Abstract
Abstract:
This paper reports the findings of a study whose purpose sought to identify strategies to addressing the discord and disharmony between entrepreneurial policy and practice in developing countries such as South Africa. Beginning in the early days of its democracy in 1994, the South African government identified entrepreneurship as an all-encompassing strategy to address a plethora of socioeconomic challenges including unemployment and economic growth. In line with this agenda, the government has developed various policies aimed at both developing and growing small enterprises. Despite this, the small to medium enterprise sector has not developed as intended. Characteristically, small businesses are battling to survive amid intensifying competition from large scale enterprises (LSEs). Ironically, the latter is one example where practice does not necessarily follow the dictates of policy. To fully develop an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon, a qualitative case study involving 15 tourism small-scale businesses as well as five government departments in Mpumalanga Province was designed. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews. ATLAS.ti was used to analyse data. Results revealed a gap between policy and practice. Interestingly, political rhetoric was observed as exacerbating an already dire situation by injecting confusion in the entrepreneurship discourse. Furthermore, the study proposes a conceptual framework, the POEE, which attempts to harmonise policy and entrepreneurial actions. Recommendations are made within the context of the POEE framework.