Browsing by Author "Olomi, Donath R."

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    Building sustainable business development services : empirical evidence from Kenya
    Nyollo-Otieno, Hellen; Olomi, Donath R.; Kiraka, Ruth (Prof.)
    This is a PhD thesis that is ongoing. In this paper the authors investigates how sustainability of BDS can be explained; why some BDS providers succeed while others don’t; what the successful BDS providers do differently from those who are not as successful. Grounded Theory is used and justification for its use is given. Data collection and analysis is still going on. Preliminary findings from the data so far collected and analyzed show that what makes sustainable BDS seems to vary from one individual provider or organization to another depending on the motivates for venturing into the business, the personal attributes of the provider, the business approach that the provider takes and on the prevailing external factors. Furthermore it depends on how sustainability has been defined.
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    Motives for starting and sustaining BDS : empirical evidence Kenya
    Otieno, Hellen; Olomi, Donath R.; Kiraka, Ruth
    The paper explains what motivates Business Development Services Providers (BDSPs) in Kenya to venture into and sustain their businesses. The study was done through the use of grounded theory methodology on eleven BDSPs in Kenya over twelve months between May 2008 and August 2010. The start-up motives were classified into three: extrinsic, intrinsic and philanthropic. Contrary to the dominant view that small business start-ups are driven principally by economic necessity, the study revealed that some BDSPs venture into and sustain their businesses mainly for intrinsic and philanthropic motives. These findings suggest that evaluation of sustainable BDS business should not be limited to the traditional economic theory of recovering costs but should take into account intrinsic and philanthropic rewards as well. The study enhances our understanding of “start-up motives” and “success” and in particular in the context of small firms. This knowledge is invaluable to scholars, teachers and policy makers involved in promoting small firms.
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    Situational forces in the BDS market and BDS providers’ strategic responses : empirical evidence from Kenya
    Otieno, Hellen; Olomi, Donath R.; Kiraka, Ruth
    The paper presents situational analysis of the BDS market in Kenya showing how BDS Providers (BDSPs) respond in each situational context. The study was done through the use of grounded theory on eleven BDSPs, four small-scale entrepreneurs and two BDS facilitators in Kenya over twelve months between May 2008 and August 2010. The study established that BDSPs operate under weak regulatory framework which encourages unfair competition alongside donor agencies some of which continue to give free and/or subsidized services. BDSPs respond to the situational contexts in their environments using client, product, price, focus, diversification, and simultaneous competition and collaboration strategies.
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    Sustainabillty of business development services : gaps analysis of the Kenyan market
    Otieno, Hellen; Olomi, Donath R.; Kiraka, Ruth
    A key challenge in entrepreneurship and private sector development is the provision of sustainable Business Development Services (BDS). particularly for micro and small enterprises. This study investigates how sustainability of BDS can be achieved, and how some providers manage to develop sustainable BDS and not others. using Grounded Theory. The .findings suggest that there are at least nine specific demand-and-supply-side gaps in the BDS market which providers need to identify and fill if they are to become sustainable. The gaps relate to awareness. value, trust, quality, capacity, unwillingness to pay, appreciation, inability to pay and perception. How providers identify and fill these gaps depends on their strategic orientation, which is in turn shaped by their capabilities, their motivation to sustain the business and e:external factors. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. Success in the industry requires a high level of dedication, commitment and patience than is typically needed in other industries. It takes time and personal sacrifice to invest in building relationships and trust with clients and incremental learning and innovation to fill the gaps. Filling some of the gaps requires collaboration among service providers. Some others require the action of the industry as a whole. The implications for policy is that BDS development endeavors should take into account the specific demands of the industry and take a holistic view that encourages the right kind of people to join the sector and for the gaps to be addressed at all levels.