Promoting Youth Empowerment through Business Mentorship in South Africa
PDF

Keywords

Mentoring, Entrepreneurship, Youth Empowerment, Economic Development.

How to Cite

MASHA, A. K., SHAVA, E., MAMBIRAVANA, T., & BWOWE, P. W. (2022). Promoting Youth Empowerment through Business Mentorship in South Africa. PRIZREN SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, 6(1), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.32936/pssj.v6i1.291

Abstract

One of the setbacks in youth entrepreneurship is the unavailability of proper business knowledge and mentorship. In rural municipalities of South Africa, the absence of youth mentorship has widened the inequality gap and triggered deep youth poverty. This article reinforces the importance of youth mentoring in crucial business aspects such as writing business plans for entrepreneurial success. This study is premised on a positivist paradigm that uses a quantitative research design. The researchers administered twenty questionnaires to youth entrepreneurs in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa to examine whether mentoring the writing of business plans plays an essential role in their entrepreneurial ventures. The results for this article reveal that most youth entrepreneurs do not receive mentoring to boost their entrepreneurial ventures, even though mentoring has been identified as necessary.  The report recommends that youth entrepreneurs be mentored to promote their businesses, which will create youth economic development and employment creation in BCMM.

https://doi.org/10.32936/pssj.v6i1.291
PDF

References

Aldrich, H.E., & Carter, M.N. (2004). Social networks. In Gartner, W.B., Shaver, K.G., Carter, N.M. & Reynolds, P.D. (Eds). Handbook of entrepreneurial dynamics. The process of business creation. California: Sage.

Amos, A., & Alex, K. (2014). Theory of planned behaviour, contextual elements, demographic factors and entrepreneurial intentions of students in Kenya. European journal of Business and Management, 6(15), 167-175. https://doi:10.1.1.829.5845

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T

Babbie, E.R. (2021). The practice of social research. 15th Edition. Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.

Baluku, M.M., Matagi, L., & Otto, K., (2020). Exploring the link between mentoring and intangible outcomes of entrepreneurship: the mediating role of self-efficacy and moderating effects of gender. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1556. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01556

Bamford, C.E. & Bruton, C.E. (2019). Entrepreneurship: The art, science and process for success (3rd Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Barringer, B.R. & Ireland, R.D. (2019). Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures (6th Edition). London: Pearson.

Bandura, A. (1997). The anatomy of stages of change. American journal of health promotion: AJHP, 12(1), 8-10. https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.8

Bandura, A. (1997). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0813483900008238

Bartley, A. and Hashemi, L. (2021). Quantitative data analysis and interpretation. In Fouché, C.B., Strydom, H. and Roestenburg, W. J. H. Research at grassroots for the social sciences and human services professions. 5th ed. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Richardson (ed). Handbook of the Theory of the Research for the Sociology of Education, California: Greenwood Press.

Bisk, L. (2002). Formal entrepreneurial mentoring: the efficacy of third-party managed programs. Career Development International, 7(5), 262-270. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430210440082

Botha, M. (2019). The entrepreneur. In Nieman, G. & Nieuwenhuizen, C. Entrepreneurship: A South African perspective (3rd Edition). Pretoria: Van Schaik

Clark., R.A., Harden, S., &. Johnson, B. (2000). Mentor Relationships in Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training: Results of a National Survey. Teaching of Psychology, 27(4), 262–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328023TOP2704_04

Clutterbuck, D. (2012). Next decade of coaching and mentoring. In Herholdt, J. Mentoring and coaching: Articles from human capital review. Johannesburg: Knowres. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC95940

Clutterbuck, D. (2008). What's happening in coaching and mentoring? And what is the difference between them? Development and Learning in Organizations, 22(4), 8–10. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777280810886364

Chimucheka, T., Dodd, N., & Chinyamurindi, T. (2018). The Effect of the Use of Technology on the Performance of Immigrant-Owned Smmes in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 22(3), 1-12.

Co, M.J., Groenewald, J., Mitchell, B., Nayager, T., van Zyl, J., Visser, K., Train, W. & Emanual, B. (2018). Entrepreneurship: Fresh perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson.

