical institutions that serve SMEs; job creation at relatively low cost per unit of capital invested; and the correction of imperfections in financial markets that constrain small borrowers' access to credit.
Abstract: What makes a small enterprise loan work in one country where success would appear to be unlikely, while a loan with seemingly high potential in a country primed for success founders? What determines success in small and medium enterprise (SME) assistance programmes? These questions are among those addressed in a new World Bank study of 70 small and medium enterprise projects in 36 countries. These projects received US$3.2 billion in World Bank loans spanning the period from 1973, when SME lending was initiated in the Bank, to 1989.The primary objectives of World Bank projects for small enterprises are: strengthening the financial and technical institutions that serve SMEs; job creation at relatively low cost per unit of capital invested; and the correction of imperfections in financial markets that constrain small borrowers' access to credit. The underlying premise is that increasing small firms' access to services normally available only to larger, established firms furthers both industrial growth and in...
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a synoptic view of EDTPs in India, focusing on training processes and procedures as they currently exi ciently exi...
Abstract: It has been argued by David McClelland that the levels of growth which a country attains are explained by the presence or absence of a 'need for achievement' ('n Ach') in the population. Since this need for achievement can be developed and reinforced, growth can be accelerated by influencing the behaviour and supply of a country's entrepreneurs. One can debate the issue raised by van Arkady that 'theories that emphasize deep-seated psychological or cultural characteristics do not seem particularly relevant for policy, as these variables are unlikely to be subject to policy influence over any useful time horizon.' Indian entrepreneurship development training programmes (EDTPs), being the first and most widely replicated, have the potential to exemplify McClelland's theory and to demonstrate effective ways of enhancing entrepreneurship through policy intervention.The objective of this paper is to present a synoptic view of EDTPs in India. It focuses on training processes and procedures as they currently exi...
6 citations
TL;DR: The Indian Government has one of the most extensive and lengthy experiences of programmes to assist small-scale industry as discussed by the authors. This fact has guaranteed that considerable attention has been paid to that programme, as many Indians now re-evaluate the economic strategies India has pursued since independence in 1947.
Abstract: The Indian Government has one of the most extensive and lengthy experiences of programmes to assist small-scale industry. This fact has guaranteed that considerable attention has been paid to that programme, as many Indians now re-evaluate the economic strategies India has pursued since independence in 1947. It has also made these programmes a focus of interest to those in other countries who would either like to copy some of their features, or use them as the basis for avoiding similar programmes in their own country. On the one hand, like similar schemes in the United States, these programmes have a considerable constituency and are perceived as politically popular. On the other hand, a body of economic criticism has emerged which questions whether the programmes concerned are a cost-effective use of public resources. The critics suggest that they may even hinder the technological development of Indian industry.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the concepts of enterprise, enterprise culture and their relationship to small business, and propose guidelines as to how approaches for entrepreneurship education might be developed, drawing out implications for the student, the teacher, the organizer of the learning institution and the mode of learning adopted.
Abstract: The issue of developing the motivation and capability of graduates to pursue careers in entrepreneurship is of concern to many governments world-wide: there are a variety of programme approaches being used, few of which are substantially successful. This is because such programmes fail to embody some of the lessons that can be learned from observation of the development of enterprise culture, the ways that enterprise in individuals can be stimulated by the environment, and implications for the design of educational activities.The paper briefly explores the concepts of enterprise, enterprise culture and their relationship to small business. It proposes guidelines as to how approaches for entrepreneurship education might be developed. It then embodies these guidelines into a 'total' approach, drawing out implications for the student, the teacher, the organizer of the learning institution and the mode of learning adopted. It concludes that unless a comprehensive approach is adopted, then entrepreneurship edu...
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss ways of developing a model of a support system for small and medium enterprises, that would provide an alternative to delivering assistance directly through a government agency: Brazil offers an interesting example of such a system.
Abstract: Donor agencies have lately been discussing ways of developing a model of a support system for small and medium enterprises, that would provide an alternative to delivering assistance directly through a government agency: Brazil offers an interesting example of such a system.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the European Investment Bank's lending through financial intermediaries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries covered by the Lome Convention is discussed, focusing on the characteristics and performance of the small and medium enterprises funded by the intermediaries.
Abstract: The European Investment Bank (EIB) has recently undertaken a major review of its lending through financial intermediaries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries covered by the Lome Convention. This paper discusses the results of that review, focusing on the characteristics and performance of the small and medium enterprises funded by the intermediaries.The analysis draws on three sources of information which broadly correspond with the three main sections of the paper. The first is the EIB's own databases which record the principal features of all such global loans as well as of the allocations made for individual projects from them. Second, is an analysis of the individual files of about 120 randomly chosen sub-projects, or around a fifth of the total, designed to give a more detailed picture of the characteristics of the projects financed, as seen at the time of appraisal. Third, for the same random sample, a post-implementation review has been conducted based on questionnaires sent to the loca...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a loan guarantee scheme for the promotion of small enterprises in Latin America, where 75 per cent or more of the loan risk is carried by the guarantee scheme.
