Mr Bonus Steenkamp, Dr Marietjie Theron-Wepener
Abstract
Understanding how culture impacts the engagement of owners of micro and small enterprise (MSE) during training may assist facilitators to remove barriers to engagement, increasing training completion rates. It is not clear from the existing literature what effect culture could have on student engagement in the multicultural context of MSE owner training in South Africa. However, studies have shown a correlation between the profitability and sustainability of MSEs in emerging markets and the success of MSE owner training programmes. In this qualitative exploratory study rich data was collected through semi-structured interviews to explore cultural factors that led to student engagement. The interviewees were ten MSE owners from various cultural backgrounds who had completed business training less than two years prior to the interviews. The findings showed that clear cultural engagement guidelines, cultural conflict preclusion, valued culture, cultural mentoring, cultural contextual storytelling, and a friendly, good-fellowship culture among students contributed to increased MSE owner student engagement. Cultural ignorance, cultural intolerance, an unwillingness to overcome cultural barriers, and a cultural dominance attitude negatively impacted students’ engagement.