THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION AND OPEN LEARNING PO.

BOX KITWE
NAME: TIMOTHY NSHIMBI P.O BOX 20515 KITWE

STUDENT NO.:09175202

PROGRAME: BBA4 COURSE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY- BBA400 LECTURER: DR C. LUNGU ASSIGNMENT: FIVE

DUE DATE: 30TH NOVEMBER 2013

Statistical Considerations Sample Size The research will be focused on a fairly small sample size to facilitate meaningful depth of analysis in the light of time and resource constraints. This is to enable the sample with reasonable accuracy, to reflect the thinking, opinions, attitudes and behaviour of the entire population. The sample size makes it possible to integrate and critically examine theory and practice (Ngwenya &Ndlovu, 2003). For the purpose of this study, a sample of 20 will be used included among these are Government agencies ZDA, ZPPA, ZRA, CEEC, PACRA and NCC. The SMEs and big companies like Mopani, KCM, NFC, and Lunshya Mine will also be surveyed for their business conditions, experience, constraints and expectations. The 20 firms will be chosen in order to get a better representation about the number of medium and small sized industries in the Country and also the policy facilitating agencies. To enable us draw valid conclusions from the survey as applicable to small and medium sized enterprises generally, representative companies from each of the different groups ( ie suppliers, and contractors) will be studied so that at the end, different companies with different categories of business and processes will have been studied. Target Population The research intends to cover SMEs, various government Agencies set up under the acts of parliament ( i.e, ZDA, ZRA, PACRA, CEEC and ZPPA). Others targeted are Micro finance lending Isnstitutions, SME sector Associations like the Mining Contractors Association of Zambia and the big mining giants doing business in Zambia Sampling Technique The general population for this study is composed of Small scale and medium Enterprises in Zambia. Basically these respondents will be asked regarding the current status of policies, procedures, collateral requirements, tendering process, registration and the general playing ground is fair for all to participate in business and compete effectively with outside companies.

Measurement First, the respondents shall fill out a self-administered questionnaire. Ideally, the respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale (Barnett, V. 1991), with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices. The equivalent weights for the answers will be: Range 4.50 5.00 3.50 4.49 2.50 3.49 Interpretation Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain

1.50 2.49 Disagree 0.00 1.49 Strongly Disagree The researcher opted to use the questionnaire as a tool since it is easy to construct and the rules and principles of construction are easy to follow. Moreover, copies of the questionnaire could reach a considerable number of respondents either by mail or by personal distribution. Generally, responses to a questionnaire are objectified and standardized and these make tabulation easy. But more importantly, the respondents' replies are of their own free will because there is no interviewer to influence them. This is one way to avoid biases, particularly the interviewers' bias. The researcher will also use graph and charts for data presentation. For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the survey will be conducted to five respondents. After the questions were answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and will change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents.

Statistical Treatment of the Data When the entire survey questionnaire have been collected, the researcher will used statistics to analyze all the data; and will be assisted by the SPSS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study. Because of this research design, the results of the data gathered will be limited to the determination of factors that affect the Small scale and medium Enterprises development in Zambia. Thus, other possible findings in the field of general business environment in Zambia and potential for growth, customer satisfaction and business performance will also analyzed. Comparisons will be drawn between the overall responses to the questions and the differing responses (Creswell, 1994) the following statistical formulae will also be used: 1. Percentage to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire. n % = -------- x 100 ; n number of responses N N total number of respondents 2. Weighted Mean f1x1 + f2x2 + f3x3 + f4x4 + f5x5 x = ---------------------------------------------; xt where: f weight given to each response x number of responses xt total number of responses The researcher will be assisted by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study. SPSS is one of the most widely available and powerful statistical software packages that covers a broad range of statistical procedures, which allows a researcher to summarize data (e.g., compute means and standard deviations),

determine whether there are significant differences between groups (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA), examine relationships among variables (e.g., correlation, multiple regression), and graph results (e.g., bar charts, line graphs) (Kirkpatrick and Feeney, 2003). Data Data will be analysed according to a frame work that will be as follows: The first part of the study will review literature from different parts of the world including Zambia and describe and evaluate different SME policies in these countries and compare them with our Zambian policies. This will be basically a desk research which will examined previous research papers and practices in these countries in order to map the current understanding of SME enterprise development and to identify critical issues The second part will critically analyse the genesis of the SMEs in Zambia focusing on the role of Government in promoting SME development. This will involve careful study and analysis of literature and documents in Libraries, at the ministry of commerce Trade and industry, Zambia Development agency, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), Zambia Public Procurement Agency (ZPPA) and Patents And Companies Registration Agency ( PACRA) Data will be analysed according to a frame work that includes the following: What were the policies of government on SME growth soon after independence What guide lines did the ministry then put in place to guide the formation of the SMEs. How much emphasis did the government then put in regarding the growing of the private sector led economy through SMEs what percentage of employment ratio did the SME run companies provide in comparison to the state run companies What challenges did the SMEs face due to the heavy presence of state run companies