Abstract: Mutual guarantee co-operatives or independent guarantee funds for small enterprises exist in almost all the industrialized countries, and have been gaining in importance as development instruments in the Third World, mostly financed from abroad. In Latin America, however, these often degenerate into loan insurance schemes in which 75 per cent or more of the loan risk is carried by the guarantee scheme. The banks are generally uninterested as far as small enterprises are concerned. Such guarantee schemes allow the banks to take a careless attitude towards loan approval, and this results in a high loss of guarantee commitments.In spite of these negative results in the Third World, FUNDES firmly believes that loan guarantee schemes can be developed into useful instruments for the promotion of small enterprise. It is very important to decide, however, exactly which firms should be promoted by such credit guarantees, what are the precise aims of the fund, whether it has been set up on sound principles, and who...
TL;DR: The Triple Trust Organization (Triple Trust) as discussed by the authors is an autonomous, independent body in the private sector, which was formed in September 1988 in response to the need for self-employment opportunities in the fast-growing black community in the area immediately surrounding Cape Town, South Africa, where the problems of unemployment are particularly acute.
Abstract: The Triple Trust Organization, an autonomous, independent body in the private sector, was formed in September 1988 in response to the need for self-employment opportunities in the fast-growing black community in the area immediately surrounding Cape Town, South Africa, where the problems of unemployment are particularly acute. The vision is to help people to help themselves by means of a three-fold approach – training, financing and marketing support – working through existing community organizations.
TL;DR: SIDO was set up to promote small-scale industry in Tanzania, and in order to overcome its own lack of experience it has drawn upon the expertise of Swedish industries in the Sister Industry Programme.
Abstract: With a decline in agricultural production in Tanzania in the 1980s there was insufficient foreign exchange to invest in the Basic Industry Strategy. SIDO was set up to promote small-scale industry in Tanzania, and in order to overcome its own lack of experience it has drawn upon the expertise of Swedish industries in the Sister Industry Programme. Not only has this resulted in Tanzanian entrepreneurs getting trained in Sweden with selected firms, and gaining access to equipment on loan, but the original Tanzanian 'sisters' have begun to transfer the technologies to other local firms, or 'daughters'.
TL;DR: Based on anthropological fieldwork among urban Chinese household businesses during 1987,1988 and 1989, this article addressed the issue of employment generation and economic growth in the Chinese individual economy and argued that the cultural conditions for small private enterprise in Chinese society must be accounted for alongside the objective, economic conditions when estimating overall growth potential.
Abstract: Based on anthropological fieldwork among urban Chinese household businesses during 1987,1988 and 1989, this article addresses the issue of employment generation and economic growth in the Chinese individual economy. Although a vast potential evidently exists, it is argued that the cultural conditions for small private enterprise in Chinese society must be accounted for alongside the objective, economic conditions when estimating overall growth potential. Small private enterprise is still faced with ideologically founded discrimination coinciding with widespread social debasement. Private businesspeople were earlier stigmatized as capitalist-roaders and turned into scapegoats for retarded development, and similar trends have survived under the disguise of decentralized control. While central government has engaged in massive media campaigns to encourage private enterprise, insufficient attention has been given to the development of a legal framework, the allocation of resources, housing, medical care etc. ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the crux of the problem lies not with the SSE but in the training efforts in this sector, rooted in the inability of advisers to distinguish between the goal they have established (better financial management) and the methods they have chosen to achieve this goal (financial accounting).
Abstract: Most proponents of a strong small-scale enterprise (SSE) sector assert that SSE continues to suffer from a lack of proper financial management. However, the crux of the problem lies not with the SSE but in the training efforts in this sector. It is rooted in the inability of advisers to distinguish between the goal they have established (better financial management) and the methods they have chosen to achieve this goal (financial accounting). In the minds of many advisers and trainers, financial management is synonymous with financial accounting; or they are so intimately linked that the former is impossible without the latter. These misconceptions are held by experts and beginners alike, so much so, that many studies casually refer to a problem in one (lack of capital, poor cost control) as the logical outcome of the other (poor record-keeping) (Institute for Small-Scale Industries, 1983, p. 19).The implementation of an accounting system for any enterprise requires an analysis and assessment of the organ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of co-ordination for SSE development between donors, concluding that the effectiveness of such co-coordination presupposes a degree of harmony within the recipient country and that the real victim of such coordination mismanagement will prove to be the host country for which the whole exercise was set up in the first place.
