3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Evaluation of the biodiversity reporting in the South African fishing industry(2017) Usher, Kieran MichaelBiodiversity is a serious concern for companies using natural resources in their operations and should be examined closely in order to assess how these companies are reporting their biodiversity related impacts. This thesis evaluates the biodiversity disclosures reported by companies in the South African fishing industry. The integrated and sustainability reports of these companies were examined over a three year period for the quantity and quality of their biodiversity related disclosures. This involved the examination of the extent, location, and quality of such disclosures by South African fishing companies. The thesis finds that there is a distinct lack of biodiversity-related disclosures in the South African fishing industry. This thesis highlights the operation of organised hypocrisy in an industry which relies on the availability of natural resources and the state of biodiversity in order to continue its operations. It was found that a possible reason for limited biodiversity disclosures by South African fishing companies was to avoid public scrutiny of their biodiversity impact. The thesis contributes to the evaluation of a country, and more specifically an industry, that is heavily reliant on the state of biodiversity.Item Impact investing: analysis of different measurement metrics for fund managers in South Africa(2017) George, JamesPurpose Social investors are driven to sustainable investing for many different reasons: impact investors are concerned about the environment, social impact on the communities, as well as the sustainability and growth of their funds. Measuring that social impact can assist these organisations and fund managers to prove to their investors that their initiatives are benefiting the communities in which they operate. Measuring impact also helps social enterprises to evaluate their needs, aspirations, resources and incentives for their customers. It leads to improvement in performance, which often leads to job creation, survival and growth. This research evaluated and discussed impact investing industry in South Africa and focused on the effects or outcomes of the selected four major measurement metrics, namely: social impact, innovativeness, replicability and sustainability – for the fund managers. These measurement metrics were evaluated to ascertain if they would result in organisational performance/growth. Design, methodology and approach This is a survey based empirical study with 159 respondents who are players in the impact investing industries. A descriptive quantitative method was used to address the proposed relationships between measuring metrics and growth of the organisations. The instrument was checked for validity and for reliability: the variables were operationalised and measured against multi-dimensional scales. Analyses for the proposed relationships were measured using multiple regression and correlation analysis. Findings Results showed that impact organisations tend to grow more when they are transparent and accountable for their endeavours. Investors will increase funding to the fund managers who show in their reports how their objectives have been achieved. The study selected only four measurement metrics and tested how they affect growth of an organisation through increased funding. The results show that ii two metrics (social impact and sustainability) had a positive relationship with the growth of the organisation, meaning that the more the organisations report on the impact they are making in communities and the more they show how self-sustainable they are, the more the organisations showed signs of growth. The results also showed that when social organisations are innovative, they are able to replicate their projects into more communities. Research limitations and implications Main implications of this research are that fund managers will source more funds to grow their initiatives if they show transparency and accountability. If they report on how much social impact they are causing, how their initiatives have been innovative, how replicable they are and how self-sustaining the initiatives are, then impact investors will consider increasing their funding, resulting in growth. Contribution of study Impact investing industry is still new and requires more research to be conducted, especially in the South African context. Previous research has concentrated on definitions and on how to measure impact but not many have zoomed into the measurement metrics and analysed what they mean to the fund managers as well as to the investors. This research was conducted in order to cover that research gap.Item The effect of motivations for ecological responsiveness (ER) on intrapreneurship in South Africa(2017) Christos, CayleyThis research report is based on the motivations for ecological responsiveness as identified by Bansal and Roth (2000). It considers the resultant actions of different motivations for ecological responsiveness (ER), and their ability to moderate the relationship between ER and Intrapreneurship in South Africa. The study adopted a deductive positivist paradigm that assumed an ecocentric approach to management and organisational research. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed and the use of both primary data collection from surveys and secondary data collection from websites and annual reports were utilised in order to determine the existence of relationships between the variables of ecological responsiveness and intrapreneurship, and the moderating variables of legitimation, competitiveness and ecological responsibility. Multiple regression analysis was used to statistically test the relationship between the independent variable of ecological responsiveness and the dependent variable of intrapreneurship, as well as the moderating effect of the variables listed above. The population of this study was employees with management/supervisory positions within financial institutions of South Africa. It was required that these organisations were listed and had accessible or publically available annual reports in order for content analysis to be conducted. The final sample consisted of 210 management level employees who were in the majority employed at 3 different large, listed, South African banks. This study found support for hypothesized relationships between ecological responsiveness and intrapreneurship, as well as the positive moderating effect of the motive of ecological responsibility on this relationship. Results pertaining to the moderating effect of legitimation and competitive motives were not supported. In addition, the study found support for the proposed relationship between an organisations ecological qualitative content analysis (QCA) score and the level of ecological responsibility perception in the organisation. The general findings contribute to research in the field of motivations for environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) and the resulting actions.