Cloud computing for competitive advantage: A case of rural SMEs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
- Authors: Mpongwana , Mbongo Mhlanga
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Cloud computing -- Economic aspects , Business enterprises -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50415 , vital:42166
- Description: The emergence of new ICTs over the past decades has had a substantial impact on commerce and to societies in general. However, the high costs and the relevant skills and expertise that are associated with the implementation and maintenance of the latest ICTs impedes SMEs from taking full advantage of their use. The introduction and adoption of cloud computing has addressed some of these challenges for SMEs. Despite this, SMEs in rural South Africa have not fully adopted or realized the advantages of cloud computing, which could be owing to a number of factors.The aim of this study was to explore how rural SMEs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa can leverage on the capabilities of cloud computing for competitive advantage. The study adopted an interpretivist, quantitative approach to identifying the enablers and barriers of cloud computing adoption. The research population was defined as all the SMEs that operate outside of Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipalities. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used as non-probability sampling methods. Data was collected from the participants using a structured self-administered online questionnaire. The Technology-Organization-Environment framework was used as a basis in formulating the research theoretical framework, focusing on technological, organizational and environmental elements that could potentially influence adoption of cloud computing by rural SMEs. Microsoft Power BI was used to present demographic information as well as descriptive statistics for the factors included in the proposed research model. IBM SPSS 22 was used for correlation and linear regression analysis. The review of related literature revealed that access to markets, access to finance, inadequate public infrastructure and lack of skilled resources are some of the major challenges that rural SMEs face. This study found seven of the statistically examined factors to be significant predictors of cloud adoption by rural Eastern Cape SMEs. These are market demand, use of online-based marketing, having formal business plans, reliable electricity, awareness of SaaS, use of basic Internet-based services such as email and websites as well as Internet costs.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Determining the relationship between leadership, emotional intelligence and organisational performance in government agencies
- Authors: Poya, Nkululeko Andrew Stephen
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Organizational effectiveness -- South Africa Emotional intelligence , Performance -- Psychological aspects Leadership -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19861 , vital:28989
- Description: objective of this research is mainly to determine the relationship between leadership, emotional intelligence and organisational performance in state owned agencies to contribute to the debate on the role of government agencies with the South African society. The study aims to contribute to scholarly research which deals with performance related issues in the public sector.This study is however, not addressing other issues such as training needs of employees in government agencies, intelligence quotient, spiritual intelligence, corruption and ethics management. In keeping with one of the objectives of the study, a detailed review of literature was conducted in order to clearly define leadership (both transformational and transactional), emotional intelligence and organisational performance, and provide substantive reasons for the need for leaders with emotional intelligence in government agencies. The description of existing knowledge also provides outcomes of previous research pertaining to improvement of overall organisational performance. This study set out to determine the leadership approach and the level of emotional intelligence amongst the leadership sample. The research methodology employed in the study made use of a positivistic paradigm and was conducted by means of a qualitative study with careful description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation of data for the purpose of obtaining information and relevant data. The study objectives, appropriate conclusions and proposals are addressed based on the role that the two leadership approaches, linked to emotional intelligence plays with regard to organisational performance. This will ultimately enable the researcher to provide a framework for consideration during the selection of senior and executive staff members. Ultimately the recommendations made may contribute to the design of future practices aimed at improving public services in the long run in achieving the long term goals as set out in the National Development Plan.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The role of membrane bio-reactor technology in alleviating South Africa's imminent water crisis
- Authors: Share, Stephen
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Water resources development -- Economic aspects Membrane reactors
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21120 , vital:29442
- Description: South Africa is classified as a semi-arid country, with annual average rainfall well below global standards. It experiences drastic fluctuations in rainfall, with as little as 100mm on the western side, to as much as 1500mm per annum on the eastern side (DWA, 2013a). At the end of 2015, 65% of South Africans were living in urban areas (Worldbank.org, 2017), a phenomenon that places severe pressure on the already strained water resources in the country. Among the most common natural causes of water shortages are drought, climate change and evaporation, while disparity in water supply, urbanisation and population growth, illegal tap connections, and contamination of water sources rate among the main human causes (Machethe, 2011). These natural and human causes, combined with the economic importance of water, highlight the importance of well-maintained water infrastructure to a developing nation such as South Africa. Membrane Bio-reactor technology (MBR) has been applied successfully in many developed countries around the world and, because of the superior quality effluent associated with this technology, it has the potential to contribute to the maintenance of the water ecosystem in South Africa in a positive and sustainable manner. The aim of this study is to investigate the contribution that MBR technology can make towards alleviating the water crisis in the South African context. The study made use of a case study methodology with embedded units of analysis in the form of semi-structured interviews, in order to conclude that MBR technology has a very significant role to play in the longevity of water resources in South Africa – especially when it comes to water re-use in densely populated urban and developed areas. The financial feasibility of such technology could however not be measured accurately, as this aspect depends largely on the application needs of the specific water authorities.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Developing a performance measurement tool to monitor the performance of a public sector agency : a balanced scorecard approach
- Authors: Lisani, Ncedo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa. Economic Development Department , South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism , Performance -- Measurement , Performance -- Management , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:848 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017515
