Supply chain management antecedents of performance in small to medium scale enterprises

The body of literature on South African small to medium enterprises (SMEs) continues to grow. Some researchers (Balogun, Nazeem & Agumba 2016; Ghebrihiwet 2019; Maduku, Mpinganjira & Duh 2016) have directed attention to the impact of SMEs on the South African economy. Others (Fatoki 2014; Makhitha 2017; Neneh & Van Zyl 2017) have concentrated on the challenges faced by SMEs in South Africa. Also, additional studies (Dzomonda, Fatoki & Oni 2017; HoveSibanda, Sibanda & Pooe 2017; Mathu & Tlare 2017) have placed emphasis on entrepreneurship factors determining the success of SMEs in the country. Yet other scholars (Aliyu, Modu & Tan 2018; Chakraborty, Mutingi & Vashishth 2019; Chingwaru 2015 three) have conducted comparative studies involving SMEs in South Africa and those in other parts of the world, such as Zimbabwe, Egypt and Nigeria, India and Namibia. Several common gears of observations bind these studies together. Firstly, the studies concur that SMEs are essential to the South African economy, contributing extensively to its growth and development. Secondly, most studies assent that the SME trajectory in the country is a difficult one and is riddled with numerous internal and external problems that have claimed the existence of numerous enterprises soon after their formation. Thirdly, the studies commonly accept that the path followed by SMEs in South Africa is neither unique nor isolated since similar enterprises in other developing countries face comparable problems.