Research Publications (Accounting and Informatics)

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

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Accounting skills and the sustainability of small and medium enterprises in South Africa
(Universitatea Danubius Galati, 2021-04-01) Olarewaju, Odunayo Magret; Msomi, Thabiso Sthembiso
The objective of this study is to examine the accounting skills and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The quantitative research method was adopted for this study and the purposive sampling technique was chosen to select the participants for this study. The study collected primary data from respondents who are owners of SMEs in the retail, construction and manufacturing sectors, etc. Data was analysed using SPSS. A total of 310 research questionnaires were administered and 304 research questionnaires were returned for analysis (giving a 98% response rate). A regression analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis were conducted. The outcome of Pearson’s correlation shows moderate correlation (r value is 0.531) between accounting skills and sustainable SMEs. There is also a significant effect of accounting skills on sustainability as revealed in p-value <0.0005. Thus, it was concluded that SME owners need more accounting training or bookkeeping awareness. This is because training will equip SME owners with the needed skills to ensure accurate recording of business transactions, which is beneficial when the need for financial assistance from banks or other financial institution arises.
Achieving financial sustainability in Ghana’s banking sector: is environmental, social and governance reporting contributive?
(SAGE Publications, 2021) Maama, Haruna
Despite banks not having any significant direct negative impacts on the environment and society, they adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) accounting. Meanwhile, ESG reporting consumes additional resources and exposes firms’ strategies to competitors. The study employed a legitimacy theory to investigate the impact of ESG reporting on the financial sustainability of banks in Ghana. The study relied on 10 years of annual reports of all the banks in Ghana. The banks’ ESG reporting practices were assessed based on a content analysis method. The financial sustainability was measured based on return on assets (ROA) and net interest margin (NIM). Evidence showed that environmental reporting (ERI) impacted the banks’ NIM and ROA inversely and significantly, whilst governance reporting had a positive but insignificant relationship with NIM and ROA. The result further demonstrated that social reporting (SRI) impacted NIM and ROA positively and significantly. The overall ESG reporting had a negative and significant relationship with the banks’ financial sustainability. Hence, the ESG reporting did not improve the financial sustainability of banks, and banks in Ghana have less of an incentive to report on ESG as opposed to banks in other countries, where such reporting generally makes financial sense.
The adoption of an intelligent waste collection system in a smart city
(IEEE, 2023-03) Mthethwa, Simphiwe M.; Xulu, Thuthukani; Msani, Nonsikelelo N.; Mohlakoana, Thuso T.; Ndlovu, Experience E.; Aroba, Oluwasegun Julius
Solid waste management has become a significant concern in environmental issues. This can be a problem, especially in cities where the population is quickly developing, and the sum of waste produced is expanding like never before. Programs for innovative city waste can help raise proficiency, diminish costs, and improve the aesthetics of open places as cities endeavor to oversee waste in public regions effectively. This study enhances intelligent waste systems by developing innovative technologies and software as additional tools for collection. This research demonstrates how the SQERT model, a periodic trend analysis report specific to projects, will be used to assess the intelligent waste management system and the proposed software technology. Furthermore, A software prototype visualization was created to demonstrate and show how the software system will look and its functionalities to improve the waste collection system.
Adoption of augmented reality to enhance Durban University of Technology's learning management system
(IEEE, 2022-10-27) Djumo, Wappi Francis; Govender, Shaolin Lee; Matha, Sanele Raphael; Adeliyi, Timothy T.
The Durban University of Technology's (DUT) elearning system is used as a case study in the research as it investigates the various learning management systems in higher education. due to the expanding technological trends and the requirement to support students who belong to "Generation Z." This study examines how augmented reality can be used to transform the DUT E-learning system from a three-standalone system into a unified system. The study illustrates how the Business Analysis Core Concept Model, a conceptual framework for business analysis, would be employed to analyze the proposed augmented reality system and the current DUT e-learning model. Additionally, the use cases of the three standalone platforms that make up the current DUT E-learning are contrasted with a single augmented reality E-learning system.
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.
