Abstract
M.Comm.
Small and medium enterprises are recognised as key drivers of the South African economy. Up to 90 percent of formal businesses in South Africa are classified as small and medium sized enterprises. Therefore, the success of these enterprises is of significance to the South African economy.
The formation of strategy is mostly associated with large corporate enterprises, which have the required resources in respect of finance, time and skills, to expend in forming and implementing strategies that are aimed at long term success. These resources are typically not easily accessible to small and medium enterprises, whose focus is mostly on the day to day operation (or even survival) of the enterprise.
This qualitative study explores the views, experiences, knowledge and perceptions of 12 small and medium enterprise research participants in respect of important aspects relating to strategy. These aspects include the role-players in strategy formation, forecasting and planning practices, the type of competitive intelligence gathered, the use of consultants and the link between strategy and the performance of small and medium enterprises. These aspects are all considered, in order to obtain an understanding of the main theme of the study, which focuses on determining the extent to which small and medium enterprise use consultants for the formation of strategy. Consultants are viewed in both a positive and negative light by small and medium enterprises, yet somehow are never considered for the purpose of strategy formation.