International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478)
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A comparison of the usage between financial and non-financial performance metrics in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to explore the performance measurement approach of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the South Durban region of South Africa. It has long been known that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in economic growth and income distribution in the world\u27s major economies. However, due to globalisation, the fourth industrial revolution and increased competition from multinationals, South African SMEs face new challenges in measuring their performance. To respond to these challenges, SMEs must adopt efficient and effective performance measurement models. However, currently, according to the researchers, there is no such performance measurement framework. This study aims, among others, to close this gap in the literature. This study uses a deductive, positivist research design to comprehensively explore performance measurement practices in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a given region. Based on Morgan\u27s sample size table, size 217 was chosen. The use of financial and non-financial performance measures is preferred by SMEs as it shows better performance compared to only one measure. In addition, the study found a positive correlation between business size and age, indicating that larger businesses tend to be older.The results of this study help to understand the complex relationship between job dimensions, age, and performance, highlighting the importance of choosing appropriate performance measures. Future research is recommended to gain a deeper understanding of these relationships and how they vary across contexts and sectors
Contribution of leadership styles to organizational performance in the South African banking sector
Get PDFThe main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of different leadership styles on the performance of organisations in the banking sector of South Africa. The outcomes are expected to be utilised in order to construct leadership development initiatives, which will facilitate the cultivation of leadership competencies that contribute to the success of a company. The research conducted a synthesis of 50 empirical studies through the use of secondary source content analysis. A one-sample t-test was used to assess the presence of a statistically significant association between organisational success and a manager\u27s lifestyle. A unidirectional analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine the correlation between different leadership styles and organisational performance. The Pearson\u27s Correlation Coefficient was employed to examine the correlation between leadership styles and organisational performance. Research has confirmed that Transformational leadership has a positive impact on financial success, customer satisfaction, and staff engagement. Transformational leaders foster innovation and exceptional performance through their inspiring vision and tailored assistance. Transactional leadership ensures operational stability and adherence to regulations, but it does not have a substantial impact on staff engagement and innovation. Servant leadership emphasises the establishment of a supportive work environment through the enhancement of staff morale and customer service. An optimal approach for enhancing organisational performance in the South African Banking sector is to adopt a well-rounded strategy that incorporates transformational, transactional, and servant leadership principles. The Transformational leadership style has been determined to be the most effective in the banking sector, as it has shown the highest improvement in organisational performance. Banks executives and managers should consider embracing transformational leadership, cultivating innovation, and allocating resources towards staff development
Navigating leadership in uncertain times: the role of personality and context
Get PDFThis study examines the relationship between contextual and personality factors and leadership behavior. Understanding the dynamics of explorative and exploitative leadership behavior is critical in today\u27s organizations. Data from an empirical study of N=139 German leaders from different industries show significant positive correlations between emotional stability, openness to experience and explorative leadership behavior. In addition, perceived environmental uncertainty and autonomy are significant factors that positively influence explorative leadership behavior. These findings offer recommendations for leaders and organizations in turbulent times and highlight the complex interplay of context, personality and leadership behavior
Integration of sustainability marketing into business strategies: Challenges during adoption
Get PDFThe objective of this study was to investigate the challenges encountered by organisations when integrating sustainable marketing into their strategic strategies. The research adopted a qualitative research design. Participants were selected from a representative sample of Zimbabwean organisations from various industries that have incorporated sustainable practices into their marketing strategy. Purposive sampling was used to select businesses encompassing various industries, sizes, and degrees of sustainability integration. This study, grounded in stakeholder theory, unveils challenges in implementing sustainable marketing strategies, including consumer awareness, resource constraints, hesitancy from stakeholders, competition from alternatives, regulatory complexities and measurement difficulties, underscoring the critical role of stakeholder engagement in navigating these challenges. Organisations must strategically incorporate sustainable practices by optimising resources, reducing inefficiencies, and aligning with sustainability goals, promoting the connection between resource optimization and environmental preservation. Further, they have leverage partnerships with sustainable suppliers, NGOs, and stakeholders to enhance sustainability initiatives by pooling resources, sharing costs, and overcoming budget constraints. Further study could investigate effective strategies for overcoming stakeholder hesitancy and fostering greater stakeholder engagement in sustainability initiatives
Service quality and customer satisfaction in the airline industry in Tanzania: a case of Air Tanzania Company Limited
Get PDFThis study aimed to assess the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction within Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) in Dar es Salaam, with a specific focus on the influence of tangible elements, personal services, and airline image. The study adopted a theoretical framework based on the Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory and the AIRQUAL Model for understanding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. To achieve the study’s objectives, a cross-sectional research design was employed, allowing for the collection of data from a diverse sample of ATCL customers. The sample was selected using a combination of simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. A total of 302 ATCL customers and 8 supervisors from ATCL participated in the study, providing valuable insights into their perceptions of service quality and its effect on their overall satisfaction. Data collection was primarily conducted through structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. The data was analyzed using Binary Logistic Regression in IBM SPSS Statistics 23, allowing for the identification of significant relationships between service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction. The analysis of perceived service quality dimensions showed that customers\u27 perceptions of ATCL’s service quality fell short of their expectations, with negative scores across all dimensions. This suggests a general dissatisfaction among customers with the service quality provided by ATCL. Specifically, the rankings indicated that airline image was the top contributor to dissatisfaction. The overall index score for service quality further supported these findings, registering at -0.3996. The binary logistic regression results indicated significant positive relationships between all three dimensions (tangible elements, personal services, and airline image) and customer satisfaction. To maintain service quality standards, collaboration between policymakers and ATCL management is crucial to establishing guidelines as well as conducting regular audits, allocating enough resources for tangible improvements and investing in employee training for better customer interactions
