The star of Strathmore University shone brightly at the 8th Annual London Business Research Conference, 8th -9th July, 2013, held Imperial College, London, where  a lecturer from  School of Management and Commerce, Dr. Hellen Otieno presented a Conference paper titled ‘Motives for Starting and Sustaining BDS: Empirical Evidence from Kenya.

The paper explains what motivates Business Development Services Providers (BDSPs) in Kenya to venture into and sustain their businesses. The study was done through the use of grounded theory methodology on eleven BDSPs in Kenya over twelve months between May 2008 and August 2010.

The start-up motives were classified into three namely; extrinsic, intrinsic and philanthropic. Contrary to the dominant view that small business start-ups are driven principally by economic necessity, the study revealed that some BDSPs venture into and sustain their businesses mainly for intrinsic and philanthropic motives. The findings of this study suggest that evaluation of sustainable BDS business should not be limited to the traditional economic theory of recovering costs but should take into account intrinsic and philanthropic rewards as well. The study enhances our understanding of “start-up motives” and “success” and in particular in the context of small firms. This knowledge is invaluable to scholars, teachers and policy makers involved in promoting small firms.

Profile of Dr. Otieno
Hellen Otieno holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship, MA Degree (Economics) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. She is the Academic and Research Director in the school of Management and Commerce (SMC) and a member of the school’s Executive Committee. Dr. Otieno has distinguished herself as an academic researcher having attended and presented papers at regional and international conferences.  She is an alumnus of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, South Africa where she was trained on Case Study Methodology. Dr. Otieno has written several Case Studies. She has also facilitated the Case Study Learning, Teaching and Writing under the university Faculty Development Programme (FDP).