Entrepreneurship Education for Small and Medium Business Enterprises in Kajiado County, Kenya
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Date
2023
Authors
Musyimi, Michael Nzuka
Mwasiaji, Evans
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAJEF
Abstract
Studies have variously reported that even
though small and medium enterprises are
critical for economic development, they
face numerous challenges especially in
their initial stages after inception. Most of
these businesses fail to make it to their fifth
year of operation mainly due to insufficient
entrepreneurship competencies. Extant
studies have therefore concluded that
entrepreneurship education is an important
ingredient towards the development of
requisite skills set and the resultant
enhanced business performance. However,
most of the existing studies were either
based on secondary literature, examined
financial performance indicators alone, or
have a narrow scope and small sample size.
Thus the current study that sought to
establish the influence of entrepreneurship
education, with specific reference to
training need assessment, mode of delivery
and training content, on the performance of
small and medium business enterprises in
Kajiado County, Kenya. The training needs
assessment model, knowledge-based view
of the firm, and competence-based view
formed the theoretical foundation, while
descriptive research design was chosen in
line with the general objective for this
study. The unit of analysis was 180 SMEs,
while the unit of observation was 121
entrepreneurs and senior executives
selected using cluster sampling from five
divisions. A semi-structured data
collection tool was used to generate
qualitative and quantitative data in line with
the specific objectives of the study. Data
was analyses using descriptive statistics
and results presented through percentages,
tables and graphs. This study with a 68%
response rate, established that
entrepreneurship education has a
significant influence on the performance of
small and medium enterprises. The position
taken by this study therefore is that
entrepreneurship education is not only
critical in acquisition of relevant
entrepreneurial competencies for enhanced
performance, but also in the creation of
entrepreneurial culture and realization of
economic development. There is need
therefore for the County Government in
Kajiado to put in place a policy and
regulatory framework that can enable
entrepreneurs and other players in the
entrepreneurship ecosystem to not only
network and create entrepreneurial
communities for mentorship, but also to
access relevant training to enhance their
competencies. There is also need for the
county government to champion creation of
a symbiotic and self-sustaining relationship
between entrepreneurs and institutions of
higher learning. The expected study output
upon successful implementation of the
given recommendations is enhanced
performance of small and medium business
enterprises in Kajiado County, Kenya.
Description
Article
Keywords
Entrepreneurship Education, Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises
Citation
Musyimi, M. N., Mwasiaji, E. (2023) Entrepreneurship education for small and medium business enterprises in Kajiado County, Kenya. International Academic Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(8), 409-424.