Economic impact of climate change on maize production in the Free State Province, South Africa
- Authors: Johnson, Richard Cowper
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Corn -- Climatic factors -- South Africa -- Free State , Climatic changes -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Free State , Climate change mitigation -- South Africa -- Free State , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Free State
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174365 , vital:42471
- Description: Higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is a major influence on climate change globally. Climate change is caused by greenhouse gases trapping too much heat from the sun in the atmosphere and thus, altering the climate through a rise in global surface temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. CO2 is the most prominent greenhouse gas found in the atmosphere and it is reported that by the turn of the century the CO2 concentration levels will have doubled if the current rate of emissions continues. However, the increase in atmospheric levels of the gas has been found to increase the capacity of maize plants and their water use efficiency to achieve higher yields through CO2 fertilisation. Simulation experiments conducted by the Rhodes University Botany Department found that the effect of elevated levels of CO2 of double the current concentration offsets the negative effects of drought on maize. A case study was conducted on commercial maize farmers in two regions of the Free State province in South Africa to estimate the economic impact of climate change on maize production. Although production is increasing in the province, adaptation to the changing climate is key to the sustainability of production. There is a trade-off between the negative effects of higher CO2 levels changing the climate and the positive effect of CO2 fertilisation. As predicted, the economic impact of climate change is the disruption of farming practices and the increase in costs of production as a result of adapting to climate change. Using a gross margin analysis, the study found that the larger maize farmers who benefit from economies of scale are able to adapt and grow their production whilst the smaller farmers are being pushed out of the market.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Johnson, Richard Cowper
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Corn -- Climatic factors -- South Africa -- Free State , Climatic changes -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Free State , Climate change mitigation -- South Africa -- Free State , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Free State
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174365 , vital:42471
- Description: Higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is a major influence on climate change globally. Climate change is caused by greenhouse gases trapping too much heat from the sun in the atmosphere and thus, altering the climate through a rise in global surface temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. CO2 is the most prominent greenhouse gas found in the atmosphere and it is reported that by the turn of the century the CO2 concentration levels will have doubled if the current rate of emissions continues. However, the increase in atmospheric levels of the gas has been found to increase the capacity of maize plants and their water use efficiency to achieve higher yields through CO2 fertilisation. Simulation experiments conducted by the Rhodes University Botany Department found that the effect of elevated levels of CO2 of double the current concentration offsets the negative effects of drought on maize. A case study was conducted on commercial maize farmers in two regions of the Free State province in South Africa to estimate the economic impact of climate change on maize production. Although production is increasing in the province, adaptation to the changing climate is key to the sustainability of production. There is a trade-off between the negative effects of higher CO2 levels changing the climate and the positive effect of CO2 fertilisation. As predicted, the economic impact of climate change is the disruption of farming practices and the increase in costs of production as a result of adapting to climate change. Using a gross margin analysis, the study found that the larger maize farmers who benefit from economies of scale are able to adapt and grow their production whilst the smaller farmers are being pushed out of the market.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
The potential conflict of interest associated with the management of Rosa rubiginos L. (Rosehip) in South Africa
- Authors: Westwood, Timothy
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Invasive plants -- South Africa , Biological invasions -- Economic aspects , Rose hips -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Roses -- South Africa , Rose culture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172458 , vital:42204
- Description: Rosa rubiginosa L. is a category 1b invasive plant species in South Africa and must be controlled according to NEM:BA. However, R. rubiginosa has the potential to provide economic benefit in South Africa due to the expanding market for the shrubs fruit, rosehips. The shrub is not permitted to be cultivated in South Africa due to legislation, limiting the economic potential as the rosehips are only able to be collected from wild R. rubiginosa shrubs. In order to expand the rosehip market in South Africa a downgrade or removal of R. rubiginosa from the invasive species list would be required, as wild harvest is limited. This study aims to assess the benefits and cost associated with R. rubiginosa in order to determine whether the legislation should be altered allowing for the cultivation of the shrub in South Africa. Due to the limited literature surrounding R. rubiginosa three different questionnaires and a case study were used in order to assess the benefits and negatives associated with the shrub. Experts in the field of invasion biology were surveyed to bridge the gap in the R. rubiginosa literature. Landowners, where the shrub is abundant, were surveyed to determine the negative impacts of R. rubiginosa. Rosehip companies were surveyed in order to determine the current size and potential of the R. rubiginosa (rosehip) market. The case study looked at how a rosehip company would benefit if R. rubiginosa was allowed to be cultivated in South Africa. The study found R. rubiginosa to have great economic potential and market growth, with very little negative economic impact. The case study showed that one rosehip company would grow from 1500 tons of raw rosehip to 20 000 tons if cultivation was allowed, resulting in a growth in turnover from R57 million to R760 million ($1=R14.8). The findings in the study show that R. rubiginosa does not significantly affect landowners where it is abundant. Therefore, it is suggested that a change to the legislation should be considered allowing for the cultivation of R. rubiginosa should be implemented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Westwood, Timothy
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Invasive plants -- South Africa , Biological invasions -- Economic aspects , Rose hips -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Roses -- South Africa , Rose culture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/172458 , vital:42204
- Description: Rosa rubiginosa L. is a category 1b invasive plant species in South Africa and must be controlled according to NEM:BA. However, R. rubiginosa has the potential to provide economic benefit in South Africa due to the expanding market for the shrubs fruit, rosehips. The shrub is not permitted to be cultivated in South Africa due to legislation, limiting the economic potential as the rosehips are only able to be collected from wild R. rubiginosa shrubs. In order to expand the rosehip market in South Africa a downgrade or removal of R. rubiginosa from the invasive species list would be required, as wild harvest is limited. This study aims to assess the benefits and cost associated with R. rubiginosa in order to determine whether the legislation should be altered allowing for the cultivation of the shrub in South Africa. Due to the limited literature surrounding R. rubiginosa three different questionnaires and a case study were used in order to assess the benefits and negatives associated with the shrub. Experts in the field of invasion biology were surveyed to bridge the gap in the R. rubiginosa literature. Landowners, where the shrub is abundant, were surveyed to determine the negative impacts of R. rubiginosa. Rosehip companies were surveyed in order to determine the current size and potential of the R. rubiginosa (rosehip) market. The case study looked at how a rosehip company would benefit if R. rubiginosa was allowed to be cultivated in South Africa. The study found R. rubiginosa to have great economic potential and market growth, with very little negative economic impact. The case study showed that one rosehip company would grow from 1500 tons of raw rosehip to 20 000 tons if cultivation was allowed, resulting in a growth in turnover from R57 million to R760 million ($1=R14.8). The findings in the study show that R. rubiginosa does not significantly affect landowners where it is abundant. Therefore, it is suggested that a change to the legislation should be considered allowing for the cultivation of R. rubiginosa should be implemented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
An analysis of carbon tax and other environmental levies: a South African and international perspective
- Authors: Vuzane, Rolihlahla
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Carbon taxes , Carbon taxes -- South Africa , Environmental impact charges , Environmental impact charges -- South Africa , Taxation -- Environmental aspects , Taxation -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167676 , vital:41502
- Description: As a “Non-Annex 1” country, there was no obligation for South Africa to reduce its carbon emissions. South Africa undertook, of its own volition, to take measures to reduce 34% of the carbon monoxide emissions by 2020 and 42% by 2025 respectively. In response, South Africa promulgated the Carbon Tax Act, No. 15 of 2019. This study seeks to answer the question: After analysing the range of environmental taxes levied in the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and in South Africa, are there lessons that can be learnt for South Africa? In answering this question, the carbon tax structure in South Africa and in selected Scandinavian countries is analysed, together with existing environmental taxes and the related policies, using a literature study. What is evident from the Scandinavian countries studied, is that environmental taxes have distributional effects and are effective in reducing carbon emissions. The major result of the study was that the real weakness of the newly introduced Carbon Tax Act is that in both in the first and second phase of its implementation, the carbon tax rate is too low to send an appropriate signal to the market and would not have the desired outcome. In addition, there are currently no guidelines that inform the revenue recycling technique to ensure transparency of revenue usage, improved energy management, or how the Carbon Tax Act will promote environmental quality. A major concern is that carbon tax revenue will not be ring-fenced. Given that South Africa is a developing country and depends mainly on non-renewable energy, it is inevitable that most of its sectors will be subject to the carbon tax. A plausible approach is the one that promotes the idea of taxing those more heavily that contribute most to environmental degradation and are highly energy concentrated, to promote parity between the harm to the environment and the taxes levied to redress the harm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Vuzane, Rolihlahla
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Carbon taxes , Carbon taxes -- South Africa , Environmental impact charges , Environmental impact charges -- South Africa , Taxation -- Environmental aspects , Taxation -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167676 , vital:41502
- Description: As a “Non-Annex 1” country, there was no obligation for South Africa to reduce its carbon emissions. South Africa undertook, of its own volition, to take measures to reduce 34% of the carbon monoxide emissions by 2020 and 42% by 2025 respectively. In response, South Africa promulgated the Carbon Tax Act, No. 15 of 2019. This study seeks to answer the question: After analysing the range of environmental taxes levied in the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and in South Africa, are there lessons that can be learnt for South Africa? In answering this question, the carbon tax structure in South Africa and in selected Scandinavian countries is analysed, together with existing environmental taxes and the related policies, using a literature study. What is evident from the Scandinavian countries studied, is that environmental taxes have distributional effects and are effective in reducing carbon emissions. The major result of the study was that the real weakness of the newly introduced Carbon Tax Act is that in both in the first and second phase of its implementation, the carbon tax rate is too low to send an appropriate signal to the market and would not have the desired outcome. In addition, there are currently no guidelines that inform the revenue recycling technique to ensure transparency of revenue usage, improved energy management, or how the Carbon Tax Act will promote environmental quality. A major concern is that carbon tax revenue will not be ring-fenced. Given that South Africa is a developing country and depends mainly on non-renewable energy, it is inevitable that most of its sectors will be subject to the carbon tax. A plausible approach is the one that promotes the idea of taxing those more heavily that contribute most to environmental degradation and are highly energy concentrated, to promote parity between the harm to the environment and the taxes levied to redress the harm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The effect of company brand on the investment decisions of individual investors as mediated by behavioural finance biases in Nigeria
