Journal of Social Development in Africa (1994), 9,1,85-97 
Book Reviews 
Small Business Management, REngleman(ed),StellagraphicsLtd,1991,249pp. 
Price KSh 105. 
The purpose of this book is to disseminate management knowledge among the 
small businessmen in Kenya. The book may conveniently be divided into seven 
parts, each focusing on specific topics. 
Part one deals with the basics of management and includes four articles written 
by different authors with varied experiences in small business. In this part 
essentials of management, planning, time managementand management problems 
in the family business are discussed. All these four articles are important and 
entrepreneurs should observe them. 
The second part discusses rudiments of personnel management in small firms. 
Personnel management issues, proper job placement, training needs and legal 
issues involved in starting and managing small businesses are discussed. 
The third part of this book is production management. Covered in this part are 
aspects of purchasing; however these seem not to have been adequately covered. 
The topic would have been handled better if illustrations were utilised. 
One noticeable omission in this part is stock control. Stock control is an 
important element in that a small businessman should order the most economical 
quantities of various stock levels to be maintained by the business. Maintaining 
stock levels avoids two key problems in business, namely under-stocking and overstocking. 
These two problems have their negative consequences for the small 
business. 
Partfour deals with marketing management Marketing management is important 
in that producing goods alone is of little value if the goods do not reach the final 
consumer. The coverage here seem to be adequate for its purpose. 
Financial management is covered in part five. Discussed here are sources of 
finance, institution lending to small businesses, programmes for small businesses, 
insurance and financial analysis. My view is that the content on insurance seems 
to have been misplaced, as it does not fall under this classification. 
Part six focuses on accounting and book-keeping. The better title of this part 
would have been the other way around, as bookkeeping comes before accounting. 
In the article on introduction to basic bookkeeping, adequate illustrations are used. 
This makes it easier for the reader to understand the material. Whereas the article 
on auditing fits in this part well, the article on computers is not part of accounting.
86 Book Reviews 
To be included here the article should have focused on the accounting application 
of computers. 
Finally, part seven deals with legal aspects of management. Perhaps the article 
on insurance could have been included in this part, or separately treated as 
management of risk. 
This book has four basic strengths. First is that the authors are professionals with 
versed experiences, hence their presentation of information is quite good. Second, 
the more complex management subjects are divided into small articles which can 
easily be digested or understood. Third, the language used is quite simple to 
understand. This has been achieved by avoiding technical terms as much as 
possible. Fourth, a comprehensive glossary and in some cases illustrations have 
been provided. This makes it easier to follow and check up terms which are not 
explained in the text Other than the problem of some articles being shorter due to 
different approaches by some of the of authors, the book is quite useful to those 
wishing to start and manage small enterprises. The book provides an alternative 
solution to wage employment, which is self-employment. Kenya, as such, is not 
able to provideadequate solutions to employment except through self-employment 
this view issupported by policy documents such as sessional papers and development 
plans. It is in this regard that this book makes essential reading. 
Reviewed by G S Namusonge, Director Regional Centre for Enterprise 
Development, Jomo Kenyatta University College of Agriculture and Technology, 
African Entrepreneurs: Pioneers of Development, Keith Marsden, International 
I O T ^ L rpOration> Disc"ssion Paper No 9, The World Bank, Washington D C, 
1990.66pp, ISSN: 1012-8069. No price given. 
This Discussion Paper highlights the problems and needs of modern African 
enu-epreneurs, based on its interview findings of 36 entrepreneurs in six subaanaran 
African countries. Its findings are said to be intended for policy-makers, 
fodtfih P V1SCrS Wh° haVe A f r i c a n d e v e l°Pm e n t in we"- hearts. However, I also 
in T? J**IS ^"efic'a' to future African entrepreneurs as they will gain an 
•ns^ght into what it takes to be an entrepreneur. 
anH ^ .S d e c i s i o n t o write the Paperarose from an awareness of the neglect 
two Z Imng of m o d e r n African entrepreneurs. In the 66 pages, divided into 
AfrirT SeCtlOns> toe author successfully demonstrates the role of modern 
beer!i down^P r e"e u r s in toe development process. African entrepreneurship has 
-p ayed in many African countries for some time because indigenous