The new Zimbabwe National SME sector that would be hinged on value addition and value creation, technological innovation and research and development. The value creation process could be described as a spectrum ranging from core value, to added value, to future value (Moller and Torronen, 2003). Lepak et al. (2007) defines value creation as the “process” (how value is created) and the “content” (what is of value). These sentiments were shared by various scholars who elaborated that value creation is divided into content (what is value) and the process (how this value is created), firstly, we consider “What is value?” as a question of worth, and intimately linked with the divergent perception of project success (Kreiner, 2014; Laursen and Svejvig, 2016).When we studying project risk management literature through the lens of value creation, content is often assumed to be the project output, success, or benefits, while process is described as the best practices for performance (Willumsen et al. 2019).
Prim 2007) identified the three broad categories of value creation strategies are growing consumers’ human capital, reducing demands on consumers, and focusing on member-specific human capital in multimember households. Moller and Torronen (2003) emphasised that most value-adding process takes place in an incremental fashion in relatively established relationships, which enables the actors to form reasonable estimates of their functional and economic value. Value creation involves innovation that establishes or increases the consumer’s valuation of the benefits of consumption, when value is created, the consumer either will be willing to pay for a novel benefit, will be willing to pay more for something perceived to be better, or will choose to receive a previously available benefit at a lower unit cost, which often results in a greater volume purchased (Prim, 2007). Value creation, rather than value appropriation, lies at the heart of effective firm strategies and strategies that focus on creating new value undoubtedly lead to some of that value spilling over to other firms and to society as a whole (Moran and Ghoshal 2016).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have adopted the value addition and value creation processes to grow the economies of the member states. The ASEAN countries touted SMEs as the engine of economic growth and development, the backbone of national economies, the highest employment-generating sector, and a potential tool of poverty alleviation by creating self-employment avenues (Tambunan, 2008). Small and medium enterprises also play an irreplaceable role in promoting technological innovation and invigorating the national economy and China and the ASEAN countries are increasingly aware of the important role played by SMEs in promoting international economic and trade cooperation, promoting complementary advantages, enhancing bilateral trade, promoting economic restructuring, reducing poverty and narrowing the gap between rich and poor (Liao ad Luo, 2020). The ASEAN countries developed two tools that they used in order to achieve high performance of the SMEs: The ASEAN Policy Blueprint for SME Development for SME Development (APBSD) 2004–2014 and the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for SME Development.
The ASEAN Policy Blueprint for SME Development for SME Development (APBSD) 2004–2014 aims to accelerate the pace of SME development and enhance the competitiveness and dynamism of ASEAN SMEs by facilitating their access to information, market, human resource development and skills, finance, and technology (Rafaelita 2013). The APBSD 2004–2014 is summarised in Table 1:
Table 1
ASEAN Policy Blueprint for SME Development
Program Area Activities | Program Area Activities |
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Human Resource Development and Capacity Building | • Entrepreneurship development program • Enhancing SME sector skills in management & organisation on a self-reliant basis • Fostering SME capabilities for inter-firm networking & linkages • Tracking & benchmarking SME capabilities, dynamism & competitiveness |
Enhancing SME Marketing Capabilities | • Setting up regional & sub regional networks of interlinked, online clearing points or trading houses for SME businesses -Enhancing SME capabilities in & reliance on ICT & e-commerce -Tracking & benchmarking SME readiness as subcontractors & compliance to non-negotiable subcontracting preconditions or compliance requirements on the demand side |
Access to Financing | • Capacity building for improved SME access to financing -Financial institutional capacity building for improved SME financing -Widening & deepening SME access to credit |
Access to Technology | • Small and medium enterprises technology upgrading & transfer of innovative technologies |
Creating Conducive Environment | • Simplification, streamlining & rationalisation of procedures for SME registration & process for SME support services -Fine-tune policy & regulatory framework for SME development -Promotion of public-private synergies & partnerships for SME development & integration |
Source Aldaba, (2013) |
Building on the progressive work under the APBSD, the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for SME Development aims to further enhance the competitiveness and flexibility of SMEs in moving towards a single market and production base in ASEAN (Rafaelita 2013). The key policy measures and activities provide the road map which the SME implementers would follow to achieve the SME goals.
