Abstract:
The satisfactory performance of small and medium enterprises hinges on many factors that include employees, information technology, organizational structure, and organisational culture. These aforementioned elements are collectively known as knowledge infrastructure capabilities. They are instrumental in helping organisations to develop the required competitive strengths. The study focuses on Redman Consulting (Pty) Ltd. The main objective of the study was to investigate the role that each knowledge infrastructure capability played in the market performance of Redman Consulting.
In order to sufficiently deal with the topic, the extant literature was reviewed in order to expose the researcher to a variety of perspectives on the subject. Furthermore, the reviewed literature was helpful in that it contributed the model upon which the study was based. The model was based on the premise that, the cumulative effect of knowledge infrastructure capabilities leads to improved market performance.
In terms of methodology, the qualitative research methodology was chosen for the study because it enabled the researcher to get close enough to the respondents, to capture key information about their lived experiences. As for the research design, the case study method was chosen because the study focused on only one entity, Redman Consulting. In total, 10 samples were drawn from a total population of 45 employees. The study focused on four key objectives namely a) To explicate the role that people play in the market performance of small and medium enterprises, b) To elucidate the role played by IT in the market performance of small and medium enterprises, c) To establish how organizational structure affects the market performance of small and medium enterprises and, d) To determine the role played by organizational culture in the market performance of small and medium enterprises.
