Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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The internal factors that influence incremental technological innovation in a South African organisation
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Gobind, Dhiyaksha; Magida, Ayanda
In today’s fast-changing digital world, technological innovation is necessary for organisations to ensure long-term sustainability and market success. In large, complex organisations, numerous factors influence the success or failure of innovation. These factors can be categorised as technological, organisational, and environmental. This study explored the internal factors that influence incremental technological innovation in an organisation. Organisation X forms part of a federated business model and, as a result, has a shared technology platform. The study applied qualitative research methods with an interpretive paradigm that helped to evaluate the human experience and the understanding they attach to it. A purposive sampling method was applied using the researcher’s professional network to interview 12 participants at various management levels in the organisation. While there was a predetermined interview guide, the instrument format offered flexibility to explore the topics. The primary data collection method was in the form of online interviews on a cloud-based collaboration software. The data was analysed using the thematic analysis approach, and the results highlighted an interplay of the themes as they were interdependent. After applying the factors explored by the study within the technological, organisational, and environmental contexts, the research findings revealed significant areas that required focus and optimisation. The results indicated that organisational culture, processes, and leadership styles significantly influence technological innovation. The research provides practical recommendations to solve for the gaps and inefficiencies revealed by the study. These valuable recommendations include setting up Centres of Excellence, defining Proof of Concept strategies and reconfiguring project teams working on the latest technology innovations
The role of digital technology in SME funding by Commercial Banks in South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Chili, Philani; Manessah, Alagbaoso
SMEs are the backbone of developing economies, playing an integral role in GDP growth and job creation. South Africa, inclusive of an informal sector, presents a wider SME market, which through adequate support, can contribute significantly to the economy. With the future growth of the economy and improved employment prospects majorly dependent on the contributions of the SME sector as avowed by the South African Government, the success of these constrained businesses is most important. SMEs in South Africa have an average age of five years, with lack of access to financing noted as one of the key inhibiting factors. Although the advent of technology has introduced new financial intermediation players, offering innovative products necessary to drive accessibility to financial services, optimising traditional banks’ larger resources could yield mass benefit. Unlocking the full funding potential of banks through modern technology is therefore critical to support the survive and thrive prospects of SMEs. This study endeavoured to understand existing relationships and the extent to which digital technology can be exploited to improve accessibility to bank funding by SMEs, using literature insights pertaining to information opacity and innovation challenges which stifle progressive SME lending. The study was underpinned by the Disruption Innovation Theory and Information Asymmetry Theory. Following a quantitative approach, structured survey questionnaire data collected from SMEs in South Africa was statistically analysed. SMEs that attempted (whether successfully or not) to obtain funding from traditional banks were of particular interest. Although innovation and technology adoption seemed to drive accessibility to bank funding whilst lack of engagement with innovation activities hindered it, both showed weak correlations and had no statistical significance. Intriguingly, ‘age of business’ showed a statistically significant correlation with accessibility to bank funding, a result that is pertinent to the survival factors of SMEs and warrants further exploration. Whilst SMEs provide a reliable proxy to improved SME lending by banks, it is imperative that perspectives of the banks are included in such a study to make a meaningful contribution to academic research aimed at unearthing relationships that start to edge closer to an optimal SME lending model. In the meantime, the onus lies with SMEs to minimise information opacity and improve fundability through technology as they navigate a somewhat rigid traditional bank system.