- Authors: Okeja, Ogechukwu Donatu
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Branding (Marketing) -- Nigeria , Business names -- Nigeria , Brand choice -- Nigeria -- Mathematical models , Consumer behavior -- Nigeria -- Mathematical models , Consumers' preferences -- Nigeria , Nigerian Stock Exchange
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144015 , vital:38303
- Description: Over the years, the financial sphere and its systematic process has transcended from one paradigm to another. Most prominent is the traditional finance paradigm dominating the financial sphere majorly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The ideology and the foundation of the traditional finance paradigm was centred on the concept of rationality. Within the context of the current research, the traditional finance paradigm postulates that individuals in the process of making investment decisions, acquire and analyse all available information in the stock markets, upon which they make a rational investment decision. In other words, the traditional finance paradigm portrays individuals as perfectly informed, rational decision makers, capable of objectively solving complex problems –Homo economicus. However, research in the field of psychology gave rise to the questions and concerns that started to emerge in the 1980s concerning the realistic nature of the assumptions of the traditional finance paradigm. As opposed to the assumptions of traditional finance, these research show that it is impossible for investors to analyse the shares of all the listed companies in the market in order to make rational investment decisions due to the ambiguous nature of information available. In the behavioural finance paradigm individuals’ decision making are viewed to incorporate factors such as emotions, heuristics, experiences, intuition and perceptions. These factors in turn are seen to induce biases (such as availability bias and overconfidence) which leads to subjective decision making. The concept of behavioural finance is based on realistic outcomes of events in the financial sphere for example, the repeated occurrence of financial crises in an environment where all participants are assumed to be rational. The behavioural finance paradigm challenges the assumption of the traditional finance paradigm which is embedded on the concept of rationality. The purpose of the present research is to investigate whether brands of listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange trigger behavioural finance biases in investment decisions of individual investors in Nigeria. More specifically, the aim of the present research was to establish relationships between the independent sub-variables of brand knowledge (brand awareness and brand image) and brand relationship (brand loyalty and brand attachment), the mediating sub-variables of behavioural finance biases (availability bias and overconfidence) and the dependent variable (investment decisions). To this end, objectives and hypotheses were formulated to guide the research. In order to achieve the stated objectives and test the formulated hypotheses, the present research adopted the positivistic paradigm and the methodological process involved quantitative methods. Data was acquired by means of an online questionnaire from members of the Independent shareholders association of Nigeria and individual investors whose contacts were provided by an independent broker (n= 182). The research instrument showed satisfactory levels of validity on all measures (between 0.40 and 0.89) and a relatively highly internal consistency for reliability with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient scores of between 0.81 and 0.93. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed. Descriptive statistics involved frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics involved Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, Multiple linear regression analyses, T-test and ANOVA. Using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, results show that all variables were positively correlated. Results of the Multiple linear regression analyses performed, indicated that there are positive relationships between brand awareness and investment decisions; brand awareness and availability bias; brand loyalty and investment decisions; brand loyalty and overconfidence; overconfidence and investment decisions. Furthermore, Multiple linear regression analyses also indicated that availability bias mediates the relationship between brand awareness and investment decisions; and overconfidence mediates the relationship between brand loyalty and investment decisions. Results of the T-test indicated that there is no significant mean difference found in the responses of the different sex group (male and female) on independent, mediating and dependent variables. While ANOVA indicated that there is a significant difference found between the age category of respondents and brand loyalty; age category of respondents and investment decisions. Based on the results of the analyses performed, conclusions, contributions and recommendations were enumerated. Practical recommendations were made to the government, individual investors, companies and brand experts, professional brokers, financial analysts and economy developers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Okeja, Ogechukwu Donatu
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Branding (Marketing) -- Nigeria , Business names -- Nigeria , Brand choice -- Nigeria -- Mathematical models , Consumer behavior -- Nigeria -- Mathematical models , Consumers' preferences -- Nigeria , Nigerian Stock Exchange
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144015 , vital:38303
- Description: Over the years, the financial sphere and its systematic process has transcended from one paradigm to another. Most prominent is the traditional finance paradigm dominating the financial sphere majorly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The ideology and the foundation of the traditional finance paradigm was centred on the concept of rationality. Within the context of the current research, the traditional finance paradigm postulates that individuals in the process of making investment decisions, acquire and analyse all available information in the stock markets, upon which they make a rational investment decision. In other words, the traditional finance paradigm portrays individuals as perfectly informed, rational decision makers, capable of objectively solving complex problems –Homo economicus. However, research in the field of psychology gave rise to the questions and concerns that started to emerge in the 1980s concerning the realistic nature of the assumptions of the traditional finance paradigm. As opposed to the assumptions of traditional finance, these research show that it is impossible for investors to analyse the shares of all the listed companies in the market in order to make rational investment decisions due to the ambiguous nature of information available. In the behavioural finance paradigm individuals’ decision making are viewed to incorporate factors such as emotions, heuristics, experiences, intuition and perceptions. These factors in turn are seen to induce biases (such as availability bias and overconfidence) which leads to subjective decision making. The concept of behavioural finance is based on realistic outcomes of events in the financial sphere for example, the repeated occurrence of financial crises in an environment where all participants are assumed to be rational. The behavioural finance paradigm challenges the assumption of the traditional finance paradigm which is embedded on the concept of rationality. The purpose of the present research is to investigate whether brands of listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange trigger behavioural finance biases in investment decisions of individual investors in Nigeria. More specifically, the aim of the present research was to establish relationships between the independent sub-variables of brand knowledge (brand awareness and brand image) and brand relationship (brand loyalty and brand attachment), the mediating sub-variables of behavioural finance biases (availability bias and overconfidence) and the dependent variable (investment decisions). To this end, objectives and hypotheses were formulated to guide the research. In order to achieve the stated objectives and test the formulated hypotheses, the present research adopted the positivistic paradigm and the methodological process involved quantitative methods. Data was acquired by means of an online questionnaire from members of the Independent shareholders association of Nigeria and individual investors whose contacts were provided by an independent broker (n= 182). The research instrument showed satisfactory levels of validity on all measures (between 0.40 and 0.89) and a relatively highly internal consistency for reliability with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient scores of between 0.81 and 0.93. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed. Descriptive statistics involved frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics involved Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, Multiple linear regression analyses, T-test and ANOVA. Using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, results show that all variables were positively correlated. Results of the Multiple linear regression analyses performed, indicated that there are positive relationships between brand awareness and investment decisions; brand awareness and availability bias; brand loyalty and investment decisions; brand loyalty and overconfidence; overconfidence and investment decisions. Furthermore, Multiple linear regression analyses also indicated that availability bias mediates the relationship between brand awareness and investment decisions; and overconfidence mediates the relationship between brand loyalty and investment decisions. Results of the T-test indicated that there is no significant mean difference found in the responses of the different sex group (male and female) on independent, mediating and dependent variables. While ANOVA indicated that there is a significant difference found between the age category of respondents and brand loyalty; age category of respondents and investment decisions. Based on the results of the analyses performed, conclusions, contributions and recommendations were enumerated. Practical recommendations were made to the government, individual investors, companies and brand experts, professional brokers, financial analysts and economy developers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Influence of product variables on consumers’ buying behaviour in the South African skin care industry
- Authors: Mabuyana, Brian
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Consumer behavior -- South Africa , Product management Packaging Branding (Marketing)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40713 , vital:36229
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop, validate and test a hypothesised model on the product variables that can possibly influence consumers’ buying behaviour in the skin care industry in South Africa. The product variables that can possibly influence consumers’ buying behaviour are product attributes, product packaging, product labelling, product pricing and product branding. A positivistic quantitative research methodology was followed by collecting data with a structured, self-administered questionnaire using convenience and snowball sampling. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument were confirmed by means of an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the calculation of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. A sample of 220 respondents was obtained. Descriptive statistics were provided to summarise the sample data. Pearson’s product moment correlations were calculated to establish the correlations between the variables used in this study. Multiple regression was performed to test the significance of the relationships hypothesised between the independent and dependent variables. A T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were performed to assess the influence of demographic variables on respondents’ perceptions regarding the independent and dependent variables used. To establish significant differences between individual mean scores, post-hoc Sheffé tests were calculated, and practical significance was assessed by calculating Cohen’s d values. The multiple regression analysis indicated a positive significant relationship among the independent variables (Product attributes, Product packaging and Product branding) and the dependent variable (Consumer buying behaviour). The ANOVA tests indicated significant relationships between three demographic variables namely ethnicity, occupation and average spending and the dependent variable (Consumer buying behaviour). Black and White respondents and Asian and Coloured respondents had different perspectives regarding Product labelling and Product branding respectively when purchasing skin care products. Respondents with different occupations had different perspectives on Product packaging, Product branding and Consumer buying behaviour respectively. Consumers in two different spending groups had different perspectives on Consumer buying behaviour. This study has made a contribution to the shortage of literature on the impact of product variables on consumers’ buying behaviour in the skin care industry. The hypothesised model for this study assisted in understanding the influence of product variables (tangible and intangible) on consumers’ buying behaviour. As a result, this study provides recommendations and suggestions for role players in the skin care industry to ensure a positive image in the minds of consumers and to ultimately use product variables to positively influence the buying behaviour of consumers in the skin care industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mabuyana, Brian