- Description: The world has seen unparalleled pressure put on the public sector to improve the speed and quality of service delivery, whilst simultaneously employing measures to cut the costs. South Africa and the Eastern Cape have not been immune to this as there have been complaints and demonstrations from various national and provincial stakeholders demanding more and improved services. The Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in particular has employed the services of public entities in its quest to realise government’s socio-economic developmental objectives and ease some of the service delivery pressures. These agencies are unfortunately struggling to deliver and the Department is unable to play the oversight role it is legislatively mandated to carry out. The main reason for this seem to be the lack of the capacity to objectively track and measure the performance of these agencies. As they say “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”. This is despite the fact that there is a shareholders’ compact and many other measures in place to enable performance monitoring. Also, the public sector is known to have inherent and unique performance management challenges like broad and vague objectives which lead to too many measurements, a propensity to focus on the “easy to measure” but often irrelevant indicators at the expense of critical outcomes and a short-term orientation that is usually fuelled by political expediency. Against this background, this study sought to make use of a comprehensive and dynamic performance monitoring framework, namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), to explore its potential use in assisting government to monitor the performance of public agencies, in particular the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) in South Africa. The proposed framework helps government to focus on the performance drivers of future value, and what decisions and actions are necessary to achieve critical outcomes. The aim of the study therefore is to develop an adjusted BSC framework to monitor the activities of a public sector agency and thus demonstrate how a BSC framework could be used to monitor a public agency by the government department. The study is evaluative in nature and is divided into three sections. Section one is presented as an Evaluation Report. It sets the scene, discusses briefly the key theoretical concepts, outlines the research methods used and presents the findings followed by a discussion and recommendations. Section two delves into the literature in more detail, providing a more extensive review of the literature that informed the investigation, whilst section three provides a more extensive description of the research methodology employed in the study. To achieve the aims of the study, the research drew from the work of various authors in the field including that of Bigliardi, Dormio and Galati, 2011; Bititci, Garengo, Dörfler, and Nudurupati, 2012; Julyan, 2011; Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2006; Niven, 2003 and 2008 and Northcott and Taulapapa, 2012. Also, five BSC perspectives - including the programme specific “equity” perspective - were used to develop an interview schedule. These were used to formulate the key performance objectives and indicators, based on the stakeholder’s responses. These respondents have experience within the programme as administrators, beneficiaries and funders. The research employed purposive sampling with semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis as primary and secondary instruments for data collection. In essence, five officials from the agency, one from DEDEAT and two co-operatives participated in the research. The results indicate a general appreciation of and gravitation towards outcome based measures, even though the government culture of focusing on outputs is still prevalent. The results of the study indicated that, generally, a government - public agency BSC based performance monitoring framework would have the following features: Customer objectives and programme mission as the main goal and this will provides clarity at all levels on who the customers are and what are their primary requirements. Clear, visible and stringent financial controls as the agency is administering public resources. Few carefully selected processes and systems that have a direct and positive impact on the customer objectives. Deliberate and consistent efforts to promote the participation of designated groups in the economy of the country. Comprehensive indicators on capacity building as “mission based-organisations rely heavily on skills, dedication and alignment of staff”. Overall, the study concludes that the make-up of the BSC is beneficial to the public sector and in monitoring the public sector agencies for the following reasons: It helps the agency to focus on customers and their needs. It forces the agency to engage and communicate strategic intention with both internal and external stakeholders and thus synchronize competing stakeholder needs. It forces the agency to limit the number of indicators and therefore select the few value adding measures that are aligned to customer outcomes. Through its cause and effect relationship, the agency is compelled to align all the resources, activities and processes to the main goal of the entity. All these help to minimize the principal agent problem, as the use of the BSC can bring clarity on strategy and expectations, provided it is supported with regular communication.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A teaching case study of the strategic alignment of business strategy and information technology strategy at Nedbank
- Authors: Tsoaeli, Tebalo
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Nedbank Banks and banking -- South Africa Business planning Information technology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:720 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001883
- Description: In today’s business world, a lot of organizations are investing heavily in Information Technology (IT) in order to develop a competitive edge. According to Loukis, Sapounas and Milionis (2009:85) “firms all over the world make significant investments in IT aiming to increase their efficiency and effectiveness”. According to Cline and Guynes (2001:10), “during the last 30 years, IT has become an increasingly integral part of business operations”. Most of the times, organizations fail to get real value from the investments made in IT. This is mainly due to the fact that organizations fail to realize the value brought about by aligning IT strategy with Business strategy. Hu and Huang (2004:60) state that “each year organizations invest in IT to improve their competitive advantage and ultimately their business performance; however, more often than not, the anticipated benefits of IT investments fail to materialize due to misalignment of or lack of alignment, between the business and IT strategies”. Henderson and Venkatraman (1999:475) emphasize that “alignment is a desired state for organizations investing in IT that is not always achieved, as it often entails a radical change in the way managers consider IT”. It is through the alignment of IT strategy and Business strategy that organizations are able to realize the value brought about by investing in IT. Papp (2001:20)illustrates that “misalignment can cause problems with not only the development and integration of business and IT strategies, but can actually prevent IT from being fully leveraged to its maximum potential within an organization”. An organization that realizes the value of aligning IT strategy and Business strategy is able to develop a competitive advantage over its competitors. According to Daneshvar and Ramesh (2010:1) “each organization is aware of the special effects, benefits and implication of IT in business performance and also its capacity in building sustainable competitive advantages”.
