4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item The emergence of embedded finance in corporate South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Latiff, Asma; Totowa, JacquesThis study explored the burgeoning phenomenon of embedded finance (EmFi) within the South African financial services sector, examining whether it is a disruptive force or merely an evolutionary progression in service delivery. Grounded in Christensen's disruptive innovation theory and supplemented by a comprehensive review of both local and global EmFi implementations, the paper aims to dissect the impact of EmFi on consumer access to financial services, evaluate its benefits and challenges, and project its future implications for the industry. Qualitative interviews with industry experts were conducted to assess how EmFi is reshaping consumer interactions with financial services, the operational and strategic benefits it offers to businesses, and the potential challenges it poses, including regulatory hurdles and data security concerns. The study further investigated EmFi's capacity to disrupt traditional banking models and induce a paradigm shift towards more inclusive, efficient, and customer-centric financial services. Findings indicate that EmFi significantly enhances consumer access to financial services, embedding banking, loans, and investment products into everyday digital platforms, thereby democratizing financial access. While EmFi presents clear benefits in terms of convenience and personalized service delivery, it also introduces challenges such as regulatory ambiguity and increased data privacy risks. The future impact of EmFi on the financial services industry suggests a potential hybrid future where traditional institutions and fintech innovations collaborate more closely under a redefined regulatory framework. It was concluded that, currently, EmFi represents an evolutionary step designed to enhance the delivery of financial services. However, it possesses the latent potential to become a disruptive force. Traditional banks that fail to keep pace with technological advancements, update legacy systems, and foster open partnerships with fintech’s and third parties may find themselves at risk of disruption. EmFi stands at a crossroads, with its trajectory dependent on the strategic responses of the banking sector to these emerging challenges and opportunities. Recommendations for future research underscore the importance of continuous exploration into EmFi's evolving iii role in promoting financial inclusion, adapting regulatory frameworks, and reshaping the competitive landscape.Item Disruption of creative marketing supply chain due to generative artificial intelligence(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Evertse, JustinThis study explores the transformative impact of generative AI on the creative marketing industry's supply chain process, focusing on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in content creation. The advent of AI has revolutionised the way content is generated, leading to a paradigm shift in the creative landscape. The study investigated the implications of this shift for creativity, originality, and efficiency within the marketing and advertising sectors. Through a qualitative research methodology, including interviews with various industry stakeholders, this study delved into the nuances of AI's integration into creative processes and its effects on workflow, production, and distribution channels within the creative marketing industry. The research is grounded in theories of disruptive innovation and technology organisation enterprise theory, providing a theoretical framework to analyse the impact of AI technologies on traditional creative and marketing practices. It addresses crucial concerns such as the ownership of AI-generated content, the role of human creativity in the age of AI, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI in creative industries. The study's findings highlight a dual impact: AI as a tool for enhancing creative processes, enabling more efficient and diverse content generation, and AI as a disruptor, challenging traditional roles and workflows within the industry. Significantly, the study identifies a shift towards more collaborative models between AI and human creativity, suggesting that the future of the creative marketing industry lies in leveraging AI to augment human talent rather than replace it. This balance presents opportunities for innovation and new forms of content creation but also necessitates a re-evaluation of skill sets, job roles, and industry standards to adapt to an AI-integrated environment. The research underscores the importance of ethical guidelines and industry-wide discussions on the use of AI, advocating for policies that support creativity, protect intellectual property, and ensure fair competition in the evolving landscape. In conclusion, this qualitative research study provides an insightful analysis of the complex dynamics between generative AI and the creative marketing industry. It offers a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities AI presents, iii emphasising the need for a strategic approach to integrate AI technologies. By highlighting the potential for AI to augment human creativity and transform supply chain processes, the study contributes valuable perspectives to the ongoing discourse on the future of creativity and technology in marketing and advertisingItem An investigation into modes of technological disruption in South African businesses(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Bassa, Nahim Yusuf; Armstrong, BrianThe term and understanding of disruption remains an engaging and expansive space. Seminal works of literature ranging from Joseph Schumpeter to Clayton Christenson have introduced the concept of technology disruption and its subsequent effects. However, this research has predominately been focused on the pre-digital era. Technology advancements have created tectonic changes in the business world and resulted in a myriad of outcomes in what is being termed the 'era of digital.' To date, the literature on technological disruption in this digital era has been filled through thought-leadership and point-of-view pieces by leading consultancy and professional service organisations and revealed a gap in the theoretical applications of technological disruption in the business world. This study followed a constructivist paradigm and positioned whether technology disruption can be explained in terms of a market engagement, demand, and production disruption model. A purposive sampling method was executed using the researcher’s professional network across a set of 11 interviews. The sample represented an adequate number of male and female respondents, senior executives, mainly over the age of 40, from multiple South African industries, occupying various C-Suite roles. The results of the survey supported the model and the interlinkages between the different technology modes. These findings have implications on how technological change creates disruptive opportunities or threats for firms and how they can take advantage of it. Suggestions for future research are provided.