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Consumer behavior -- South Africa , Product management Packaging Branding (Marketing)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40713 , vital:36229
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop, validate and test a hypothesised model on the product variables that can possibly influence consumers’ buying behaviour in the skin care industry in South Africa. The product variables that can possibly influence consumers’ buying behaviour are product attributes, product packaging, product labelling, product pricing and product branding. A positivistic quantitative research methodology was followed by collecting data with a structured, self-administered questionnaire using convenience and snowball sampling. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument were confirmed by means of an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the calculation of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. A sample of 220 respondents was obtained. Descriptive statistics were provided to summarise the sample data. Pearson’s product moment correlations were calculated to establish the correlations between the variables used in this study. Multiple regression was performed to test the significance of the relationships hypothesised between the independent and dependent variables. A T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were performed to assess the influence of demographic variables on respondents’ perceptions regarding the independent and dependent variables used. To establish significant differences between individual mean scores, post-hoc Sheffé tests were calculated, and practical significance was assessed by calculating Cohen’s d values. The multiple regression analysis indicated a positive significant relationship among the independent variables (Product attributes, Product packaging and Product branding) and the dependent variable (Consumer buying behaviour). The ANOVA tests indicated significant relationships between three demographic variables namely ethnicity, occupation and average spending and the dependent variable (Consumer buying behaviour). Black and White respondents and Asian and Coloured respondents had different perspectives regarding Product labelling and Product branding respectively when purchasing skin care products. Respondents with different occupations had different perspectives on Product packaging, Product branding and Consumer buying behaviour respectively. Consumers in two different spending groups had different perspectives on Consumer buying behaviour. This study has made a contribution to the shortage of literature on the impact of product variables on consumers’ buying behaviour in the skin care industry. The hypothesised model for this study assisted in understanding the influence of product variables (tangible and intangible) on consumers’ buying behaviour. As a result, this study provides recommendations and suggestions for role players in the skin care industry to ensure a positive image in the minds of consumers and to ultimately use product variables to positively influence the buying behaviour of consumers in the skin care industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A trust based model for enhanced adoption of diabetes self-management mobile applications
- Authors: Mainoti, Ganizani Fidelis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Medical records -- Data processing Medical records -- Management Mobile communication systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11041 , vital:37011
- Description: Information technology (IT) trust is an important concept as people today rely more on IT to perform their tasks than before. Extensive research in Information Systems (IS) has explored trust and how it affects clients’ selection of different IT artefacts. Literature found trust to be a key determinant of technology use and an accelerator of understanding user perceptions regarding technology. Users’ perception of a technology’s characteristics influences their initial decision to adopt it; they are less likely to try the technology once they perceive significant risk linked to the technology exploration. The study focused on trust in relation to adoption of mobile applications (apps) for self-management of diabetic treatment regimens. The aim was to identify factors that should be incorporated in these apps to positively influence user perception of trustworthiness for enhanced adoption. According to extant literature, there are a myriad of apps which are available and ready for use, but diabetic patients are not maximising these opportunities to actively participate in managing their conditions. This is in spite of the numerous benefits accruable from using these apps to aid treatment regimens away from clinical settings or with minimal involvement of health personnel. This work is a qualitative study that investigated the reasons behind the low levels of trust in mobile applications for self-management of diabetes. The research design involved a survey and the study employed interviews for primary data collection. Twenty participants were engaged in the intervention. Some of these respondents were diabetic patients on treatment and others were health staff specialising in diabetes treatment. The participants were asked to download and try, for one month or more, the Diabetes:M app from Google play store for android devices or from iTunes for IOS devices. Thereafter, interviews were held with the participants to investigate their perceptions of the diabetes management app. Based on the outcome of the investigation, the researcher put forward a model proposing the attributes of trustworthiness of diabetes self-management mobile apps for enhanced adoption. Research findings showed that the apps for diabetes self-management should be usable, possess sufficient functionalities, give accurate information for decision-making, be reliable, and secure in order to enhance the trust of diabetic patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mainoti, Ganizani Fidelis
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Medical records -- Data processing Medical records -- Management Mobile communication systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11041 , vital:37011
- Description: Information technology (IT) trust is an important concept as people today rely more on IT to perform their tasks than before. Extensive research in Information Systems (IS) has explored trust and how it affects clients’ selection of different IT artefacts. Literature found trust to be a key determinant of technology use and an accelerator of understanding user perceptions regarding technology. Users’ perception of a technology’s characteristics influences their initial decision to adopt it; they are less likely to try the technology once they perceive significant risk linked to the technology exploration. The study focused on trust in relation to adoption of mobile applications (apps) for self-management of diabetic treatment regimens. The aim was to identify factors that should be incorporated in these apps to positively influence user perception of trustworthiness for enhanced adoption. According to extant literature, there are a myriad of apps which are available and ready for use, but diabetic patients are not maximising these opportunities to actively participate in managing their conditions. This is in spite of the numerous benefits accruable from using these apps to aid treatment regimens away from clinical settings or with minimal involvement of health personnel. This work is a qualitative study that investigated the reasons behind the low levels of trust in mobile applications for self-management of diabetes. The research design involved a survey and the study employed interviews for primary data collection. Twenty participants were engaged in the intervention. Some of these respondents were diabetic patients on treatment and others were health staff specialising in diabetes treatment. The participants were asked to download and try, for one month or more, the Diabetes:M app from Google play store for android devices or from iTunes for IOS devices. Thereafter, interviews were held with the participants to investigate their perceptions of the diabetes management app. Based on the outcome of the investigation, the researcher put forward a model proposing the attributes of trustworthiness of diabetes self-management mobile apps for enhanced adoption. Research findings showed that the apps for diabetes self-management should be usable, possess sufficient functionalities, give accurate information for decision-making, be reliable, and secure in order to enhance the trust of diabetic patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Analysis of VAT compliance challenges in municipalities
- Authors: Nkonzombi, Linda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Value-added tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Taxation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33429 , vital:32864
- Description: The study was carried out to identify challenges that municipalities have with becoming Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) compliant. This study has been prompted by the ongoing findings reported by the Auditor General (‘AG’) in its audit reports. The increasing demand on the services of tax consultants also suggests that municipalities are having challenges in independently fulfilling their tax obligations. It was found that municipalities are often challenged with the application of the following VAT sections: The VAT apportionment methodology, section 8(27) dealing with unallocated payments, VAT reconciliations and claiming of VAT on invalid documentation and where VAT credits are denied. The main causes of non-compliance were identified as complexity of the tax laws, interpretation issues, behavioural attitude, lack of technical expertise within municipalities, and the fact that VAT is a self-assessed tax. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that all municipalities should be required to have a designated tax team to handle the tax matters of a municipality. The municipalities’ governing body, South African Local Government Association (‘SALGA’), should consider introducing penalties to non-VAT compliant municipalities. SARS should establish ‘customer relationships’ with the municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Nkonzombi, Linda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Value-added tax -- South Africa , Income tax -- South Africa Income tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Taxation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33429 , vital:32864
- Description: The study was carried out to identify challenges that municipalities have with becoming Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) compliant. This study has been prompted by the ongoing findings reported by the Auditor General (‘AG’) in its audit reports. The increasing demand on the services of tax consultants also suggests that municipalities are having challenges in independently fulfilling their tax obligations. It was found that municipalities are often challenged with the application of the following VAT sections: The VAT apportionment methodology, section 8(27) dealing with unallocated payments, VAT reconciliations and claiming of VAT on invalid documentation and where VAT credits are denied. The main causes of non-compliance were identified as complexity of the tax laws, interpretation issues, behavioural attitude, lack of technical expertise within municipalities, and the fact that VAT is a self-assessed tax. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that all municipalities should be required to have a designated tax team to handle the tax matters of a municipality. The municipalities’ governing body, South African Local Government Association (‘SALGA’), should consider introducing penalties to non-VAT compliant municipalities. SARS should establish ‘customer relationships’ with the municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Factors contributing to taxpayer morale: a multi-country perspective
- Authors: Kosiorek, Jakub
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Taxpayer compliance -- South Africa , Tax evasion -- South Africa , Taxpayer compliance -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Taxpayer compliance -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Tax morale -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60255 , vital:27759
- Description: Tax morale is the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes that arises either from a belief that one should contribute towards society by paying taxes or from a moral obligation to pay taxes. The goals of this thesis were to identify the various factors that influence tax morale in a country and use these factors in order to attempt to determine whether tax morale in South Africa has improved or deteriorated over the years. A further goal of this thesis was to identify strategies that could be implemented by a country in order to improve the tax morale of its citizens. The period covered by this thesis is between the years 2000 and 2015. The factors that have an effect on tax morale were identified by a review of the literature. It was found that a number of factors appear to have an impact on tax morale, but certain of these factors are incapable of being directly influenced by tax administrations. With regard to South Africa, it was found that a number of factors affecting tax morale appear to have improved over the years, while others had deteriorated. However, overall it appeared that tax morale in South Africa had deteriorated. With regard to strategies that could be used to improve tax morale, a number were identified by reviewing the literature and include strategies implemented in certain countries, as well as those discussed by scholars. Ii was found that South Africa had implemented a number of the strategies aimed at improving tax morale in its own tax system, but the manner in which some of them were implemented could have been improved. Furthermore, a number of strategies were identified that South Africa has not yet implemented and thus should look to attempting to implement these strategies to improve tax morale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Kosiorek, Jakub
