Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37778
Browse
4 results
Search Results
Item 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 constraintsItem Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance within the South African Minibus Taxi Industry(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Kier, Jessica; Urban, BorisThe 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 fieldItem The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Market Performance in South African Commercial Banks(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Shandu, Thato Melisizwe; Urban, BorisHeterodox economics has been fundamental in shaping our understanding of the importance of entrepreneurial activity in contributing to economic growth both at a micro and macro level. A large part of facilitating this growth is through the intermediation functions of the financial services sector who like any profit maximising organisation relies on renewal strategies to create value for its customers and generate wealth for its shareholders. To this effect EO represents key entrepreneurial processes by which organisations continuously renew their strategic outlook intended to drive performance and achieve long-term economic value. However, it is difficult to drive renewal strategies for improved performance in the face of scarce information. The motivation of this study was driven by the need to contextually understand the dynamics of the EO-performance relationship in South African listed commercial banks. This study endeavoured to elaborate on and clarify the associative links between the presence of EO dimension (proactiveness, innovativeness and risk-taking) cues and their direct impact on market performance. Secondary textual data gathered from the annual integrated reports of the listed commercial banks was obtained through text analysis to extract the presence of EO cues. The presence of these cues was then assessed in relation to stock price movements which relied on the event-study methodology. Due to small sample challenges, findings from the analysis were not in-line with the priori expectation of the study across all variables and lack generalisability. The study’s finding also add contextual relevance considering the South African regulatory context and the current market dynamics of the financial services sectorItem Digital adoption by small law firms in South Africa: Challenges and opportunitie(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Di Monaco, Veronica; Pellissier, RenéThis qualitative study will explore the factors limiting further technological adoption (TA) by small law firms (SLF) in South Africa (SA) and identify which digital transformation (DT) principles can be deployed to surpass constraints, enabling such firms to modernize their business models for higher efficiency and effectiveness