The Relevance of the Liability of Newness in a Post-COVID-19 South African Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprise Dispensation | Chapter 8 | Managing Higher Education and Enterprises in Developing Countries Beyond COVID-19: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics

Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are major socioeconomic contributors globally. In South Africa, these business entities supply roughly 50% towards the national Gross Domestic Product, and employment opportunities for at least 60% of the national workforce. Unfortunately, research shows that South African SMMEs have among the highest failure rates in the world, with approximately 75% failing after operating for only three years. In 1965, Arthur Stinchcombe considered the high risk of SMME failure and developed a theory called the liability of newness, where all possible reasons for it can fit into four distinct categories. Even though this theory is older than a half-century, within the ambit of this study, the primary objective was to ascertain the relevance of the liability of newness in a post-COVID-19 South African SMME dispensation. Non-empirical, qualitative, exploratory research was conducted through an online desktop review to achieve the latter. From the research conducted, it became apparent that although the liability of newness is still relevant in a post-COVID-19 South African dispensation, two categories appear to be more relevant, at least theoretically speaking.

Author(s) Details:

Juan-Pierré Bruwer,
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/MHEEDCBCPICBMD/article/view/13199