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Taxpayer compliance -- South Africa , Tax evasion -- South Africa , Taxpayer compliance -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Taxpayer compliance -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Tax morale -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60255 , vital:27759
- Description: Tax morale is the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes that arises either from a belief that one should contribute towards society by paying taxes or from a moral obligation to pay taxes. The goals of this thesis were to identify the various factors that influence tax morale in a country and use these factors in order to attempt to determine whether tax morale in South Africa has improved or deteriorated over the years. A further goal of this thesis was to identify strategies that could be implemented by a country in order to improve the tax morale of its citizens. The period covered by this thesis is between the years 2000 and 2015. The factors that have an effect on tax morale were identified by a review of the literature. It was found that a number of factors appear to have an impact on tax morale, but certain of these factors are incapable of being directly influenced by tax administrations. With regard to South Africa, it was found that a number of factors affecting tax morale appear to have improved over the years, while others had deteriorated. However, overall it appeared that tax morale in South Africa had deteriorated. With regard to strategies that could be used to improve tax morale, a number were identified by reviewing the literature and include strategies implemented in certain countries, as well as those discussed by scholars. Ii was found that South Africa had implemented a number of the strategies aimed at improving tax morale in its own tax system, but the manner in which some of them were implemented could have been improved. Furthermore, a number of strategies were identified that South Africa has not yet implemented and thus should look to attempting to implement these strategies to improve tax morale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Factors that make a visit to selected Eastern Cape national parks a memorable experience
- Authors: Baldie, Carole Audrey
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Customer relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Management Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21461 , vital:29524
- Description: South African National Parks (SANParks) manages 19 functional national parks (NPs) and oversees the conservation of South Africa’s (SA’s) biodiversity, landscapes and heritage assets. The organisation plays a significant role in the promotion of SA’s nature-based tourism business which in turn forms part of the nation’s heritage and identity. Tourism to SA’s NPs is significant and interest in visiting these parks continues to increase annually, from both international and domestic markets. Three of these NPs are located in the Eastern Cape province, namely Addo Elephant National Park (AENP), Camdeboo National Park (CNP) and Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) and were the focus of this study. The main reason for conducting the current study was to establish what factors make visits to the three aforementioned NPs memorable. The findings of this research could be useful to all NPs and assist them in making decisions regarding the evaluation and creation of product offerings that will enhance experiences and make them memorable for tourists. Based on the findings, and because each NP is unique (for example, the different biodiversity and landscapes), the product offerings can also be made exclusive to each NP and therefore tourists can have the opportunity for different MTEs in each park. Providing product offerings that afford MTE opportunities are particularly important for NPs, as government funding is decreasing and each NP needs to generate its own funds. Tourism is presently the economic lifeline for the parks. If NPs focus on improving current products where necessary and developing new products that provide for MTEs, NPs could increase their competitive advantage. Having a competitive advantage can ensure an increase in tourism numbers and therefore the financial sustainability of the park. Data was collected on site at each of the three NPs selected for the study, using convenience sampling to select respondents. A web-based survey was also posted on the SANParks’ website. Prior to the posting of the web-based survey, SANParks conducted a simple random sampling procedure utilising a sampling frame of tourists who had previously visited the respective NPs. The selected target population emanating from simple random sampling was e-mailed the link to the SANParks website which guided respondents to the online questionnaire if they wished to take part in the survey, hence the response sample was a convenience sample. In total, 463 usable questionnaires were received. Descriptive statistics resulted from the data analysis. A frequency analysis showed the distribution of the results, while an exploratory factors analysis (EFA) was conducted to ascertain any latent factors in the data. The results of the EFA showed the presence of three latent factors which were labelled Pleasure, Social Interaction and Discovery and Enrichment. Firstly, a strong positive correlation was shown between two of the factors, namely Pleasure and Discovery and Enrichment, and secondly, a positive correlation between two other factors, namely Social Interaction and Discovery and Enrichment was indicated. A weak correlation was shown between the factors Pleasure and Social Interaction. This research has contributed to the knowledge base regarding the factors that make a visit to AENP, CNP and MZNP memorable. Future research can make use of these factors for more exhaustive research in a wider range of NPs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Baldie, Carole Audrey
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Tourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tourism -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Customer relations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Management Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21461 , vital:29524
- Description: South African National Parks (SANParks) manages 19 functional national parks (NPs) and oversees the conservation of South Africa’s (SA’s) biodiversity, landscapes and heritage assets. The organisation plays a significant role in the promotion of SA’s nature-based tourism business which in turn forms part of the nation’s heritage and identity. Tourism to SA’s NPs is significant and interest in visiting these parks continues to increase annually, from both international and domestic markets. Three of these NPs are located in the Eastern Cape province, namely Addo Elephant National Park (AENP), Camdeboo National Park (CNP) and Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) and were the focus of this study. The main reason for conducting the current study was to establish what factors make visits to the three aforementioned NPs memorable. The findings of this research could be useful to all NPs and assist them in making decisions regarding the evaluation and creation of product offerings that will enhance experiences and make them memorable for tourists. Based on the findings, and because each NP is unique (for example, the different biodiversity and landscapes), the product offerings can also be made exclusive to each NP and therefore tourists can have the opportunity for different MTEs in each park. Providing product offerings that afford MTE opportunities are particularly important for NPs, as government funding is decreasing and each NP needs to generate its own funds. Tourism is presently the economic lifeline for the parks. If NPs focus on improving current products where necessary and developing new products that provide for MTEs, NPs could increase their competitive advantage. Having a competitive advantage can ensure an increase in tourism numbers and therefore the financial sustainability of the park. Data was collected on site at each of the three NPs selected for the study, using convenience sampling to select respondents. A web-based survey was also posted on the SANParks’ website. Prior to the posting of the web-based survey, SANParks conducted a simple random sampling procedure utilising a sampling frame of tourists who had previously visited the respective NPs. The selected target population emanating from simple random sampling was e-mailed the link to the SANParks website which guided respondents to the online questionnaire if they wished to take part in the survey, hence the response sample was a convenience sample. In total, 463 usable questionnaires were received. Descriptive statistics resulted from the data analysis. A frequency analysis showed the distribution of the results, while an exploratory factors analysis (EFA) was conducted to ascertain any latent factors in the data. The results of the EFA showed the presence of three latent factors which were labelled Pleasure, Social Interaction and Discovery and Enrichment. Firstly, a strong positive correlation was shown between two of the factors, namely Pleasure and Discovery and Enrichment, and secondly, a positive correlation between two other factors, namely Social Interaction and Discovery and Enrichment was indicated. A weak correlation was shown between the factors Pleasure and Social Interaction. This research has contributed to the knowledge base regarding the factors that make a visit to AENP, CNP and MZNP memorable. Future research can make use of these factors for more exhaustive research in a wider range of NPs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Response of the IMF and the World Bank to the Great Recession and the Euro sovereign crisis in a globalising world
- Authors: Thibane, Tankiso Abel
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Recessions Globalization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16142 , vital:28330
- Description: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) now the World Bank, were created in the mid-1940s. The IMF was tasked to manage the post-war international monetary system, while the World Bank’s role during its early years was to provide development finance to war-torn Europe. These institutions reformed some of their roles to make them relevant to the globalising world over the years and also responded to several post-war crises. Since these two institutions carry out their roles in a globalising world, this study has revealed that globalisation has different interpretations as many researchers refer to the economic and non-economic explanations of its meaning. Globalisation is also a historical process as it traces back several years ago. Since approximately the mid-2000s, the global economy experienced two economic crises, namely the US sub-prime financial crisis that later became the Great Recession and the Euro sovereign crisis. The two economic crises spread to other countries globally that were interconnected into the global economy regarding international trade, investment and banking. These two crisis events required responses from the IMF and the World Bank. The two institutions displayed a variety of strengths and weaknesses in dealing with the recession and the Euro crisis. The lending of both these institutions has been their strength as they have managed to expand their lending capacity during the two crisis periods examined. The IMF’s crisis intervention time frames have also been its strength, as the speed in which it has approved financial assistance requests has been within reasonable time frames. The IMF’s new lending instruments have been its weakness, as the success of these instruments has not been fully tested so far. This is because of the little use of the IMF’s new lending instruments. The IMF’s crisis prevention efforts through the use of its surveillance tools have also been its flaw. This is based on the fact that it has failed to prevent the US financial crisis (later the Great Recession) and the Euro sovereign crisis. Overall, this study found that these institutions played a significant role in responding to the Great Recession and Euro sovereign crisis as their strengths outweigh their weaknesses. However, the weaknesses of the IMF confirm that it needs to reform its role and learn from its flaws in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Thibane, Tankiso Abel
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Recessions Globalization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16142 , vital:28330
- Description: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) now the World Bank, were created in the mid-1940s. The IMF was tasked to manage the post-war international monetary system, while the World Bank’s role during its early years was to provide development finance to war-torn Europe. These institutions reformed some of their roles to make them relevant to the globalising world over the years and also responded to several post-war crises. Since these two institutions carry out their roles in a globalising world, this study has revealed that globalisation has different interpretations as many researchers refer to the economic and non-economic explanations of its meaning. Globalisation is also a historical process as it traces back several years ago. Since approximately the mid-2000s, the global economy experienced two economic crises, namely the US sub-prime financial crisis that later became the Great Recession and the Euro sovereign crisis. The two economic crises spread to other countries globally that were interconnected into the global economy regarding international trade, investment and banking. These two crisis events required responses from the IMF and the World Bank. The two institutions displayed a variety of strengths and weaknesses in dealing with the recession and the Euro crisis. The lending of both these institutions has been their strength as they have managed to expand their lending capacity during the two crisis periods examined. The IMF’s crisis intervention time frames have also been its strength, as the speed in which it has approved financial assistance requests has been within reasonable time frames. The IMF’s new lending instruments have been its weakness, as the success of these instruments has not been fully tested so far. This is because of the little use of the IMF’s new lending instruments. The IMF’s crisis prevention efforts through the use of its surveillance tools have also been its flaw. This is based on the fact that it has failed to prevent the US financial crisis (later the Great Recession) and the Euro sovereign crisis. Overall, this study found that these institutions played a significant role in responding to the Great Recession and Euro sovereign crisis as their strengths outweigh their weaknesses. However, the weaknesses of the IMF confirm that it needs to reform its role and learn from its flaws in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