In recent years technological innovation has taken the grand stage across the global village and internet technology and ICT has brought the whole world together. Digital technologies and their applications are systematically altering established practices and making new ones emerge in different realms of society. The field of social sciences in general and management in particular, together with several examples that span a variety of fields, are the main beneficiaries of the technological innovations (Fini et al., 2017). Digitalisation affects individual and team behaviours, organisation strategies, practices and processes, industry dynamics and competition among entrepreneurs (Droll et al., 2017). The recent advent of remote sensing, mobile technologies, novel transaction systems and high-performance computing offers opportunities to understand trends, behaviours, and actions in a manner that was not previously possible (West et al., 2006). The related literature indicates that the establishment of an effective ITC department is a vital development in any economic sector.
The Indonesian government, for example, initiated knowledge and technology transfer programmes and has provided training programmes, expertise transfer and training centres, as well as physical equipment (machinery and tools) for use by SMEs (Handoko et al., 2019). The Malawian government has embarked on programmes to develop the entrepreneurial mindset of the population through the revamping and restructuring of public organisations entrusted with national entrepreneurship development such as the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurial Training Authority (TEVETA), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Institute (SMEDI) and Malawi Rural Development and Enterprise Fund (MARDEF) (Ndala and Pelser, 2019). The Zimbabwe SME capacity development department will have to borrow ideas from Indonesia and Malawi to strengthen capacity building.
The SMEs in Indonesia are given priority by government policy makers. These policy interventions designed to support them are very popular, given the role of SMEs in the economy in Indonesia (Feranita et al., 2019). The government-initiated knowledge and technology transfer programmes have provided training programmes and expertise transfer, as well as physical equipment (machinery and tools) to SMEs (Handoko et al., 2019). The government policies of Indonesia thus support SMEs towards the high contribution of the sector to the economy of the country.
The Indonesian government has a strategy to improve the performance of SMEs through its ministries. Government-initiated knowledge and technology transfer in Indonesia is normally completed through government ministries and their associated agencies, inter-ministry departments and local government (Handoko, 2019). The ministries include the Ministry of Research and Technology, Ministry of Cooperation and Small to Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Trade (Handoko, 2019). They work in collaboration and the atmosphere has promoted the growth of SMEs.
Cohen and Levinthal (1990) state that entrepreneurs that invest in research and development increase the capacity to adapt knowledge developed in other organisations and are able to appropriate some of the profits gained to external investments in new knowledge. Cockburn and Henderson (1998) worked on this concept and suggested that firms that are connected to the community of open science are able to increase their investment in research and development. Research and development workers who move between firms are capable of diffusing knowledge and improving the matching of individuals’ heterogenous knowledge, thereby generating more innovation.
The Botswana government encouraged research and development on its policies in order to improve its delivery. The Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) is an independent trust, which started operations in 1995 as a non-governmental policy research institution with a mission to inform policy and build capacity through research and consultancy services (Khanie, 2018). The trust is part-funded by the Government of Botswana, as it supports it to be more objective in its policy creation, implementation and evaluation
The Indian government provided the funds for research and development (R&D). Miglani (2019) states that the concept of upgrading the SMEs involved the capacity of firms to make better products, more efficiently, and move into more skilled activities and the government has been encouraging R&D in this sector by offering tax cuts on such expenditure. The NATRIP project, initiated in 2005, was set up to enable the industry to adopt and implement global performance standards and provide low- cost manufacturing and product development solutions (Saon, and Miglani, 2018). Among Indian companies, M&M and Ashok Leyland have made significant investment in R&D centers and technology development and testing centers and have ventured abroad (OECD/ETF/EU/EBRD, 2019).