Factors Influencing Youth Entrepreneurial Intent in the South African Transport Industry

Influencing Factors For Future Youth Entrepreneurs: A Conceptual Framework For The Transport Industry S Hughes & C Schachtebeck

INTRODUCTION The transport industry plays a central role in the competitiveness and growth of South Africa The Department of Transport in South Africa states that increasing the contribution of the sector to job creation is one of its strategic goals South Africa presently has the best developed infrastructure (Brand South Africa, 2017) on the African continent, it also has a lower growth rate than other top performing countries (such as Nigeria and Kenya) and concerted efforts are necessary to benefit, not just from global, but also from regional trade opportunities Even though South Africa can be considered an entrepreneurial leader in Sub-Saharan Africa, the country has a high unemployment rate and an even higher youth unemployment rate The disconnect between opportunities that are present in the transport industry and the extent to which especially youth entrepreneurs have explored and benefited from available opportunities merits investigation. The importance of youth entrepreneurship cannot be overstated as Malik (2016) asserts that South Africa can only have a brighter future if the youth have stable jobs and decent incomes. 2

PROBLEM STATEMENT South Africa s transport industry is an important sector in the South African economy. It contributes significantly towards Gross Domestic Product and acts as an important job creator. It is common cause that youth unemployment is at worrying levels in South Africa. While the South African government has launched a number of initiatives and interventions to address youth unemployment, the youth can also act as job creators by starting their own businesses. Yet, to date, no study has tackled the issue of identifying which factors influence the intent amongst the youth to become entrepreneurs in the context of the transport industry? This study therefore aims to develop, conceptually, a framework which identifies influencing factors of youth entrepreneurial intent for the South African transport industry. 3

RESEARCH AIMS To investigate the factors influencing youth entrepreneurial intent, framed for the South African transport industry This is achieved by means of a systematic review of prominent factors influencing entrepreneurial intent of the youth, culminating in a conceptual framework, framed for the transport industry 4

LITERARY OVERVIEW Entrepreneurial intent Intention and behaviour are strongly linked Strong intent = the likelihood of a behaviour occurring increases. Similarly, the intent to engage in entrepreneurial actions can be regarded as the antecedent of the behaviour occurring Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) suggests entrepreneurial intent is guided by three independent concepts, i.e. attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control Attitudes = individual s understanding of a certain concept Subjective norms = the impact an individual s social environment has on decision-making Perceived behavioural control = self-efficacy, an individual s self-belief in terms of probabilities of succeeding Exposure to entrepreneurship plays an important role in stimulating entrepreneurial intent, e.g. exposure to entrepreneurship education Lack of agreement in literature on which factors influence entrepreneurial intent NB for emerging markets to predict future entrepreneurial intent of the youth 5

LITERARY OVERVIEW SA Transport Industry SA has largest, most developed air, road and rail network in Africa The industry s role in driving economic growth and social development is widely acknowledged Improvement and maintenance of infrastructure noted as a key area of importance Some strategic goals of Department of Transport: Being a catalyst for both economic and social development Improving infrastructure and rural access Increasing job creation opportunities offered by the sector Opportunities for development need to be strategically leveraged Major identified challenges: Improvement of transport logistics infrastructure resource constraints and economic conditions High costs associated with logistics services oil prices, wear and tear, tolls, competitiveness of industry Underskilled workforce new demands requiring specialised computer, IT and related skills 6

LITERARY OVERVIEW Youth entrepreneurship Majority of youth (up to age 34) are unemployed 38.6% of the youth were unemployed at the end of the third quarter of 2017, higher than in 2016 (expanded definition worsens these statistics) In 15-24 year bracket (10.3 million youth), 30% unemployed or not partaking in education or training initiatives Lack of training reduces future employment prospects due to lack of skills Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rates of the youth amongst the lowest in Africa & far below Africa average DTI launched the Focus on youth enterprise for 2013-2023 initiative, aiming to increase number of youth enterprises from 8.9% to 50%, in line with small business focus of NDP The DoT and Cross-Border Road Transport Agency, during a women in transport summit, stressed the importance of entrepreneurial opportunities in the sector, establishing cooperatives and provision of training opportunities for the youth 7

METHODOLOGY Qualitative Research using a Systematic Review Methodology. Analysed by means of thematic content analysis Search guided by the question : Which factors influence youth entrepreneurial intent for the South African transport industry? Utilised search terms: youth , entrepreneurial intent , entrepreneurial intention and South Africa . Databases searched: De Gruyter Journals Online, Science Direct, Proquest Business Collection, Springerlink, Gale Business Insights, Sage Journals Online, Emerald Insight, SAePublications, as well as Ebscohost (Academic Source Complete & Business Source Complete) Boolean operators utilised, as well as search dates between 2008-2017 Inclusion criteria: (1) written in English or Afrikaans; (2) available as full-text; (3) study conducted within South Africa; (4) be empirical in nature; (5) study conducted between 2008 and 2017. Exclusion criteria: (1) written in a language other than English or Afrikaans; (2) only abstract available; (3) study area outside of South Africa; (4) desk study only; (5) conducted prior to 2008 Findings grouped thematically 8

FINDINGS Total Discovered (Stage 1) Meet inclusion criteria (Stage 2) Not accepted (Stage 3) Accepted (Stage 3) Database Ebscohost Sabinet Emerald Proquest Springerlink Gale Sage Researchgate Taylor & Francis Science Direct Credo Reference De Gruyter Sub-total Duplicates Total Date of search 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 18/02/2017 21/02/2017 21/02/2017 22/02/2017 21/02/2017 21/02/2017 184 134 202 728 45 16 103 163 128 82 346 45 16 88 159 119 81 339 45 16 86 4 9 1 7 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 4 9 8 0 0 4 7 6 0 0 3 6 5 0 0 1433 885 859 26 2 24 9

FINDINGS 10

CONCLUSION Growing economic participation of the youth is of paramount importance The study identified several distinct factors which can be grouped into individual factors, available initiatives and environmental factors It is recommended that: Governmental and other decision makers in the sector engage the youth in terms of the faced challenges Sector-specific initiatives can be crafted for aspiring youth entrepreneurs. Harness individual factors by focusing on developing these in identified youth Regulations can be crafted which enhance the ease with which the youth access opportunities in the sector. The aim of the recommendations and initiatives is to positively contribute to the entrepreneurial intent of aspiring youth 11