3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The adoption of artificial intelligence by South African banking firms: a Technology, Organisation and Environment (TOE) framework(2019-02-28) Mariemuthu, ClaytonArtificial intelligence (AI) is the creation of intelligent machines that have the ability to work and act like humans and comprises various technologies. AI-powered technology is having a transformative effect on industries such as banking. This study investigated the adoption of AI technologies by South African banking firms. The investigation into the factors that explain the current extent of adoption was focused through the lens of the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) framework. Through a review of existing literature and online resources, this study firstly identified a basket of AI technologies perceived as relevant for South African banking firms. Six technologies that represent the basket of AI technologies were identified, namely: machine learning, robotic process automation, expert systems, virtual assistants, natural language processing, and pattern recognition. Secondly, the study aimed to determine the current state of adoption of the AI technologies. Thirdly, the study aimed to determine the factors influencing the adoption of AI technologies by banking firms. A systematic literature review was undertaken to determine the technological, organisational and environmental factors that influence technology adoption. A model using pre-determined TOE factors was developed and tested. The cross-sectional, quantitative study was undertaken via a self-administered, online questionnaire to a sample of 307 respondents from South African banking business units, resulting in 62 responses. Diffusion curves were used to illustrate the current adoption of AI technologies. The results revealed that robotic process automation is the most diffused technology, while natural language processing was the least diffused technology. The results also revealed a significant intention to adopt AI technologies in the next three years. The data was subjected to reliability and validity tests which established that the construct measures rendered consistent and reproducible results, and accurately depicted the constructs they were assigned to measure. Thereafter, correlations analysis was utilised to test the model’s hypotheses, and a multiple and stepwise regression were used as further tests of the model. Results revealed that AI technology skills, top management support, firm size and competitive pressure were positively related to the adoption of AI technologies, while perceived benefits, information technology infrastructure, cost, competitive pressure, regulation and mimetic pressure were not supported. AI technologies is a contemporary topic and is gathering a great deal of attention in both academia and practice. By applying the TOE framework, this study has provided a theoretical contribution and addressed a research gap in existing literature, specifically demonstrating that AI adoption is a function of all three contexts, i.e. technological, organisational and environmental. This study also provides a practical contribution for banking firms as they can understand the current adoption status of the average South African bank. Furthermore, for firms considering the adoption of AI technologies, this study offers insights into the relative influence of the TOE factors, and provides guidance to facilitate benchmarking and processes of adoption.Item Factors that In uence illiquidity in the South African Banking Industry: Empirical Evidence of Commercial Banks(2019) Tsela, Sifiso.This paper investigates the determinants of illiquidity in the South African banking industry using listed commercial banks. We selected two theoretically established illiquidity measures and perform empirical analysis using rms spe- ci c variables and macroeconomic variables. A xed e¤ect regression model was adopted and the empirical results indicate that total cash to assets ratios and rms market size as proxy by market capitalization are the signi cant factors that in uence illiquidity in the South African banking industry. These results are consistent with the ndings in the literature. Furthermore, we nd no dif- ference between the illiquidity measures used in the study as they lead to the same conclsuion. Keywords: Commercial banks, illiquidity, rms speci c factors 2Item The effects of consumer brand identification on loyalty: a study on South African banks(2019) Monareng, KatlegoConsumer brand identification is a concept that helps us to understand the reasons behind brands helping consumers to express their identities and find the true meaning of themselves through brands. Brands are used by consumers to construct their self-image and to fulfil self-verification needs. This study sought to test the six drivers of Consumer Brand Identification, (CBI) as identified by Stokburger-Sauer, Ratneshwar and Sen (2012) and their impact on brand loyalty. The six drivers/antecedent are; brand-self similarity, brand distinctiveness, brand prestige, brand social benefits, brand warmth and memorable brand experiences. These drivers were tested on the five South African commercial banks, namely, Standard bank, First National Bank (FNB), Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA), Capitec and Nedbank. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used. A non-probability sampling method was employed with 244 respondents dispersed throughout South Africa who completed a self-administered questionnaire. The results confirmed the influence of four of the six drivers, being brand distinctiveness, brand prestige, brand social benefits and memorable brand experiences. Further to that, it was found that brand distinctiveness has a stronger causal relationship with CBI when consumers have lower involvement in the brand’s product category. Brand social benefits had a stronger relationship with CBI when consumers have a higher involvement in the brand’s product category. CBI was found to have a positive consequence on brand loyalty which further lead to brand advocacy. The findings also revealed that FNB was the most popular bank, with ABSA being the least popular bank. From the findings, it was recommended that banks should focus on driving an emotional connection with the brand and the consumer which can be through socially lead events that make them feel like they belong and taking consumers through memorable brand experiences. Through this, brand distinctiveness can be further enhanced.Item An overview of blockchain technology in the South African financial industry(2018) Maboe, RealebogaBlockchain, the new kid on the block, has the potential ability to change the way data are handled in the financial industry giving it a disruptive nature worthy of being explored and understood. However, not much is known and understood about these applications in the world, let alone in the South African landscape. The introduction of new financial innovations with the promise of being disruptive in