The impact of barriers to Inter-Company Innovation flows and Corporate Entrepreneurship at a Financial Services Organisation in Johannesburg
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Maseko, Buyisile; Matshabaphala, Manamela
Background: Increasing stability and improving the quality of services are the main challenges facing the financial industry since the 2008 fiscal crisis. In this paper, we explored the barriers within large financial services firms that influence the effectiveness of disruptive and radical innovation. Providing quality services to customers is one of the pillars of financial services companies. It is imperative that they continuously innovate their services in order to sustain their revenue streams in tough macroeconomic times and amid rapid technological growth. Research Purpose: This paper investigated the barriers that impact the inter-company innovation flow in the financial service sector and corporate entrepreneurship. In simple terms, we examined the link between corporate entrepreneurship and financial innovation and how barriers to these flows can impact inter-company innovation. As part of this study, we examined the factors that predict service innovation in the financial services sector such as management support, work discretion, rewards and reinforcement, and organisational boundaries. Setting: A survey questionnaire was conducted with employees within a Financial Services Organisation in South Africa - across various designations. Research Method and Approach: In order to gather responses from all levels of employees within one of the country's leading banks, a case study approach was adopted. To gather quantitative data, an online survey was conducted using scales for corporate entrepreneurship and service innovation. The inferential statistics were based on multiple linear regressions and factor analysis. Main Findings: Several major barriers to innovation and change were identified in the emerging findings, including bureaucracy, poor communication, lack of engagement by employees, management challenges and risk aversion. Based on the study's findings, corporate entrepreneurship predicted certain dimensions of service innovation. There was a significant (p 0.05) correlation between rewards and recognition, management support, and time availability on the basis of service innovation. Service innovation was not significantly influenced by work discretion or organisational boundaries. Using employee perceptions of barriers to innovation and change, this study provides managers and practitioners with insight into how to improve the organizational conditions to support innovation and change. Based on the results of this study, further research can be conducted in this field. Value of Research: The insights gained from this study can help companies improve commercial services and build competitive advantage through corporate entrepreneurship and address inter-company innovation barriers. According to the results, the financial services industry is unable to innovate in response to society's demand for radical change. Identifying the internal barriers to potential disruptions and radical innovations in large financial services firms are the purpose of this study
The promotion of Corporate Entrepreneurship in the South African financial services organisations
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Nhlapo, Simon; Alovokpinhou, Sedjro Aaron
There has been a growing interest in corporate entrepreneurship in the last four decades. Corporate entrepreneurship has therefore become a necessary attribute that organisations that wish to gain competitive advantage and be market leaders should possess. This study assesses the extent to which corporate entrepreneurship is promoted and encouraged in South African financial services organisations. The research study identifies and investigates organisational internal factors, which affect the promotion of corporate entrepreneurship in South African financial services organisations through administering Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment instrument (CEAI). The research results indicate that work discretion is the only construct that respondents perceived to be encouraged and promoted. This was further confirmed by higher positive responses on items relating to autonomy and freedom. Participants reflected a neutral sentiment regarding the promotion of corporate entrepreneurship irrespective of gender, age, organisational level, tenure, and overall employment tenure. The research results also suggests that management sentiment is low on time availability for the promoting entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, we conclude that the South African financial services industry still has an enormous task to create an environment conducive for corporate entrepreneurship.
Product innovation strategies that support an organisation’s reset business strategy
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Maithufi, Marang Norah; Mupfawa, Shungu
Literature reveals that many organisations do not have well-communicated innovation strategies, or rarely articulate their innovation efforts to align with business strategies. In addition, research further emphasises that without innovation strategies, different parts of an organisation can find themselves pursuing conflicting priorities even in the existence of a clear business strategy. Organisation A, the case under study, has recently accounced its new refresh business strategy; in order to align itself with the changing business and consumer landscapes. The new business strategy focusses on value delivery through customer-centricity and market-focused businesses. The aim of this study is to ascertain product innovation strategies that can support Organisation A’s new business ambitions. Organisation A produces and markets a wide range of products, including chemicals; both commodity as well specialty chemicals. The products identifed for the study are polymers products, selected due to the unique challenges the products currently face; which include being commodity products at the mature stage of their product lifecycle. Parallel to this, these products have recently endured substantial environmental scrutiny relating to the increasing (polymers) plastics waste footprint in the environment and other externalities, with consumers thus demanding more environmentally sustainable product solutions. For a richer discovery, as well as uncovering perceptions which may influence how innovation is conducted at Organisation A, a qualitative single case study research strategy was pursued, via semi-structured interview schedules with Organisation A’ employees involved in and associated with the development, production, marketing, sales and support of polymers products under study. The study revealed that although innovation is widely acknowledged as important, the perceptions held within the business were that polymers product innovation was not a forefront imperative. This, according to the study participants, manifested as an environment that was unsupportive of product innovation endevours, a business that was overly risk-averse, internally focussed, and considered other categories of innovation such as manufacturing process innovations as more value creating than polymers product innovation efforts. Consequently, only incremental and sustaining product innovation activities that were perceived to not disrupt the business were embraced. Three strategies or opportunity areas are proposed, that Organisation A can explore for its polymers product innovation efforts to support the new business strategy