The impact of poverty alleviation on sustainable development in South Africa and Uganda
- Authors: Ngonde, Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- Uganda Economic development -- South Africa Economic development -- Uganda South Africa -- Economic conditions Uganda -- Economic conditions Poverty -- South Africa Poverty -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33419 , vital:32852
- Description: The success of a nation is often determined by economic growth which, however, cannot reduce poverty, create jobs and enhance the general standards of living on its own. Therefore, policy makers should focus on policies that are more inclusive and promote sustainable development. Currently, poverty is the greatest threat to the achievement of sustainable development in most regions of the world. This study thus sought to investigate the impact of poverty alleviation on sustainable development in South Africa and Uganda. An Autoregressive Distributed Lags model (ARDL) was used in order to achieve the aim of this study. The variables analysed in this study were: The Human Sustainable Development Index as an indicator of sustainable development, gross national income per capita as an indicator of poverty, as well as life expectancy, expected years of schooling and carbon dioxide emissions (metric tons per capita) for the period during 1990 and 2014. The empirical findings in this study revealed that all the variables share a long run relationship in both countries. These results also showed that, in the long run, a reduction in poverty and an increase in the expected years of schooling had a significant positive impact on sustainable development, while an increase in the carbon dioxide emissions had a negative effect on sustainable development within South Africa. On the other hand, a reduction in poverty and an increase in the expected years of schooling had a positive effect on sustainable development in Uganda in the long run, unlike carbon dioxide emissions that had no effect. Since a cointegrating relationship was found to exist between the variables, an Error Correction Model (ECM) was estimated. The ECM results revealed that, for South Africa, poverty alleviation had no impact on sustainable development in the short run, unlike expected years of schooling and carbon dioxide emissions that had a positive and negative impact, respectively. In Uganda however, poverty alleviation and expected years of schooling had a positive impact on sustainable development unlike carbon dioxide emissions that had no impact. This study thus revealed that poverty alleviation positively influences the level of sustainable development. However, achieving sustainable development does not solely rely on reducing poverty, but requires policy makers to design strategies that are inclusive and encompass the different aspects of sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Ngonde, Nicholas
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- Uganda Economic development -- South Africa Economic development -- Uganda South Africa -- Economic conditions Uganda -- Economic conditions Poverty -- South Africa Poverty -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33419 , vital:32852
- Description: The success of a nation is often determined by economic growth which, however, cannot reduce poverty, create jobs and enhance the general standards of living on its own. Therefore, policy makers should focus on policies that are more inclusive and promote sustainable development. Currently, poverty is the greatest threat to the achievement of sustainable development in most regions of the world. This study thus sought to investigate the impact of poverty alleviation on sustainable development in South Africa and Uganda. An Autoregressive Distributed Lags model (ARDL) was used in order to achieve the aim of this study. The variables analysed in this study were: The Human Sustainable Development Index as an indicator of sustainable development, gross national income per capita as an indicator of poverty, as well as life expectancy, expected years of schooling and carbon dioxide emissions (metric tons per capita) for the period during 1990 and 2014. The empirical findings in this study revealed that all the variables share a long run relationship in both countries. These results also showed that, in the long run, a reduction in poverty and an increase in the expected years of schooling had a significant positive impact on sustainable development, while an increase in the carbon dioxide emissions had a negative effect on sustainable development within South Africa. On the other hand, a reduction in poverty and an increase in the expected years of schooling had a positive effect on sustainable development in Uganda in the long run, unlike carbon dioxide emissions that had no effect. Since a cointegrating relationship was found to exist between the variables, an Error Correction Model (ECM) was estimated. The ECM results revealed that, for South Africa, poverty alleviation had no impact on sustainable development in the short run, unlike expected years of schooling and carbon dioxide emissions that had a positive and negative impact, respectively. In Uganda however, poverty alleviation and expected years of schooling had a positive impact on sustainable development unlike carbon dioxide emissions that had no impact. This study thus revealed that poverty alleviation positively influences the level of sustainable development. However, achieving sustainable development does not solely rely on reducing poverty, but requires policy makers to design strategies that are inclusive and encompass the different aspects of sustainable development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Competition factors influencing client switching behaviour within the commercial banking industry
- Authors: Mathiyase, Kholiswa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Banks and banking -- South Africa , Competition -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45366 , vital:38574
- Description: Banks are faced with challenges of retaining clients and preventing them from switching to competitors. For many years the South African banking industry has been dominated by the big four banks that were not known to be client focused. The banks were also known for serving only the middle and high-income earners, with the banks having a high and non-transparent banking fee structure. As a result, Capitec Bank was established in 2001 and differentiated itself from the traditional ways of providing banking service. One of their value propositions, Capitec Bank provided low and transparent banking fees, provided a unique personalised service to cater for the unbanked market and is gradually serving the middle and high-income market as well. Capitec Bank managed to establish its presence in the South African banking industry despite the dominance of the big four banks. The banking industry environment has also been subjected to a number of changes, including the entrants of other non-traditional banks, changing client behaviour, technology, regulatory and political reforms and the current depressed economic conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mathiyase, Kholiswa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Banks and banking -- South Africa , Competition -- South Africa , Financial services industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45366 , vital:38574
- Description: Banks are faced with challenges of retaining clients and preventing them from switching to competitors. For many years the South African banking industry has been dominated by the big four banks that were not known to be client focused. The banks were also known for serving only the middle and high-income earners, with the banks having a high and non-transparent banking fee structure. As a result, Capitec Bank was established in 2001 and differentiated itself from the traditional ways of providing banking service. One of their value propositions, Capitec Bank provided low and transparent banking fees, provided a unique personalised service to cater for the unbanked market and is gradually serving the middle and high-income market as well. Capitec Bank managed to establish its presence in the South African banking industry despite the dominance of the big four banks. The banking industry environment has also been subjected to a number of changes, including the entrants of other non-traditional banks, changing client behaviour, technology, regulatory and political reforms and the current depressed economic conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Recreational resource management in Nelson Mandela Bay: a choice experiment application
- Authors: Ntshangase, Sindiswa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Beaches -- Recreational use -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Recreational surveys -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Recreation areas -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19608 , vital:28904
- Description: This dissertation represents one of the limited South African studies that attempts to estimate the recreational value of the identified set of bathing beaches within the local municipal area of the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB). More formally, this research presents the findings of selected stated preference study used for the monetary measurement of the benefits of the improvements to the NMB bathing coastlines. Using the choice experiment method, this dissertation examines the beach users’ preferences for beach management at various beaches in NMB. The choice experiment analysis was designed to elicit individuals’ willingness to pay for the selected changes. The results are used to assess the relative importance of each beach characteristic identified. The survey is implemented on the users of beaches in NMB. The beach characteristics or attributes by focus group discussions were namely (1) bathing water quality (2) public safety by means of visible policing (3) the presence of dog mess on beaches and (4) availability of lifeguards on duty. The monetary attribute selected by focus groups as most appropriate was an additional environmental water charge. The five attributes had varying levels, one corresponding to the current scenario (status quo) and the other levels to the marginal change. These attributes and their levels were combined to generate different management options, each associated with a 'monetary price'. Respondents were asked to choose their preferred alternative within the choice sets, each consisting of three management options where one alternative was the status quo. The estimation strategy consisted of estimating a conditional logit model. Results revealed that people are willing to pay to (1) keep the water quality at the excellent current level (2) for improvements in public safety through visible policing (3) the continued of the presence of dogs on beaches and (4) for an increase in the number of lifesavers on the bathing beaches. The findings of the analysis are used to inform the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) on the improvements most preferred by beach users in the context of beach management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Ntshangase, Sindiswa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Beaches -- Recreational use -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Recreational surveys -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Recreation areas -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19608 , vital:28904
- Description: This dissertation represents one of the limited South African studies that attempts to estimate the recreational value of the identified set of bathing beaches within the local municipal area of the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB). More formally, this research presents the findings of selected stated preference study used for the monetary measurement of the benefits of the improvements to the NMB bathing coastlines. Using the choice experiment method, this dissertation examines the beach users’ preferences for beach management at various beaches in NMB. The choice experiment analysis was designed to elicit individuals’ willingness to pay for the selected changes. The results are used to assess the relative importance of each beach characteristic identified. The survey is implemented on the users of beaches in NMB. The beach characteristics or attributes by focus group discussions were namely (1) bathing water quality (2) public safety by means of visible policing (3) the presence of dog mess on beaches and (4) availability of lifeguards on duty. The monetary attribute selected by focus groups as most appropriate was an additional environmental water charge. The five attributes had varying levels, one corresponding to the current scenario (status quo) and the other levels to the marginal change. These attributes and their levels were combined to generate different management options, each associated with a 'monetary price'. Respondents were asked to choose their preferred alternative within the choice sets, each consisting of three management options where one alternative was the status quo. The estimation strategy consisted of estimating a conditional logit model. Results revealed that people are willing to pay to (1) keep the water quality at the excellent current level (2) for improvements in public safety through visible policing (3) the continued of the presence of dogs on beaches and (4) for an increase in the number of lifesavers on the bathing beaches. The findings of the analysis are used to inform the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) on the improvements most preferred by beach users in the context of beach management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