Thus the various stages of development towards a private led enterprise will be highlighted taking note of the various constraints encountered and the strategies put in place to overcome these obstacles for the entire SME journey in Zambia will be identified The third part will now zero in on the current policies and will be primarily qualitative in focus, employing semi structured interviews of selected executives from SME associations like the small scale miners and contractors association of Zambia, the Zambia Chamber of commerce and industry, the Economic Association of Zambia, Non Govermental organizations involved in empowering the SMEs and foreign missions with interest in enterprise development. Other people to be interviewed will be heads of commercial departments in mining conglomerates, governments heads of procurement and business units, Government agencies established through various acts of parliament like ZDA, ZPPA, PACRA and CEEC. This will be aimed at gathering and analyzing the views, opinions and general understanding of the current liberal, decentralized and private driven economic system. This part of the research will also indicate or peer into new ways in which SMEs in an emerging liberal market can be of value to the nation by being innovative, building capacity in their operations and become competitive and grow at the same level with foreign companies

Sources Of Data: The data to be used in this research are primarily those to be derived from the answers to the questionnaire administered on SME survey and interviews with government agencies. Where they could be obtained, statistical reports of what the government has been doing previously will be used. Also the results of interviews conducted will be used as complementary to the questionnaire obtained from data. Other sources include textbooks, seminar papers, bulletins and journals. Data Collection: Considering the importance attached to data collection, the questionnaires will be administered personally by the researcher and his assistants, while some will be given to acquaintances who are staff within the companies targeted. It is hoped that the benefit of hindsight gained during the researchers official assignments and the personal contact made with management of some of the companies, will help in no small way in securing the cooperation of industries during the research. Collecting the completed questionnaires will also provide the opportunity to ask follow-up questions on some salient points raised in the questionnaire. It also will provide the opportunity to enquire from management, staff and union leaders. Face-to-face interviews will be arranged with management of the targeted companies so that relevant issues and questions are raised, and answers obtained for them as the interviews will greatly help to throw light on the answers to the questionnaire and give additional information that will be utilized in the research. Data Analysis Procedure: Data collected from the survey will be analyzed statistically using Chi-Square and the percentage analysis methods. The analysis is undertaken to establish the degree of relationships between some pertinent factors and issues as well as to show the relative size or significance of each factor relative to the others. Descriptive analysis method will also be used. The Hypothesis to be Tested The aims of this thesis are therefore, to study the different models of SME financing as we find them in different countries, and how effective are they in Zambia to Seek opinions of financial lending institutions on what would be the best was of SME financing to study the history of SMEs in the Zambian context and how their circumstances differ from other countries, to test the opinions of a number of selected individuals or leaders of various SME associations as to what measures need to be put in place to make SMEs over come the challenges of growth. To test how effective the current ZDA policies are with regard to helping SMEs grow in Zambia To seek opinions from executive of mining conglomerates on what interventions should SMEs put in place to help them access business from these mining conglomerates

To seek opinions from agencies as to what intenventions SMEs should put in place in order for them to access business from government What recommendations from stake holders on the reforms should SMEs under take or are appropriate for their growth.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS In order to enable the researcher adequately arrive at answers to the already outlined research problems and research questions, the following hypothesis were drawn. H0: Small and medium scale enterprise have effect on the economic development of Zambia Ha: Small and medium scale enterprise have no effect on the economic development of Zambia RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND CONFIDENCE LEVEL In order to set a good base for carrying out the research, the following hypotheses and questions were posed, believing that by the time adequate answers had been provided, the study would have covered necessary grounds. To achieve this, we intend to test three hypotheses in this research. The hypotheses are; 1. Ho: There is no significant difference between the models of SME financing in Zambia as we find them in different countries, and how effective are they in Zambia Ha: There is a significant difference between the models of SME financing in Zambia as we find them in different countries, and how effective are they in Zambia 2. Ho: The current ZDA policies are effective with regard to helping SMEs grow in Zambia Ha: The current ZDA policies are not effective with regard to helping SMEs grow in Zambia