Entrepreneurial orientation and value sustenance of a South African firm during the Covid-19 pandemic
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Carim, Shakira; Murimbika, Edward
This study's overall theoretical issues related to the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation adopted by organisations to survive the COVID-19 pandemic economically. As the world was economically thrown into upheaval and crisis, many organisations faced bankruptcy and stopped trading. The motivation of this study was to understand measures adopted by organisations by applying the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation to survive the COVID-19 crisis and whether it proved fruitful. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) that relate to innovation, proactiveness, risk-taking and autonomy had impacted and helped sustain firm value, measured through business financial performance, business retention, and moderated by financial reprieve received, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in an emerging market context and focused on organisations operating within a South African context. The focus was placed on those industries that were negatively impacted by the crisis. In an organisational setting, a quantitative empirical study was conducted based on responses of 133 participants. Service, retail, and manufacturing enterprises were included in the sample, of which the retail and manufacturing enterprises housed dedicated IT departments. Through electronically distributed questionnaires, their organisational employees were invited to participate in the study. Regression analysis was used to support the hypotheses and literature read using the SPSS v27 tool. It was established that 72% of the responses were received from the manufacturing sector, 20% from the service sector, 5% from the IT sector, and 3% from the retail sector. The main results and findings of the study are summarised below
Business networks and the moderating impact of innovation on business performance
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Jordaan,Brigitta; Msimango-Galawe, Jabulile
South Africa faces frighteningly high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty. Like many other emerging economies, the South African government has recognised the importance of entrepreneurial activity. It widely views SME's (Small or Medium- sized Enterprises) as the lynchpin to realising growth and expansion. However, a common challenge to the performance and growth of many SME's is the lack of access to resources. Additionally, as advancements in innovation have so rapidly evolved in recent years, a business's innovative capabilities have become just as crucial to its performance capabilities and sustaining a competitive advantage. This study mainly focused on investigating the extent to which networks, particularly supplier, consumer and competitor networks, moderated by innovation, impacted the financial performance of SME's in South Africa. Data collection from SME owners and managers throughout South Africa using self-administered surveys, distributed via Qualtrics. The results show that two supplier networks and consumer networks moderated by innovation significantly impact business performance. Consequently, no factors from the consumer networks construct were extracted in the EFA analysis to determine consumer networks' impact on business performance. As such, no conclusions could be determined in considering the consumer network's impact on firm performance. Findings suggest that the study be replicated with a significantly larger sample. It is also recommended that further research explores the extent to which network activities and network resources, when moderated by innovation, impacts business performance, with a view on measuring alternate performance metrics such as growth, market share and consumer and employee satisfaction and growth
Redesigning and applying the open innovation contest model to a South African financial firm
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Singh, Ameeth; Ahwireng-Obeng, F.
Firms 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
Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance within the South African Minibus Taxi Industry
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Kier, Jessica; Urban, Boris
The primary purpose of this research is to understand the relationship between the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation within the South African minibus taxi industry. This industry is pivotal to the South African economic structure and landscape as a whole. The taxi industry serves as the main mode of public transport in South Africa. A survey was used to conduct an empirical research study. A sample size of 120 participants was originally selected; however, of those 120, only 95 surveys were valid and used due to missing values in the data provided in the others. This sample size is representative of the population concerning the taxi industry. The research instrument included a 7-point Likert scale. Further, the instrument included demographic coverage and sections covering the three entrepreneurial orientations’ dimensions. The aim of this study is to understand the extent to which entrepreneurial orientation enables small- to medium-enterprise growth performance within the South African taxi industry. Empirical data to support research suppositions is difficult to access within the public domain, but this research identified and provided an analysis extracted from private enterprise which fills the gap in the current research literature space. The results indicated a weak positive influence between the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and growth performance within the industry. Due to the significance of the findings, the results are not strong enough for generalising the same findings for the entire South African minibus taxi population. This industry is the main source of public transport within the country and needs to increase its literature in order to grow and further improve. Further findings can contribute to the understanding of the complexity that surrounds the industry’s atmosphere. The value of working to formulate constructive information on the taxi industry will allow for further engagement within the field
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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