Spiru Haret University: Open Journal Systems
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Corporate Social Responsibility 2.0: Towards a socio-transformative paradigm for business
Full text linkThe South African business fraternity is expected to contribute to and foster the government’s social transformation agenda. This contribution should be directed by businesses’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) intentions and organizational arrangements. However, companies’ efforts in this regard are being increasingly criticized due to the absence of a socio-transformative agenda. In other words, CSR praxis is perceived to be inadequately positioned in businesses to act as a core strategic function aimed at benefiting society. The purpose of this article is to outline the perceived failures of conventional CSR praxis and to propose a framework for businesses to adopt a socio-transformative CSR paradigm. A generic qualitative research design, utilizing document analysis and a literature survey, was followed in this study. The findings indicate that businesses do indeed need to adopt a socio-transformative business model to comply with national and international driving forces for change. Recommendations are proposed to guide businesses towards such a transformative management approach utilizing the principles of McKinsey 7-S model for business readiness and Kotter’s 8-step change management model. The study encourages corporations and firms to adopt a socio-transformative paradigm by utilizing established business readiness and change management models
The performance of the Romanian pension system from the perspective of sustainability, adequacy and equity
Full text linkEnsuring financial security in old age is an important goal of all contemporary societies. Public pension systems have become a foundation of income security for the elderly in most countries, being one of the main pillars of the welfare state. An effective pension system is one that manages to achieve its objectives, namely combating poverty among the elderly and maintaining a decent standard of living in old age, under the conditions of ensuring intra- and intergenerational equity. In the context of an aging population, the major challenge for our societies is to ensure an adequate income for the elderly without putting excessive pressure on the younger generations. The aim of the paper is to achieve a multidimensional analysis of the performance of the pension system in Romania from the perspective of sustainability, adequacy and equity
Developing women entrepreneurs through guided and funded business start-ups in South Africa
Full text linkSouth African women own a modest share of businesses while being the majority of the population. Increasing the number of female entrepreneurs in South Africa is expected to reduce poverty and unemployment, empower women, ensure equity, and strengthen the economy. This article examined the development of women entrepreneurs in Cape Town through guided and funded business start-ups. Data were collected using a qualitative technique based on purposive sampling through semi-structured interviews with 17 participants. An interpretive paradigm and an explorative design were employed. The data was analysed using the ATLAS.ti software. According to the participants, many women-owned business start-ups are neither funded nor guided. The findings revealed that many women entrepreneurs do not support one another in business start-ups in Cape Town. Moreover, minimal effort is put into interventions by both government and the private sector to abate gender discrimination and eliminate the exclusion of women entrepreneurs. There are instances of gender bias that impede the development of women entrepreneurs. The findings confirm that the development of women entrepreneur-focused funding for start-ups has received scant attention in Cape Town. Many women entrepreneurs still do not receive developmental support. Among the proposed interventions to improve women entrepreneurship, start-up funding and guidance are platforms that encourage informal businesses to become formal and penetrate formal financial networks. This paper argues for lending models best suited for women entrepreneurs in South Africa
The Interplay of Attitudes and Effectiveness: A Study on Financial Education among Young People in the Republic of Serbia
Full text linkThis paper describes the current state of young people's attitude towards the world of finance and their need for financial education. Today, financial education is already practiced in many European countries, but this is not the case in the Republic of Serbia. However, research shows that financial literacy is one of the necessary skills for young people in the 21st century. The research results were presented on a sample of 175 people (exploratory research) aged between 18 and 35 from Serbia. The attitude of the respondents towards finances was presented, their financial habits were examined, and the results were presented using the method of descriptive statistics. Financial literacy plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development and green finance by empowering individuals to make informed decisions that contribute to economic stability and growth
english
No full textThis study aims to demonstrate whether consumers seek to raise their social status by purchasing products sold at a high price. Also, the reason why customers of luxury companies prefer to buy them despite competitors with a lower price on the market.The purchase of premium products is influenced by the desire to change social status by expressing one's personality and the need for inclusion in various interest groups.Awareness of the fundamental reasons on which decisions are made to purchase goods can be used both for marketing strategies and as a strategy for the long-term economic and social sustainability of a company on the market. 
