Measuring perceived black economic empowerment in the South African wine industry

The aim of this study is to develop a scale to measure perceived black economic empowerment (BEE) as reported by beneficiaries themselves. Two scale development procedures were carried out on randomly selected samples of 213 and 322 previously disadvantaged individual respondents within 14 and 11wine business that cover the larger part of the wine industry chain. The results led to a 'feeling' self-report scale (5-dimensions) and an ‘evolution’ self-report scale (6-dimensions). The emerged dimensions are: Business ownership and control (BOC), Access to finance (ATF), Employment and Human Resources Management (EMP) [internal and external], Social capital/enabling environment (SOC) and Lobbying power and collective action (LOB). First measurement results indicate that respondents feel less empowered with respect to BOC and ATF as compared to EMP, SOC and LOB. There appears to be no gender or age differences, but there are geographical differences. The latter is mostly per farm, that is, a lot of variation in BEE is observed at the firm level. The scale can be used at the firm and industry level as a diagnostic tool to monitor BEE progress as a complementary and not a substitutive framework to the wine industry scorecard as an objective measure of BEE. Future research should focus on the gap between the two definitions and assessment tools in order to comprehensively capture BEE in its entirety. The scale can also be adapted to fit the context, for example, its use in the agricultural sector at large.