School of Business Sciences (ETDs)

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    Factors affecting the adoption of business intelligence solutions in a public sector organisation
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Tshehla, Modiketse
    Business Intelligence Solutions (BIS) continue to play a significant role in organisations and businesses in today’s information age. The adoption of BIS enables an organisation to gain a competitive advantage, generate accurate and faster data reporting, improve customer service, and increase revenue. The benefits of BIS have been realised in private sector organisations. However, the South African public sector is yet to release the benefits of adopting business intelligence solutions. The factors that affect the adoption of business intelligence solutions in a South African public sector organisation have not been fully investigated. This study explores factors that division managers perceive to be salient in influencing the adoption of a visualisation and data exploration BIS available in a public sector organisation in South Africa. The study was underpinned by Tomatzky and Fleischer’s Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework which was applied previously in the adoption of information system (IS) at the organisation level.The framework provided the lens from which adoption was studied by considering influences from the technological context, the organisational context and the environmental context. The following main research question guiding the study was addressed: What aspects of the visualisation and data exploration BIS are perceived to influence the adoption of the BIS in the public sector organisation. The organisation in the study provides training and development to public sector employees of the South African government. The study interviewed 10 senior managers with at least three years’ experience in the organisation. It was found that expected benefits from the technology and its compatibility are important for the adoption of BIS. Within the public sector organisation studied, stakeholder engagement; organisational culture; and available financial resources were also found to be important and supported by the literature. While service provider support was found to be crucial in the BIS adoption from the environmental context, the size of the organisation and the government regulations were found not to be influential in the adoption of BIS in a public sector organisation. The stimulation of employee interest and the importance of data quality were discovered to be the most important reasons the BIS was adopted. This research contributed to the improvement of theory by extending IS literature on BIS adoption and by testing the TOE theoretical framework in the South African public sector context. This study adds to the body of knowledge by extending the use of the TOE framework as a suitable tool for the study of BIS adoption. Furthermore, the study contributed by uncovering factors that influence the adoption of BIS in the South African public sector context. The results may help the South African and other countries’ public sector organisations to become more aware of the factors that influence the adoption of BIS. Practitioners and managers could be better prepared and minimise the BIS adoption risks by considering these factors
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    Privacy concerns about data-usage for South African retail loyalty programs
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Dearden, Alexandra Cameron; Zulu, Melissa; Anning, Thomas Dorson
    Data usage has arisen as a growing topic for researchers and practitioners in South Africa. This is particularly true for Loyalty Programs, where increased personalisation and consumer data usage are being used to fuel business decisions. However, the consumer perspective on data- related privacy concerns provides room to be explored, alongside the investigation of culture, trust, personalisation and the privacy paradox. In this investigation into privacy concerns, the relevance of culture comes into place for its influence on such South African privacy related behaviour and perceptions. This study, therefore, explores privacy concerns and data usage in retail Loyalty programs, to better understand South African consumers' perceptions of data privacy, and their intention to engage with the program. This was done through a multi- theoretical analysis, utilizing the Privacy Calculus Theory (PCT), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the Customer Relationship Management Theory (CRM). This study achieved its objectives through a quantitative research method utilising surveys distributed online. South African consumers above the age for 18 were used as the sample for the research for data collection, of which a non-probability sampling technique was used, and a total of 277 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was utiliseutilised to analyse the data through partial least squares regression (Smart-PLS) to evaluate the relationship between the constructs. Here, the results indicated that privacy concerns exist and are positively influenced by Awareness, Data Breach and Attitude. Furthermore, these concerns were negatively influenced by Intention, Trust, and Culture; and, therefore, a privacy paradox was not confirmed. Furthermore, Personalisation was shown to have no bearing on Privacy Concerns. However, Personalisation had a negative relationship with Attitude, while Trust had a positive one. Perceived Risk was also found to have a negative relationship with Intention. Moreover, this study revealed the existence and South African consumer perspective of privacy concerns and provides benefits for marketers and scholars in the retail industry, such as fueling trust through the recognition of consumer privacy.