African women entrepreneurs and COVID-19 : towards achieving the African Union Agenda 2063
(AOSIS, 2022-01-01) Anwana, Emem O.; Aroba, Oluwasegun Julius
Research on the challenges facing African women entrepreneurship and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is scant. This article explored the challenges and the impact of COVID-19 on African women-owned businesses and the effect thereof on the 17th goal of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. African women entrepreneurs experience many social inequalities, ranging from cultural norms to family to legal and regulatory measures to accessing finance. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges as many African women entrepreneurs have been forced out of business because of measures taken by African governments to halt the spread of the disease. The article reviewed current literature on African women entrepreneurs and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using two databases and is based on a total of 104 published articles. The article provided a foundation for post-COVID-19 policy directives in Africa. The authors recommend measures to mitigate these challenges and discuss strategies for policymakers to re-position African women entrepreneurs for the post-COVID-19 era towards achieving AU Agenda 2063 and realising the Africa we all want. Contribution: The study aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty in Africa and the AU Agenda 2063 goal of achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls to achieve the Africa we all want.
Agency in translating Une Vie de Boy into English: Exploring translator identity and translation strategies
(OJS, 2014) Awung, Felix Nkwatta
Recent research in translation studies has underscored the role of translators as agents. This implies that a translator is not just a neutral conduit of a message from one language to another, but someone who is very much involved in the power interplay that determines the decision making leading to the translation product. It is within this context that this paper seeks to analyse the concept of ‘agency’ in translation, with specific focus on African literature in European languages. It is worth mentioning that while this type of literature has been the subject of much research, less attention has been given to it in terms of translation. Focusing on a translation by the late John Reed of Ferdinand Oyono’s Une Vie de Boy, this paper seeks to show how an understanding of the identity of the translator can lead to an appreciation of his/her translation strategies. It should be noted that translating African culture from one European language to another can be quite a challenging task – especially if the culture is foreign to the translator – due to the fact that cultural value systems are difficult to grasp as they are intricately woven into the texture of the native languages (Bandia 2008). Such a task is even more intriguing since the original text is in itself a form of translation, initially conceived in the African language of the author before being rendered into a European language. In this case, the agency role of the translator would therefore be more significant given that s/he is dealing with a peculiar source text that is different from most source texts which are translated between relatively close or non-distant cultures. Through an ethnographic study involving an exploration of the context of the translation production, as well as an interview with Reed, this paper posits that the translator’s socio-cultural background tends to influence the nature and extent of his/her intervention in the translation process. This will contribute in shifting the focus of translation assessment from solely the end product to an inclusion of the translator’s identity.
Analysis of road traffic accidents severity using a pruned tree-based model
(International Information and Engineering Technology Association, 2023-06-30) Adeliyi, Timothy T.; Oluwadele, Deborah; Igwe, Kevin; Aroba, Oluwasegun Julius
Traffic accidents are becoming a global issue, causing enormous losses in both human and financial resources. According to a World Health Organization assessment, the severity of road accidents affects between 20 and 50 million people each year. This study intends to examine significant factors that contribute to road traffic accident severity. Seven machine learning models namely, Naive Bayes, KNN, Logistic model tree, Decision Tree, Random Tree, and Logistic Regression machine learning models were compared to the J48 pruned tree model to analyze and predict accident severity in the road traffic accident. To compare the effectiveness of the machine learning models, ten well-known performance evaluation metrics were employed. According to the experimental results, the J48 pruned tree model performed more accurately than the other seven machine learning models. According to the analysis, the number of casualties, the number of vehicles involved in the accident, the weather conditions, and the lighting conditions of the road, is the main determinant of road traffic accident severity.
