Wits Business School (ETDs)
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Item Performance of Companies after Business Rescue In South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Wu, BiyuThis study investigated the performance of the companies that went through business rescue in South Africa, and the impact of such program on the viability of firms. The purpose of a business rescue program is to rehabilitate struggling businesses. The business rescue program provides a number of initiatives, namely a temporary supervision of the business and its affairs, business and property; a temporary moratorium on the rights of claimants against the business or in respect of property in its possession; and the development and implementation of the business rescue program. The business rescue program has three major processes. Firstly, a business rescue practitioner will be appointed and he will oversee the business, its property and the management of the business affairs. Secondly, the business will be shielded from all creditors’ claims. The purpose of the second step is for the rescue practitioner to carry out the third process, where he will restructure the business, property, debt, affairs, liabilities, and equity, among other things. This study evaluated the impact of the above process through analysing the performance of the rescued companies in South Africa. By using a treatment effect methodology and a dataset for firms in the media and real estate industries for the period 2011 to 2019, the study found a positive and strong impact of the business rescue program on struggling firms. Firms that went through the business rescue programs have been observed to be more profitable, better able to accumulate assets, better able to manage cash flows and creditors and they were also able to attract investors. However the impact of the business rescue program has been observed to be disproportionately different across industries. Thus, policy makers have been recommended to expand on the program, to create industry specific business rescue programs, and to enhance the business environment for the companies at their post rescue period, including introducing policies to incentivize the investors and to offer tax rebates to the rescued businessesItem Redesigning and applying the open innovation contest model to a South African financial firm(2021) Singh, AmeethFirms have been experimenting with various forms of innovation in order to overcome the challenges brought about by technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). One particular 4IR approach, Open Innovation (OI), allows firms to access a large crowd of individuals outside the firm and has recorded significant innovations in this way. OI has been used extensively, but some firms have used it differently to others. The Land Bank,for example, opted for internal rather than external OI, by tapping into the creativity of its employees. But, they were not as successful as those firms that used external OI. This is because employee innovation is not straightforward. It requires a different management style to managing external individuals or normal everyday employee working environments. Moreover, there is a lack of research on Open Innovation Contests (OICs) and innovation management practices to assist managers in navigating the complexities of employee innovation. This study has combined these research strands to provide management practices that are best for managing employee innovation. To do this, a qualitative study was undertaken where an interview was used to investigate employee’s experiences and expectations of innovation management. The interview was developed from theory on OICs and innovation management practices and eight employees of the Land Bank were interviewed. The research findings indicated that managing employees for innovation is quite challenging because employees view innovation as something that is out of the ordinary and they expect the firm to use specialized management techniques to inspire and motivate them. Five important themes emerged from the data collected, namely a) Role of leadership in innovation, b) Role of management in innovation, c) Learning and development for innovation, d) Rewarding innovation, and e) Robust innovation process. In the eyes of employees, the leadership team has the most amount of influence and power to make changes and must use these attributes to create a culture of innovation that will encourage creativity and risk taking among employees. Managers, on the other hand, were found to also have an important role to play in innovation. Employees want them to follow a contemporary approach to managing innovation by establishing a work environment that grants employees’ flexibility, autonomy, trust, and respect. Employees are enthusiastic about learning from their mistakes in innovation because it increases their knowledge base and motivates them to continue innovating. Receiving feedback is therefore important to them but they expect to receive feedback in a form that they can understand and incorporate into future innovations. Rewarding employees for their innovation is important to them but they do not always expect to be financially rewarded, especially if firms are experiencing financial constraints