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Purpose: This paper aims to conceptualize intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship and provide evidence of its impact on intra-African trade and economic development. Immigrant entrepreneurship is often regarded as a key driver of international trade and economic development around the world; yet very little is known about intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship and its role in intra-African trade and economic development in Africa. Methodology: This paper applied a systematic review of literature methodology to provide insights into the role of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship on trade and economic development of both host and home countries. Recommendations on how intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship can be used to promote intra-African trade and economic development are reviewed. Results: Policy guidelines that may increase the positive impact of immigrant entrepreneurs within the context of intra-African trade include immigration policies that attract high impact entrepreneurs, non-discriminatory support for high impact immigrant entrepreneurs as well as policies to strengthen the role of free trade agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Conclusion: We conclude that African regional integration to promote intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship development is a conduit for Africa’s long-term and sustainable economic development. Evidence of the positive impact of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship on intra-African trade and economic development is scant. At the same time, the notions of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship are not well documented in the literature. This paper provides arguments for the promotion of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship as a tool to increase intra-African trade and economic development.

0000-0003-3047-0129 Entrepreneurship is considered as a social construct through a thematic content analysis of twenty-five (n=25) articles that were selected on the basis of ‘markers of qualitative goodness’. There are variations in the literature relating to the social constructionist view of entrepreneurship. The majority of the reviewed literature leading the selected articles were found lacking in terms of research rigor, sincerity and meaningful coherence. This paper therefore recommends the consideration of these elements in research studies and entrepreneurship education. The value of this study lies in its exploratory utility in guiding future research in the fields of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education.

The effectiveness of efforts to address challenges facing start-up SMEs in South Africa is an area of controversy. South Africa is characterised by one of the highest start-up SME failure rates despite several institutional and policy arrangements to address the challenges. The present study investigated the perceptions of start-up SME owners, managers and owner-managers about the services they receive from Business Development Services providers (BDS). In particular , the opinions about the need for access to finance dedicated services, the relevance of government subsidies, and their experiences with BDS providers and the risk perceptions of financial institutions were investigated. The results of the study revealed mixed reaction about the perception of start-up SMEs about the ef fectiveness of BDS.

The relationship between trade and economic growth has continued to dominate the debate in trade and development economics. Generally, countries which trade more have been seen to have a high growth path, some of which has been attributed to trade. However, it is very difficult to attribute much of the growth to trade and trade openness. The focus of this research paper is therefore to investigate if there exists a long run relationship between various trade and other macroeconomic variables for Zimbabwe for the period 1975 to 2005. The study employs the cointegration approach to establish the existence of a long run relationship between economic growth and trade variables. The results of the study indicate that trade and economic growth are cointegrated, but the relationship is strengthened by the stability of the macroeconomic policy since negative macroeconomic drivers such as rising inflation can constrain economic growth. Openness to trade is also deemed to play a crucial role, where reduction and elimination of barriers to trade promote growth in trade and ultimately economic growth. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p621

This article presents the findings of a study that was conducted to assess the commercial English language proficiency of Bachelor of Education (BED) 4th and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students majoring in Accounting, Business Management and Economics (commercial subjects) at Limpopo University. A proficiency test consisting of items testing commercial language expression, comprehension, and vocabulary and error correction in both written and oral conversations was administered to a sample of 106 students consisting of BED fourth (4th) year and PGCE students majoring in commercial subjects. The test was developed by acclimatising existing English Language proficiency test as well as by using items identified from existing literature. The reliability of the proficiency test was tested using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The results of the study revealed that although PGCE students on average scored higher in the proficiency test, their level of commercial language proficiency was below acceptable minimum. Furthermore, statistically significant correlations were found between general commercial English expression and Comprehension, between comprehension and Vocabulary as well as between Error correction and Vocabulary. These findings suggest that both PGCE and BED students require intensive commercial language teaching. Furthermore, actions to improve the level of commercial language proficiency of both groups are recommended. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n14p386

The paper presents the findings of the study that was conducted to investigate the impact of Work design on employee retention. A quantitative research methodology was used and 116 randomly selected respondents participated in this study. Self-administered questionnaires were administered to respondents; drawn from Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail, Banking and Finance and Others industries. The data collected was analysed using SPSS 20.0. Correlational statistics revealed statistically significant relationship between all the ten (10) identified work design variables and employee retention variables. However strong correlations were observed between job enrichment, job design and job enlargement. Therefore, it can be recommended that addressing job enrichment; job design and job enlargement should take priority over others, if the organisation is to achieve acceptable employee retention levels. The value of the findings of this study lies in the explanatory utility of the identified relationships between work design variables and employee retention, in the 21st century economy whose main characteristics is high volatility in the work environment and high levels of employee mobility. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n4p21

The paper presents the findings of the study that was conducted to investigate the impact of application of Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management system in the manufacturing sector SMEs. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a sample of manufacturing sector SMEs in the food, wood and furniture, metals, non-metals and other industries. The study revealed that the majority of SMEs in the manufacturing sector were not applying the JIT inventory management principles. It was furthermore revealed that there are challenges impeding the implementation of JIT principles in the manufacturing sector SMEs. These challenges include lack of reliable supplier networks, lack of capital and lack of knowledge of immediate financial gains among others. Furthermore, statistically significant positive correlations between the application of JIT inventory management principles and cost efficiency, quality and flexibility were found. It is therefore deduced that manufacturing sector SMEs can benefit significantly in terms of improved quality of products, increased operational cost cuts and increased flexibility by applying the JIT inventory management principles. Key words: South Africa, just-in-time, efficiency, quality, flexibility, small and medium enterprises.

Services Oriented Technologies: A Focus on the Financial Services Sector in South Africa

Start-up SMEs are very important to employment creation, poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development of South Africa. One of the challenges facing start-ups is non-availability of debt financing. The government of South Africa has put in place various intervention efforts to improve access to debt finance by start-up SMEs. This study investigates empirically the effectiveness of Business Development Services providers (BDSs) in improving access to finance by start-up SMEs. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. The results indicate that most start-up SMEs are not aware of the programme. The results furthermore indicate that start-up SMEs that are aware and use the programme have improved access to debt finance. The recommendations focused on improving the awareness of the programme by start-up SMEs.