Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37778
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item Exploring drivers of vertical forward integration in South Africa’s platinum mining industry(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Pheto, Simon; Oro, UfuoHistorically, South Africa has positioned itself as a net exporter of refined and semi-finished Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) related products, which has stayed the same. This position generates much-needed foreign capital during commodity booms, but it has a long-lasting catastrophic impact on the economy. As a result, the South African PGMs industry is experiencing the lock-in effect of only specialising in exports of refined and semi-finished PGMs-related products. This trade pattern impairs South Africa’s capability to develop a comparative advantage in the export of finished PGMs-related products. This research seeks to identify, explore, and obtain an in-depth understanding of the drivers of vertical forward integration to migrate the PGMs industry from the export of refined and semi- finished PGMs-related products to finished PGMs-related products. The drivers of vertical forward integration were identified in the literature review. An in-depth understanding of these drivers was obtained through a qualitative research study. The themes associated with these drivers were identified by running structured interviews and analysing the data in Atlas.ti software. The structured interview results show that export-led industrialisation policies targeting international trade, innovation capabilities, relatedness of capabilities and foreign direct investments (FDI) will transform the South African PGMs industry into a manufacturing sector and exporter of finished PGMs-related products. However, the above drivers of forward vertical integration require a strong and progressive institutional regime with large institutional capital. The input-output model of the forward vertical integration process in South Africa’s PGMs industry takes the PGMs reserves as an input transformed resource and institutional regime as transforming resource. The four remaining drivers, international trade, innovation capabilities, the relatedness of capabilities and FDI are important components in the transforming process. The transforming process entails the creation of new knowledge and new technology, absorption of foreign knowledge and technology, the liberalisation of international trade and entrepreneurship. The output of the above model is finished PGMs-related productsItem Transitioning to a Platform Business: A Resource-Based View Case Study of a South African Bank(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Ramrup, Kashil; Lee, GregoryTraditional incumbent banks have seen upstart digital-only banks and fintech, free of legacy systems, challenging their market share. In an effort to avoid disruption by fintechs, banks are embracing the platform strategy. Developing a platform makes it possible to interact with current communities and benefit from shared network effects that can hasten growth, save costs, and increase brand awareness. This research report investigates the impact on a large incumbent bank's resources transitioning to a platform business. A case study was completed on one of South Africa’s big five banks, focusing on the corporate and investment banking(CIB) division. The division is considered a thought leader around platforms within the bank and is actively engaged in shaping and driving its transitional journey. A qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with senior management and executive leadership. The study population comprised employees of the CIB division of Bank X, South Africa. The sample was selected based on seniority and exposure to the bank's platform business strategy formulation and implementation. The study found that, despite the bank intentions to pursue the platform strategy, there was an internal misalignment in precisely what it meant at the various levels within the organisation, compounded by the lack of platform and technical skills in multiple areas to support the transition. As CIB is a high-touch banking model, there was little understanding of how the physical network would be impacted or could be leveraged/integrated into the platform model. It also found that transitioning to a platform requires individuals with a platform thinking mindset, the ability to challenge the traditional linear pipeline business model, and an enabled and aligned culture with a new operating model that could blend the physical and digital worldsItem Assessing the impact of covid-19 on monitoring and evaluation functions of the gauteng department of health(2023) Dlamini, Nqobile Minenhle; Pophiwa, NedsonThe Covid-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges that required enforced adaptation in all aspects of human life globally. With such an outbreak the government sector was forced to develop mitigation factors and implement precautionary measures useful for curbing the pandemic. Hence, the research focuses on the Gauteng Department of Health as it is at the forefront of the healthcare sector. The main research objective is to understand ways in which the pandemic disrupts the Gauteng Department of Health’s Monitoring and Evaluation functions mechanisms adopted to ensure function continuity. Therefore, it was also important to understand the tools and mechanisms that were adopted and how the pandemic changed their implementation. A total of 10 key participants within the department were interviewed and a question guide was used as a data collection tool during the interview process. The participants interviewed were purposively sampled as a form of non-probability sampling. This study is a qualitative case study research design with an exploratory research approach. During the interview process, the majority of the participants indicated that lockdowns, restrictions on travel, isolations, quarantines, and the shutdown of non-essential activities were highly implemented. However, these restrictions impacted how raw data was collected in the field. Remote data collection had to be introduced and it became common because face-to-face data collection was limited due to contracting the virus. The findings of this study revealed that the Monitoring and Evaluation practices in the department were no longer treated as a priority due to the urgent response to the pandemic. The data that has been collected throughout the research indicates that there are ways in which Monitoring and Evaluation can be developed and innovated. The study also highlighted the best possible interventions or recommendations that can be taken into consideration should a pandemic of this nature arise in the future. This becomes a contribution to the knowledge gap concerning the disruption of an unexpected pandemic