Gwendoline Vusumuzi Nani

Street vending is a phenomenon that has been in existence for hundreds of years. It has since increased owing to economic challenges experienced, especially in developing countries. This article sought to highlight changing patterns in the demographic profiles of urban street vendors in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe through a desk research study. The aim was to sensitize local governments, particularly in Zimbabwe, to develop appropriate policies in line with changing patterns in the demographic profiles of urban street vendors. Findings revealed that there has been an increase in the number of single and married women in urban street vending; more young people have joined this practice and more educated people are also part of urban street vendors. The study concluded that street vending is a dynamic phenomenon with changes having been noticed in gender, marital status, age and level of education of urban street vendors. Recommendations were that local governments need to re-visit policies pertaining to planning for urban street vending in line with the changing circumstances.

Keywords: changing patterns, urban street vending, dynamic phenomenon, qualitative analysis.
JEL Classification: P25, C13

Pioneering is meant to create a competitive advantage for businesses and yet imitations are accelerating globally, leaving businesses not knowing whether to pioneer or imitate. The purpose of this study was to make an analysis of the benefits and costs of pioneering and imitation, with the aim of possibly helping businesses to decide on which route to take, after considering their strengths and weaknesses. This was a desk research study which analyzed literature on business imitation and pioneering. It focused on imitation driven by technology; be it in products or services with a bias towards legal innovative imitation. The analysis was primarily dominated by literature obtained from developed countries because of the rich pool of research output on both concepts. Based on the findings, the paper concludes that most businesses are innovative imitations and technology has facilitated most of these imitations. Recommendations are that businesses should adopt innovative imitation, but do so legally and ethically. There is also need for more research studies on business imitation in order to come up with strategies that will accommodate global players.

Keywords: pioneers, competitive advantage, innovative imitation, global players, first mover.
JEL Classification: L26, M19