3. Ho: There is enough sensitization and information dissemination to SMEs by Government as regards general business tendering procedures Ha: There is no enough sensitization and information dissemination to SMEs by Government as regards general business tendering procedures These hypotheses are to be tested using Chi-square test for independent samples and through descriptive analysis method. It is intended to use the frequencies of responses by the Government agencies as well as those of privately owned SMEs for this exercise. The researcher intends to present analyses of data obtained from the research work in so far as they related to the SMEs. Sectoral analysis of problems encountered by SMEs will be conducted from the questionnaire administered with a view to offering suitable recommendations towards solving them. From the analysis of the responses to the questionnaire the tendencies will be observed.

In testing the hypotheses, the confidence level, which will be the critical value, is set at 5%. If the calculated value is less than the critical value, we accept the stated hypothesis; otherwise we reject it and accept the alternativeview. SCOPE The study of small and medium sized enterprises is a broad area, where inadequacy of relevant literature on the subject is the bane, can be both expensive and daunting tasks. Delineating of the region of study, therefore, becomes necessary. With a large percentage of Industries in this country falling within this sector, the need to clearly define the scope and area of study becomes inevitable. The study is therefore confined to SMEs operating in Kitwe, and yet it is easy to use the result of this research to gain insight into the whole country. LIMITATIONS OF STUDY Owing to different objectives and methodologies (and study designs) of previous studies, the data from secondary research might not be in the right format or specific enough to answer the objectives of the current study. This research work is also subjected to limitations associated with survey research and student projects.Taking into consideration that there is no grant to this study, there will most likely be the problem of finance and transportation that will enable a more enormous study of this research work. Having taken into consideration the large and vast nature of country Zambia the researcher wants to limit the population of this study to only the small and medium scale enterprises within Kitwe ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS The following are some of the ethcal considerations in this research Honesty: Strive for honesty in all research communications. Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public. Objectivity:We shall strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research. Integrity: We will keep the promises and agreements and act with sincerity, strive for consistency of thought and action.

Carefulness: We shall try to avoid careless errors and negligence, carefully and critically examine our own work and the work of our peers. We shall keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals.

Respect for Intellectual Property: We shall honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. We will not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. And we shall give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research and ever plagiarize. Confidentiality: We shall protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and any records.

WORK PLAN

MONTHS SR/N ACTIVITY

10

PROPOSAL WRITING AND DEFENSE

LITERATURE REVIEW

PREPARATION OF RESEARCH TOOLS

PILOT STUDY AND CORRECTION RESEARCH TOOLS

FIELD DATA COLLECTION

DATA CLEANSING AND ANALYSIS

MARKET RESEARCH WRITING (REPORT)

WORKSHOPS

AMENDING FINAL REPORT

10

SUBMISION OF FINAL REPORT

BUDGET

ITEMS

COST

VEHICLE AND FUEL DAILY SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE FOR ONE CHIEF RESEARCHER, ONE ASSISTANT CHIEF RESEARCHER,THREE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS AND ONE DATA ENTRY CLERK AT K 1,000

K10,000

K5,600

PROFESSIONAL FEES

K 12,000

SUPPORT SERVICES E.G SECRETARIAL, PHOTOCOPYING, TELEPHONE,FAX, INTERNET FACILITIES

K3000

CONTIGENCIES

K2000

TOTAL

K32,600

References 1. Responsible Conduct of Research, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press). Shamoo A and Resnik D. 2009. 2. Relationship Marketing and Data Quality Management. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 64(2), Khalil, O. E., & Harcar, T. D. (1999).

3. Guidelines for research proposal, Research hand book, Likumbi Mwila, October 2008 Copperlt University Kitwe 4. Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches, Punch, K F. (1998), 5. World Bank. (2006) Doing Business in 2005. The World Bank. Washington D. C., USA. 6. Central Bureau of Statistics, International Center for Economic Growth, and K-Rep Holdings, National Micro and Small Enterprise Baseline Survey, 1999. 7. SME Succes in Challenging Times:Bank Finance- Lost in Translation , Ngwenya & Ndlovu, 2003