Abstract
The South African construction industry is vital for the country’s economic and social development, as well important infrastructural development. SMEs within the construction face many challenges, such as limited sources of funding, restricted work opportunities and limited access to markets. This dissertation explored the effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and market orientation (MO) on the competitive positioning of SMEs in the Gauteng construction industry, specifically focusing on SMEs in Alberton, additionally the study had a sample size of 150. This research study has employed the positivist research paradigm and collected quantitative data derived from the questionnaire used. The data collected was analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results of this study revealed that SMEs in Alberton specifically have implemented entrepreneurial orientation (EO), market orientation (MO), entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and their accompanying constructs, although they have implemented these philosophies to varying extents. This study found that amongst the three components of EO (risk-taking, innovativeness and proactiveness) risk taking had the highest mean. The results also revealed that the SMEs that participated in the study focused more on identifying new ways to do things, identifying new opportunities and investing in business ventures that ensured business success and profitability. This study revealed that amongst the three components of MO (customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination) customer orientation had the highest mean. Lastly, this study revealed that from the seven components of EM (value creation, customer intensity, resource leveraging, opportunity focus, innovativeness ,proactiveness and calculated risk taking) proactiveness had the highest mean. Through empirical evidence this dissertation illustrated that SMEs in Alberton have applied EO, MO and EM. Keywords: Competitive Positioning, Customer Orientation, Entrepreneurial Marketing, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Market Orientation, Proactiveness, Risk-taking.
M.Com. (Strategic Management)