Browsing by Author "Snyman, Hendrik Andries"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemDynamic programming for inventory control : a comparative study of the behaviour of dynamic programming...(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1977) Snyman, Hendrik Andries; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of . Dept. of .
- ItemA strategic framework to utilise venture capital funding to develop manufacturing SMEs in South Africa(Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2014-08) Snyman, Hendrik Andries; Kennon, Denzil; Schutte, Cornelius S. L.; Von Leipzig, KonradSMEs contribute considerably to the national GDP and to private sector employment, but they struggle to gain access to the funding needed to support business sustainability and growth. Venture capital provides the necessary funding, but SMEs lack understanding of the business value curve utilised by financiers to gauge the risk-reward characteristics of an investment. Strategies need to convey how the business model will evolve in order to deliver on the strategic intent. A framework is proposed through which SMEs can develop a strategy aligned with investor requirements. As a case study, the framework is applied to the local tooling sector.
- ItemTowards a strategy formulation framework that supports SME survival and growth(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Snyman, Hendrik Andries; Von Leipzig, Konrad; Schutte, Cornelius Stephanus Lodewyk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Industrial Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the socio-economic development of both developing and developed countries. Unfortunately, SMEs suffer from a high failure rate due to an inability to overcome their characteristic resource shortcomings and meet the necessary success criteria to execute effectively upon an opportunity. Although theory suggests that SMEs could benefit from formal strategic efforts, with such processes assisting them in identifying their shortcomings and discovering alternative means of obtaining the necessary success factors to overcome these, evidence suggests that SMEs rarely engage in formal planning activities. The lack of formal planning by SMEs is attributed to time constraints, or a fear that growth will change the family-like character of their business or upset their work life balance, as well as their belief that popular frameworks do not take into account their characteristic shortcomings and are geared primarily towards their larger corporate counterparts. Authors agree with the belief of SMEs that popular frameworks are indeed biased towards their larger counterparts with the unique characteristics of SMEs preventing their direct application. However, the evidence also suggests that certain components of main-stream strategy theory are not only applicable but beneficial to SMEs. With regard to the link between survival, growth and resources, the evidence suggests that the financial requirements to grow a business often extend beyond the resource base of the founders. Accordingly, the survival and growth of SMEs are linked to their ability to obtain external funding. The objective of this study was to develop a formal strategy formulation framework, which takes into account the specific characteristics of SMEs and assists management in developing the means to obtain the necessary success factors to exploit an opportunity, as well as to improve their chances of gaining access to finance from venture capitalists, which are a subset of private investors who provide finance to new ventures and SMEs. The research study adopted an action research paradigm because this supports the objective of the study of developing a practical tool, as well as the researcher’s subjective ontological standpoint and the researcher’s involvement in the research setting. The study utilised systems thinking as the methodology to conduct this action research, as it supports the belief that knowledge and understanding of a phenomenon are best derived from building up a picture of the phenomenon and understanding the various interactions between the different components of the system. The study thus utilised the systems engineering method to conduct the study, both because it supports grounded theory and framework building as a means to develop theory, and because it is also a fitting method for an industrial engineering doctorate, as it utilises an engineering driven method. The study developed a set of requirements from the fields of SME survival and growth, strategy formation and strategy formulation, as well as venture capital, as guided by a set of sub-research questions and sub-objectives that support the main research question and objective. In addition to the requirements derived from theory, the study developed additional design considerations by considering key words, concepts and phrases from the literature, and taking into account the scope of this study and its intended operating environment, as well as the use of the framework as a management tool. In accordance with the systems engineering method, the study utilised concept mapping to categorise and draw connections from the functional requirements derived from the literature in order to synthesise the various domains, and developed sub-frameworks of understanding associated with the factors that affect SME survival and growth, strategy formation and formulation, and the alignment of these sub-frameworks with venture capital decision criteria. With regard to the scope of the study, the dissertation developed upon the strategy formulation framework at increasing levels of detail, by first breaking it down into a set of phases and later into various constituent stages, each with a singular requirement and objective coupled with key considerations to guide the user(s) through the strategy formulation process. Despite the efforts of the framework to bring about understanding in an incremental fashion, the initial validation of the sub-frameworks, in the form of semi-structured interviews with domain experts, highlighted the complexity of the underlying theory. Accordingly, the final theoretical framework was translated into a practical framework by means of a metaphor and graphical illustrations. The result of this study is a comprehensive framework for use by SMEs that, (1) synthesises the factors that influence their survival and growth, (2) facilitates strategy formation as the successful interplay between formal strategy formulation and continuous learning, and (3) assists strategy formulation, by bringing about the discovery of knowledge, the recognition of opportunities and success factors, and the identification of the alternative means to overcome obstacles to obtain the necessary success factors to effectively execute upon opportunities.