The recreational value of the Baviaanskloof: a travel cost analysis using count data models
- Authors: Taonezvi, Lovemore
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Travel costs -- South Africa -- Baviaanskloof Valuation -- South Africa -- Baviaanskloof
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12371 , vital:27059
- Description: Despite constituting a sheer 2% of the world’s surface area, South Africa (SA) is the third most biologically diverse country in the world and this makes the country part of the 17 member countries that make up the ‘Megadiverse Countries’(Sandwith, 2002; Nel & Driver, 2012). Besides its exceptional levels of endemism, according to Boshoff, Cowling and Kerley (2000), three of the 25 internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots are found in SA namely the Cape Florist Region, the Succulent Karoo and the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany centre of endemism. The Baviaanskloof is a very popular tourist destination, which falls within the Cape Floristic Region) ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in the Eastern Cape Province (Myers, 1988; Crane, 2007). Its high biodiversity, numerous archaeological sites, pristine environment, low crime rates, absence of malaria and easy of accessibility, makes it a perfect destination for recreationists (Clark, 1999; Boshoff et al., 2000). The Baviaanskloof was declared a ‘mega reserve’ under the Cape Action for People and Environment (CAPE) programme (CSIR, 2000). It consists of privately-owned farm land and a nature reserve called the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area (BWA). In order to properly manage, conserve and utilise the rich natural resources of the Baviaanskloof, its benefits need to be clearly documented and demonstrated. The aim of this study is to determine the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, and this was achieved using non-market value technique, namely the travel cost method (TCM). The TCM is used to value recreational assets via the expenditures on traveling to the site by recognising that visitors to a recreation site pay an implicit price – the cost of travelling to it, including access fees and the opportunity costs of their time (Baker & Ruting, 2014). This method is mostly used to estimate use values for recreation activities and changes in these use values associated with changes in environmental quality/quantity. The greatest advantage of the TCM is that valuation estimates are derived from real economic choices made by individuals in real markets, whereas its inability to estimate non-market values is its major weakness which only limits its application to recreational studies. In estimating the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, data from 328 respondents were used. Five econometric models, namely, a standard Poisson specification, a Poisson specification adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (TES Poisson), a standard negative vii binomial model (NB), a negative binomial model adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (NBTES), and a generalised negative binomial with endogenous stratification (GNBES) were used to estimate the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof. Crucially, all the five models simultaneously established income and total costs to be statistically significant in determining the number of trips to the recreational site according to a priori expectations. The GNBES model was observed to have the best fit of the data than the other four models after an examination of goodness-of-fit measures in conjunction with the number of statistically significant variables per model. Of the 328 respondents surveyed, on average, visitors to the Baviaanskloof are mostly male, highly educated individuals, receiving gross annual income of ZAR436 372 (USD30 451.64) and 39.87 years of age. The mean travel cost was estimated to be ZAR1 433.56 (USD100.04) and each travelling party consisted of 4.09 people on average. Using estimates from the preferred GNBES model, the study estimated consumer surplus per trip for a recreationist to the Baviaanskloof to be ZAR1 759.32 (USD122.78). When this value is multiplied by the average annual trips a person takes to site, a value of ZAR2 445.46 (USD170.66) for consumer surplus per person is produced. Further aggregation of this value across the population (i.e. 18 500), of recreationists to the Baviaanskloof per year gives total consumer surplus of ZAR3 157 210 (USD220 321). The study concludes that the Baviaanskloof has a significant recreational value which can further be increased if policymakers take actions to, inter alia, upgrade infrastructure, budget more money for conservation and market the nature reserve in unexploited markets. Since the non-use values were not taken into account and also the impact of on-site sampling on the data set, the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof should be carefully considered in any management or conservation project. More studies of this nature are greatly needed to allow for more comparisons and increase credibility of the results of environmental valuation studies in SA.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Taonezvi, Lovemore
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Travel costs -- South Africa -- Baviaanskloof Valuation -- South Africa -- Baviaanskloof
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12371 , vital:27059
- Description: Despite constituting a sheer 2% of the world’s surface area, South Africa (SA) is the third most biologically diverse country in the world and this makes the country part of the 17 member countries that make up the ‘Megadiverse Countries’(Sandwith, 2002; Nel & Driver, 2012). Besides its exceptional levels of endemism, according to Boshoff, Cowling and Kerley (2000), three of the 25 internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots are found in SA namely the Cape Florist Region, the Succulent Karoo and the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany centre of endemism. The Baviaanskloof is a very popular tourist destination, which falls within the Cape Floristic Region) ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in the Eastern Cape Province (Myers, 1988; Crane, 2007). Its high biodiversity, numerous archaeological sites, pristine environment, low crime rates, absence of malaria and easy of accessibility, makes it a perfect destination for recreationists (Clark, 1999; Boshoff et al., 2000). The Baviaanskloof was declared a ‘mega reserve’ under the Cape Action for People and Environment (CAPE) programme (CSIR, 2000). It consists of privately-owned farm land and a nature reserve called the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area (BWA). In order to properly manage, conserve and utilise the rich natural resources of the Baviaanskloof, its benefits need to be clearly documented and demonstrated. The aim of this study is to determine the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, and this was achieved using non-market value technique, namely the travel cost method (TCM). The TCM is used to value recreational assets via the expenditures on traveling to the site by recognising that visitors to a recreation site pay an implicit price – the cost of travelling to it, including access fees and the opportunity costs of their time (Baker & Ruting, 2014). This method is mostly used to estimate use values for recreation activities and changes in these use values associated with changes in environmental quality/quantity. The greatest advantage of the TCM is that valuation estimates are derived from real economic choices made by individuals in real markets, whereas its inability to estimate non-market values is its major weakness which only limits its application to recreational studies. In estimating the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof, data from 328 respondents were used. Five econometric models, namely, a standard Poisson specification, a Poisson specification adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (TES Poisson), a standard negative vii binomial model (NB), a negative binomial model adjusted for truncation and endogenous stratification (NBTES), and a generalised negative binomial with endogenous stratification (GNBES) were used to estimate the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof. Crucially, all the five models simultaneously established income and total costs to be statistically significant in determining the number of trips to the recreational site according to a priori expectations. The GNBES model was observed to have the best fit of the data than the other four models after an examination of goodness-of-fit measures in conjunction with the number of statistically significant variables per model. Of the 328 respondents surveyed, on average, visitors to the Baviaanskloof are mostly male, highly educated individuals, receiving gross annual income of ZAR436 372 (USD30 451.64) and 39.87 years of age. The mean travel cost was estimated to be ZAR1 433.56 (USD100.04) and each travelling party consisted of 4.09 people on average. Using estimates from the preferred GNBES model, the study estimated consumer surplus per trip for a recreationist to the Baviaanskloof to be ZAR1 759.32 (USD122.78). When this value is multiplied by the average annual trips a person takes to site, a value of ZAR2 445.46 (USD170.66) for consumer surplus per person is produced. Further aggregation of this value across the population (i.e. 18 500), of recreationists to the Baviaanskloof per year gives total consumer surplus of ZAR3 157 210 (USD220 321). The study concludes that the Baviaanskloof has a significant recreational value which can further be increased if policymakers take actions to, inter alia, upgrade infrastructure, budget more money for conservation and market the nature reserve in unexploited markets. Since the non-use values were not taken into account and also the impact of on-site sampling on the data set, the recreational value of the Baviaanskloof should be carefully considered in any management or conservation project. More studies of this nature are greatly needed to allow for more comparisons and increase credibility of the results of environmental valuation studies in SA.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Assessing the value of public investment into biological control research for invasive alien plants : the ARC PPRI Weeds Research Division
- Authors: Scarr, Lowell Martin
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Alien plants -- Biological control , Invasive plants -- Biological control , Alien plants -- Economic aspects , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects , Weeds -- Biological control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020604
- Description: This study investigates the economic impact of the ARC PPRI Weeds Research Division. The Division researches appropriate methods of biological control for invasive alien plants (IAPs). These plants pose an increasing threat to environmental integrity and ecosystem service provision impacting on economic potential. Since the work of the Division is considered a public good, a predominantly descriptive approach has been adopted for the valuation process. A combination of quantitative cost analysis and a qualitative study of the impacts of research and invasive alien plants is used to deal with the challenges associated with non-market valuation. The study found that investment into the Weeds Division is a valuable activity that supports the long-term growth potential of the South African economy. The role of a well-functioning environment is highlighted as an essential base for the creation of sustained growth opportunities in any society. It was determined that investment into the Division should be increased into the future to support efficient spending of scarce state funds. Biological control research was found to provide strategic future growth potential, creating opportunities for the development of a competitive advantage in the biotechnology and environmental management sectors. The study adds to the increasing move towards a more holistic view of economic valuation, taking factors other than pure finance and econometrics into consideration. This is an important shift in prevailing economic thought, as a realisation is reached that a single, or even triple, bottom line is an outdated and insufficient decision making basis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Scarr, Lowell Martin
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Alien plants -- Biological control , Invasive plants -- Biological control , Alien plants -- Economic aspects , Invasive plants -- Economic aspects , Weeds -- Biological control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020604
