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Purpose -This paper seeks to explore the strategic decision-making process by women owner-managers of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries, focusing on environmental dynamics as a strategy for the development of the MSE sector. The paper reviews existing literature and experience on women leadership and decision-making process. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reports on empirical evidence drawn from a pilot investigation in Kenya. A total of nine married women owner-managers from different backgrounds were selected and a series of qualitative interviews conducted. Findings -Evidence in the paper finds that women, whether pushed or pulled into starting an enterprise, desire to make independent decisions. Lack of resources made them dependent on their spouses, thus limiting their capacity to make independent decisions. Those pushed into setting up subsistence enterprises had greater discretion in terms of decision making compared with those who started enterprises to exploit an opportunity and whose basic needs were comfortably met by the spouse's income. Other factors determining levels of decision making include: culture, level of education and poverty. Practical implications -In the paper the implications for policy include: promotional activities; creating appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks; capacity building programmes for potential entrepreneurs and their spouses, provision of child care facilities; and business support services and other intermediaries that might include dedicated financing programmes. Originality/value -The paper shows that the respondents in this study were small in number, narrowly defined group of micro entrepreneurs who may or may not be similar to other small business owners. The data were indicative of subjects' individual circumstances, which may be entirely different from others' situations.

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Innovation and creativity are the backbone of entrepreneurship. Domestic and international competition, changing government regulations and rapidly shifting market conditions demand constant creative innovation for corporations to survive. Despite an increase in the number of innovations from African enterprises and research institutions in the current digital age, there is a lack of investment in innovation and creativity to ensure the sustainability of the continent's enterprises. This chapter seeks to address the problem of how to support innovation and creativity in African enterprises by combining two theories of diffusion of innovation and product life cycle through examples from Kenya. Existing research on innovation and creativity tends to focus on the diffusion of technologies on the continent but fails to question the role of the mindset of entrepreneurs, the role of the individual, and the current trajectory of innovation in Africa as it pertains to the industrial revolutions elsewhere in the world. This chapter focuses on local expressions of innovation or the relationships that exist between their different components. Consequently, it aims to provide an overview of how innovation and creativity can be locally supported as a strategy for building durable and profitable enterprises in Africa.

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Innovation has been accepted as a key stimulus for growth. This is more so with SMEs which are widely acknowledged as being a significant driver in economic growth. In a review of over 90 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers; this paper brings together different arguments that have been made in explaining the antecedents for innovativeness. This is a critical review of the literature with respect to innovativeness of manufacturing SMEs. Whereas it is acknowledged that the discussions around innovation are continually evolving, existing literature has shown that there are internal and external factors that affect innovativeness in firms. In addition to this, there is a need to have research that applies universally and hence the need to study this phenomenon in manufacturing SMEs in Kenya and the gaps therein. Even though entrepreneurial orientation, technological capability and environmental dynamism have been identified as variables affecting firm innovativeness, there is no common consensus across various approaches. A need to empirically explore this area further effectively contributing to knowledge in this area has been identified.