Masters Degrees (Business Management)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Business Management) by Advisor "Smit, A. V. A."

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    ItemOpen Access
    Faktore wat winsgewende groei in klein en mediumgrootte sakeondernemings beïnvloed
    (University of the Free State, 1997) Verhoeven, Charlotte Emelda; Crous, M. J.; Smit, A. V. A.
    Afrikaans: Die bestaan van kleinsakesektore bied verskeie voordele aan ekonomiese huishoudings. Die voortbestaan van hierdie sektore kan egter slegs verseker word indien kleinsakeondernernings winsgewend groei en bly voortbestaan. Dit blyk egter dat groei in kleinsakeondernemings 'n proses is wat dikwels onbeheersd plaasvind, met gevolglike negatiewe resultate. Ondernemings wat winsgewend groei, is die uitsondering. Die vraag is dus: Waarom groei sommige ondernemings winsgewend en ander nie? Volgens hierdie studie is winsgewende groei die gevolg van 'n kombinasie van faktore. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te bepaal in watter mate die entrepreneur, geleentheid en hulpbronne winsgewende groei beinvloed. 'n Tweeledige ondersoek, bestaande uit 'n literatuurstudie en 'n empiriese ondersoek, is uitgevoer. Afdeling A omvat hoofstukke 2 tot 5 wat handel oar die teoretiese bespreking van winsgewende groei en die drie bemvloedende faktore daarvan, naamlik die entrepreneur, hulpbronne en geleentheid. Afdeling B bevat die empiriese resultate en gevolgtrekkings van die studie. Winsgewende groei word beskou as die reele toename in winsgewendheid en omset in verhouding tot mekaar oar die lang termyn. Winsgewende groei gee aanleiding tot welvaartverhoging wat die bestaansrede van ondememings is. Winsgewende groei kan egter slegs plaasvind indien goeie geleenthede geidentifiseer word en bestuurs- en hulpbronprobleme voortspruitend uit groei oorbrug word. Goeie geleenthede word deur die volgende gekenrnerk: die geleentheid val binne die vermoe van die ondernerning om dit te benut; die tydsbestek wat die geleentheid bestaan, is lank genoeg om investering te verhaal; 'n werklike behoefte aan die produk bestaan; produkte verskil van mededingers se produkte; min mededinging en substituutprodukte kom voor; bedingingsmag van verskaffers en verbruikers is in die minderheid en toetreehindernisse is oorbrugbaar. 'n Mededingende voordeel verseker winsgewende groei en 'n geskikte mededingende voordeel vir kleinsakeondememings is differensiasiestrategiee. Groeistrategiee wat gebruik kan word om by veranderende omstandighede aan te pas, is intensiewe groei met spesifieke verwysing na produk- en markinnovasie. Bestuursverwante probleme waarmee entrepreneurs gekonfronteer word, is 'n Ieierskapsdilemma; langtermynfokus wat vervaag; kommunikasie wat verswak; toename in onsekerheid onder werknemers; vorming van subgroepe; gebrekkige menslike hulpbronbestuur; toenemende spanning vir die entrepreneur; toenemende rigiditeit; en verandering van die organisasiekultuur. Daarmee saam word entrepreneurs genoodsaak om verskeie aanpassings aan hul eie rol in ondememings te maak. Entrepreneurs speel ook 'n bepalende rol in die ontwikkeling van organisasiestrukture, entrepreneurspanne en ondernemingskulture. Kleinsakeondememings ervaar oor die algemeen kapitaaltekorte. Kontantvloeiprobleme wat een van die vemaamste gevolge van groei is, vererger die kapitaaltekorte. Om finansiele probleme te voorkom, kan entrepreneurs kontantvloei beheer/kontroleer deur middel van kontantvloeistate en kontantverhoudingsgetalle. Verder kan 'n bekostigbare groeikoers vir die ondememing bereken word deur middel van die persentasie-van-verkopemodel en die Boston-model. Entrepreneurs word genoop om van eksterne finansieringsbronne gebruik te maak om groei te finansier, hoewel generering van eie fondse vir groei die mees gewenste altematief is. Finansiering van groei vind egter dikwels deur die gebruikmaking van skuld plaas. Die Iiteratuurstudie is gevolg deur 'n empiriese ondersoek wat uit vier fases bestaan het, naamlik die bepaling van die universum, opstel van die skedule, uitvoer van die ondersoek en verwerking van die data. Gestruktureerde data-insameling, naamlik die persoonlike onderhoude aan die hand van 'n skedule, is gebruik om inligting van die universum (winsgewende groeiende klein en mediumgrootte sakeondernemings in Bloemfontein) te verkry. Beskikbare data is deur middel van variansie-analises en kruistabellering ontleed. Uit die empiriese ondersoek blyk dit dat winsgewende groei 'n bereikbare doelwit vir kleinsakeondememings is. Die identifisering en benutting van 'n goeie geleentheid en die oorkoming van bestuurs- en hulpbronprobleme voortspruitend uit die groeiproses het winsgewende groei vir klein en mediumgrootte sakeondememings in verskillende markte, bedrywe en omstandighede, tot gevolg.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Foreign direct investment of Chinese SMEs in the Free State
    (University of the Free State, 2010) Ngam, Emmanuel Fru; Smit, A. V. A.
