THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIETY ON INDIGENOUS MANUFACTURERS UGANDA
Authors
Prisca Kobusingye (Sr.DR.)Abstract:
The existence of indigenous manufacturers (artisans) and the business realities in which they are infused has attracted the attention of customers who buy items for consumption or for sale, and knowledgeable people, who know about such manufacturers thus the need to make sense of what these people are and do. This statement corresponds with the idea of Kreitner and Kinicki (1992) human beings usually want to make sense about the environment they find or put themselves into. Customers and knowledgeable people are bombarded by various stimuli they perceive what attracts their eyes, anything of value to them, something unique, or the differences between persons or objects. In this line of thought they are attracted and happy to benefit from items produced by indigenous manufacturers amidst other products from other business people in shops or supermarkets. The knowledgeable people are keen and want to know what these manufacturers are and do. The indigenous manufacturers’ behavior and economic activities, products and services compel some knowledgeable people to call them artisans or entrepreneurs. Some of these knowledgeable people perhaps feel that artisans have something of value that they need to learn. The fact that they buy items made by artisans justifies their attraction to the so-called artisans’ activities. Also, teachers from academic institutions take their students to learn from them and knowledgeable people advise governments to incorporate entrepreneurship in the education curriculum. The perception of customers and knowledgeable people as to whether artisans are entrepreneurs or vice versa is not adequately researched on. This assertion corresponds to UBOS Report of 2006 that acknowledges a national lack of facts about small and medium enterprises. It is not clear whether these two groups of people perceive indigenous manufacturers as artisans or as entrepreneurs; or whether entrepreneurs are artisans or are both artisans and entrepreneurs.