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    Adoption of Big Data analytics tools by accountants practicing in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Sithole, Bongiwe; Ramsaroop, Neetu
    This quantitative research paper investigates what drives accountants practicing in South Africa towards adoption of Big Data Analytics (BDA)tools. The study applies the unified theory of acceptance and use 2 (UTAUT2) model with an added construct namely, perceived threat of professional threat of obsolescence. 57 responds were deemed usable and analysed using SmartPLS and SPSS. Results from the sample suggest that the influence of effort expectancy on behavioural intention (BI) is stronger for younger accountants; social influence on BI is stronger for males; facilitating conditions on BI is stronger for the older group and hedonic motivation on BI is stronger for older males. Unmoderated results show social influence and hedonic motivation as key drivers towards adoptions. The findings of this study contribute theoretically by adding to body of work available on the subject of adoption of BDA tool by SA accountants; and practically by highlighting the importance of developing tools that pleasurable to us
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    Exploring factors which influence effective use of robotic process automation for business continuity in a South African bank
    (University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-12-30) Phage, Mafutsana Keitumetse; Mayayise, Thembekile
    Technology advancement improves the organisation's operations while exposing them to risks and disruptions that require mitigation. Business continuity enables organisations to maintain the continuity of critical business operations during disruption. Banks adopt Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to achieve operational efficiency by automating repetitive and high-volume processes. South African banks are rapidly adopting RPA to streamline efficiency, maintain business continuity, and reduce operational costs to improve customer service. While many studies about RPA and business continuity exist, research on integrating these concepts is limited. This research explores determinants influencing RPA use for business continuity. It adopts an interpretivist paradigm combined with the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) and Task-Technology Fit (TTF) framework as a theoretical lens. This theoretical lens proposes a TOE-TTF framework to explore factors affecting RPA use for business continuity. An exploratory research design applying a case study strategy and a purposive sample of ten participants was used in this study. Research data was collected in a South African bank using a semi-structured interview strategy. The results posit that critical TOE components are technological context (i.e., RPA process selection, compatibility, RPA stability and availability, and RPA monitoring, support, and stability), organisational standpoint (i.e., collaboration amongst stakeholders, top management support and business-led initiative) and environmental context (i.e., customer satisfaction, competition pressure, and regulatory requirements) substantially impacted RPA use for business continuity. Also, bank's legacy systems strongly influence RPA use for business continuity. TTF theory factors, namely task, fit, utilisation, and performance factors, influenced RPA use for business continuity. This research provides a unique contribution as it integrates RPA and business continuity notions with the TOE-TTF framework viewpoint in a South African bank advancing the IS discipline. The results provide practitioners and researchers with a better understanding and identify critical factors organisations can be considered when using RPA for business continuity in banking. South African banks could illustrate beneficial insights when facing more competition and evolving customer needs and requirements. The research findings could be used for other technologies that are intended to be used for business continuity in different sectors.
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    A Digital Capability Framework for Academic Continuity amongst South African Higher Education Students
    (University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Makgopela, Reitumetse Ogorogile; Mayayise, Thembekile
    E-learning has been designated as a solution to academic continuity as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the closure of institutions such as Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The use of e- learning by Higher Education (HE) students in developing countries have been extensively studied; however, studies on e-learning use, more specifically effective use for academic continuity in the context of unprecedented circumstances such as natural disasters and pandemics remain scarce. Understanding the effective use of e- learning during such times is a vital step in enabling South African HE students to attain their educational achievements. The definition of e-learning used in this paper was consistent with the one provided by Rosenberg (2001) who refers to e-learning as a learning platform accessed by students and instructors, specifically via the internet. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the effective use of e-learning during unprecedented circumstances to conceptualise a digital capability framework for academic continuity amongst South African HE students. This was an interpretivist study which employed qualitative methods consisting of semi-structured interviews for data collection and thematic analysis for data analysis of the data extracted from 12 students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, registered in any South African HE who used e-learning as the primary method for education where traditional face-to-face classroom learning was not available. The conceptual research framework presented in this paper was an adaptation of Sen’s Capability Approach and expands on personal, social and environmental conversion factors by introducing a fourth category extracted from the results from the systematic literature review findings referred to as “technological conversion factors”; which brought a new and exciting contribution to the theory itself. Finally, the outcome of the study was a conceptualised digital capability framework for academic continuity amongst South African HE students in the context of similar circumstances, which can be used to describe how students can use e-learning effectively in terms of resources, e-learning systems, information delivered and location. It further detailed the enablers and hinderances to the effective use thereof. The framework can also be used in practice by HEIs, students, policy makers, e-learning vendors, and developers as a checklist of key elements which need to be considered in e- learning strategies, programmes and development.