Small and medium enterprises play a central role in employment creation, providing of goods and services and growth of an economy, as well as the reduction of poverty. Most developing countries are faced with challenges such as high unemployment rate, lack of infrastructure, high dependence on imports of goods and low export, thus governments In these countries put up measures of tackling this challenges and one of the mall economic drivers Is Seems development. As” Demurely-Kant In her blob on blob_wallboard. Org states that “these days, Job creation Is a top priority for policy makers.
What role do small and medium enterprises (Seems) play in employment generation and economic recovery? Multi-billion dollar aid portfolios across the countries are directed at fostering the growth of Seems. ” This is an indication that most countries have realized the importance of Seems towards Job creation thus the reason for many of them Investing heavily In their development. “Seems are the major growing force behind the fastest growing economy of China, In terms of contribution to the national GAP (accounting for 40%), scale of assets, diversification of products, and creation of employment” (Basher,2008. . Windowed with an estimate population of 322 500 (Scenes, 2011) is the political and administrative head of Iambi has seen a significant increase in the establishment of Seems over the past decade. The city of Windowed has invested in setting up structures such as industrial stall in places such as Somalia, Stature, Handed and Memorandum were Seems which specializes In manufacturing, steel refinery, Joinery, motor repairs, welding, panel beating, painting, upholstery, joinery and textile service.
These four stalls managed by the city accommodates a total of 151 traders and in addition to this ones, there are those that hose to rent other spaces to conduct business or work in their back yards at home. Although huge investments are done in the areas of Seems development, there is research or Indication as to how much effort deferent stakeholders are putting on education and training of these Seems. 1. 2 Statement of the problem surveys indicating a 12% and 20% respectively according to the Bank of Iambi 2010 report on SEEM development in Iambi.
As drivers of economic growth, resources should be invested in the education and training of Seems in different areas in order for them to reach their full potential. This study will investigate as to whether there in enough mentoring, training, counseling being done to help enhance the way Seems conduct their business. The study will further try to establish whether there are enough opportunities for exchange and networking with other Seems in the world. One of the major constraints face by the Seems is lack of business skills and knowledge.
People come up with good business concepts, develop them into businesses but this business struggle to reach a life span of 5 years, this is due to lack of proper training on understanding the business module in which most Seems pirate in. Many go into starting up a business with a lack of understanding though they might have a great business idea, it is therefore important that they are time and again trained in different business related matters, create an environment in which they are able to learn from others who have done well both inside and outside the country, create mentors programs to assist them with nurturing business knowledge.
The purpose of the study will be to establish if the City of Windowed is through its economic development department have activities geared towards addressing this short comings. 1. Objectives of the study and research questions The objectives of the study are as follows: To investigate the level of education and training of Seems at the City of Windowed; To identify the nature of skills required by Seems and the challenges thereof; To determine the nature of assistance needed by Seems in education and training and; To examine processes and activities in place aimed at helping Seems with education and training.
This research seek to evaluate the importance of education and training of Seems, establish if there is measures in place dealing with education and training of Seems at the city of Windowed. . 4 Significance of the study This study is important as it aims at contributing to the knowledge on education and training of Seems. This study is significant to the City of Windowed, Nags and policy makers in government as it will provide information that can be used to contribute towards SEEM development.
The study aims at analyzing the contribution of Seems towards economic growth and employment creation as one of the major forces of growth in the city of Windowed. The study is significant as it aims at identify the knowledge gap that can be exploited by those that work with Seems in coming up with developmental framework. 1. 5 Limitation of the study The study is specifically aimed at Seems that are based in Windowed, registered with the Ministry of Trade and Industry as SEEM as well as having registered with the City of Windowed.
The Seems to be covered by this research will be those that are in books of the City of City either by means of using the municipal stalls or those that have registered as Seems with the City of Windowed. Seems that are also operating in Windowed but are not registered with the City of Windowed such as informal Seems operating in their back yards and those not on the database of the municipality will collect and analyses primary data, the study will be based on analyzing various secondary date that is readily available.
This will involve analyzing, critiquing and recommending on possible outcomes. Literature Review According to Collisions & Quinn (2002, up 415-416) ” over the past two decades this emphasis on small firm sector as a generator of both employment and wealth has led to both national and European policies being developed to encourage individuals to become entrepreneurs and to aid small firms in their growth.
