Business Linkages as a Strategy for Marginalized Manufacturing Industries in the Townships of Gweru Zimbabwe

Working Paper presented at:The Third Annual International Conference Growing Industries In Townships and Under-Developed Neighbourhoods, Held at Soweto Campus 15–16 May 2012,Research has shown that business linkages can be the most effective way for business to integrate, grow and secure footholds in emerging markets. Thus the value of networking in today’s business environment which is characterised by rapid change and stiff competition cannot be over emphasised. This social capital—the networks which provide valuable information and resources—can greatly change the performance of small enterprises. This research seeks to determine the extent to which manufacturing industries in the townships of Gweru utilise business linkages for better performance. The main objectives of the research are, firstly, to identify the relationships that small manufacturers have with larger businesses and with each other; secondly, to measure the benefits derived from such linkages; and, lastly, to isolate the deliberate networking strategies in manufacturing SMEs. After creating a profile of the SME manufacturing sector from exploratory research, data was collected to fulfill the objectives. Preliminary result indicate that those SMEs that have business linkages perform significantly better than those that do not, and business linkages can be a strategy to improve performance in township business as they open doors which, left to themselves, SMEs would never have found