Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37936

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Factors Affecting Blockchain Technology Adoption by Organizations in the Livestock Supply Chain Industry in Zimbabwe
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tambudze, Pelagia; Isabirye, Naomi
    Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that provides the building block for many innovations. The distributed nature of blockchain, its immutability, and anonymity enable trust, transparency, and security among transacting or trading partners. The accelerated unfolding of 4IR due to the COVID- 19 pandemic recently unveiled several critical gaps within global supply chains, including livestock supply chains. The main challenges faced by organizations in the livestock supply industry in the developing world include difficulties for farmers in accessing new markets, no flexibility in production times, and no traceability for the consumer market to trace food component authenticity. In Zimbabwe, livestock is an important sector contributing about 22% of the total GDP. From several studies done by other researchers in different industries, such as health care, banking, mining, education, and agriculture, it is evident that blockchain technology solves most of these issues by decreasing data asymmetries and the cost of transactions to benefit all stakeholders. Blockchain-based solutions have recently been introduced to the livestock sector, and Zimbabwe is one of the early adopters among its African counterparts. However, the adoption rate by organizations within the livestock supply chain has been minimal. Using the lens of the TOE framework, this study investigated the factors that affect the decision by organizations in Zimbabwe's livestock supply chains to adopt blockchain technology. A qualitative approach was applied, interviewing fifteen informants from various levels of the livestock supply chain. Responses were analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that adopting blockchain benefits organizations and the overall livestock supply chain. The study found that technological, organizational, and environmental factors influenced organizations' decision to adopt blockchain technologies within livestock supply chains. These factors included availability of the technology, cost of the technology, skills availability, regulation and policies, competitive pressures, presence of blockchain providers, political and socio- economic factors and market trends.
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    Original equipment manufacturers' perspectives of barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Kupa, Ramaabele Yolanda; Soko, Milford
    The introduction of EV’s to the automotive industry is not new, there is evidence that the first electric vehicle was developed more than three decades ago (Chege, 2021), however the pursuits of its development at the current moment have become increasingly aggressive due to some of the technological breakthroughs and environmental advantages it brings forth. The environmental degradation due to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has become a global concern and mission to address. Automotive vehicles are amongst the highest contributors to these emissions. EV’s offer solutions to environmental degradation. Electric vehicles offer less noise pollution, smaller carbon footprint through the life cycle of the vehicle compared to their combustion engine counterparts. Furthermore, EV’s have challenged countries to rethink their energy distributions entirely. Due to the benefits EV’s bring forth, adoption has thus increased across the world over the years. Much of this increase in adoption numbers is owed to assistance offered by government and OEMs in the form of incentive schemes during the purchase phase and in ownership costs. There are however challenges which continue to hinder other countries from adopting electric vehicles, especially developing countries such as South Africa. This paper unpacks issues around the poor adoption of EV’s from an OEM’s perspective in South Africa. The seven local OEM’s stakeholders are some of the greatest enablers for the adoption. South Africa is known as the gateway to Africa through its diversified supply chain, it further houses the highest number of OEMs in Africa. Studies from the 2022 Delloitte’s consulting report shows that combustion engine vehicles are still leading in sales locally, and government’s focus is more on the export market (Deloitte , 2019). The EV market might be growing globally post Covid-19 throughout the world but local sales contribution is small. The study uses semi structured qualitative interviews conducted with 15 industry experts from different OEM’s, government, and academia. It then uses the TOE framework and literature from published papers and journals to unpack these findings. Issues which emerged from the analysis include lack of charging infrastructure, energy complexities with regards to an overloaded energy grid which cannot further support EV adoption or home charging. Other issues included government support with regards to regulations, enforcement and enabling policy development. Lack of public acceptance of EV’s due to high ownership costs such as import tax. Other issues noted include lack of incentives as compared to countries with leading EV sales. Product development issues such as batteries and driving range were noted. This study is aimed at enabling decision makers in the academic institutions, automotive OEMs, and government bodies on key topics that could promote EV sales locally if addressed. It further identifies the linkages and relationships of the issues. These recommendations made stand to benefit OEMs through improved sales which can drive production volumes and thus employment in the automotive industry. Future studies can be conducted to rank the identified issues for a more focused approach. They can also examine issues from a customer’s perspective, drawing on Insights from the business vs customer, or simply demand vs Supply
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    An investigation of the relationship between ICT infrastructure and economic growth of emerging market
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-02) Jiang, Jun Wen; Fasanya, Ismail
    The study examines the link between Information and Communication Technology, institutional quality, and economic growth in emerging markets over the period of 2000 to 2019, using the system Generalized Method of Moments. The connection between economic growth and technology lies on the framework of exogenous growth model. The following findings are discernible from the study. First, a substantial positive relationship exists between internet usage and economic growth, while a negative association between economic growth and fixed telephone users is evident. Second, a positive association between growth and innovation exist in emerging markets, whilst institutions reveal a negative association. These findings have a significant policy implication for policymakers to monitor innovation factors rather than institutional quality to bypass the digital divide. Consequently, policymakers should pay attention to the benefits of Information and Communication technology usage by means of reducing entries cost whilst improving network facilities transfers
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    Assessing State Capacity in South African Industrial Policy Design and Implementation in a Changing Global Landscape
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Diale, Rapula Comfort; Nkunzi, Sibulele
    South Africa has sought to transform and reindustrialise its economy. Through its industrial policy, it has intervened in several manufacturing sub-sectors. Despite the numerous state interventions, the South African manufacturing sector continues to deteriorate. The shorting comings of industrial policy have raised fresh questions of whether the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the state, including its private sector partners, have sufficient capacity to design and implement appropriate industrial policy. This paper aims to assess state capacity in South African industrial policy design and implementation. In so doing, it analyses developmental economic literature, including the Weberian state, the developmental state, the human capacity theory and the bureaucratic rationale theory. The evidence for this research was collected through interviews with key stakeholders in the industrial policy, including thought leaders, policy researchers, policymakers, and academics. The paper finds that to achieve successful policy intervention; the country needs to develop supportive institutions and systems in industrial policy across government departments and different spheres of government. It further argues that the state outsourcing policy research capacity, if used correctly, can be developmental; however, the incorrect usage of outsourced capacity is detrimental to state capacity
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    The Effect of Technological Changes on Work Restructuring: A Comparative Analysis of the South African and Brazilian Automotive Manufacturing Industries
    (© University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-04-03) Mdutyana, Liso; Nkunzi, Sibulele; Saludijan, Alexis
    Manufacturing industries have through the history of twentieth and twenty first century development economics occupied a central role in discussions on economic development. Rosenstein-Rodan (1943) argued that the alleviation of unemployment and underdevelopment in 1940s Eastern-Europe could be brought about by a government-funded establishment of complementary manufacturing industries. Lewis (1954) posited that unemployment in developing countries can be drastically reduced with a transfer of unskilled labour from the agricultural to the more productive industrial sector. Meanwhile, the Global Value Chain (GVC) literature emerging in the 1990s and 2000s touted the possibility of development through attachment of local firms to the production networks of technologically superior ‘lead firms’, wherein they could ‘upgrade’ into more valuable products, processes, or sectors (Gereffi, 2019). Underlying the advocacy for manufacturing sectors have been economic growth models wherein the primary factor determining economic growth is the accumulation and or the increased capability of physical capital (Harrod, 1939; Solow, 1956). With concerns over the lack of convergence in the economic growth rates of ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries, later scholars mainly attributed long-run economic growth to investments in human, rather than just physical capital (Romer, 1989)