Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe

The study sort to establish the effects of cluster location decision on the performance of SME in the furniture manufacturing industry. Data for the study was collected from 69 SME owner/managers in the furniture manufacturing cluster industry located at Mkoba 6, Mtapa and DST complex in Gweru (the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mapetere, Denver, Manhiwa, Thelma E R
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IJECM Pub UK 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://1library.net/document/q5om3rrz-evaluation-cluster-location-decision-performance-furniture-manufacturing-zimbabwe.html
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4211
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1779905283044147200
author Mapetere, Denver
Manhiwa, Thelma E R
author_facet Mapetere, Denver
Manhiwa, Thelma E R
author_sort Mapetere, Denver
collection DSpace
description The study sort to establish the effects of cluster location decision on the performance of SME in the furniture manufacturing industry. Data for the study was collected from 69 SME owner/managers in the furniture manufacturing cluster industry located at Mkoba 6, Mtapa and DST complex in Gweru (the third largest city in Zimbabwe). The study deployed a structured questionnaire for data collection. A 100% response rate was obtained from the study and thus allowing study to make conclusions and generalize the results to the furniture manufacturing sector. The study found that SMEs performance is negatively affected by the cluster location decision as it leads to a high concentration of competitors in a single location, SMEs in clusters are restricted in their operations due to limited space allocated to them in the clusters, the majority of SMEs are not able to obtain sustainable benefits through knowledge spillovers in and around clusters. The study therefore recommends local government to involve SMEs in industrial park location and layout decisions so that location becomes are driver to operational success of small firms. It is imperative that town planning and zoning restriction take into consideration the internal heterogeneities of small firms when making agglomeration decisions rather than using the working definition of small firms. The study further recommends the allocation of operating space in designated areas to firms who are in the same line of business or who provide complementary services to the main line cluster so that all firms may benefit from agglomeration.
format Article
id ir-11408-4211
institution My University
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher IJECM Pub UK
record_format dspace
spelling ir-11408-42112022-06-27T13:49:06Z Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe Mapetere, Denver Manhiwa, Thelma E R cluster agglomeration knowledge spillover capacity manufacturing The study sort to establish the effects of cluster location decision on the performance of SME in the furniture manufacturing industry. Data for the study was collected from 69 SME owner/managers in the furniture manufacturing cluster industry located at Mkoba 6, Mtapa and DST complex in Gweru (the third largest city in Zimbabwe). The study deployed a structured questionnaire for data collection. A 100% response rate was obtained from the study and thus allowing study to make conclusions and generalize the results to the furniture manufacturing sector. The study found that SMEs performance is negatively affected by the cluster location decision as it leads to a high concentration of competitors in a single location, SMEs in clusters are restricted in their operations due to limited space allocated to them in the clusters, the majority of SMEs are not able to obtain sustainable benefits through knowledge spillovers in and around clusters. The study therefore recommends local government to involve SMEs in industrial park location and layout decisions so that location becomes are driver to operational success of small firms. It is imperative that town planning and zoning restriction take into consideration the internal heterogeneities of small firms when making agglomeration decisions rather than using the working definition of small firms. The study further recommends the allocation of operating space in designated areas to firms who are in the same line of business or who provide complementary services to the main line cluster so that all firms may benefit from agglomeration. 2021-05-20T09:26:42Z 2021-05-20T09:26:42Z 2019 Article 2348-0386 https://1library.net/document/q5om3rrz-evaluation-cluster-location-decision-performance-furniture-manufacturing-zimbabwe.html http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4211 en International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management;Vol. vii ; Issue 7 open IJECM Pub UK
spellingShingle cluster
agglomeration
knowledge spillover
capacity
manufacturing
Mapetere, Denver
Manhiwa, Thelma E R
Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title_full Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title_short Evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing SMEs in Zimbabwe
title_sort evaluation of the cluster location decision on the performance of furniture manufacturing smes in zimbabwe
topic cluster
agglomeration
knowledge spillover
capacity
manufacturing
url https://1library.net/document/q5om3rrz-evaluation-cluster-location-decision-performance-furniture-manufacturing-zimbabwe.html
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4211
work_keys_str_mv AT mapeteredenver evaluationoftheclusterlocationdecisionontheperformanceoffurnituremanufacturingsmesinzimbabwe
AT manhiwathelmaer evaluationoftheclusterlocationdecisionontheperformanceoffurnituremanufacturingsmesinzimbabwe