- Description: This study investigates the economic impact of the ARC PPRI Weeds Research Division. The Division researches appropriate methods of biological control for invasive alien plants (IAPs). These plants pose an increasing threat to environmental integrity and ecosystem service provision impacting on economic potential. Since the work of the Division is considered a public good, a predominantly descriptive approach has been adopted for the valuation process. A combination of quantitative cost analysis and a qualitative study of the impacts of research and invasive alien plants is used to deal with the challenges associated with non-market valuation. The study found that investment into the Weeds Division is a valuable activity that supports the long-term growth potential of the South African economy. The role of a well-functioning environment is highlighted as an essential base for the creation of sustained growth opportunities in any society. It was determined that investment into the Division should be increased into the future to support efficient spending of scarce state funds. Biological control research was found to provide strategic future growth potential, creating opportunities for the development of a competitive advantage in the biotechnology and environmental management sectors. The study adds to the increasing move towards a more holistic view of economic valuation, taking factors other than pure finance and econometrics into consideration. This is an important shift in prevailing economic thought, as a realisation is reached that a single, or even triple, bottom line is an outdated and insufficient decision making basis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring the relationship between leadership styles and quality of work life: a case study of a Chinese- South African joint venture
- Authors: Handley, Rayne Cyla
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4058 , vital:20597
- Description: This thesis employs a phenomenological qualitative research methodology to explore its research aims and objectives. It focuses on describing the various leadership styles and quality of work life (QWL) levels with reference to the Chinese-South African intercultural context. By doing so, it answers a primary exploratory research question; how does a particular leadership style influence QWL. By answering this question, this study will contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of Chinese organisations in South Africa. Furthermore, it will assist in creating greater intercultural synergy within the respective organisation. In order to explore the research question related to leadership and QWL, the thesis will begin by defining and describing the two concepts indigenously. In light of the research gap pertaining to African intercultural managerial contexts, as well as the rising Chinese and South Africa intercultural business environments, this case study demonstrates how leadership style is an important determining factor in QWL levels, both of the leaders as well as leader-raters within an intercultural context. China is South Africa’s largest trading partner and the signing of new agreements in 2015 will lead to enhanced China-Africa engagement at the macro and organisational level. China’s increasing engagement in both Africa and South Africa has been widely covered, but non-pejorative empirical research is needed to shed light on the organisational manifestations of China’s engagement. The study was conducted within the mining sector which is a key component of Chinese investment in, and trade with, South Africa. Through an in-depth content analysis which draws on coding and thematic concerns, quantification and description, this study finds that leaders directly influence QWL through relationships with their followers. Moreover, leaders indirectly have a bearing on QWL through the influence they have on organisational and work environment factors. Another finding is that leaders are inclined to describing higher levels of QWL and more transformational leadership styles. In addition, it is shown that executives (irrespective of leader or leader-rater status) were more likely to describe a high level of QWL and transformational leadership behaviours when compared to skilled level participants while the semi-skilled participants where least likely of all. Finally, it was found that the nature of the relationship between a leader and a follower is influenced by whether the said leader is a direct supervisor or if there is a large organisational level ‘gap’ between a leader and a leader- rater. It can also be said that leaders at higher organisational levels are expected to exhibit different leadership behaviours and meet different needs. Overall this study suggests that leaders need to be aware of the way in which the intercultural context can influence perceptions of subjective phenomena such as leadership effectiveness and QWL. The study concludes that leaders directly and indirectly play a key role in determining need satisfaction and QWL levels. To that extent, they ought to strategically adopt leadership practices that enhance need satisfaction and wellbeing in the workplace. Wellbeing and employee satisfaction are increasingly gaining importance within theory and literature related to QWL and has, importantly, also been shown to influence workplace attitudes and behaviours.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Handley, Rayne Cyla
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4058 , vital:20597
- Description: This thesis employs a phenomenological qualitative research methodology to explore its research aims and objectives. It focuses on describing the various leadership styles and quality of work life (QWL) levels with reference to the Chinese-South African intercultural context. By doing so, it answers a primary exploratory research question; how does a particular leadership style influence QWL. By answering this question, this study will contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of Chinese organisations in South Africa. Furthermore, it will assist in creating greater intercultural synergy within the respective organisation. In order to explore the research question related to leadership and QWL, the thesis will begin by defining and describing the two concepts indigenously. In light of the research gap pertaining to African intercultural managerial contexts, as well as the rising Chinese and South Africa intercultural business environments, this case study demonstrates how leadership style is an important determining factor in QWL levels, both of the leaders as well as leader-raters within an intercultural context. China is South Africa’s largest trading partner and the signing of new agreements in 2015 will lead to enhanced China-Africa engagement at the macro and organisational level. China’s increasing engagement in both Africa and South Africa has been widely covered, but non-pejorative empirical research is needed to shed light on the organisational manifestations of China’s engagement. The study was conducted within the mining sector which is a key component of Chinese investment in, and trade with, South Africa. Through an in-depth content analysis which draws on coding and thematic concerns, quantification and description, this study finds that leaders directly influence QWL through relationships with their followers. Moreover, leaders indirectly have a bearing on QWL through the influence they have on organisational and work environment factors. Another finding is that leaders are inclined to describing higher levels of QWL and more transformational leadership styles. In addition, it is shown that executives (irrespective of leader or leader-rater status) were more likely to describe a high level of QWL and transformational leadership behaviours when compared to skilled level participants while the semi-skilled participants where least likely of all. Finally, it was found that the nature of the relationship between a leader and a follower is influenced by whether the said leader is a direct supervisor or if there is a large organisational level ‘gap’ between a leader and a leader- rater. It can also be said that leaders at higher organisational levels are expected to exhibit different leadership behaviours and meet different needs. Overall this study suggests that leaders need to be aware of the way in which the intercultural context can influence perceptions of subjective phenomena such as leadership effectiveness and QWL. The study concludes that leaders directly and indirectly play a key role in determining need satisfaction and QWL levels. To that extent, they ought to strategically adopt leadership practices that enhance need satisfaction and wellbeing in the workplace. Wellbeing and employee satisfaction are increasingly gaining importance within theory and literature related to QWL and has, importantly, also been shown to influence workplace attitudes and behaviours.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Social assistance strategies as means of addressing poverty: lessons for South Africa
- Authors: Mampuru, Tsebo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4098 , vital:20607
- Description: Poverty is a daily reality which a majority of South Africans live with. Social security in the form of cash grants has been the main poverty reduction instrument, albeit with limited success. The thesis aims to propose improvements which can be made in the government’s current social protection system and formulate alternative directions towards reducing poverty. An overview of the three most researched social security strategies around the world (i.e. Nordic, Latin American, and U.S. models) revealed two dominant instruments: conditionality and universalism. If applied in South Africa, universalism may be costly and unsustainable unless the right funding method is used. Attaching education and health attainment conditions to an adult grant would be inefficient and even burdensome to recipients. In terms of child grants, there is little evidence to suggest that the demand for and private levels of investment in education and health are insufficient. Therefore attaching health and education conditions to social grants may only serve to highlight the severe supply side inefficiencies in South Africa. Attaching marriage as an alternative condition may disadvantage poor and needy beneficiaries as marriage is an expensive institution in South Africa. Furthermore, enforcing the marriage condition would violate the constitutional rights of recipients who do not necessarily place a high value on the institution. To strengthen the poverty reduction efficiency of social grants and reduce dependency, the thesis suggests that social cash grants, regardless of whether universal and/or conditional or neither, should be temporary and used in conjunction with other strategies which encourage inclusive economic growth. Social assistance alone will not reduce poverty and ultimately, inclusive economic growth remains a more viable approach to reducing poverty. How to achieve the required inclusive economic growth in South Africa therefore provides further research opportunities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Mampuru, Tsebo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4098 , vital:20607
- Description: Poverty is a daily reality which a majority of South Africans live with. Social security in the form of cash grants has been the main poverty reduction instrument, albeit with limited success. The thesis aims to propose improvements which can be made in the government’s current social protection system and formulate alternative directions towards reducing poverty. An overview of the three most researched social security strategies around the world (i.e. Nordic, Latin American, and U.S. models) revealed two dominant instruments: conditionality and universalism. If applied in South Africa, universalism may be costly and unsustainable unless the right funding method is used. Attaching education and health attainment conditions to an adult grant would be inefficient and even burdensome to recipients. In terms of child grants, there is little evidence to suggest that the demand for and private levels of investment in education and health are insufficient. Therefore attaching health and education conditions to social grants may only serve to highlight the severe supply side inefficiencies in South Africa. Attaching marriage as an alternative condition may disadvantage poor and needy beneficiaries as marriage is an expensive institution in South Africa. Furthermore, enforcing the marriage condition would violate the constitutional rights of recipients who do not necessarily place a high value on the institution. To strengthen the poverty reduction efficiency of social grants and reduce dependency, the thesis suggests that social cash grants, regardless of whether universal and/or conditional or neither, should be temporary and used in conjunction with other strategies which encourage inclusive economic growth. Social assistance alone will not reduce poverty and ultimately, inclusive economic growth remains a more viable approach to reducing poverty. How to achieve the required inclusive economic growth in South Africa therefore provides further research opportunities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The perfomance of South African pilots on cognitive ability assessment
- Authors: Simpson, Sinombongo Mazulu
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Intelligence tests -- South Africa , Airplanes -- Piloting -- Ability testing -- South Africa , Air pilots -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12813 , vital:27123
- Description: In South Africa, the issue of lack of black pilot skills is a most talked about topic in commercial airlines. Airlines need to find the right set of skills and attitude to operate safely and successfully. Airline safety remains a topic of discussion, therefore airlines need ensure robustness of their selection processes. There are many requirements that a person has to meet before s/he can be offered a first officer job at an airline. The majority of the pilots in South Africa are white males. The study aimed to determine if there are statistically significant differences in cognitive ability test results between Black and White applicants for pilot positions with a South Africa airline. The test battery included a verbal reasoning test, numerical reasoning test, visual thinking, abstract reasoning test, spatial reasoning test, short term memory test, monitoring ability test, hand-eye coordination, sense of orientation test, reactivity test, and a multi-tasking test. The data were extracted with permission from a database maintained on behalf of the airline by an online test provider and subjected to a statistical analysis using measures of central tendency, and spread, in order to report on the significance of the differences between the groups. There is strong evidence that the White group performed better than the Black group on the majority of the tests. It is recommended that further research is done in order to determine the causes of these differences. A comparative study of results on other airlines’ recruitment selection tests and an exploratory study of the impact of socio-economic factors, education quality and language on cognitive ability tests are recommended.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Simpson, Sinombongo Mazulu
