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Theses and dissertations (Management Sciences)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/14

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    The influence of modern technology on emerging entrepreneurs in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province
    (2023-10) Langry, Fiona; Rena, Ravinder
    Information and communication technology (ICT) gives emerging entrepreneurs a greater opportunity to expand their companies, but many companies are unable to grow into engines of rural economic growth and job creation due to the difficulties associated with adopting and using ICTs. The purpose of this research is to describe the findings of an empirical study on the application of modern technology by emerging entrepreneurs in rural KwaZulu-Natal and its implications, both theoretical and practical, for the expansion of rural small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs). Many decision-makers are concerned about the concept of rural industrialization and the ways in which it might boost the economic growth of rural small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs). The study also seeks to gain an understanding, knowledge, and awareness of how the application of modern technology could help in the development of robust rural industrialization, which would have a positive change in the economic climate of rural SMMEs. A quantitative analysis was undertaken for this study, and empirical data was collected from 384 participants in this study, all of whom were company managers or owners of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) located in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The statistical application, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0 was used to conduct the analysis once the data had been inputted into the computer in accordance with the question codes that were pre determined. The findings of the study suggest that rural entrepreneurs encounter a diverse range of challenges that have a substantial impact on their operational effectiveness. The existence of these challenges presents significant barriers, hindering their ability to engage in innovative and creative endeavours, hence limiting their potential to make substantial contributions to the advancement of sustainable development. The findings identified that access to finance, lack of training and skilled employees and lack of ICT infrastructure were the primary catalysts that influenced modern technology adoption by emerging entrepreneurs in rural KwaZulu-Natal Province. As a result of this research, this paradigm will be enlightened, and new knowledge perspectives will be disclosed. It is conceivable for policymakers to encourage emerging entrepreneurs in rural areas to use ICT in their businesses, which will, in turn, inspire other entrepreneurs to look up to these adopters and follow them, ultimately contributing to an increase in the usage of ICT in rural communities
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    Foreign direct investments as a solution to South Africa’s economic growth
    (2023-03) Muzuva, Meshel; Balkaran, Rishi; Rawjee, V. P.
    Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) as a growth-enhancing component has received growing attention in the global economy and is considered a vital source of external financing for many developing economies. This study examines the impact of FDI on economic growth using a mixed research methodology. The study combines the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach and interviews with experts in the field of international finance and macroeconomics. The ARDL approach was employed to estimate the long-run and short-run relationship between FDI and economic growth using annual time series data for the period 1980 to 2020. The results indicate that FDI has a positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long-run and shortrun. Furthermore, the study found that South Africa has not been able to fully exploit the potential benefits of FDI due to structural constraints such as poor infrastructure, insufficient skills and limited access to finance. This study, therefore, support the hypothesis that FDI has a significant impact on South Africa’s economic growth. Thus, policy makers can formulate policies that attracts more FDIs in the country to promote economic growth. The interviews with the experts in the field provide additional insights into the factors that influence FDI flows and their impact on economic growth. The experts highlighted that FDI has contributed significantly to the country's economic growth by creating job opportunities, promoting innovation and technological advancement, and enhancing competition in the domestic market. The findings suggest that to maximize the benefits of FDI, the government needs to create a favourable investment climate, reduce bureaucratic barriers, and address the skills gap in the workforce. Therefore, policymakers and stakeholders should take steps to promote a conducive environment for FDI to contribute positively to the country's economic growth. The study also sought to conduct an empirical investigation on the determinants of foreign direct investment in South Africa using ARDL. The results revealed the following variables that were significant determinants of FDI, government spending, market size and exchange rates. The findings from the interviews identified market size and growth, inflation, exchange rates, availability of natural resources, infrastructure, openness of the economy and availability of good infrastructure as specific determinants of FDI.This study concludes that increasing economic growth requires attention to be focused on to the fundamental determinants of foreign investments decisions and the underlying relevant microeconomic and macroeconomic outlooks. Furthermore, though there is a prime need to attract more foreign investors in South Africa, it is important to concede that attracting FDIs alone is not enough for sustainable economic growth and development. The policy makers should have holistic policies in place and undertake reforms with clear objectives and commitments.
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    An appraisal of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the tourism industry in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
    (2020-05) Doncabe, Thembeka; Chetty, Gopalkrishna
    The aim of the study is to assess current Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities employed across the tourism industry in Durban, with the primary objective of the study to examine the extent to which the tourism industry in Durban engages in CSR activities. CSR is an important part of sustainable development and should be merged with company values, described as comprising of human rights, monitoring, stakeholders’ rights and employee rights. In South Africa (SA), CSR has been evident for a number of years, with its nature and context shaped by apartheid. With tourism being part of the service industry, it is of great importance that these stakeholders are put at the forefront. Globalisation pressure and the increasing burden on governments to provide comprehensive social services has resulted in the need to better understand how organisations play a role in sharing these burdens. The city of Durban has an extensive tourism and hospitality industry that grows continuously annually and as such, industry players should initiate and participate in CSR programmes. Global changes with travellers and the industry are greatly influencing the implementation of CSR in Durban. Study findings are based on a sample of 96 respondents, with a response rate of 76 percent for the selfadministered questionnaire employed for data collection from 4-and 5-star accommodation establishments in Durban, as well as domestic airlines that service KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Results suggest the Durban tourism and hospitality industry is fairly involved in CSR, with a few exceptions. Nonetheless, many respondents indicated challenges they face in CSR initiative implementation, including the lack of assistance from organisations that drive tourism. They believe further training on CSR implementation and support would greatly influence levels of CSR implementation. The findings in this study reveal that environmental impact measures and or activities are at the forefront of CSR activities for both airlines and the hotel sector. Activities with the environmental impact measures include minimising energy consumption, such as using energy saving globes and solar panels, waste minimisation, waste recycling, and protection of the natural environment. Findings derived from the study will unveil more opportunity regarding CSR in Durban and will inform those organisations involved in tourism promotion and development to act accordingly in assisting industry participants.
