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Financial Management Practices by Small and Micro Enterprise Owners in Ghana - Evidence from the Central Region

Received: 9 September 2015     Accepted: 24 September 2015     Published: 8 October 2015
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Abstract

In Ghana, small and micro enterprise owners (SMEOs) face a lot of business management challenges and it is alleged that they suffer, mostly, in terms of their financial management practices. Using a purposive sampling technique in a self-administered data collection, this study attempts to highlight the specific financial management practices by the selected business owners. In all, 372 SMEOs responded and this was made up of the small enterprise segment (118) and the micro enterprises (254), selected from the twenty administrative district capitals in the Central Region of Ghana. The findings show how haphazard, perhaps carelessly, the business owners have financially managed their respective enterprises. Indeed, only 13% of the respondents actually understand the meaning of financial management, and regardless of the business segment differences, majority (36%) of the respondents had misconceived that maintaining proper financial records was all that financial management meant. Further worrying, is the fact that only 13% of overall respondents were specific that they did not understand the meaning of financial management, in addition to several intriguing revelations. The study recommends stakeholder collaborative efforts involving business schools in both polytechnics and universities with relevant agencies and NGOs in building the financial management skills and capacities of the business owners. On their own, the enterprise owners have been advised to urgently take steps to acquire these relevant skills since they need and benefit most. Future research recommendations include a study on the impact of financial management on these businesses.

Published in International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21
Page(s) 494-506
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Small and Micro Enterprise Owners (SMEOs), Financial Management, Small Businesses, Micro Businesses

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    John Kwaning Mbroh, Seth Quartey. (2015). Financial Management Practices by Small and Micro Enterprise Owners in Ghana - Evidence from the Central Region. International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, 3(5), 494-506. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21

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    ACS Style

    John Kwaning Mbroh; Seth Quartey. Financial Management Practices by Small and Micro Enterprise Owners in Ghana - Evidence from the Central Region. Int. J. Econ. Finance Manag. Sci. 2015, 3(5), 494-506. doi: 10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21

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    AMA Style

    John Kwaning Mbroh, Seth Quartey. Financial Management Practices by Small and Micro Enterprise Owners in Ghana - Evidence from the Central Region. Int J Econ Finance Manag Sci. 2015;3(5):494-506. doi: 10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21,
      author = {John Kwaning Mbroh and Seth Quartey},
      title = {Financial Management Practices by Small and Micro Enterprise Owners in Ghana - Evidence from the Central Region},
      journal = {International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {494-506},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijefm.20150305.21},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijefm.20150305.21},
      abstract = {In Ghana, small and micro enterprise owners (SMEOs) face a lot of business management challenges and it is alleged that they suffer, mostly, in terms of their financial management practices. Using a purposive sampling technique in a self-administered data collection, this study attempts to highlight the specific financial management practices by the selected business owners. In all, 372 SMEOs responded and this was made up of the small enterprise segment (118) and the micro enterprises (254), selected from the twenty administrative district capitals in the Central Region of Ghana. The findings show how haphazard, perhaps carelessly, the business owners have financially managed their respective enterprises. Indeed, only 13% of the respondents actually understand the meaning of financial management, and regardless of the business segment differences, majority (36%) of the respondents had misconceived that maintaining proper financial records was all that financial management meant. Further worrying, is the fact that only 13% of overall respondents were specific that they did not understand the meaning of financial management, in addition to several intriguing revelations. The study recommends stakeholder collaborative efforts involving business schools in both polytechnics and universities with relevant agencies and NGOs in building the financial management skills and capacities of the business owners. On their own, the enterprise owners have been advised to urgently take steps to acquire these relevant skills since they need and benefit most. Future research recommendations include a study on the impact of financial management on these businesses.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AU  - John Kwaning Mbroh
    AU  - Seth Quartey
    Y1  - 2015/10/08
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    T2  - International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - In Ghana, small and micro enterprise owners (SMEOs) face a lot of business management challenges and it is alleged that they suffer, mostly, in terms of their financial management practices. Using a purposive sampling technique in a self-administered data collection, this study attempts to highlight the specific financial management practices by the selected business owners. In all, 372 SMEOs responded and this was made up of the small enterprise segment (118) and the micro enterprises (254), selected from the twenty administrative district capitals in the Central Region of Ghana. The findings show how haphazard, perhaps carelessly, the business owners have financially managed their respective enterprises. Indeed, only 13% of the respondents actually understand the meaning of financial management, and regardless of the business segment differences, majority (36%) of the respondents had misconceived that maintaining proper financial records was all that financial management meant. Further worrying, is the fact that only 13% of overall respondents were specific that they did not understand the meaning of financial management, in addition to several intriguing revelations. The study recommends stakeholder collaborative efforts involving business schools in both polytechnics and universities with relevant agencies and NGOs in building the financial management skills and capacities of the business owners. On their own, the enterprise owners have been advised to urgently take steps to acquire these relevant skills since they need and benefit most. Future research recommendations include a study on the impact of financial management on these businesses.
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Author Information
  • Dept. of Accountancy Studies, School of Business &Mgt. Studies, Cape Coast Polytechnic, Cape Coast, Ghana

  • KNUST CEMBA Program, IDL, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana

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