1,720,961 research outputs found
Tourism and the economic challenges of Mahikeng: a residents' perspective
Full text linkTourism, once it secured high-level deliberation, can be a mechanism of growth driving economic prosperity. The South African government maintains tourism's status as key strategic area and devised the National Tourism Sector Strategy aimed at increasing domestic tourism. Mahikeng is the provincial capital city and seat of the North West government who also proclaimed tourism as a strategic area for development. However, very little is known about Mahikeng's almost non-existing tourism industry and its developmental potential as contributor to the alleviation of the economic challenges faced by local stakeholders. A major stakeholder for generating the economic value of tourism is the active involvement of the local community, and the focus of this study is on residents. A synthesis of industry occurrences and literature led to the conceptualization of this study. A qualitative descriptive survey was undertaken and 303 residents participated in this survey to obtain an impression of residents' perspective of tourism and its development. Residents expressed that they are not really aware of tourism facilities (43%) but conveyed that support for tourism development is vital for success (74%). An overwhelming percentage of respondents, 80%, strongly agreed that they indeed would patronage the development of tourism, and this should spur public and private stakeholders to consider tourism as a means of addressing the economic challenges of Mahikeng
Proposed framework for innovative business intelligence for competitive advantage in small, medium and micro-organisations in the North West province South Africa
No full textBackground: Innovative business intelligence enjoys popularity amongst mainly large
organisations, particularly in the private sector. However, very limited studies have validated
the impact of business intelligence in small, medium and micro-organisations (SMMEs),
especially in a developing economy.
Aim: To devise an innovative business intelligence as a competitive advantage model and
to establish the impact of innovative business intelligence as a competitive advantage,
as measured by success or growth and innovation in SMMEs in North West province,
South Africa.
Setting: Primary research was conducted amongst SMMEs owners or managers and employees
in the North West province, South Africa.
Methods: The final sample consisted of 12 SMME owners or managers and 394 other
employees of SMMEs. The study used mixed methods and adopted a survey design. In-depth
interviews and a structured questionnaire were used for data collection.
Results: The study established that management support and internal environment
commitment support the implementation of innovative business intelligence. Training and
employee motivation are insignificant in enhancing innovative business intelligence as
competitive advantage.
Conclusion: Management of SMMEs must define clear goals and objectives, as well as support
and provide education mechanisms for new technology advancement. The technology-
acceptance model (TAM) of adoption is merely one of the key techniques SMMEs can employ
to improve the implementation of business intelligence as a new technology instrument to
promote quality decision-making and profitability
Business Support for Emerging Entrepreneurs in Eco-tourism: North West, South Africa
Full text linkThis paper is based on the business support needed by emerging entrepreneurs to enter and participate in eco-tourism sector. Entrepreneurs play an important role in an economy as they can be key drivers of economic growth, innovation and job creation. Eco-tourism has been positively linked to job creation, entrepreneurship development and poverty alleviation. The aspect of ecotourism is closely linked with the idea of community empowerment. Against this background government is aiming to put policies, strategies and programs in place which aim to create an enabling environment for emerging entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, many emerging entrepreneurs’ business fail before reaching maturity, mainly due to inadequate business skills to establish and grow their enterprises, perpetuated by insignificant business support from government. South Africa has high levels of unemployment and severe problem of youth unemployment. This implies that the country needs to develop a policy framework that will comprehensively address issues of unemployment through a creation of economic opportunities. Entrepreneurship is one of the options that can reduce the unemployment rate and the social problems that are associated with unemployment. The objectives of this paper is to examine the business support needed by emerging entrepreneurs to facilitate their entry and participation in eco-tourism sector. Furthermore, to determine emerging entrepreneurs’ desire to participate in the sector in the North West province, South Africa. A combination of non-probability quota and convenience sampling were used, by surveying 160 respondents in the North West province, South Africa. The data extracted was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Results suggest that most respondents never received business support from government intervention programs, and had somewhat low levels of information concerning the economic opportunities associated with the eco-tourism sector
The impact of employee turnover in a organisation : a case study of North West Parks and Tourism board in Mafikeng, South Africa
Full text linkThesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012Employee turnover occurs when employees voluntarily or involuntary leave their jobs and must be replaced by an organisation. This can be a serious obstacle to productivity of the North West Parks and Tourism board (NWP&TB). For the smallest of organisations, a high employee turnover rate can mean that simply having enough employees to fulfil daily functions is a challenge, even beyond the issue of how well the work is done when employees are available.
Employee turnover is no less a problem for major companies, which often spend
millions of rands a year on turnover- related costs. The cost associated with
recruitment such as advertising costs, interviewing costs, orientation costs, and
training costs of new employees can be extremely high for North West Parks and
Tourism Board. The implicit cost associated with employee turnover in terms
production loss that might result in high levels of customer turnover. A new recruited
employee might take one to six months to settle at his or her new employment before
being fully productive.