Denscombe, M. (2014). The Good Research Guide for small scale social research projects. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Development Fund Annual Report 2010/11. https://www.dbsa.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-09/DBSA%20and%20Development%20Fund%20Annual%20Report%202011%20.pdf

Din, B.H., Anuar, A.R., & Usman, M. (2016). The effectiveness of the entrepreneurship education program in upgrading entrepreneurial skills among public university students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 224, 117-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.413

Du Plooy-Cilliers, F. Research paradigms and traditions. In Du Plooy-Cilliers, F., Davies, C. & Bezuidenhout, R.M. (2014). Research matters. Claremont: Juta

Du, K., & O’Connor, A. (2018). Entrepreneurship and advancing national level economic efficiency. Small Business Economics, 50(1), 91-111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9904-4

Ekpe, I.U., Razak, R.C., Ismail, M., & Abudullar, Z. (2016). Entrepreneurial skill acquisition, psychosocial factors and youth’s self-employment in Malaysia. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 20(1), 1-12.

Eresia-Eke, C., & Gunda, C. (2015). The entrepreneurial intentions of University of Botswana students. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 13(3),55-65.

Fatoki, O. O., & Chindoga, L. (2011). An Investigation into the Obstacles to Youth Entrepreneurship in South Africa. International Business Research. 4(2), 161-169. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v4n2p161

Fletcher, S., & Mullen, C. A. (Eds.). (2012). The SAGE handbook of mentoring and coaching in education. Thousand Oaks: SAGE

GEM (2014-15). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). (2014). The crossroads -a goldmine or a time bomb? Cape Town: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

Haggard, D. L.; Dougherty, T. W.; Turban, D. B.; Wilbanks, J. E. (2011). Who Is a Mentor? A Review of Evolving Definitions and Implications for Research. Journal of Management, 37(1), 280–304. https://doi/abs/10.1177/0149206310386227

Herrington, M., Kew, J., & Kew, P. (2015). 2014 GEM South Africa Report: South Africa: The crossroads – a goldmine or a time bomb? University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa.

Hustedde R.J. (2018). Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in Rural America. In: Harley D., Ysasi N., Bishop M., Fleming A. (eds) Disability and Vocational Rehabilitation in Rural Settings. Springer, Cham.

Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2020). Educational Research: quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. Los Angeles: Sage.

Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. Los Angeles: Sage.

Kickul, J., Griffiths, M., Bacq, S., & Garud, N. (2018). Catalyzing social innovation: is entrepreneurial bricolage always good?. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 30(3-4), 407-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2017.1413771

Kirby, D.A. (2006). Creating entrepreneurial universities in the UK: Applying entrepreneurship theory to practice. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31(5),599-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T

Kram, K. (1985). Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Glenview: Foresman. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392687

Kram, K.E. (1983). Phases of the mentor relationship. The Academy of Management Journal, 26: 608–625. https://doi.org/10.5465/255910

Kram, K.E., & Hall, D.T. Mentoring in context of diversity and turbulence. In Kossek, E.E. & Lobel, S. (1996). Managing diversity: Human resources strategies for transforming the workplace. Cambridge: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1108/09649420710754237

Klofsten, M., Fayolle, A., Guerrero, M., Mian, S., Urbano, D., & Wright, M. (2019). The entrepreneurial university as driver for economic growth and social Change-Key strategic challenges. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 141, 149-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.12.004

Kuratko, D.F., Neubert, E., & Marvel, M.R. (2021). Insights on the mentorship and coachability of entrepreneurs. Business Horizons, 64(2), 199-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.12.004

Lam, D., Leibbrandt, M. and Mlatsheni, C. (2008) Education and Youth Unemployment in South Africa. A Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Working Paper Number 22. Cape Town: SALDRU, University of Cape Town.

Lazenby, K. (2018). The Strategic Management Process. A South African Perspective (2 nd ed.). Van Schaik Publishers.

Laukhuf, R.L., & Malone, T.A. (2015). Women Entrepreneurs Need Mentors. International Journal of Evidence based coaching and Mentorship, 13(1),70-86

Li, C., Isidor, R., Dau, L.A., & Kabst, R. (2018). The more the merrier? Immigrant share and entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(5), 698-733. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1042258718795344

Light, I., Bhachu, P., & Karageorgis, S. (2017). Migration networks and immigrant entrepreneurship (pp. 25-50). Routledge.

Maluleke, J. (2016). Entrepreneurship 1010: Tackling the basics of business start-ups in South Africa. Johannesburg: Blackbird Books.

Masha, A.K. (2014). Assessing Eastern Cape public servants’ perceptions of supportive learning environments in short learning programmers at Fort Hare Solutions. Unpublished Master’s Dissertation. University of Fort Hare. South Africa.

Memon, J., Rozan, M.Z.A., Ismail, K., Uddin, M., & Daud, D. (2015). Mentoring an entrepreneur: Guide for a mentor. Sage Open, 5(1), 2158 2440.

