Micro-Enterprise Development: An Analysis of Kabwe and Lusaka Enterprises in Zambia
基于对赞比亚卡布韦和卢萨卡地区50家微型企业主的调查，分析了他们的营销渠道、营销实践、资源支持及学习特征，旨在提升市场分销和销售。
Developing small-scale, private, income-generating endeavors in rural communities in developing countries is recognized by economic, political, and educational leaders as an overall strategy for economic development. Based upon free enterprise concepts, micro-enterprise development is viewed as a powerful and attractive means for providing a grassroots approach to economic development. Most micro-enterprises in developing countries take a passive role in marketing by focusing and responding to local demands and conditions; and this typically results in an unplanned approach to production and sales (Kinsey 1988). Whether markets stimulate or follow economic development, it appears that the distribution of goods through marketing channels is a neglected aspect of economic development planning (Lipton 1980). Micro-entrepreneurs tend to emphasize production more than marketing. In a production orientation, a limited attempt is made to assess consumer demand as a basis for distribution of goods. A marketing orientation, on the other hand, emphasizes consumerism -- producing what can be sold instead of trying to sell what can be made. Olcott (1981, 5) emphasizes this point by stating that marketing is ...knowing what the buyers want and letting them know that the items are available.... Marketing plays an essential role in micro-enterprise development and is an important factor in determining the growth potential of small, rural-based, income-generating operations. Mintz (1956) contends that the conditions and contexts under which the distribution functions take place are instrumental to the success of developing micro-enterprises. Marketing influences all aspects of production in that buyer preferences determine type, design, and quantity of production (Olcott 1981). It is important to consider a marketing view of production to efficiently satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. This article shares the view that major attention needs to be paid to marketing by micro-enterprises and that, as pointed out by Drucker (1958), marketing is an important multiplier of development. Survey of Micro-Enterprises This article is based on a survey designed to ascertain marketing outlets of rural micro-enterprises in Zambia in order to determine and enhance market distribution and market sales. The survey was concerned with the means to increase market share through sales opportunities (Martinez 1990). The survey questionnaire of targeted 50 family-based micro-enterprise proprietors of the Kabwe and Lusaka regions of Zambia. The Kabwe and Lusaka micro-enterprises were in sparsely populated areas that have some rural road access; subsistence farming is the primary form of living. Specifically, this study investigated: (1) the marketing channels used for the sale of products produced by rural Kabwe and Lusaka micro-enterprises, (2) the current practices of marketing related to perceptions about the most effective marketing outlets, (3) the type and level of resource support available for marketing micro-enterprise goods, and (4) the learning characteristics of Kabwe and Lusaka micro-enterprise proprietors (as a basis for the design of training programs in marketing). The purpose of the research was to obtain descriptive data on the use, preference, resource availability, and learning characteristics of rural micro-enterprise proprietors in Zambia. The variables investigated involved perceptions of the capabilities of market outlets and the necessary learning strategies for enhancing Kabwe and Lusaka micro-enterprise development. Analyses of the questionnaire data were based on frequency distribution, percentage, and cross-tabulation. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Analyses System (SAS, 6.0 version) package. Subjects were 50 randomly selected micro-enterprise proprietors in the rural Kabwe and Lusaka areas of Zambia. Through the research collaboration efforts with the Pan African Institute of Development, the questionnaire was developed and piloted among a group of 68 private, voluntary organizations that were directly involved in promoting and developing micro-sector enterprises. …