Analyzing firm-specific factors affecting the financial performance of insurance companies in South Africa
(LLC CPC Business Perspectives, 2023-04-05) Msomi, Thabiso Sthembiso; Nzama, Smangele
This study aims to investigate the effect that firm-specific factors have on the financial performance of South African insurance companies. This paper looked at the performance of 36 insurers that are publicly traded and have quantifiable markets from 2008 to 2019. The return on assets (ROA) was calculated as a function of the financial performance in this study. While the firm size, leverage ratio, premium growth rate, liquidity ratio, and tangibility of assets were examined as dependent factors using the panel data regression technique, the premium growth rate, liquidity ratio, and tangibility of assets were explored as independent variables. According to the findings of the regression analysis, other firm-specific factors, with the exception of leverage and liquidity ratios, do not have a statistically significant influence on the financial performance of South African insurance companies. A negative and insignificant association was discovered between premium growth rate and ROA at –0.0023 and tangibility of assets and ROA at –0.0113. There was a strong positive and significant relationship between liquidity ratio and ROA at 0.0927, while the size had a positive but insignificant relationship with ROA at 0.0039. Leverage ratio and ROA had a negative but significant relationship at –0.1512. This study suggests that the use of automated systems and insured techs will be advantageous in cutting costs associated with policyholder enrollment, claims agreement, and even easily achieved tailor-made policy initiatives.
Application of stakeholder management for business sustainability in the higher education sector
(Kamla-Raj, 2016) Khanyile, Makabongwe; Green, Paul
Universities have not been able to manage their stakeholder identification and salience correctly, nor to establish the needs of each stakeholder. Stakeholder analysis is deliberately considered as the most important part of university management and marketing, and universities are required to take care of their key stakeholder groups and build long-term relationships with them. The study sought to determine how the university identified and managed stakeholders for its Research and Innovation Month. This single exploratory case study situated in a qualitative paradigm used interviews, questionnaires and a literature review to collect relevant data. This study found that the university, through the Research and Innovation Month, has created a platform for collaboration and partnerships, as well as intellectual engagement. In addition, the study found that the university looks at four components in stakeholder participation.
Assessing the use of environmental management accounting as a tool to calculate environmental costs and their impact on a company's environmental performance
(IJMRBS, 2015-01) Doorasamy, Mishelle; Garbharran, Hari Lall
The aim of this study was to investigate the use of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) and identify environmental costs and their impact on environmental performance. Over the last two decades, EMA has emerged as an important approach by organizations wanting to improve their environmental and economic performance. However, despite the many pilot projects conducted that demonstrated the positive impact that EMA has on an organization, EMA implementation remains slow and lagging behind in South Africa. EMA is an environmental management tool that traces environmental costs directly to the processes and products that are responsible for those costs, thereby highlighting problem areas that need to prioritized when considering the adoption of cleaner production. Previous research identified that traditional costing systems did not adequately account for the actual environmental costs incurred by companies as much of these costs were hidden under overhead accounts. Hence, production costs were high, resulting in incorrect profit margins being set and ultimately impacting on company profitability. This paper is based on a case study of a paper manufacturing company in KwaZulu- Natal. The scope of this study was limited to the steam generation process and focused mainly on the efficiency of the current coal-fired boilers used in the boiler plant. The research methodology used in the study was both quantitative and qualitative involving triangulation. The results of the study show that EMA can improve environmental and economic performance of an organization by providing managers with more accurate values of their environmental costs.
Assessment of an organisational decision and the financial performance among retail stores in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
(Science Publishing Group, 2023-01) Mbambo, Mzwandile Atkins
The retail sector has become prominent and fast growing since last decade in South Africa and in most countries across the globe. Retailers are making a huge contribution towards the GDP and the sales completed are a central economic measure. The study has found it crucial to scrutinise the decisions made by retailers and find out whether those decisions have an influence on the financial performance of retail stores specifically in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. To satisfy the aim of the study, a quantitative research method was adopted. A total of two hundred copies of questionnaires were administered to participants. The questionnaires were sent out to 5 respondents per retail store. Each retail store chosen to participate in this study consisted of two dissimilar outlets. In total, there were 20 retail stores in KwaZulu-Natal selected to contribute to this research and all these stores are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Furthermore, the study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences program for coding and data analysis. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Linear regressions were used with the intention of uncovering the relationships that exist between measured variables. The tests exhibited how organisational decisions impact the retail stores’ financial performance and the results indicated the following coefficients (F (1, 159) = 21.382, p<.0005). The results showed that a constructive association exist between the variables established in the study. Therefore, this study’s findings corroborated prior research findings. The study further makes suggestions to resolve a lot of apprehensions about organisational decisions and how retailers can improve their financial performance since there is a connection between decisions made by the company and financial performance. Taking the suggestions and recommendations of the study into consideration, retailers can enhance their financial performance and make an improvement in future organisational decisions. Additionally, implementing different financial strategies can enhance sales, and growth to meet the company’s objectives. Consequently, as the retail stores progress, the economy is not enfeebled by a diminution from the retail industry’s contribution to the GDP of South Africa