Investigating employee polychronicity, perceived leadership 4.0, and organizational support as predictors of organizational performance in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Era
Full text link This paper examines the present 4IR’s predictive elements for sustaining organizational performance (OP) in the Nigerian banks. Therefore, in light of the existing 4IR, this article suggests strategies for improving and sustaining OP in the Nigerian banks. The report promoted a quantitative research method based on a survey study design. The findings indicated that, within the Nigerian banks in the 4IR, employees' polychronicity (EP), Leadership 4.0 (L4.0), and perceived organizational support (POS) significantly and jointly predicted the sustainability of OP. Thus, it is recommended that human resource professionals, organizational managers, and the Nigerian banking industry promote strategies for enhancing and maintaining organizational performance. These strategies include encouraging employees to adopt a polychronic mindset, increasing Leadership 4.0, and offering regular organizational support. Thus, this paper has recognized organizational support, Leadership 4.0, and employees’ polychronicity as significant influencers in predicting factors in sustaining organizational performance in the Nigerian banking business during the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Effects of Transactional Barriers on the Effectiveness of a Firm’s Competitive Strategy
Full text linkExtant literature has shown that firms’ decisions can exert a bearing on the effectiveness of their competitive strategy. This paper seeks to extend this body of literature by demonstrating how and under what circumstances a firm’s decision about transactional barriers, which it can impose on its customers, can impact the degree to which it can effectively deploy its competitive strategy in realizing its maximum possible profits. The study’s main findings demonstrate that at equilibrium, the size of the set transactional barrier is on average inversely related to the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy, holding constant the consumers' income and other factors. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy in attaining the firm’s optimal profits is jointly and individually enervated by the price elasticity of the firm’s product demand and the size of the transactional barrier that it imposes on its customers. Additionally, the effectiveness of the firm’s competitive strategy tends to be maximized as the size of the transactional barrier tends to be zero. Therefore, the findings in this paper suggest that under the assumptions of the model in this paper, the optimal size of a transactional barrier to be imposed by a firm, in the service industry, should be zero.
 
The Role Of Institutional Quality, Foreign Direct Investment, And Country Size On Trade Openness In The ASEAN-6 Region
Full text linkThe current development of globalization has led to a very fundamental transformation in the economic system. the phenomenon of globalization cannot be avoided by any country, moreover countries that previously isolated it from the outside world cannot be avoided either. Therefore any country will still be affected by globalization, so that it will create international trade that is increasingly spreading from every country. This study aims to analyze the role of institutional quality through government effectiveness and regulatory quality, foreign direct investment, and country size on trade openness in the ASEAN-6 region during the 2002-2021 period using panel data analysis techniques. in using the panel data technique based on the best testing through the Chow test and the Hausman test that the best model used in this study is the Fixed Effect Model (FEM) which shows the variables of government effectiveness and investment directly have a positive and significant effect on trade openness. while the quality of regulations and country size have a negative and significant effect on trade openness in the Asean Region
Glaserian Grounded Theory and Straussian Grounded Theory: Two Standard Qualitative Research Approaches in Social Science
Full text linkGrounded theory (GT) has appeared as a popular research approach in many branches of social science that acts for the well-being of the society. It is an inductive methodology, and focuses on the discovery of theory from data. Overtimes original grounded theory of Barney Galland Glaser (1930-2022) and Anselm Leonard Strauss (1916-1996) has evolved, and two grounded theory variants: Glaserian grounded theory and Straussian grounded theory have been emerged as qualitative approaches. When a novice qualitative researcher starts data collection on grounded theory; s/he cannot identify the differences between the two approaches. In this paper some of the key differences and similarities of the two methods are illustrated. So that, a confused researcher can easily selects the desired grounded theory for his/her research version. In this study an attempt has been taken to continue the grounded theory research smoothly when the novice researchers face uncertainty during the research procedure
Does primary and secondary education contribute to short and long-term economic growth in South Africa
Full text linkThe human capital school of thought considers education in primary and secondary education as the foundation for the development of human capital that promotes economic growth. Persuaded by an empiricist paradigm this study used an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing analysis was conducted to examine the short and long run relationship between education and economic growth in South Africa. Economic growth, primary and secondary education data from 2002 to 2018 was used. The diagnostic tests revealed that variables are integrated at order level 1. The cointegration of the examined variables is confirmed by an ARDL bound test. Error Correction Model test found that, primary school, government expenditure on primary education has a significant relationship with economic growth in the short term but has no contribution in the long term. Drawing on the insignificant contribution of both primary and secondary education in the long it can be concluded that these education phases appear not to matter for economic growth in South Africa. This study thus recommends that primary and secondary school education should be restructured to align the curriculum with potentially productive sectors to improve its potential contribution to economic growth