13th Annual International Management Conference Proceeding

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The Impact of Entrepreneurship Training Programmes on Small Enterprise Development and Growth in Kenya By Samuel Obino Mokaya 9 Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Abstract Any entrepreneurship training should be designed to include or at least reveal and develop entrepreneurship in an individual. Carefully designed training programmes should be based on needs; linked to opportunities and complimented with follow-up and evaluation to determine whether trainees start new enterprises or make improvements on existing ones. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of entrepreneurship training prgrammes to the development and growth of small enterprises in Kenya: the extent to which the training had helped the entrepreneurs improve performance of their businesses. This was a descriptive study involving a survey of the perceptions of the participants in the training programmes conducted by three institutions and the impact of the skills provided to the development and growth of their businesses. The study covered past trainees of entrepreneurship training programmes at the Kenya Management Assistance Programme, Federation of Kenya Employers and Improve Your Business. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered through personal interviews at their business premises. Results indicated that most of the trainees had experienced improved business performance as result of the training. Further, the improvements made were not exclusively due to the training but in combination with other factors. However, the training had been a major factor in the improvements made. The study concluded that the training was useful and instrumental in the improvements made despite existence of other factors. The study recommends that training providers should assess needs of entrepreneurs as basis for training; have sector-specific sessions; practical training techniques; establish linkages with credit providers for credit provision to trainee and inclusion of a session on prudent financial management practices in the training can also expose entrepreneurs to innovative ways of mobilizing their own funds through savings either individually or in groups for reinvestments; assist trainees prepare statements of what they propose to do in form of business plans, action statements or proposals as commitment to implementing what they have learnt and also provide basis for future evaluations. Keywords: Assessment, impact, entrepreneurship training, enterprise development and growth 1.0 Background to the Study Entrepreneurship training has been widely recognized as an important component in the strategy for small scale and jua kali enterprise development in Kenya (G.O.K., 1992). According to the Sessional Paper No. 2 of 1992 and the National Strategy for Small Scale and Jua Kali Enterprise Development: Towards the Year 2000, deficiency in managerial skills has been cited as one of the major bottlenecks in the development and growth of small enterprises. As a result several public and private sector institutions have been established to address this need. It is on this background that the Kenya Management Assistance Programme (K-MAP), Improve Your Business (IYB) and the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) with assistance from International Labour Organization and United Nations Development Programme among others, conducted a number of business development and growth training programmes. The training was aimed at enhancing the performance of small enterprises in the country through business improvement and expansion. The training programmes are targeted at entrepreneurs who were already in business so as to enable them identify growth potential of their businesses and plan for strategic business growth for employment creation. 9 Samuel Obino Mokaya is an Assistant Registrar (Production) and Part-time Lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Management at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He is also a 2 nd year Ph.D. student in Entrepreneurship Development at Kenyatta University (skomokaya@yahoo.com) 83
The training approach to small enterprise development has also been successfully used in other countries such as India (Awasthi, 1989). In India, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute, established in 1983 has been conducting new enterprise creation (NEC) and business growth training (BGT) programmes for small enterprise development with tremendous results. In his impact study, Awasthi found out that at least 75% of trainees in the new enterprise creation training programme started manufacturing enterprises, where some were employing as many as 300 workers. To support this viewpoint, Fluitman (1990) contends that training for work in the informal sector should involve an organized transfer of skills to enable people start their own enterprises. He further suggests that a carefully designed training programme should be based on needs, linked to opportunities for immediate results and complimented with follow up services. He says that there is need for periodic evaluation to determine whether those trained start their own enterprises or not and therefore important to find out whether the training has been adequate and effective or not, as a basis for establishing and correcting weaknesses, which may be associated with it. 2.0 Research Problem The three training institutions had conducted a number of training programmes with a number of entrepreneurs going through them. However, despite the wide participation in the training programmes, it had not been determined whether the trainees made any significant improvements to their businesses or introduced new business activities as a result of the training. In the absence of such a study, it was difficult to make an objective judgment on the effectiveness of the training conducted. Sometimes it may be assumed that the training has been effective based on the number of people trained without proof that the changes made in the management and performance of their businesses are actually a result of skills acquired from the training. Arising thereof, there was need to carry out an impact study of the training programmes: whether business performance had improved and whether the performance improvements experienced were a result of the training or other factors outside the training. 