nature always bring a sense of uncertainty and concern about the impact this new technology will have on the current way of doing things. Due to its highly technical nature, Blockchain is yet to be fully understood by many who stand to benefit from adopting it. Apart from understanding how it works, its application is paramount to possibly bringing innovative changes to the financial sector. The mandate is to attempt to fully unpack the nature of the phenomenon with relation to financial innovation and to see the process by which it evolves or is experienced. The purpose of this study is to provide an exploratory literature review of the full nature of Blockchain technology and bitcoin and investigate how the innovation evolved and is being experienced in South Africa. This will be done through looking at secondary sources with focus on the application it has as a new financial innovation within the financial industry in South Africa. This is still in the process of being done and begs the question of whether bitcoin is an important disruptive financial innovation which is here to stay in South Africa or not. The exploration aims to prepare a theoretical and practical basis for future studies.Item The role of dynamic capabilities in the strategic management of payment disruption in the South African banking industry(2018) Castleman, Ricci-leighAs digital disruption alters industry environments and business practices across the globe, many incumbent organisations face the threat of obsolescence or diminished competitive advantage. However, digital disruption equally represents an opportunity for incumbent firms. Thus, it is integral for incumbent organisations to adopt a strategic approach to tackle the associated opportunities and threats. Success in this regard will be the determinant of sustainable competitive advantage and long-term survival. Researchers have identified that dedicated strategic and organisational approaches to disruption are required, underpinned by capabilities which facilitate response. It is the nature of these capabilities which is the broad interest area of this study. The theory of dynamic capabilities proposes that there are particular firm capabilities which are difficult to replicate, and which allow the firm to successfully adapt to changing customer and technological opportunities, such as those presented by digital disruption. The presence of these capabilities allows an organisation to reorientate resources and alter practices in response to changing environments. Firms are considered to undertake a number of strategic approaches in response to digital disruption. The formation of alliances and the internal development of new services are the approaches considered in this study. The purpose of the study is to gain insight into the role of these approaches and the dynamic capabilities which underpin the success of these strategic management decisions, namely: alliance management capability and new service development (NSD) capability. This is explored within the context of payment disruption occurring in the South African banking industry. This study investigated how five incumbent South African banking firms strategically managed the opportunities and threats of payment disruption through alliances and NSD and the role of dynamic capabilities in the success of these approaches.Item The effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment(2018) Gray, JaredBlockchain technology is a foundational technology with various use cases that can significantly impact the manner in which banking is carried out in South Africa. The following paper seeks to put together a framework for understanding the potential effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment, with a specific focus on how blockchain technology will impact the South African banking environment (i.e. the applications and use cases) and when this impact will take place. A qualitative approach to addressing the problem statement was adopted, specifically in the form of focus interviews and strategic discussions with subject matter experts in both the blockchain and South African banking environment. Findings indicate that there are number of blockchain applications that can impact the South African banking environment namely, Private Digital Ledgers, Smart Contracts and Tokens/ Cryptocurrencies. Further to this, research indicates that the former is most likely in the short term, while the latter two applications are subject to a high-level stakeholder coordination, a high level of effort in educating the end customer and a high level of friction from existing systems and process, and will therefore only realise mass adoption in the long-term. As a result, this research contributes to providing an initial view of which applications are most likely to be adopted by South African banks and can form the foundation for further research in this area.Item Towards an integrative framework of leadership development in the South African banking industry(2019) Jivan, Ajay ManhurThe thesis is a qualitative, multi-site case study of leadership development within the South African retail banking sector. It responds to the call for qualitative research to explore and give voice to the South African and other developing contexts within the predominantly Western-centric literature. It poses questions on the day-to-day organisational and lived realities of leadership and its development within this context. It is an enquiry of the forms and realities of aligning, designing and integrating leadership development, which leads to deliberation on the possibility of integrative frameworks. This follows from the thesis drawing together the reviews of the state of leadership and leadership development and how the thematic of alignment and integration is approached therein and within the human resource, management and organisational literature. Through this it develops an argument that the mainstream assumptions and programme-based approach to leadership development, including the remedial attempts to address this, do not provide the space to theoretically and empirically attend to, and engage with, the realities, complexities, contingencies and contestations at the individual, team, organisational, sector, national and global levels. The thesis explores this within the South African retail banking sector. This is done through qualitative interviews on, and thematic analysis of, the various mandates, purposes, funding and ways of configuring and managing leadership development within the banks’ Leadership Development Centres and the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority’s (BankSeta) International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) which is hosted at a local Business School. The thesis explores how leadership development is formalised, shaped, configured and managed as a function, purpose, programme and developmental process within the above sites, and how these are navigated, negotiated, enacted and embodied over time by the various stakeholders. It draws out the thematic