    According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey, South Africa has a low early stage entrepreneurial activity rate of 7.8%, which is significantly lower than the average for all efficiency-driven economies (11.4%) as well as the average for all middle to low income countries (13.2%).Also, high levels of poverty, income inequality and unemployment are major issues that impact the economic growth of South Africa. Pahad (2008) acknowledged that South Africa’s social-economic goals are to reduce inequalities, reduce wealth and asset gaps between rich and poor, halve unemployment by 2014 and meet the Millennium Development Goals. However, one way of solving these issues is to encourage more foreign SMEs as they are capable of providing investment injections in various sectors of South Africa’s economy, such as agriculture, industry, education, and health. Likewise, these foreign SMEs can help eradicate poverty, improve employment and reduce income inequality and wealth disparity between the rich and poor. The main objective of this study was to investigate the motives of Chinese SMEs foreign direct investment in the Free State Province (FSP) and their perception about the external business environment in South Africa. The study examine empirically the motives of Chinese SMEs operating in the Free State province and determined if they were driven by the supply/resourcebased or the market driven factors. The study also identified the external environmental factors which can hinder foreign SMEs from investment in South Africa. Across-sectional study using the survey method was used to collect the data. Simple random sampling method and a non-probability snowball sampling method were used to determine the sample size of Chinese SMEs in the Free State province. A standard questionnaire was designed after a detailed literature review of the business environment and foreign SMEs investments. Data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires. The specific methods of data analyses used include descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, frequency tables and T-tests. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach’s Alpha. Pre-testing the research instrument in a pilot study was used to determine the validity of the research. ii The research findings showed that the motives of the Chinese SMEs foreign direct investment in the Free State was predominantly market-seeking FDI. The findings also showed that the many external factors were impacting the operation of the foreign businesses negatively with crime, corruption, labour regulations and xenophobia being reckoned as the main external factors severely impacting the businesses. In addition, the Chinese SMEs had a negative perception about the external business environment of South Africa with 86% of them indicating that they had suffered from crime. Furthermore, the empirical findings revealed that SMEs in the manufacturing sector employed the highest number of employees and have stayed in SA for a longer period. Similarly, most of the exporters were in the manufacturing sector. However, the majority of those who were unsatisfied about their investment decisions and were willing to leave South Africa were in the manufacturing sector. The study provided some recommendations to improve the external business environment of SA so that more effective and efficient FDI is attracted. The recommendations include the need to improve the fight against crime as it is seen as the number one factor impacting and deterring away FDIs from SA. To attract sufficient supply/resource-based FDI, the government also needs to improve its labour regulations, thus easing the hiring process. To add, South Africa has to make its legal system more efficient by shortening the long procedures and duration of court judgments as well as making it more affordable. A better legal system can reduce crime, corruption and unethical behaviour.
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    Predicting financial distress in IT and services companies in South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2004) Kidane, Habtom Woldemichael; Smit, A. V. A.
    The study of bankruptcy is becoming more relevant and important as even large companies are failing that cause economic and social problems to the society. Using financial distress models to predict failure in advance is for most businesses absolutely essential in their decision making process. Hence, this study involves a critical investigation in the applicability of the Altman (1968) and Springate (1978) z-score models in predicting financial distress in IT and Services companies of South Africa. The Altman and Springate models were however developed in a different economic environment, time horizon, industry and country. Testing these models in the South African context is important to determine the practical applicability and relevance of the models. The main objective of the study is to test the Altman and Springate models in determining practical predictive ability of failure in selected South African IT and services companies listed on the Johannesburg Security Exchange and to comment on the models applicability according to the empirical results. The study is designed into three sections. The first section will discuss the theoretical aspects of the study. The second part will be the discussion of the research results, and finally the conclusion and recommendations of the study will be presented. The first sample companies was 24 failed and 46 nonfailed information technology and services companies listed on the Johannesburg Security Exchange from 1999 to 2003. The failed companies were matched to two nonfailed companies in the same sector according to their turnover size. Additional nonfailed real estate and information technology companies were added to evaluate the prediction ability of the models in these sectors using substantial samples, as the first sample results were inconsistent, especially on the nonfailed companies. Therefore, the final sample of the study is composed of 86 (24 failed and 62 nonfailed) services and information technology companies. The study employed an analysis of financial statements and derived the z-score of the sampled companies to test the predictive ability of the models in forecasting bankruptcy. The analysis utilized ratios, which are related to the models in the study. The results reported in the empirical study for total failed and nonfailed sample companies show these models fail to predict failure and non-failure amongst South African service and information technology sample companies. The study is also extended to predict failure and non-failure to investigate if the models are more applicable to predict failure in some sub-sectors of the sampled services and information technology companies. The results are not consistent as the models predicted failure but not nonfailure, or vice versa. Therefore, the models are not successful to predict any sub-sector correctly. It is generally assumed bankruptcy prediction models are useful regardless of industry, time horizon, and country. The findings reported in the study for each model indicated that the overall accuracy of the Altman and Springate z-scores models accuracy rate were reduced when used on the South African service and information technology sample, which is different from those companies used to develop the original models. Therefore, the study concluded that the Altman and Springate bankruptcy prediction models are not justifiable to be applied to predict bankruptcy in the South African service and information technology. Hence, it is not advisable to use these models in predicting failure in the non-manufacturing firms, especially in South African services and information technology companies. Important recommendations were outlined based on the results of the study. Some of the recommendations are the development of practically applicable bankruptcy prediction models in the IT and services companies of South Africa to elevate inappropriate financial decisions, incorporation of other important indicators of financial well-being during bankruptcy prediction process, checking the practical applicability of prediction models after some period of time. The future research work based on this study is also suggested as developing models to the database in the study, developing new bankruptcy prediction model to the services and information technology companies of South Africa, testing the Altman and/or Springate models on the South African manufacturing and retailing companies, and testing bankruptcy prediction models to the non-listed relatively smaller turnover sized firms where the incidence of business failure is greater than larger corporations.