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- Date Issued: 2013
The strategic alignment maturity of business and information technology at Volkswagen South Africa
- Authors: Naidoo, Lavendra
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Industrial management -- South Africa Industrial management Business enterprises -- Information technology -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:789 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003910
- Description: During the past three decades Information Technology (IT) has been constantly evolving and has emerged into a significant component and enabler of most organisations strategy, to the point that modern day organisations are intrinsically dependent on IT (Peppard and Ward, 2004). Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) advocate that for an organisation to be successful in a dynamic and competitive business environment it is imperative that there is an effective and efficient IT strategy that enables the business strategy and processes. Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA)in 2007 launched its corporate strategy, 1:10:100 – 2010 At the end of this stated period 2010, VWSA achieved several of its objectives, namely surpassing its competitors in passenger vehicle sales volume, improving its customer satisfaction, achieving a higher level of local parts content per unit, developing its people and improving its infrastructure and processes.
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- Date Issued: 2012
An assessment of the service quality expectations and perceptions of the patients of Awali Hospital in the Kingdom of Bahrain
- Authors: Luke, Gary Joseph
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Awali Hospital Hospitals, Proprietary -- Bahrain Hospital care -- Quality control -- Bahrain Hospital care -- Evaluation -- Bahrain Customer services -- Rating of -- Bahrain Quality assurance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:730 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003850
- Description: The quality of service from a hospital is the number one factor that will either turn a customer/patient away or make one for life. More and more hospitals are competing for greater shares in the market and customer-driven quality management is becoming the preferred method for improving their performance. Awali hospital is a private hospital in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a small 35-bed hospital that offers private medical services to the public. The hospital was originally built to serve the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) refinery workers but later opened its doors to the public. With the introduction of private patients came higher expectations of quality and higher demands on the overall services. A number of service quality shortfalls were identified over the years but never identified quantitatively by a patient evaluation survey. An English and Arabic version of the questionnaire based on SERVQUAL (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, 1988) was developed and placed in Awali hospital to test these service quality shortfalls. This study intends to evaluate these areas by answering questions about the relevant areas of service provided by the hospital. It measured patient satisfaction by looking at human aspects of service (responsiveness, reliability, empathy and assurance) with only one factor of the instrument being devoted to the non-human aspect of care rendered (tangibles). The SERVQUAL instrument has five dimensions that were measured by 21 pairs of item statements. One statement from each pair reflects perceptions, the other expectations. Measurement was accomplished by subtracting expectation from perceptions resulting in a service quality score. Positive or zero scores would reflect ideal or adequate service quality offered by the hospital. A negative score would be indicative of a service experience that did not meet customer expectations. Using the SERVQUAL questionnaire provided, quantifiable reasoning to the research questions in each dimension could be obtained so that precision, objectivity and rigour replaced hunches, experience and intuition as a means of investigating problem areas. Customers were first asked to supply some additional demographic information, for example gender, number of hospital visits, nationality, patient type (Bapco worker, general practitioner referred or private) and type of visit (inpatient, outpatient or both). They werethen asked to rate the hospital service on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (7) to Strongly Disagree (1). At the end of the questionnaire was space to write open comments. In total 600 paper questionnaires were distributed in the hospital, 300 English and 300 Arabic. Another 150 electronic questionnaires via emails were sent to refinery workers. Of the total 750 questionnaires distributed 162 were returned of which 156 (or 21.6%) could be statistically analysed. The empirical data results showed that the perception scores were significantly different at the p < 0.05 level from expectation scores. All the service quality differences (SQ=P-E) were negatively scored. This indicated that patients were not satisfied in all five dimensions of services offered by the hospital. Of the five dimensions responsiveness had the largest difference with assurance and reliability following with no significant differences between them. The demographic information revealed some interesting differences between the groups. Of all the demographic groups the most significant differences were between groups, “patient types” and “types of visit”, which showed differences between private patients and refinery workers and patients who used the hospital only as an outpatient and patients who used both services, outpatient and inpatient. In terms of the managerial implications, it was recommended that Awali hospital look to closing Gaps 1-4 of the SERVQUAL gap model which would result in closing the consumer gap, Gap 5. A process model for continuous measurement and improvement of service quality was recommended that looks at asking questions about how the hospital is performing. By adopting some of the recommendations identified in the research questions, Awali hospital could improve their quality of service, and as a consequence, their customer satisfaction and loyalty.
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- Date Issued: 2008