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Intelligence tests -- South Africa , Airplanes -- Piloting -- Ability testing -- South Africa , Air pilots -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12813 , vital:27123
- Description: In South Africa, the issue of lack of black pilot skills is a most talked about topic in commercial airlines. Airlines need to find the right set of skills and attitude to operate safely and successfully. Airline safety remains a topic of discussion, therefore airlines need ensure robustness of their selection processes. There are many requirements that a person has to meet before s/he can be offered a first officer job at an airline. The majority of the pilots in South Africa are white males. The study aimed to determine if there are statistically significant differences in cognitive ability test results between Black and White applicants for pilot positions with a South Africa airline. The test battery included a verbal reasoning test, numerical reasoning test, visual thinking, abstract reasoning test, spatial reasoning test, short term memory test, monitoring ability test, hand-eye coordination, sense of orientation test, reactivity test, and a multi-tasking test. The data were extracted with permission from a database maintained on behalf of the airline by an online test provider and subjected to a statistical analysis using measures of central tendency, and spread, in order to report on the significance of the differences between the groups. There is strong evidence that the White group performed better than the Black group on the majority of the tests. It is recommended that further research is done in order to determine the causes of these differences. A comparative study of results on other airlines’ recruitment selection tests and an exploratory study of the impact of socio-economic factors, education quality and language on cognitive ability tests are recommended.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The potential economic implications of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia l.) on agricultural production in South Africa
- Authors: Humphrey, Luke
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4069 , vital:20599
- Description: Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is an invasive deciduous, strongly suckering, broad- leaved tree that has the potential to be widely distributed across a large portion of South Africa. Robinia pseudoacacia has invaded all nine of South African provinces, with large infestations found in the Eastern Cape, Kwa Zulu-Natal, Free State and Gauteng provinces. The invasive tree has the potential to spread into livestock grazing lands in South Africa. Because R. pseudoacacia has the ability to spread and thrive in a variety of habitats and resists control, the distribution of the invasive tree into grazing land poses a problem for landowners. The potential economic impacts of R. pseudoacacia on agricultural production stem from the trees ability to reduce the carrying capacity of livestock. This study estimated the potential economic implications of R. pseudoacacia on agricultural production in South Africa, specifically looking at the livestock sector. The prevalence of R. pseudoacacia potential distribution was calculated by using a maximum-entropy predictive habitat model, MAXENT. The distribution of livestock, based on grazing capacity (ha/LSU), in South Africa was then determined. The potential direct economic impacts were estimated by assessing the impact of the potential distribution of R. pseudoacacia on the carrying capacity of livestock. The results showed that an infestation of R. pseudoacacia has the potential to reduce the gross margin in the livestock sector by between approximately R130 million and R961 million, dependent on the probability of invasion. Therefore, the potential invasion of R. pseudoacacia can have detrimental effects on the livestock sector in South Africa. The potential high levels of foregone income and business activity found in this study reaffirm the need to devote resources to develop a viable, economical and effective control method, such as biological control.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Humphrey, Luke
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4069 , vital:20599
- Description: Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is an invasive deciduous, strongly suckering, broad- leaved tree that has the potential to be widely distributed across a large portion of South Africa. Robinia pseudoacacia has invaded all nine of South African provinces, with large infestations found in the Eastern Cape, Kwa Zulu-Natal, Free State and Gauteng provinces. The invasive tree has the potential to spread into livestock grazing lands in South Africa. Because R. pseudoacacia has the ability to spread and thrive in a variety of habitats and resists control, the distribution of the invasive tree into grazing land poses a problem for landowners. The potential economic impacts of R. pseudoacacia on agricultural production stem from the trees ability to reduce the carrying capacity of livestock. This study estimated the potential economic implications of R. pseudoacacia on agricultural production in South Africa, specifically looking at the livestock sector. The prevalence of R. pseudoacacia potential distribution was calculated by using a maximum-entropy predictive habitat model, MAXENT. The distribution of livestock, based on grazing capacity (ha/LSU), in South Africa was then determined. The potential direct economic impacts were estimated by assessing the impact of the potential distribution of R. pseudoacacia on the carrying capacity of livestock. The results showed that an infestation of R. pseudoacacia has the potential to reduce the gross margin in the livestock sector by between approximately R130 million and R961 million, dependent on the probability of invasion. Therefore, the potential invasion of R. pseudoacacia can have detrimental effects on the livestock sector in South Africa. The potential high levels of foregone income and business activity found in this study reaffirm the need to devote resources to develop a viable, economical and effective control method, such as biological control.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Perceptions on the use of social media in the banking industry
- Authors: Cupp, Nicole Leshaan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Banks and banking -- Customer services , Banks and banking -- Social aspects , Internet marketing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5489 , vital:20870
- Description: As banks operate in a competitive environment, it is important for managers and marketers to identify how customer satisfaction and customer retention levels can be can be improved through social media aspects. Although models of customer satisfaction and customer retention have been well researched for client products/services, the literature available on social media as a marketing tool is limited in quantity compared to other more established areas of marketing. This research study reviews existing literature on the banking industry in terms of its characteristics and challenges. Literature on customer satisfaction and customer retention as relevant to the banking industry is reviewed, as well as how social media aspects can improve customer satisfaction and customer retention. Thus the primary objective of this study is to identify the social media aspects (benefits, clients’ trust and content) that influence the intervening variable (customer satisfaction) and dependent variable (customer retention) in the banking industry. An empirical investigation was undertaken to establish whether the independent variables; namely benefits, clients’ trust and content as related to social media can possibly influence customer satisfaction and ultimately customer retention in the banking industry. A positivistic research paradigm was followed for this study. Quantitative data was gathered by distributing questionnaires to a sample of bank clients and managers. The sample size consisted of 150 bank clients and 30 bank managers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area in South Africa. The questionnaires were statistically analysed using the computer programmes Microsoft Excel and Statistica Version 12.0. The validity of the study was measured by utilising Exploratory Factor analysis. Cronbach’s Alpha correlation coefficients were calculated to measure the reliability and internal consistency of the measurement instrument of this study. Data was analysed in four phases. Descriptive statistics concerning the respondents and variables were calculated for this study. The validity of the measuring instrument was tested by performing EFA to consider construct validity. Thereafter, the internal reliability of the data was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha correlation coefficients. Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were calculated. Through multiple regression calculations, the relationships predicted by the four hypotheses were analysed. Finally, t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted. The empirical investigation revealed that significant positive relationships exist between the independent variables benefits, trustworthy content and the intervening variable customer satisfaction, as well as between these two independent variables and the dependent variable customer retention. From the empirical results it was concluded that if banks offer benefits and trustworthy content to their clients through social media channels, clients are likely to be satisfied with and retained by their bank. This study established and confirmed the significant positive relationship that exists between customer satisfaction and customer retention in the banking industry. All bank managers and marketers will benefit from the empirical results as well as the recommendations of this study on how to improve customer satisfaction and customer retention through social media channels which will ultimately improve the performance of banks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Cupp, Nicole Leshaan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Banks and banking -- Customer services , Banks and banking -- Social aspects , Internet marketing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5489 , vital:20870
- Description: As banks operate in a competitive environment, it is important for managers and marketers to identify how customer satisfaction and customer retention levels can be can be improved through social media aspects. Although models of customer satisfaction and customer retention have been well researched for client products/services, the literature available on social media as a marketing tool is limited in quantity compared to other more established areas of marketing. This research study reviews existing literature on the banking industry in terms of its characteristics and challenges. Literature on customer satisfaction and customer retention as relevant to the banking industry is reviewed, as well as how social media aspects can improve customer satisfaction and customer retention. Thus the primary objective of this study is to identify the social media aspects (benefits, clients’ trust and content) that influence the intervening variable (customer satisfaction) and dependent variable (customer retention) in the banking industry. An empirical investigation was undertaken to establish whether the independent variables; namely benefits, clients’ trust and content as related to social media can possibly influence customer satisfaction and ultimately customer retention in the banking industry. A positivistic research paradigm was followed for this study. Quantitative data was gathered by distributing questionnaires to a sample of bank clients and managers. The sample size consisted of 150 bank clients and 30 bank managers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area in South Africa. The questionnaires were statistically analysed using the computer programmes Microsoft Excel and Statistica Version 12.0. The validity of the study was measured by utilising Exploratory Factor analysis. Cronbach’s Alpha correlation coefficients were calculated to measure the reliability and internal consistency of the measurement instrument of this study. Data was analysed in four phases. Descriptive statistics concerning the respondents and variables were calculated for this study. The validity of the measuring instrument was tested by performing EFA to consider construct validity. Thereafter, the internal reliability of the data was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha correlation coefficients. Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were calculated. Through multiple regression calculations, the relationships predicted by the four hypotheses were analysed. Finally, t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted. The empirical investigation revealed that significant positive relationships exist between the independent variables benefits, trustworthy content and the intervening variable customer satisfaction, as well as between these two independent variables and the dependent variable customer retention. From the empirical results it was concluded that if banks offer benefits and trustworthy content to their clients through social media channels, clients are likely to be satisfied with and retained by their bank. This study established and confirmed the significant positive relationship that exists between customer satisfaction and customer retention in the banking industry. All bank managers and marketers will benefit from the empirical results as well as the recommendations of this study on how to improve customer satisfaction and customer retention through social media channels which will ultimately improve the performance of banks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015