With an influx off large number of people to the city in search for greener pastures and better Job opportunities, the city has been finding it difficult to deal with the increase in high unemployment rates. Many donor agencies and various financial institutions identified the importance of small business in the provision of employment and the reduction of poverty thus why the City of Windowed has a department specifically aimed at ensuring that a conducive environment is created for Seems to thrive when conducting their business activities.
One of the key tool of operating a successful equines is in the way it operates its marketing strategy. Seems need to develop their marketing knowledge and skill so as to increase their competitiveness which in the end leads to their success. This knowledge and skills but be a given to some but to others it might be hard to come by that is why training and education are very important. In her research study title “Analysis of the development of small and medium enterprises in Iambi (Somas region), ‘pinged (2010, p. 2) states that “Seems have also significantly added to the other industries in providing a flexible killed production base, especially for the basket and granary weavers, potters and precious stones industries, which significantly contribute to the tourism industry. ” The city of Windowed through it department of economic development has different mentors, training and educational programs for Seems development but the impact and effects of this activities to the operation of Seems is not well documented.
Researchers have mainly put focus on the importance of Seems in employment creation and poverty alleviation while little focus is given to the importance of education and training on Seems. Those who are involved in running the Seems have the business idea but some do not have the necessary training or know how on how to financial statements which forces them to either contract someone to do it for them at a cost or simply do it themselves wrongly.
There are also instances where those running or owning Seems do not know on how to differentiate what belongs to the business and that which belong personally to them, there is always a mix up which in the end leads to many Seems using business money for non business related activities and when the business needs this money, it’s now were to be found. Mechanisms should be put in place for the provision of training in bookkeeping, stoke taking, basic office administration and other short courses which are of importance in running a small to medium size business.
The study seeks to the knowledge gap that exist and identify those training and educational programs that will bridge this gap. Methodology In this chapter, the different tools that are needed to collect information are listed, the methodology for analyzing the data is also explained. This chapter includes, research design, the population and sample collection, the instrument used and their The research is primarily based on using qualitative research techniques.
A questionnaire was developed, distributed to respondents to collect data, the completed questionnaire were than collected and were analyses to get results and recommendation. The challenges faced with using this method was that the main regulator of Seems in the country being the Ministry of Trade and Industries does not have a database were all Seems in the country are contained with all their particulars, this also cascades down to the City of Windowed who’s database has only those who are using their different stalls whereas other Seems operating on their own are in cost cases left out.
This poses as a limitation to the study as only those on the City of Windowed database were covered while many capable Seems had to be left out, this implies that the results obtained are not entirely the overview of the entire Seems market in the city and thus all recommendations and conclusions should be treated as such. Only the respondents that were accessible, willingness participate and those who were available were chosen to complete the questionnaires. 1. Population (where applicable) According to the National Planning Commission (Census, 2011), Somas region has a total population of 342 141 residents comprising of 172 469 females and 169 672 males with 95% being in the urban and the 5% being in the rural of Somas region. Total area is 36 964 square kilometers, thus the population density is 9. 2 persons per square kilometers. The unemployment rate stood at 30 percent. Wages and salaries accounts for 74 percent as a main source of income, while non-farming businesses (14 percent) and other derived income from farming, cash remittance and pension.
Due to resource and time limitations, the research targeted the City of Windowed because the majority of Seems are in easy reach for the researcher. 1. Sample Due to budget and time constraints, it will be difficult to survey the entire population. A representative sample of 100 respondents was used for this research. These respondents (sample) was chosen from the Seems registered with the City of Windowed, those that are using the four stalls managed by the municipality and checked against the records of Seems directory at the Small and Medium Enterprise Incubation Centre.
The method used was the cluster sampling based on the four stalls managed by the city of Windowed, as this minimized the chances of data doubling and biasness. Buy choosing the cluster sampling which is one of the arability sampling techniques, all the cases in these four stalls had an equal chance of being picked. 1. 9 Research Instruments Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires set up by the researcher which were delivered faced to face. Assistance was obtained in the form of two volunteers from the department of economic development.
