A resource market approach to micro and small enterprise development

Abstract

This thesis argues for a Resource-Market approach to Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Development. The argument is based on the finding that the basis for competition between firms has shifted to the resource-market level. Resource-markets are markets of inputs, functions, activities or components which, when integrated, form a production process. The shift in the basis of competition has resulted from the emergence of increasingly decentralized and integrated structures of industrial organization which call for the participation of many firms, each being specialized at various stages (or resource markets) of the production process.

A five-step framework for resource-market level strategy formulation is provided in this thesis. This framework allows MSEs, when grouped, to get better terms of trade within the context of their integration into such decentralized and integrated production networks. The thesis compares this approach with the 'Missing-input', the Flexible Specialization, and Sub-Sector approaches, indicating the advantages of the former over the latter.