Abstract: Better co-ordination can improve the effectiveness of aid, but it is only the first step on a long and difficult road and it is not itself without problems. Formal arrangements can only be successful if they are the result of a process which has its roots in a growing consensus regarding the issues and topics at stake. In actual practice this implies that practical working arrangements form both the beginning and the end of co-ordination and that formal co-ordination will prove at best to be the outcome of such growing common understanding; at its worst attempts to impose coo-rdination may prove to be yet another obstacle. The real victim of such co-ordination mismanagement will prove to be the host country for which the whole exercise was set up in the first place and without which no co-ordination can hope to succeed in the long run!This paper reviews co-ordination for SSE development between donors. The effectiveness of such co-ordination presupposes a degree of harmony within the recipient country and...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the Tanzanian SIP, focusing in particular on the "network" of organizational roles and linkages, and present some data as to the results, to identify some of the difficulties and shortcomings of the Tanzania SIP and to describe the new approach which has recently been adopted in Zambia, building on the fourteen years of SIP experience in Tanzania.
Abstract: Most small enterprise assistance programmes fail, and many indeed do not even try, to mobilize the experience of the donor country's small enterprise sector. The Swedish sister industry programme in Tanzania (SIP) and the similar more recent programme in Zambia which evolved from the Tanzanian experience, represent attempts to do this.The objective of this paper is to describe the Tanzanian SIP, focusing in particular on the 'network' of organizational roles and linkages, to present some data as to the results, to identify some of the difficulties and shortcomings of the Tanzanian programme and to describe the new approach which has recently been adopted in Zambia, building on the fourteen years of SIP experience in Tanzania.
TL;DR: In this paper, the work of the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit in Suame Magazine, Kumasi, is described, where fitters can come and learn engineering techniques and purchase more advanced workshop machinery, so as to equip them to manufacture a wider range of products.
Abstract: The motor mechanics or 'fitters' of Ghana display great ingenuity repairing old vehicles but are often limited by the tools and equipment at their disposal. This article describes the work of the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit in Suame Magazine, Kumasi, where fitters can come and learn engineering techniques and purchase more advanced workshop machinery, so as to equip them to manufacture a wider range of products.
TL;DR: In this article, the performance of the microenterprise assistance programs funded by USAID is examined, which can be divided into three categories: enterprise formation, enterprise expansion and enterprise transformation.
Abstract: A recent stocktaking exercise has been examining the performance of the microenterprise assistance programmes funded by USAID. The programmes can be divided into three categories: enterprise formation, enterprise expansion and enterprise transformation. They have been evaluated according to the criteria of graduation into the formal sector, cost-effectiveness of funding and financial sustainability.
TL;DR: In this article, the difficulties of developing small enterprises in a less developed country like Swaziland are discussed and a general survey of the problems of promoting enterprise and the relative failure of what has been done to date is provided.
Abstract: This article discusses the difficulties of developing small enterprises in a less developed country like Swaziland. The first section provides a general survey of the problems of promoting enterprise and the relative failure of what has been done to date. The second is a brief review of the literature on Swazi entrepreneurship. The third section looks at Swazi attitudes towards entrepreneurship and risk taking. Fourth, the Swazi entrepreneur's accessibility to finance is explored. The last section presents the conclusions. This study is based on data collected during fieldwork from 1985 to 1989 from entrepreneurs and officials from banks, the government, small business development agencies and international aid agencies. In total 300 interviews were conducted.
TL;DR: The major issues under discussion were government policy for small enterprise, technology transfers, and the effectiveness of donor agency support at the last year's donor agencies' conference in Oslo as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: At last year's donor agencies' conference in Oslo the major issues under discussion were government policy for small enterprise, technology transfers, and the effectiveness of donor agency support. This report covers some of the papers presented and the arguments which they sparked off in the sessions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the German Corporation for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) was asked by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to become involved in developing a strategy for small enterprises in Kenya, there were some reservations about making a blueprint for a sector so notoriously difficult to define.
Abstract: When we think of a 'strategy' we usually think of something large and bold, something sharp and clear, in short a blueprint. So when the German Corporation for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) was asked by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to become involved in developing a strategy for small enterprises in Kenya, there were some reservations about making a blueprint for a sector so notoriously difficult to define.On the other hand here was a situation where there was unanimous agreement among policy-makers, the private sector and donors that a strategy was needed if Kenya was to prepare itself for the coming decade – political will, institutional capacity and available resources, all were to be mobilized to make small enterprises the largest source of employment in the foreseeable future. Many other countries have stressed the important role that small businesses play in their economies but few have gone even so far as to give it the prominence which it currently enjoys in Kenya. Why has the sector...
TL;DR: The German Technical Co-operation Agency (GTZ - Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit) decided in 1984 on a new approach and launched the "twinning" programme as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: After years of experiencing difficulties in providing technical assistance for small enterprise development through the conventional method of sending out individual consultants to the developing countries, the German Technical Co-operation Agency (GTZ – Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit) decided in 1984 on a new approach and launched the 'twinning' programme. In these twinning arrangements institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) such as the Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Crafts and Small Business) and the Sparkassen (savings banks) have established links or 'twinned' themselves with organizations of a similar character in developing countries. Through twinning, the FRG institutions have tried to transfer their experiences by offering training both in the FRG and in the developing country concerned, to provide short-term consultants in specific fields of activities in which the German institutions have experience, and generally to advise and assist in implementing programmes for small ...