Research Publications (Accounting and Informatics)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/212

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Adoption of smart traffic system to reduce traffic congestion in a smart city
(Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023) Aroba, Oluwasegun Julius; Mabuza, Phumla; Mabaso, Andile; Sibisi, Phethokuhle
Cities across the world suffer significantly from traffic congestion. Governments are trying to harness the power of today's computing, networking, and communication technologies to build system that can improve the efficiency of current road traffic and conditions. The study investigated the purpose efficiencies of intelligent system to assess their performance. Considering the findings, it can be said that traffic flow forecasting (TFF) possibilities are numerous, involve a variety of technologies, and can significantly reduce most traffic issues in smart cities. The studies were later evaluated to find similarities, content, benefits, and disadvantages of traffic congestion. By applying the project management tools such as the performance metrics and SQERT model were used to evaluate and prioritize the state-of-the-art methods. A classical model was proposed to improve upon and determine the traffic dangers that affect road users and aggregate the information about traffic from vehicles, traffic lights, and roadside sensors. These on-road sensors (ORS) performance are used for analyses such are vehicle classification, speed calculations, and vehicle counts.
Bridging the digital divide with changing information literacy methods in post-apartheid South Africa
(Springer International Publishing, 2013) Naidoo, Segarani; Omarsaib, Mousin
This paper reports on a study done at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The aim of the study was to identify innovative teaching and learning methods that would accommodate the diverse student population in the IL classroom and to recommend guidelines for teaching and learning of IL. The digital divide is defined as the gap or divide between those with access to and skills in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and those without such access or skills. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Self-administered questionnaires were administered to 227 students from the Faculty of Health who were engaged in the IL module, Subject Librarians (SL) teaching IL and the Co-ordinator of the IL module from the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the Durban University of Technology were interviewed. The findings of this study could be applied globally.
Effects of total quality management implementation in a manufacturing industry
(Virtus Interpress, 2016) Assensoh-Kodua, Akwesi; Imrith, Ashwin
In today's highly competitive market, the demand for quality is important factor for companies to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace. The unprecedented pace of globalisation, trade liberalisation, and technological changes in addition to human capital movement in the later years profoundly poses serious challenges for African companies to compete in an open market. African trade liberalisation through the elimination of intraregional tariffs, imposed to serve as a protective barrier to local industries have also worsen the plight of local infant industries. African Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) poses challenges for South African companies as they have to compete with more industralised and older companies. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) developed as a result of intense global competition has therefore become a compelling concept for African companies seeking to survive in an uneven grounds of competition. This paper seeks to examine whether the implementation of TQM has effect on LMI in Durban by developing a research model to uncover the barriers and benefits of TQM. A sample population of employees from a manufacturing industry were selected to participate in this study. It became clear that, this study have found a significant relationship between the positions at the manufacturing industry and their opinion of TQM. The Spearman correlation coefficient indicated a significant relationship between TQM and factors such as Management and Commitment Leadership Importance, Work Environment and Culture Importance, Customer Focus Importance, Customer Focus Practice, Resource Management Importance. These findings are in agreement with other studies of scholars that highlights the benefits and barriers of TQM.
Factors contributing to the successful development and use of mobile digital libraries : a systematic literature review
(Emerald, 2023-03-21) Khomo, Musawenkosi Phumelela; Naicker, Nalindren; Chisita, Collence Takaingenhamo; Rajkoomar, Mogiveny
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on factors that contribute to the successful development and use of the mobile digital library (DL). This aim will be achieved by reviewing selected journal articles on mobile DLs' successful development and use. This paper argues that the concept of DLs is evolving because of the dynamic nature of knowledge and technological developments in the infosphere. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature search of journal article factors that contribute to the successful development and use of the mobile DL was accomplished by searching the following databases: Emerald insight, Science directory and Google Scholar. The systematic review was conducted following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines. This study applied Rogers's (1965) Diffusion of innovation theory to unpack the attributes of innovation to unpack contextual factors shaping African conceptions of mobile libraries (m-libraries). The studies reviewed were published from 2016 to 2021. This paper is based on a systematic literature review. This paper uses publicly available literature on the theme of DLs concerning m-libraries. Among the search terms used for the study were: “digital libraries”, “Africa and digital libraries”, “electronic libraries”, “information communication technologies”, “access to information” and “mobile digital libraries”. Findings Reviewed literature indicates that myriad factors can contribute positively or negatively to the successful development and use of the mobile DL. These factors include the degree of staff awareness and understanding of the potential of mobile technologies in enhancing the provision of library services, the availability of relevant digital content, library staff and users’ level of digital and information literacy competencies to navigate digital platforms, user friendliness of DL platforms, material and financial support to access m-libraries, power supply and access to internet connectivity. Practical implications The results from this study will generate knowledge and insight into the factors that affect the development and optimal use of mobile DLs to enhance and widen access to scholarly databases irrespective of time and space. This study will make recommendations that will enable South African policymakers to make informed decisions relating to the factors affecting the development and usage of mobile DLs for enhanced learning, teaching and education. Originality/value Given the growing number of scholarly publications on mobile DLs, this study seeks to discover how such technologies can help enhance learning, teaching and research in higher education. This study’s findings will provide a scientific basis for policymakers and researchers with evidence-based knowledge that raises the value of mobile DLs. It was discovered that if the identified factors are handled well, users can easily access tools, such as databases, electronic journals and online reference tools, and this could improve the quality of teaching and learning.
