Theses and dissertations (Accounting and Informatics)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/4
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item The influence of financial literacy and financial technology on the financial behaviour of high school teachers in KwaZulu-Natal(2022-05-30) Jali, Nkosinathi Prince; Nyide, Celani John; Stainbank, Lesley JuneThe argument that many people make financial decisions that are not in their best interest cannot be disputed. In using financial technology, there are both advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that making irresponsible financial decisions has become easier since information is readily available to people, leading to a lot more debt. On the other hand, it can also make it easier for people to save more money, depending on their financial literacy level. Due to financial literacy, people are better able to make wise financial decisions and are more likely to save more money for the future. The Basic Education Department in South Africa is faced with a crisis of teachers leaving their profession prematurely. Some of the reasons cited for teachers’ resignations include the search for pension pay-outs that would redeem them from indebtedness. Teachers' mass resignations create a serious problem in the education system that not only compromises the quality of education, but also increases recruitment, training and development costs. Moreover, South Africa is facing this crisis at a time when there is a lack of qualified, experienced and competent teachers in critical subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and Technology. To determine the influence of financial literacy and financial technology on the financial behaviour of high school teachers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), this study employed a quantitative research approach. Data was collected from 246 high school teachers in Msunduzi Municipality KZN using a self-administered questionnaire. Several hypotheses were formulated and tested using regression analysis. The study revealed that most of the high school teachers in Msunduzi Municipality had sound financial management knowledge which enabled them to mitigate and navigate financial literacy challenges. However, maintaining or sticking to a planned budget and finding solutions when facing financial challenges were problems mentioned by the teachers. Nevertheless, most of the teachers demonstrated that they had good debt management skills and financial management and planning skills which helped them to draft monthly budgets and keeping track of expenses. Additionally, the teachers indicated that they had a good grasp of financial technology services, but also indicated that their knowledge of financial technology made it easier for them to access and spend the money; this led to poor savings and negative financial behaviour Furthermore, despite the convenience that financial technology services offer, they also highlighted the security risks of using this technology such as the possibility of being hacked or defrauded online by scammers. As this study used a quantitative research approach, it is suggested that another study should be conducted using a mixed methodology, which would help to expand the corpus of knowledge in this area.Item The role of financial awareness for viable and sustainable small-medium enterprises in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban(2021-01) Msomi, Thabiso Sthembiso; Olarewaju, Odunayo Magret; Olarewaju, OdunayoThe objective of this study is to examine financial awareness for viable and sustainable smallmedium-enterprises in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban. In this study, the researcher examined factors for SME sustainability and viability as they influence organisational survival. The specific objectives are outlined as follows: to examine the influence of financial awareness on SME viability and sustainability; to establish the relationship between financial accounting skills and sustainable SMEs; to establish the relationship between financial awareness and financial accounting skills; and to determine the Influences of budgeting and financial awareness on SME sustainability. 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, manufacturing sectors, etc. Data was analysed using SPSS. A total of 310 research questionnaires was administered and 304 research questionnaires were returned for analysis (giving a 98% response rate). A regression analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis were conducted to address the specific objectives of the study. The study identified access to market, access to finance and financial accounting skills as the independent variables, while SME sustainability was the dependent variable of the regression model. The findings suggest that access to finance has the largest absolute value (0.425), which indicates that access to finance uniquely accounts for the larger proportion of the variance in the regression model. The outcome of Pearson’s correlation shows moderate correlation (r value is 0.531) between financial accounting skills and sustainable SMEs. Moreover, there was a weak correlation (r value is 0.457) between financial awareness and financial accounting skills. The outcome of the regression analysis suggests that budgeting has the largest absolute value (0.372), which indicates that budgeting uniquely accounts for the largest proportion of the variance in the regression analysis. The Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed nine factors that are significant to ensure sustainability and viability. The implication of the outcome is that access to finance and budgeting accounts for SME sustainability. Based on the findings from this research, it is recommended that SMEs owners should pay much attention to access to finance and budgeting in running their businesses. Again, employee performance reviews contribute to enhancing the financial accounting skills and knowledge of staff of SMEs as well. They should seek expert or professional advice before taking a loan and they should avoid loan sharks as the interest charged by loan sharks are very high which may lead to potential debt trap. It is suggested that Government agencies should help SMEs to market their products and keep their businesses viable.