A holistic assessment of the risks encountered by fast moving consumer goods SMEs in South Africa

Oscar Chakabva (), Robertson Tengeh and Jobo Dubihlela ()
Additional contact information
Oscar Chakabva: Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
Jobo Dubihlela: Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 2020, vol. 7, issue 4, 3321-3338

Abstract: Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an indispensable role in the emerging economies by selling products that are often classified as necessities. This paper argues that the traditional classification of risks into mainly operational, strategic, financial, and compliance risk, exposes FMCG SMEs to sustainability issues today. Focusing on sustainability and the associated factors, this paper seeks to offer a broader perspective on the risks that are crucial to the survival of FMCG SMEs in a fast-paced changing environment. The empirical investigation relied on the mixed research methods with the survey questionnaire and personal interviews as tools of interest. Two expert interviews were held to complement the quantitative data that was collected from 289 respondents. The research findings highlight the necessity for FMCG SMEs to look beyond the traditional risk types by incorporating social, economic and environmental risks, which are essential elements of the sustainability framework today. By combining these three components of sustainability into risk assessment, the paper seeks to introduce a more holistic view of risk sources that include evolving risk areas that are of growing importance in a rapidly changing global environment.

Keywords: risks; business survival; sustainability; traditional view; expanded view; Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG); Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M10 M14 M40 M42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://jssidoi.org/jesi/uploads/articles/28/Chaka ... _in_South_Africa.pdf (application/pdf)
https://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/588 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ssi:jouesi:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:3321-3338

DOI: 10.9770/jesi.2020.7.4(49)

Access Statistics for this article

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is currently edited by Manuela Tvaronaviciene

More articles in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues from VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Manuela Tvaronaviciene ().