While broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) has become more complex to define, it has also become easier to research because of high activity levels, says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.
He was speaking at the launch of the 2006 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Survey on Friday.
Goldstuck said the 2006 SME Survey will probe the impact of high penetration levels of BBBEE on the competitiveness of small enterprises and how seriously BBBEE benchmarks are taken by the sector. It will also probe IT`s impact on the competitiveness of SMEs.
Both BBBEE and IT will be examined in relation to SMEs` ability to gain and retain clients, grow revenue and reduce costs.
In its fourth year, the survey aims to keep abreast of business and technology resources that are available to SMEs and how these resources enable enterprises to grow and compete in the marketplace.
A sample of 6 000 small enterprises with up to 200 employees, across all regions and sectors, will be questioned in a three-month period, Goldstuck said.
"We will release the results of the survey in July."
Learning the needs of the SME sector makes it easier for stakeholders to respond to the need, says Vuyo Jack, chairman of Bonngoe Capital, the survey`s empowerment partner.
Jack said the survey could also be used to study emerging trends in the SME sector, as well as serve as an important tool to regularly measure BBBEE`s impact on the SME sector.
"There are currently no tools to use for that purpose," he said. "The key is what will be done with the results of the survey to create a more robust SME sector."
Standard Bank and Oracle support the survey. SME Insight, a company made up of representatives from Netsurit, World Wide Worx, Coolcumba Communications, Fizz Marketing Services and Bonngoe Capital, runs the survey.
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