In this mini-disse1tations, I will explore the different factors that lead to employee
turnover in organisation and how it impacts an organisation. I will explore the
consequences associated with employee turnover. In this Mini-Dissertation both
quantitative and qualitative research tools are used to thoroughly understand the
impact of employee turnover. Qualitative methodologies are employed in order to
yield a deeper and more insightful understanding of impact of employee turnover in
an organisation of the ca e study group. Quantitative methodologies included a
questionnaire survey that was administered to the case study group and a stratified
random sample was used to select participants. The summary profiling indicates that
employee turnover does negatively affect the effectiveness and efficiency of
NWP&TB. Further findings show that employee turnover disrupts the operations of
NWP&TB and ultimately it will lead to customer dissatisfaction.Master
Residents' awareness and support of tourism in Mahikeng, South Africa
Full text linkTourism is recognised as a means of boosting the national and regional economy and increasingly destinations, and specifically cities, are turning to tourism as an important element in their economic portfolio. The Provincial Government of the North West province in South Africa considers tourism as an important sector that can contribute towards economic growth, and for achieving broader social goals. The main purpose of this study was to establishing residents' awareness and their propensity to support tourism in Mahikeng. The reason for this is that a resident of a particular region or city forms a key factor contributing towards the development of a lucrative and prosperous tourism industry. This has enabled the researcher to gather insights and reasonable findings with regard to the level of residents? awareness and their likeliness to support tourism in Mahikeng. Consumer information, such as residents' awareness and support for tourism, is indispensable for strategic management purposes and contributes towards sustainable tourism development in Mahikeng. The development of sustainable tourism would be difficult without the support and participation of local residents. Thus, the support of residents is a critical factor for ongoing development and sustainability
Residents’ awareness and support of tourism for strategic management purposes in Mahikeng
Full text linkMCom (Management), North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2015Tourism is recognised as a means of boosting the national and regional economy.
Increasingly destinations, and specifically cities, are turning to tourism as an important
element in their economic portfolio. The Provincial Government of the North West
province in South Africa considers tourism as an important sector that can contribute
towards the economic growth, and for achieving broader social goals.
One of the challenges tourism is facing is that governments and other role players do
not always provide sufficient investment for the potential development of tourism and
this then results in only marginal resources being assigned to tourism as an economic
sector. Achieving competitive advantage in times of rapid change requires tourism to
gather information and develop a clear understanding of the direction in developing
tourism and its implications for a particular destination. Since tourism is intertwined with
other economic sectors, tourism trends should ideally not be considered in isolation
from the key drivers that shape South Africa‟s economic future.
The main purpose of the study was establishing residents‟ (1) awareness and their (2)
propensity to support tourism in Mahikeng. The reason for this is that a resident of a
particular region or city forms a key factor contributing towards the development of a
lucrative and prosperous tourism industry. This has enabled the researcher to gather
insights and reasonable findings with regard to the level of residents‟ awareness and
their likeliness to support tourism in Mahikeng. Consumer information, such as
residents‟ awareness and support for tourism, is indispensable for strategic
management purposes and contributes towards sustainable tourism development in
Mahikeng.
A total number of 365 questionnaires were distributed among residents of which 303
were completed and used. Questionnaires were distributed at residents‟ residential
places and selected public areas. Data retrieved from the questionnaire were used and
captured in the form of figures and tables. The main variables in this study were gender,
age group, marital status, level of employment, occupational status, number of years
residing in Mahikeng, and the number of times residents have visited tourism attractions
in Mahikeng for the last 2 years.
The result obtained can contribute towards the strategic planning and management of
the North West Parks and Tourism Board (NWP&TB) and also towards stakeholders
formulating strategies to grow and develop tourism in Mahikeng. Suggestions from the
respondents were that those responsible for destination marketing should increase
marketing efforts with the objective of raising the level of awareness amongst residents
as that will prompt more support for tourism facilities. The development of sustainable
tourism is difficult without the support and participation of local residents. Thus, the
support of residents is a critical factor for ongoing development.Master
Total quality management as a strategic tool in service delivery : a case of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, Mahikeng
Full text linkMCom (Business Management), North-West University, Mahikeng CampusThis study aims to examine whether total quality management as a strategic tool can be applied to improve service delivery to land claimants. The literature review indicated that TQM can be used to improve the quality of services rendered at the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, and the satisfaction of land claimants determines the quality of service delivered to claimants.
The nature of the study was quantitative research with the positivism type of paradigm, and the deductive approach was also applied. Data was collected from land claimants with the aim of understanding their perception on how service can be enhanced at CRLR. Questionnaires were applied to collect primary data, books, government publications, journal articles, newspapers, the internet, Google Scholar, and policy documents were used for secondary data collection. Non-probability sampling, and a combination of the convenience and purposive sampling method was utilised for the study.
The literature review revealed that to enhance service quality, the CRLR should adopt TQM practices such as total employees’ involvement, customer focus, customer satisfaction, service quality, organisational culture, effective communication and team work. In addition, employees from top management level to lower management level are responsible for the success of TQM implementation at the organisation.
This study recommends that for effective and efficient quality performance, organisations should adopt the TQM systems and service quality dimensions for the sake of service improvement, which will lead to high level of claimants’ satisfaction. The research contributes to a better knowledge and understanding regarding the implementation of TQM as a strategic tool in public organisations rendering services to the community; in this regard, land claimants.Master
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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