Moos, M. (2014). Networking principles. In Nieman, G. & Nieuwenhuizen, C. Entrepreneurship: A South African perspective (3rd Edition). Pretoria: Van Schaik.

Motala, E. (2020). The state, education and equity in post-apartheid South Africa: The impact of state policies. Routledge.

Nabi, G., Walmsley, A., & Akhtar, I. (2021). Mentoring functions and entrepreneur development in the early years of university. Studies in Higher Education, 46(6), 1159-1174. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1665009

Nel P., Werner A., Du Plessis A., Ngalo O., Poisat P., Sono T., Van Hoek, L., & Botha, C. (2014). Human Resource Management (9th Edition). Cape Town. Oxford University Press.

Newman, A., Obschonka, M., Schwarz, S., Cohen, M., & Nielsen, I. (2019). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy: A systematic review of the literature on its theoretical foundations, measurement, antecedents, and outcomes, and an agenda for future research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 403-419.

Nora, A., & Crisp, G. (2009). Hispanics and higher education: An overview of research, theory, and practice. Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, 317-353.

Oni, O., Agbobli, E. K., & Iwu, C. G. (2019). Entrepreneurial orientation and performance of small business in Vryburg region North West province South Africa. Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 8, 63-71.

Ragins, B.R., & Cotton, J. L. (1999). Mentor functions and outcomes: A comparison of men and women in formal and informal mentoring relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 529-550. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0021-9010.84.4.529

Ragins, B.R. & Kram, K.E. (2007). The Roots and Meaning of Mentoring, in The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and Practice, eds BR Ragins & KE Kram, SAGE Publications, Los Angeles. 3-15. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0021-9010.84.4.529

Rasheed, H.S. & Barbara, Y., & Rasheed, B.Y. (2015). "Developing Entrepreneurial Characteristics IN Minority Youth: The Effects of Education and Enterprise Experience" In Ethnic Entrepreneurship: Structure and Process. Published online: 12 Mar 2015; 261-277.

Rohrbeck, C. A., Ginsburg-Block, M. D., Fantuzzo, J. W., & Miller, T. R. (2003). Peer-assisted learning interventions with elementary school students: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 240–257. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-0663.95.2.240

Scandura, T., & Pellegrini, E. K. (2007). Workplace mentoring: theoretical approaches and methodological issues. In T. D. Allen & L. T. Eby (Eds). The Blackwell handbook of mentoring: A multiple perspectives approach. Malden: Blackwell.

Scandura, T.A. (1992). Mentorship and career mobility: an empirical investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(2), 169–174 https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130206

St-Jean, E., & Audet, J. (2012). The role of mentoring in the learning development of the novice entrepreneur. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 8(1), 119-14

Statistics South Africa, (2018). Quarterly labour force survey Q2:2018, 2018. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.

Srivastava, S.B. (2013). Network Intervention: A Field Experiment to Assess the Effects of Formal Mentoring on Workplace Networks. University of California, Berkeley Working Paper.

Shava, E., & Chamisa, S.F. (2018). Cadre deployment policy and its effects on performance management in South African local government: a critical review. Politeia, 37(1), 1-18. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-13c8ee1ae3

Shava, E., & Maramura, T. C. (2017). National Development Plan as an Entrepreneurial Mechanism for Rural Economic Development in South Africa. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 9(2), 234-242. https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i2(J).1664

Sullivan, R. (2000). Entrepreneurial learning and mentoring. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 6(3), 160-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552550010346587

Oni, O., Agbobli, E.K., & Iwu, C.G. (2019). Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance of Small Business in Vryburg Region North West Province South Africa. Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 8, 63-71.

Van der Merwe, L., & Verwey, A. M. (2016). Building the corporate leadership community. Randburg: Knowledge Resources.

Van Aardt, I. Hewitt, M., Bendeman, H. Bezuidenhout, S. Janse van Rensburg, L. Naidoo, P. Van der bank, J., & Visser, T. (2011). Entrepreneurship and new venture management (4th Edition). Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtl011

Wild, J. & Diggines, C. (2013). Marketing research (2nd Edition). Cape Town: Juta.

Xiao, L., & North, D. (2017). The graduation performance of technology business incubators in China’s three tier cities: the role of incubator funding, technical support, and entrepreneurial mentoring. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(3), 615-634.

Zikmund, Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C., & Griffin, M. (2019). Business research methods. South Western: Cengage Learning.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2022 Anthony Kambi MASHA, Elvin SHAVA, Tafadzwa MAMBIRAVANA, Patrick William BWOWE

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.