Barriers to Individual work performance in SMEs: an exploratory qualitative study in the Cameroonian context

Abstract

This chapter explores barriers to individual work performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the African context. To access the real world, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 employees in a SME operating in the industrial sector in Douala, Cameroon. Findings from a thematic content analysis show that several obstacles described in the managerial literature, such as work characteristics (variety of skills, task identity, meaning of the task, autonomy, feedback), organizational justice, work organization and bullying, are also found in Cameroon. However, three new barriers emerge from our study: time theft, participation in community activities, and irregularity of salaries which prevent employees from showing adaptive, contextual, and task performance. Managerial implications are therefore suggested in order to optimize employees’ performance in SMEs.