of layered journeys; that is, the evolving and ongoing organisational, programmatic, pedagogic, personal and individualised journeys within the banks, BankSeta and the Business School. The journeys illustrate how leadership development evolves, opens up and differentiates over time at the different sites and levels as well as foregrounds the realities, complexities, contingencies and contestations therein. Through these journeys one appreciates the varied forms, perspectives, basis, sites, agency and spaces for designing and integrating leadership development and how these evolve, including how the standardisation, tailoring and customisation evolves. The deliberate, emergent, contingent and relational nature of designing and integrating, and the journey’s thematic, point to the limits of the mainstream assumptions and programme-based approach to leadership development. The thesis suggests a critical theoretical stance as an alternative as it provides space to critically attend to, engage with, and undertake the journey, task and process of aligning, designing, integrating and managing leadership development. It proposes ways to locate this task and process within the integrative theoretical models of leadership and the fields of instructional design, curriculum design and design of artefacts as well as the literature on the evolving human resources function, the identity work therein, and on space and place. It then suggests an organising model that can serve both as a guide for developing an open, modular platform and an analytical framework. In this way, the thesis contributes to the question and task of integrative frameworks of leadership development. Keywords: context, post-Apartheid, banking, leadership, leadership development, alignment, design, customisation, integration, pedagogy, journey, programme, function, centre, modular, platformItem Efficiency, risk and productivity patterns in South African development finance institutions(2018) Mokete, TsukuluLike most commercial banks that needs to convert deposit (input) into loans (outputs) efficiently, the cost of bringing about the developmental mandate for the DFIs needs to be kept at the minimum, whilst producing maximum output. Whilst there is a wide literature on a traditional measure of efficiencies from the credit allocation perspective, few or no studies are available in linking the risk incurred by DFIs - due to their operational mandate- to their relative efficiencies and productivity patterns. The paper assessed the relationship between efficiency, risk and productivity patterns, within the DFIs. Principally the main area of interest is understanding the relationship between risks that DFIs are mandated to take and their effect on efficiency levels. The results firstly indicated that operational inefficiencies resulting from inability to allocate resources and cost were the primary source behind the DFIs inefficiencies. Turning to the second objective, the analysis reveals that the nexus between risk and efficiency does not exists for the South African DFIs. The majority of the DFI in SA are government funded to assume a certain risk in an effort to achieve the developmental goal.Item Analysis of cybercrime activity: perceptions from a South African financial bank(2017) Obeng-Adjei, AkwasiThis study is informed by very little empirical research in the field of cybercrime and specifically in the context of South African banks. The study bridges this gap in knowledge by analyzing the cybercrime phenomenon from the perspective of a South African bank. It also provides a sound basis for conducting future studies using a different perspective. In order to achieve this, an interpretive research approach was adopted using a case study in one of the biggest banks in South Africa where cybercrime is currently a topical issue and one that is receiving attention from senior management. Cohen and Felson (1979) Routine Activity Theory was used as a theoretical lens to formulate a conceptual framework which informed the data collection, analysis and synthesis of cybercrime in the selected bank. Primary data was obtained via semistructured interviews. Secondary data was also obtained which allowed for data triangulation. From the perspective of a South African bank, the study concluded that weak security and access controls, poor awareness and user education, prevalent use of the internet, low conviction rates and perceived material gain are the major factors that lead to cybercriminal activity. In order to curb the ever increasing rate of cybercrime, South African banking institutions should consider implementing stronger security and access controls to safeguard customer information, increase user awareness and education, implement effective systems and processes and actively participate in industry wide focus groups. The transnational nature of cybercrime places an onus on all banks in South Africa and other countries to collaborate and define a joint effort to combat the increasing exposure to cybercriminal activity. The use of the Routine Activity Theory provided an avenue to study the cybercrime phenomenon through a different theoretical lens and aided a holistic understanding of the trends and the behavioral attributes contributing to cybercriminal activity that can help South African banks model practical solutions to proactively combat the splurge of cybercrime. Keywords: Cybercrime, internet, crime, computer networks, Routine Activity Theory, South African banks.Item Antecedents of purchase intention amongst the youth in the banking sector in South Africa(2016) Nkomo, YoliswaThe banking industry is adopting a holistic and customer centric approach in order to match the evolving customer banking preferences; this study has set out to examine Customer Equity as an antecedent of Perceived Brand Authenticity and Purchase Intentions amongst the South African youth in the banking sector using Social Exchange Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. An empirical model was conceptualised to examine the relationships between Customer Equity and Perceived Brand Authenticity on purchase intentions. Four research hypotheses were developed and a data set of 253 was collected from a sample of Witwatersrand students to empirically test these hypotheses using Structural Equation Modelling (Amos 22 and SPSS). The findings indicated that from the relationship between Customer Equity and Perceived Brand Authenticity, Value Equity and Brand Equity had a significant and positive effect, however Relationship Equity had no significant influence. The relationship between Perceived Brand Authenticity and Purchase Intentions had significant positive effects. The findings from this study provide useful contributions to practitioners measuring marketing efforts and maximising Customer Equity in the banking industry and builds on existing literature on the Customer Equity framework in the South African context. Recommendations are outlined and future research direction is suggested.
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