Impact of environmental disclosure on financial health of manufacturing firms
(Cosmos S.A., 2023) Marimuthu, Ferina; Mgilane, Nolwando; Maama, Haruna
Environmental reporting can help firms stay in compliance with environmental regulations and manage environmental risks. By proactively addressing and disclosing their environmental impact, manufacturing firms can mitigate potential legal and regulatory penalties, fines, and reputation damage, thereby safeguarding their financial performance. In addition to the latter perspective, cost savings and operational efficiency, enhanced reputation and stakeholder engagement, as well as access to capital and investment opportunities, are critical factors to ensure that firms disclose information about their environmental performance, including its impact on the environment, sustainability initiatives, and environmental risks and opportunities to ensure that they maximise their financial performance. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between environmental reporting and financial performance of South African listed manufacturing firms. A multiple regression analysis was adopted to achieve the aim by testing the relationship between the variables amongst a sample of 50 manufacturing firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). A content analysis was utilized to attain environmental reporting information themes from the integrated annual reports retrieved from the JSE for the period 2016 to 2020. The results indicate a negative association between environmental reporting responsibility and financial performance, measured by return on equity (ROE) when the components of environmental reporting are tested individually. However, when these components namely: environmental reporting, social reporting and environmental degradation are combined the findings reveal a positive and statistically significant relationship. These results imply that the adoption of environmental reporting, specifically an increase on the quality of environmental reporting results in an increase in the manufacturing firm performance.
MFCA : an environmental management accounting technique for optimal resource efficiency in production processes
(World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2015) Tajelawi, Omolola Ayobamidele; Garbharran, Hari Lall
Revenue leakages are one of the major challenges manufacturers face in production processes, as most of the input materials that should emanate as products from the lines are lost as waste. Rather than generating income from material input which is meant to end-up as products, losses are further incurred as costs in order to manage waste generated. In addition, due to the lack of a clear view of the flow of resources on the lines from input to output stage, acquiring information on the true cost of waste generated have become a challenge. This has therefore given birth to the conceptualization and implementation of waste minimization strategies by several manufacturing industries. This paper reviews the principles and applications of three environmental management accounting tools namely Activity-based Costing (ABC), Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in the manufacturing industry and their effectiveness in curbing revenue leakages. The paper unveils the strengths and limitations of each of the tools; beaming a searchlight on the tool that could allow for optimal resource utilization, transparency in production process as well as improved cost efficiency. Findings from this review reveal that MFCA may offer superior advantages with regards to the provision of more detailed information (both in physical and monetary terms) on the flow of material inputs throughout the production process compared to the other environmental accounting tools. This paper therefore makes a case for the adoption of MFCA as a viable technique for the identification and reduction of waste in production processes, and also for effective decision making by production managers, financial advisors and other relevant stakeholders.
Perceived impact of public sector leadership on road infrastructure service delivery
(Business Perspectives, 2016) Gqaji, Andile; Proches, Cecile; Green, Paul
It is well documented that road infrastructure is an important catalyst of the South African economy because of the interchange of people, goods and services which are dependent upon transport. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of public sector leadership on road infrastructure service delivery. A qualitative methodology approach was employed using a purposive sampling technique. Twenty, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with respondents from both the public and private sectors. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and the findings of this research indicate that public sector leadership is ineffective in driving road infrastructure development. The results also suggest that the lack of accountability and corruption hinders the delivery of infrastructure.
Revisiting the theory of planned behavior for the preparation of the adoption of municipal e-services in less developed countries
(SAICSIT, 2012-10) Gosebo, Ntjatji; Eyono Obono, Seraphim Desire
The aim of this study is to design a model of the factors affecting the decision of municipal councils of less developed countries (LDCs) to commit resources in preparation of the adoption of e-services. The proposed model was designed by identifying key general e-government adoption factors using a systematic literature review, by modeling these factors according to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and by defining a set of hypotheses for the application of the proposed model to municipal e-services in LDCs. This led to the hypothesis according to which the decision of LDCs’ municipal councils to commit human resources and to engineer institutional arrangements in preparation of the adoption of e-services depends on: a) The ICT infrastructural capabilities of their municipalities. b) How these municipal councils intend to use e-government as a strategic tool towards the fulfillment of their mandate of improving the socio-politico and economic conditions of their municipal citizens. c) Their belief that they are being put under pressure to institute e-government as the tool of excellence or norm for the running of municipal affairs. Such pressure may come from their interaction with their citizens, from national and global challenges beyond their control, or from constraints inherent to their political ideology. The proposed model can be used for the engineering of decision support systems to help municipal councils make investment decisions in preparation of the adoption of e-government especially in the context of LDCs. Futhermore, its originality lies on its focus on factors affecting the preparatory stage of e-services adoption.