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    The influence of intrapreneurship in Public Sector organisations : a case of parastatals in Zimbabwe
    (2021-11) Chamba, Lucy Tambudzai; Chazireni, Bobo
    Public sector organisations are pivotal to the economic growth of economies, hence the expectations by governments and citizens for these organisations to execute their mandate effectively. Parastatals in Zimbabwe are performing dismally in terms of service provision and public value creation which has led to poor service provision and the general inaccessibility of public services. To date, value in most parastatals is created by adherence to standards, despite the acknowledged benefits of intrapreneurship. However, changes in the business environment as a result of the 4th IR require agility and innovation in parastatals, if these entities are to create value effectively and efficiently. The purpose of the research was to establish the influence of intrapreneurship on the organisational performance of parastatals in Zimbabwe. The study set out to investigate the influence of intrapreneurship orientation on intrapreneurship as well as on the performance of parastatals. The study also investigated the impact of organisational elements on the practice of intrapreneurship in Zimbabwean parastatals. The research adopted the pragmatist paradigm and used a mixed-methods research design. The study was cross-sectional and used the concurrent embedded approach to data collection. Quantitative method was the main data collection technique while qualitative data was concurrently collected to augment quantitative results.The objects of study were 107 parastatals from the thirteen sectors of the Zimbabwe’s economy. The population comprised 535 employees from the 107 parastatals in the country. Purposive sampling was used to select five respondents from each of the parastatals from the five generic divisions of parastatals, that is, finance, ICT, marketing, operations and human resources. Recruitment for respondents was on volunteer basis. Questionnaires were distributed to 300 respondents, comprising of general employees and junior and middle management. Interviews were conducted until saturation point, such that a total of 28 interviews were held with senior managers from parastatals across Zimbabwe. Data from questionnaires were analysed statistically using STATA and Warp-PLS 6.0, and interview results were analysed using thematic network analysis. Study findings reveal a low intrapreneurship orientation in most parastatals which results in low intrapreneurship levels and consequently poor performance. The study provides empirical evidence that intrapreneurship has a positive significant influence on organisational performance. The major managerial implication of the study is that intrapreneurship in PSOs hinges upon intrapreneurial orientation, which should form the core of an intrapreneurial architecture. The study may also assist leadership in parastatals to foster the practice of intrapreneurship in their organisations by ensuring that the organisational factors which are key enablers of intrapreneurship are harnessed. An intrapreneurial framework was designed which may be implemented in parastatals in a bid to make these PSOs high-performance organisations. The study recommends that intrapreneurship be adopted in PSOs as a strategy to enhance the efficacy of these enterprises while achieving their twin goals of public value creation and dynamic efficiency.
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    Implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at boosting local economic development at Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area
    (2012) Dladla, Alfred Makhosathini; Wallis, Malcolm Alan Henworth
    The dissertation focuses on the implementation of strategies and programmes that are aimed at boosting local economic development at Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area by the EThekwini Municipality. Sobonakhona Makhanya Traditional Area is one of the three main traditional/rural areas making up the Greater Umbumbulu Area, which is situated some 20 kilometres south-west of the Durban Central District. Each of these traditional/rural areas is ruled by its own Traditional Leader. The Sobonakhona Area is made up of areas that can be described as deep rural and peri-urban. For the purpose of this study a municipality and a local government are treated as the same entity. The implementation of these strategies in the deep rural Sobonakhona Area has, however, so far proven to be more challenging than it was initially conceived. This can be partly attributed to the following factors, firstly; before 1994, all matters related to rural economic development initiatives in South Africa fell under the jurisdiction of either the provincial governments or national line ministries or homeland governments – not municipalities. Secondly, between 1994 and 2002, all strategies/programmes that were aimed at boosting economic development were, through the national government’s previous SMME strategy, carried out at national level by the Department of Trade and Industry and its affiliated agencies. Thirdly, the 2000 demarcation of municipal boundaries saw a number of rural areas being incorporated under some municipalities that had jurisdiction over urban areas only, and this created an additional service delivery challenge for these municipalities. Whilst these municipalities were still baffled by how to accommodate/incorporate the rural areas under their programmes, the national government, in 2002, introduced a new SMME strategy (replacing the previous SMME strategy) that required municipalities to effect economic development at local government level. This also presented its own challenge as very few of these municipalities had experience and/or knowledge in the formulation and implementation of local economic development programmes/strategies. This dissertation therefore seeks to uncover the challenges that the EThekwini Municipality faces as it attempts to implement its economic development strategies and programmes for its rural areas in particular, with Sobonakhona Area being the area of focus. The EThekwini Municipality is one of those municipalities that previously had no rural areas under its control. Chapter One of the dissertation introduces the topic of the study together with the relevant background to the study. Chapter Two discusses the research methodology used in an attempt to unravel the study’s research problem. Chapter Three discusses literature review on implementation of strategies and programmes aimed at boosting economic development in rural areas. Chapter Four outlines both the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and the EThekwini Municipality’s strategies and programmes that are thought would promote economic development in the province and in the EThekwini region respectively. Results uncovered by this study are discussed in Chapter Five. Chapter Six concludes the study by presenting recommendations on how to improve implementation efforts.