An assessment of management skills on capital budgeting planning and practices : evidence from the small and medium enterprise sector
(Informa UK Limited, 2022-12-31) Nunden, Naresh; Abbana, Sharanam Sharma; Marimuthu, Ferina; Sentoo, Naresh
Budgets are a compass and guiding light for businesses. Therefore, management and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must carry out suitable and precise capital budgeting activities and methods to ensure business longevity and progression. There is a high risk of SMEs failing soon after they are found, with one likely cause being poor management skills. Thus, the study aims to assess the management skills of the capital budgeting planning and practices of SMEs. The objective is to ascertain the influence of management skills and owners on current capital budgeting planning and practice. The study adopted the quantitative method by administering questionnaires to 108 owners and managers in the Springfield Industrial Park. The findings of the study indicate that owners and managers were solely responsible for decision-making. Secondly, owners and managers lacked the financial skills, ability to control and lead staff. The study was limited to owners and managers in the SMEs and therefore cannot be inferred to any other area or subject/s. Future studies can be conducted in other regions, of which a comparative study is recommended that owners and managers in SMEs improve their business knowledge, as well as upskilling their financial ability in the capital budgeting process. Thus, the implications of improving owners and manager’s business knowledge will lead to timeous, smarter, and informed decision-making. It is therefore recommended that owners and managers take up short courses to improve computer literacy and financial skills in business processes.
Assessment of user authentication risks in a healthcare knowledge management system
(The Clute Insitute, 2015) Adekanmbi, Oluwole; Green, Paul
Risk management is a concept which has becomes very popular with a number of national and international businesses. Many companies often establish a risk management procedure in their projects for improving performance and increasing profits. Projects undertaken in the construction sector are widely complex, often having significant budgets; therefore, reducing risks associated with projects should be a priority for each project manager. Patient information security has become a matter of interest to healthcare professionals, governments and researchers worldwide. This paper proposes a comprehensive risk assessment methodology that provides a decision support tool, directed to a healthcare system, which can be utilized for evaluating risk involved during user authorization and authentication procedures. Within this context, a process technique was implemented to develop a risk assessment model, which is used to derive the relative priorities of the risk factors associated with a healthcare knowledge management system. The study showed risks involved when users are accessing a healthcare system. It proposes a model for assessing each risk occurring during the user authorization and authentication process. The results of the knowledge generated from the risk assessment provide a basis for deriving a system performance that is desirable for evaluating risk.
Assessment of user authentication risks in a healthcare knowledge management system
(The Clute Institute, 2015) Adekanmbi, Oluwole; Green, Paul
This paper proposes a comprehensive risk assessment methodology that provides a decision support tool, directed to a healthcare system, which can be utilized for evaluating risk involved during user authorization and authentication procedures. Within this context, a process technique was implemented to develop a risk assessment model, which is used to derive the relative priorities of the risk factors associated with a healthcare knowledge management system. The study showed risks involved when users are accessing a healthcare system. It proposes a model for assessing each risk occurring during the user authorization and authentication process. The results of the knowledge generated from the risk assessment provide a basis for deriving a system performance that is desirable for evaluating risk.
An authentic e-assessment task
(ACM Digital Library, 2019-12-21) Marimuthu, Ferina; Ramraj, Upaasna
Assessment is integral to ensuring whether an academic programme has achieved its learning outcomes, as well as an essential means of providing the crucial evidence necessary for seeking and maintaining accreditation from authorities. A major element of any e-learning strategy, is e-assessment. In this digital era, academics should be encouraged to envisage various forms of e-assessment and then build and evaluate them using student feedback. A combination of information technologies together with e-learning strategies can enhance the learning and teaching process by supporting traditional, authentic, and alternative assessment practices. Benefits of e-assessments may be convenience and flexibility to learn anytime and anywhere. However, practitioners need to assess whether those benefits contribute to student learning, that students should not be disadvantaged by any e-assessment procedure and these assessments should be valid and reliable. This paper reports the findings of whether authentic e-assessments enhance student learning in comparison to the traditional assessment methods. Using a descriptive research method, this study investigated the perceptions of a group of students that were exposed to both an authentic e-assessment and the traditional closed-book assessment methods. Data were solicited from participants using a questionnaire survey instrument. A comparison of student perceptions between the different forms of assessments revealed that they are very keen on authentic e-assessments as it relates to situations experienced in the real-world. These assessments also measure the students' ability to apply the knowledge or skills, but more importantly, that it is used as a vehicle for student learning.