School culture as barometer of learners’ success: case study of Eastern Cape selected schools
Get PDFThe South African government attaches high priority on education hence a bigger share of the country’s budget is allocated to education. Literature presents a growing concern that South African public schools are not performing well with a number of contributing factors for learner poor performance. However, despite poor learner performance in some schools, there remain a number of schools who continuously produce pleasing results. It against this background that this paper sought to determine whether school culture has a contribution to Grade12 learners’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in the Eastern Cape Province. This paper used the Social Interactionist Theory (Mead, 1934) as it lenses, which seeks to understand events and circumstances around us and influence behaviour. This paper is located in the interpretivist paradigm and employed qualitative approach to gain experiences and opinions of participants on the influence of school culture 5 schools were sampled with 40 participants who responded through semi-structured interviews. Among the findings that emerged from the study was the critical participation of the stakeholders in school programmes, the vision and mission of the school to ensure learner success and maintenance of proud legacy of the school. The paper therefore, recommends cascading focus to the lower grades to continuously sustain school culture that enhances good learner performance
Non-performing loans (NPLs) and non-performance: evidence from South Asian banks
Get PDFThis paper examines the consequences of banks’ performance on bank risk. The paper forms a theoretical model and delivers empirical evidence to identify that banks suffer in performance as the loans become bad. Using panel data from a sample of five (05) South-Asian emerging economies from 2011 to 2019, we have found that the banks are highly influenced by the development of non-performing loans (NPLs). We have primarily used Return on Asset (ROA) followed by Return on Equity (ROE) as a substitution to the performance of the banks and NPL as the proxy of bank risk. Simultaneous regression applying 3sls finds that Non-Performing Loan (NPL) hinders banks\u27 growth, negatively affecting their profitability
Creating sustainable public private partnerships through corporate governance in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Get PDFGovernments of Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries have struggled to successfully invest in capital intensive projects. As such, public private partnerships play a key role in redefining the role of Government in the context of infrastructure projects, by focusing on supervision and regulation and moving away from direct ownership and management. Sub Saharan African countries have seen such inclusive partnerships yielding some numerous benefits in different sectors. However, despite the salubrious benefits that PPPs have brought in different projects, PPPs in SSA countries are still dogged by a myriad of administrative, technical, financial and legal challenges. These corporate governance related challenges have made it difficult for these SSA governments to glean the full benefits of PPPs. The study is informed by the qualitative methodology with an extensive review of literature. Data was gathered from purposively selected written documents and these documents were analysed using thematic and content analysis techniques. The study established that there are some corporate governance deficiencies in most PPP projects in the SSA countries. Additionally, most of these public projects in the SSA lack adequate good corporate governance attention that is given to the PPP procedures and processes involved. The study therefore recommends that there is need for the full adoption of good corporate governance systems, practices, processes and procedures in the PPPs designing, financing, implementation and operationalisation in SSA
Uptake of Internet of Things by SMEs in digital era in emerging economies: A systematic literature review
Get PDFThis paper aims to establish the uptake of Internet of Things (IoT) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the digital era in emerging economies. This study aims to 1) determine adoption of IoT by SMEs during digital era in emerging economies, 2) establish challenges faced by SMEs in implementing IoT in emerging economies, and 3) develop a framework for digital transformation for SMEs in digital era in emerging economies. Systematic literature review approach was used. Articles from Scopus database ranging from 2018 to 2023 was used. 57 articles were shortlisted out of 153 articles. PRISMA framework was therefore used to perform systematic review analysis. Results demonstrate that in emerging economies, SMEs do not or are slowly adopting IoT concepts, making them less competitive. The results also determine that although IoT has great promise in SMEs, the key constraint is a lack of strategic implementation frameworks for its deployment and widespread adoption. This study was therefore carried out to develop a framework that supports digital transformation for SMEs in the digital era for emerging economies. Results have significant managerial and practical implications as they offer some insights to SME managers on how they can improve on the uptake and adoption of internet of things in digital era
Greening university practices: empowering eco-conscious behavior, transforming sustainable culture, and shaping greener institutional awareness through strategic green HRM initiatives
Get PDFGreen human resource management practices are widely accepted and are essential for encouraging sustainable behavior in organizations. We aimed to ascertain the relationship between employees\u27 eco-friendly behavior and Green HRM practices by employing environmental awareness as a mediator. we analyzed and tested the suggested model Employing the PLS-SEM method through SmartPLS 4. The current study employed a quantitative research approach to collect data from 346 actual respondents. From six major public universities in Afghanistan, these participants were selected randomly. Based on the investigation, it was shown that green recruitment and selection, green training and development, green performance management, and green reward and compensation possessed a positive impact on employees\u27 eco-friendly behavior. Additionally, environmental awareness promotes eco-friendly conduct among the staff. The research provides updated outcomes showing that, through the partially moderating impacts of environmental awareness, green HRM practices in Afghanistan\u27s public universities both directly and indirectly influence employees\u27 eco-friendly behavior. The current study is noteworthy since it provides fresh insights into green HRM. Additionally, by examining these relationships and assessing the mediation effects, this work adds to the amount of literature already accessible on environmentally friendly behaviors. Furthermore, current research makes a practical contribution to public universities by suggesting guidelines on how to increase academicians\u27 awareness of green HRM practices, enhance eco-friendly behavior at work, and develop environmentally friendly behavior