3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Knowledge management determinants of breakthrough research productivity(2018) Rubin, AsafRecent technological advancements have brought about a wave of drastic change in the global supply and demand of knowledge and subsequently, in the generation of innovation. However, it has been argued that some industries and academic fields do not sufficiently take advantage of new opportunities afforded by the widespread, free and open availability of knowledge. Terms such as the Death of Innovation, Innovation Failure and Academic Failure have been used to describe the market failure of industrial Research and Development (R&D) and certain forms of academic research to sufficiently leverage these new opportunities, particularly with regard to societal problem-solving. An extensive and rapidly growing body of literature pertaining to new modes of knowledge productivity, such as open innovation, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, through the use of the Internet, has demonstrated evidence that certain new technologies and methodologies may indeed offer significant economies of scope and scale in innovative problem solving. However, misaligned incentives may in some cases prevent the efficient leveraging of these new modes of productivity. These effects may be particularly pronounced in the academic context, which has long been criticised for its strict adherence to tradition and paradigmatic convergence. Despite this body of literature, there is a lack of knowledge as to the extent that academic researchers do indeed take advantage of these new modes of productivity, and furthermore, the extent to which their adoption influences research productivity. Thus, this research seeks to investigate the relationship between a behavioral orientation called ‘technological propensity’, or the extent to which individuals seize opportunities that offer significant economies of scale (such as crowdsourcing) and productivity. This research is undertaken at the individual level of analysis, which necessitates corresponding measurements of proximal, human-resources management determinants which may impact this relationship. These include personality, motivational values, work climate perceptions and human capital investments. Three studies are conducted to ascertain the extent of the relationships between these variables, and to provide a holistic perspective of the relationships between variables. First, a qualitative study, which samples award-winning scientists, academics researchers and innovators from across the world was conducted to develop theory. Amongst these are 3 Nobel Prize winners, 3 Lasker Award winners and 1 Fields Medal winner, among others. Second, a quantitative study, which sampled South African academic researchers, was conducted to test theory. Third and finally, a second quantitative study, which sampled ‘crowd-workers’, or users of an Internet-based crowdsourcing platform known as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, was conducted to provide ii further insights into the relationships under study, in the open knowledge space (i.e. over the Internet). Qualitative data is analysed inductively, using thematic content analysis. Quantitative data is analysed through a series of statistical analyses, including multiple regression, mediation and moderation analyses. The findings of these studies suggest that the relationship between technological propensity and productivity is context-dependent and may only be suitable as a complementary methodology to certain forms of academic research, which is especially constrained by outside influences. Certain new modes of productivity may indeed enhance the rate at which ‘breakthrough’, or radically innovative research outputs are generated. The findings also suggest that differences in certain values-configurations and human capital investments may significantly impact this relationship. Based on the research findings, recommendations are made to improve research productivity in these contexts and recommendations for practice and for further research are made.Item Social impact of high-tech enterprises in an emerging market(2017) Lamprecht, Stephanus JacobusThe successful commercialisation of high-tech products and services require an appreciation of the social context in which such products and services are introduced. The market for high-tech products and services in emerging markets are drawing increasing involvement of small and medium sized firms that are either developing high-tech products and services, or selling such products and services imported from developed markets. The need for basic services at the citizen level in emerging markets necessitate firms to adapt the commercialisation strategies and ultimate sales of products and services to address basic needs. Drawing on the theory of social impact measurement, social enterprise selfefficacy and entrepreneurial orientation, this research aims to assess the way in which emerging market firms – using primarily South African firms in the research sample offering high-tech products and services - have had to adjust commercialisation strategies, so as to take cognisance of the social context specific to the target markets. Data was collected from a number of high-tech firms operating in, or offering hightech products and services to emerging markets. The data was subsequently analysed based on the social impact measures, social enterprise self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation constructs found in literature, to assess the overall social impact of high-tech SMEs in an emerging market, being predominantly South Africa. The researcher introduced a tailor-made variable, Success by drawing on various data items collected from respondents, such as the age of the firm, and changes in recent employment and turnover figures. The results point to a positive and statistically meaningful relationship between the Success of such firms in the final sample, and the need to demonstrate social impact considerations in the business strategies of such firms offering high-tech products and services in an emerging market. The research outputs align with theory in so far as social impact not being the primary driver of such high-tech firms, but rather a necessary by-product of ensuring sustainability and success, and the need to adapt to the contextual realities present in an emerging market. This is one of the first studies to test the social impact of high-tech firms in an emerging market, especially in so far as outlining the need to expand commercialisation strategies to incorporate social impact awareness. By applying the theory of self-efficacy to social impact, the findings point to the need for hightech firms in emerging markets to not only take note of social needs, but to adapt firm strategy to integrate social impact considerations into the commercialisation strategies, so as to be successful. In other words, to be successful, such high-tech firms need to both talk-the-talk, and walk-the-walk. The implications of the research extend to the way high-tech SMEs approach commercialisation in emerging markets, as well as the team composition of such high-tech firms in order to integrate the necessary skills and experienced resources beyond those necessary for technological commercialisation, thereby having also human resources with the necessary skills and experience needed to take cognisance of, and adapt to relevant social impact contexts.Item Formal networking and performance in South Africa's ICT industry(2017) Sampson, Rizelle MariaGlobally, information communication technologies (ICT) have experienced rapid growth since the 1990’s. In South Africa, information communication technology now accounts for a larger percentage of the Gross Domestic Product than other sectors. Thus, ICT is an important driver of entrepreneurship, employment creation and economic development in SA. As such, one of the critical questions is how to ensure the competitiveness and performance of ICT firms. Entrepreneurship studies argue that the performance of entrepreneurial firms is affected by, amongst other things, the firms’ social capital such as formal networks. This study, therefore, examined the impact of formal networks on firm entrepreneurial performance of ICT firms in SA, paying specific attention to weak ties as well as the moderating role of the environment. The study adopted a positivist paradigm which relied on quantitative data, using a descriptive survey method. Applying probability sampling, a sample of 120 firms were surveyed from an industry database, achieving a 14% response rate. This response rate is adequate for the generalisation of the results (Urban & Sefalafala, 2015). In analysing the data, factor analysis to reduce several variables into latent factors was performed. Thereafter, statistical linear regression modelling was performed using the continuous dependent variable – Firm Entrepreneurial Performance indicated by: Growth in Sales and Market Share, and Profitability; and the continuous independent variable of Formal Networking indicated by: Network Tie Strength and Relationship Quality and Nature sub-constructs. The results demonstrate significant correlation between formal networking and firm entrepreneurial performance as well as weak ties. However, the results indicate no evidence for the moderating role of the environment. At a theoretical level, this shows that formal networking and weak ties are beneficial to ICT firms but the environment is a contingent factor. At a practical level, managers and firm owners should consider joining formal networks that promote weak tie relationships in order to access complementary assets and valuable information. Policy makers and other stakeholders should devise policies and programmes that support entrepreneurial ICT firms to engage in formal networking. The limitations of the study include the following: first, the study was cross sectional and limited to ICT firms on an industry database; second, the control variables did not include firm size. Future research should consider a longitudinal study to test the long-term impact of firm entrepreneurial behaviour as well as firm size to inform firm specific research. More studies should test the moderating role of environment.