3.0 Research Objectives The major objective of the study was to assess the impact of entrepreneurship training programmes on small enterprise development and growth. The specific objectives of the study were to: i Determine the trainees' perceptions on the usefulness of the skills acquired to the growth of their businesses. ii Determine significant business improvements made as a result of the training and those made as a result of other factors iii Identify other factors, besides training which affect small enterprise development. iv Determine the adequacy of the skills provided to the improvement and growth of their businesses. Research Methodology This was a descriptive study involving a survey of the perceptions of the participants on the training and its impact on performance of their businesses. The study covered trainees in Nairobi area who had undergone training on business growth between 1993 and 1995. The sample for the study was 30 respondents drawn from the total number of 72 respondents. The period 1993 to 1995 was selected because it gave a time difference of at least two years since the training was conducted and this provided an adequate period within which trainees were expected to have made significant improvements to their businesses as a result of the training. Data was collected using a questionnaire administered through personal interviews at the respondents’ business premises. Analysis and interpretation was done using simple statistical tools such as means, frequencies and percentages presented through tables and charts. 4.0 Research Findings and Discussion Composition and Age Of the total 30 respondents interviewed, 57% were male while 43% were female, an indication that more male entrepreneurs attend training programmes than female entrepreneurs. 17% of the respondents were 84
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Gender diversity on the Board, Inte
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its own. Relationship-based assets
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Boards, for example, enable the fir
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H7: Firms with diverse boards are i
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29. Johnson, J., Daily, C., and Ell
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population in Kenya especially in a
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John Adair highlighted the importan
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PRACTICAL ANALYSIS TO RESOLVING KEY
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SUB-THEME : SOCIO-CULTURAL ISSUES A
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ecognize and nourish their capabili
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threatened by increased dynamism in
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2.0 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK At the ro
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2.1 Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Dev
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FIGURE I: THE ROLE OF KENYA INSITIT
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4.2.3 Researches Services This is a
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Source: GOK, Central Bureau of Stat
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with regard to training, research a
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REFERENCES 1. Balunywa Waswa, (2004
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APPENDIX I: SCHEDULED PROGRAMMES RU
Page 39 and 40: economy activities that include one
Page 41 and 42: III. SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE (S
Page 43 and 44: two professors used a survey questi
Page 45 and 46: V. RECOMMENDATIONS : ADDRESSING THE
Page 47 and 48: 16. International Finance Corporati
Page 49 and 50: DEVELOPING INTRAPRENEURSHIP IN SMAL
Page 51 and 52: � Innovators � Leaders � Inde
Page 53 and 54: The intrapreneur is really the corp
Page 55 and 56: Figure 1 The Model of Intrapreneurs
Page 57 and 58: 1. Leadership - Any organizational
Page 59 and 60: to (Kolveried and Amo, 2002). This
Page 61 and 62: REFERENCES 1. Antoncic, Bostjan and
Page 63 and 64: 39. Kibas, Peter B. and George O. K
Page 65 and 66: 75. Whitehead Martin (2004). Rescue
Page 67 and 68: Perceived desirability Perceived fe
Page 69 and 70: experience empathy is a social entr
Page 71 and 72: ATTITUDES (Behavioral beliefs x Out
Page 73 and 74: Sociologists and organizational the
Page 75 and 76: accountability. They assess their p
Page 77 and 78: DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT
Page 79 and 80: The Objective of the study The obje
Page 81 and 82: A production function portrays an i
Page 83 and 84: But, Y � ax j i i bi xj b ui je .
Page 85 and 86: Land Land size and land fragmentati
Page 87 and 88: Agricultural Extension Because of l
Page 89: REFERENCES: 1. Chambers R. (1983) R
Page 93 and 94: Topic of Training No. of Respondent
Page 95 and 96: Key to Figure A - More capital inve
Page 97 and 98: Conclusion programmes were implemen
Page 99 and 100: Bibliography 1. Abrahamson, R and H
Page 101 and 102: whether those trained start their o
Page 103 and 104: Changes were also noted in business
Page 105 and 106: Conclusions From the findings, ther
Page 107 and 108: References 1. Baldwin, T. T., & For
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13th Annual International Management Conference Proceeding

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