Browsing by Author "Tassiopoulos, Dimitri"
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- ItemAn investigation into the co-producers of preferred strategic behaviour in small, micro and medium tourism enterprises in South Africa(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Tassiopoulos, Dimitri; De Coning, T. J.; Smit, E. van der Merwe; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Graduate School of Business.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African tourism industry has undergone transformation with numerous “windows of opportunity” having been opened for tourism entrepreneurs. The South African small, micro and medium tourism enterprises (SMMTE) sector, however, faces numerous challenges. To ensure long-term sustainability, according to Whittle (2000: 8), the owners of SMMTEs need to make efficient and effective business decisions about the internal and external threats and challenges their businesses face. This will ensure that they have sufficient strategic information on which to base decisions in order to maintain their competitive advantage in the tourism industry. Motivation/problem statement: Small business planning behaviour is described as unstructured, irregular and incomprehensive. This characterises SMMTE strategising as incremental, sporadic and reactive. A clear need for strategic planning and management coordination of SMMTEs is identified in the light of increasing competition in the tourism industry and the dominance of large international companies in most sectors of the tourism industry (Cooper & Buhalis, 1996: 101). This study examines determinants of strategic behaviour through a sample frame of formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa. Because of the importance of the issue for a developing economy such as South Africa, the study contributes toward an improved understanding of strategic determinants of sustainable business performance at SMMTE level. It is against this background that the study examines the extent to which linkages or relationships can be established between the characteristics or attributes that are unique to SMMTE owners and manifestations of strategic behaviour. The overall research question in this study is: Do relationships exist between the attributes of SMMTE owners and strategic behaviour? Methods/procedure/approach: The research design for the proposed study primarily involves descriptive and explanatory research. The purpose of using this methodology is to determine predictors of strategic behaviour of SMMTEs in South Africa. Primary and secondary data gathering methods are used in this study. The target-sampling frame is the formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa, and the research sample is determined through using a systematic random sampling method, stratified by province. The study focuses on two elements, namely profile attributes of the SMMTE owner and preferred strategic behaviour that has manifested within the SMMTE. The possible preferred relationship between these two elements is addressed from a theoretical perspective with the basic premise that some of the manifestations of the SMMTE owners’ strategic behaviour have a better likelihood of success. On the basis of this conceptual framework, the development of a suitable data-gathering instrument is discussed and developed to determine the degree of SMMTE strategic behaviour in the ventures. Results/findings/product: The descriptive statistical aspect of the research is discussed in detail. The business characteristics, profiles of the typical attributes or traits of the SMMTE owners, as well as their demographic profiles are discussed in detail. This study further investigates a possible relationship between strategic behaviour (the dependent variable) and entrepreneurial attributes (independent variables) using inferential statistics. The relationships and constructs, as depicted in the a priori model, are empirically tested by means of various statistical techniques: • Reliability testing of the data set is conducted (ref. Section 7.5); • The validity of the research instrument is determined (ref. Section 7.6); • The reliability of the new constructs after exploratory factor analysis is determined (ref. Section 7.6.2); • The relationships between the selected variables are investigated through Spearman’s rho and ANOVA (ref. Section 7.7); and • The relationships between the selected variables of the hypothesis are further investigated (ref. Section 7.7.2) through regression analysis. The research results support an overall statistically significant association between the independent and dependent variables, and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (and the rejection of the null hypothesis), namely that there is an association between certain attributes of the owners of the SMMTEs (which is characterised by locus of control, reasons for starting a business, holistic capabilities, formal management education and prior experience) and preferred strategic behaviour. However, the research findings do not support an overall statistically significant association between the risk propensity independent variable and strategic behaviour dependent variables. Consequently the following null sub-hypothesis (ref. Section 7.2.2) is accepted: There is no relationship between risk propensity and strategic behaviour. Conclusion/implications: The study makes various recommendations for further research (ref. Section 8.5.1) and explains the practical implications (ref. Section 8.5.2) thereof. The findings of this study have identified entrepreneurial attributes that have a significant association with strategic behaviour and have made a contribution toward the largely underresearched subject of the role of strategy in entrepreneurship. The study has further applied this to a largely under-researched economic sector in South Africa, namely tourism. The results in this study have produced a foundation for further analysis of the attributes of SMMTE entrepreneurs and the manifestation of strategic behaviour in SMMTEs.