Quito a nivel internacional

By comparing means in Table 5.23, it can be seen that lack of technology is a major obstacle when it comes to BSR engagement in Ghana (mean=4.34) and not much of an obstacle in South Africa (mean=2.45). A mean score of three would indicate that the concerned item is a moderate obstacle. A high score—that is a score much higher than three—indicates an obstacle of concern. In fact, by comparing the means of the two countries on the various obstacles, it can be seen that the obstacles tend to be of more concern to the Ghanaian SMMEs than to the South African SMMEs (i.e., all means for Ghana are much higher than three). However, lack of technology has the highest mean score in Ghana (mean score = 4.34) followed by financial constraints (mean score = 4.30), which makes them the two major obstacles to SMME BSR in the Ghana sample. For the South Africa sample, the obstacle of most concern to SMME BSR is financial constraint (mean score = 3.33) followed by lack of time (mean score = 3.16). This means that financial constraint is a major obstacle to SMME BSR in both samples, which confirms existing findings (Abor & Quartey, 2010:225; Fatoki & Garwe, 2010:729) that a major obstacle to SMME development in the two countries is access to finance. According to Sweeney (2009:168), financial constraint and lack of time are two major obstacles to SMME BSR often mentioned in the literature. This is confirmed by the mean scores for the combined data of the two countries in Table 5.23, which show financial constraints as having the highest mean score (3.82), followed by lack of time with a mean score of 3.63.

Factor 6: Obstacles

Ghana South Africa Combined

N Mean Std. Dev. N Mean Std. Dev. N Mean Std. Dev. q25. Lack of technology is an obstacle

to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

226 4.34 0.88 220 2.45 1.20 446 3.41 1.41

q26. Lack of expertise is an obstacle to

my company's pursuit of

social/environmental causes.

226 4.26 0.88 220 2.71 1.23 446 3.50 1.32

q27. Financial constraint is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

226 4.30 0.60 220 3.33 1.26 446 3.82 1.10

q28. Little understanding of how pursuing social causes will benefit the company is an obstacle to my

company's pursuit of

social/environmental causes.

226 3.88 1.12 220 3.02 1.17 446 3.46 1.22

q29. Lack of time (there are more pressing needs to channel efforts into) is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

226 4.09 1.13 220 3.16 1.31 446 3.63 1.31

While financial constraints and lack of time emerge as two major obstacles to SMME BSR in both countries, it is significant to revisit the point that lack of technology is considered the topmost obstacle in Ghana (mean score = 4.34) while it is the lowest obstacle in South Africa (mean score = 2.45). This result appears to confirm the notion that the two countries are indeed at different stages of economic development, with Ghana being a factor-driven country while South Africa is an efficiency-driven country (Amoros, 2013). As such, the availability of technology may be lower in Ghana than in South Africa, thus making it the obstacle of most concern to Ghanaian SMMEs.

Results in Table 5.24 confirm that Ghana has significantly higher levels of obstacles than does South Africa; the F tests for differences in means scores on obstacles by country showing p-values of 0.000 (i.e. p-value < 0.01) in all cases.

Table 5.24: Statistical Tests for Differences in Mean Scores on Obstacles by Country

Obstacles

Means Statistical tests

Ghana South Africa Combined F Df1 & df2 p- value

q25. Lack of technology is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

4.34 2.45 3.41 360.230 1 &

444 0.000 q26. Lack of expertise is an obstacle to my

company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

4.26 2.71 3.50 234.903 1 &

444 0.000 q27. Financial constraint is an obstacle to my

company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

4.30 3.33 3.82 108.232 1 &

444 0.000 q28. Little understanding of how pursuing

social causes will benefit the company is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

3.88 3.02 3.46 63.060 1 &

444 0.000

q29. Lack of time (there are more pressing needs to channel efforts into) is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

4.09 3.16 3.63 65.154 1 &

444 0.000

Table 5.25 reinforces the findings in Table 5.23 and Table 5.24 with high factor coefficients or loadings (far greater than the acceptable level of 0.4) and a Cronbach’s alpha of more than 0.7. Coupled with the fact that the factor percentages of total variation are above 50% in both cases (Ghana = 54.82%; South Africa = 51.32%), the items forming the obstacles construct seem to be a significant determinant in the success of SMMEs in both countries. Therefore, addressing these issues could unlock the full potential of SMMEs to contribute to economic development (Ihugba et al. 2014) in both countries.

Table 5.25: Factor Coefficients for Obstacles

Factor 6: Obstacles

Location

Ghana South

Africa Combined q25. Lack of technology is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of

social/environmental causes. 0.804 0.725 0.838

q26. Lack of expertise is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of

social/environmental causes. 0.825 0.678 0.817

q27. Financial constraint is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of

social/environmental causes. 0.676 0.747 0.775

q28. Little understanding of how pursuing social causes will benefit the company is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes.

0.740 0.703 0.759

q29. Lack of time (there are more pressing needs to channel efforts into)

is an obstacle to my company's pursuit of social/environmental causes. 0.641 0.727 0.752

percentage of total variation 54.82% 51.32% 62.20%