Wits Business School (ETDs)

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    Management Style and Employee Engagement in Blue Collar Workers
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Moodley, Sheila; Maier, Christoph
    A noteworthy and important part of South Africa is that “blue collar workers make up the backbone of the country’s economy” and as such, it is important to pay attention to the work related well-being of these workers in order to become a more productive nation with a more satisfied workforce (Brand-Labuschagne, Mostert, Rothmann and Rothmann, 2012:6). In the State of Labour Report (2016) it is recorded that 3 out of every 4 people in the South African working population are blue collar workers. Thompson (2001) found that the blue collar environment is dominated by black South Africans and argued that it is worthwhile to attempt to identify the perceptions and behaviours of black South Africans in the blue collar environment to address the challenges facing South Africa. In the field of employee engagement it has been found that engaged employees “show higher job and organisational performance, positive job attitudes, higher psychological well-being and proactive job behavior” (Makikangas, Schaufelli, Tolvanen and Feldt, 2013: 136). It has further been established that employee engagement is directly linked to a number of positive organisational outcomes that include improved productivity, increased job satisfaction, higher levels of motivation, employee commitment, reduced turnover intention, increased customer satisfaction, better returns on assets, profits and shareholder value (Bakker, Demerouti and Schaufeli, 2003; Bakker, Schaufeli, Leiter and Taris, 2008; Harter, Schmidt and Hayes, 2002; Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004; Lee and Mohammed, 2006; Brand- Labuschagne, Mostert, Rothmann and Rothmann, 2012). The State of Employee Engagement Report (2019), found that leaders and immediate supervisors make the biggest difference in employee engagement and the research of Kahn (1990) points to engaging the mind, body and soul of the person in the performance of their work as a way of improving employee performance
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    Investigating alternative social funding instruments for SMMEs in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020) Xaba, Prudence; Sibanda, Tonderai
    Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are key drivers of economy, innovation, job creation and the biggest contributor of the GDP. In 2015 there were 2 251 821 SMMEs, with only 667 433 in the formal sector and registered, the rest operating in the informal sector. South Africa today is faced high rates of poverty, unemployment and poor education levels. The current legislative framework has been unable to transform the skewed discrimination in the economic sector. Several government strategies and interventions have not yielded any positive results. The study explored the conversion of stokvels into an alternative social funding instrument for SMMEs. Stokvel is a centralised collective savings scheme, where monthly periodic contribution are paid. Stokvels are referred to as Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROCSAs), with a membership of between 5-30 members. The study employed qualitative multi method approach, using focus groups observations, individual interviews and document analysis to collect data. Semi structured questionnaires were used for the five stokvels focus groups and three individual interviews with government executives. Data analysis was conducted using the three theories; phenomenology, ethnography and interactionism. The findings show that stokvel members are willing to convert into formal investment instruments, to manage risks and having access to better control management systems. They also stated that they would like to maintain their independence, unique identity and control of their savings. It also found that stokvels need financial training in order to make informed decisions on the available platforms. It was also found that all this is impossible without government’s intervention in transforming the sector and introduce flexible legislation accommodating stokvels. It is also stated that retail banks could hinder the introduction of progressive and flexible legislation regulatory framework as they recognise that stokvels could be disruptors in the financial sector.
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    The deployment of platform businesses in the township economy: a focus on spaza shops in Soweto
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Deokaran, Ruwaan
    The purpose of this study was to understand how the township economy is leveraging off platform businesses to make them more profitable and deliver on customer needs more easily and conveniently. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 10 entrepreneurs operating spaza shops in Soweto (a township in South Africa) were conducted. Findings showed that the use of platform technologies has put SA spaza shop owners in a better position to access financial support. The study also found that spaza owners were now better equipped to track their inventory and thus prevent any losses, thus experiencing greater overall profitability. Given that most South African spaza shop entrepreneurs operate on limited budgets and face stiff competition from foreign owned spaza shops, the greatest value of this research is that it not only confirms the adequacy of platform technologies in the spaza shop sector, but it also shows that adoption of platform technologies results in competitive advantage and strategic opportunities