Benchmarking : a strategy to improve environmental performance by using material flow cost accounting emprical study based on a paper manufacturing company
(AJBM, 2015) Doorasamy, Mishelle
A growing number of organisations have incorporated environmental strategies as part of their corporate business strategies, hoping to improve their competitiveness.To ensure their future sustainability and competitiveness, management needs to consider adopting Cleaner Production (CP) techniques and technologies which will address waste issues at its source and ensure more efficient use of resources. However, management is not keen on this strategy as they perceive CP as a costly strategy that requires innovation with no financial benefits to the company. The aim of this paper is to benchmark the company’s environmental costs by comparing material balance indicators against technological standards and best-available technology. The results are based on a case study which focused on the boiler technology used in the steam generation process. It had been found that benchmarking enabled managers to evaluate and analyse how they can improve both their environmental and economic performance in the future and attain their sustainability targets.
A bisociated research paper recommendation model using BiSOLinkers
(Insight Society, 2022-01-01) Maake, Benard M.; Ojo, Sunday O.; Zuva, Keneilwe; Mzee, Fredrick A.
In the current days of information overload, it is nearly impossible to obtain a form of relevant knowledge from massive information repositories without using information retrieval and filtering tools. The academic field daily receives lots of research articles, thus making it virtually impossible for researchers to trace and retrieve important articles for their research work. Unfortunately, the tools used to search, retrieve and recommend relevant research papers suggest similar articles based on the user profile characteristic, resulting in the overspecialization problem whereby recommendations are boring, similar, and uninteresting. We attempt to address this problem by recommending research papers from domains considered unrelated and unconnected. This is achieved through identifying bridging concepts that can bridge these two unrelated domains through their outlying concepts – BiSOLinkers. We modeled a bisociation framework using graph theory and text mining technologies. Machine learning algorithms were utilized to identify outliers within the dataset, and the accuracy achieved by most algorithms was between 96.30% and 99.49%, suggesting that the classifiers accurately classified and identified the outliers. We additionally utilized the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm to identify the topics bridging the two unrelated domains at their point of intersection. BisoNets were finally generated, conceptually demonstrating how the two unrelated domains were linked, necessitating cross-domain recommendations. Hence, it is established that recommender systems' overspecialization can be addressed by combining bisociation, topic modeling, and text mining approaches.
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.
Can training in employability skills help adolescent girls and young women in South Africa increase their employment opportunities?
(2023-04-15) Mvunabandi, Jean Damascene; Mkhize, Msizi; Marimuthu, Ferina; Gadzikwa, Lawrence
This article investigated how employability skills training can be used to foster adolescent girls and young women's employment opportunities and to improve their employment pathways in South Africa. This study adopted quantitative and descriptive research approaches via longitudinal data collection. Secondary data was collected from 3584 AGYWs using a questionnaire survey during employability training from July-October 2021. Robustness analysis was performed using descriptive statistics using SPSS version 28.0. The empirical findings proved that employability skills training significantly improved the capabilities of adolescent girls and young women on labour market assessments. Relying on these empirical findings, this study proposes a framework for linking AGYWs and the labour market through an employability skills training capability-based conceptualised model. The results of this study will fill a gap in understanding the twelve dominant employability skills variables identified by this research study which has justified with most relevant literature and theories in particular. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge and further contributes to the career development and employability among adolescent girls and young women required to cope with the labour markets in South Africa. The study recommends schools, Universities and other key role players in skills development among employability skills guidelines for ensuring the readiness of young graduates for employment opportunities in South Africa.