Determinants of Women Led Small and Medium Enterprises Performance on Textile and Apparel Products in Tanzania: The Role of Regulatory Policy Experience Effect.

Mganda, Veri Oscar (2025) Determinants of Women Led Small and Medium Enterprises Performance on Textile and Apparel Products in Tanzania: The Role of Regulatory Policy Experience Effect. Doctoral thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This study analysed the determinants of performance in women-led SMEs focusing on textile and apparel (T&A) products in Tanzania, utilizing regulatory policy experience as a moderating variable. A questionnaire was administered to 300 targeted owner-managers of WL-SMEs through a researcher-administered approach within the region. Three theories informed by the Resource-based View (RBV) were employed, alongside Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Human Capital Theory (HCT). The study utilized probability sampling methods, specifically multi-stage and random sampling techniques. The collected data were analysed to test hypotheses utilizing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques with IBM SPSS Amos Version 23. The Multi group analysis (MGA) results revealed partial moderation among the compared groups, attributed to insignificant parameter estimates and variations in significant levels. The study concludes that knowledge from HCT is a significant predictor of WL-SMEs performance. The study confirmed that the Resource-based View (RBV) Theory can be moderated by the effect of regulatory policy experience, enhancing its predictive capacity regarding performance. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that the government evaluate policies governing women entrepreneurship and WL-SMEs, for enhancing efficiency through innovation by adopting information and communication technology (ICT) and networking. The study indicates that a similar investigation may be carried out in other contexts for comparative analysis, utilizing Expectancy Theory (Vroom, 1964) or the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), alongside the moderating effects of personal characteristics to forecast WL-SMEs performance regarding T&A products. Keywords: Women led SMEs, Performance, Textile and Apparel products, Dar es Salaam

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