bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SISTEM PENDUKUNG KEPUTUSAN PEMILIHAN ASURANSI JIWA MENGGUNAKAN METODE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS DENGAN CRITERIUM DECISION PLUS
Authors: Sunoto Imam , Susanto Arif
Published: April 2017

Pengembangan bisnis asuransi di saat yang berkembang pesat, di mana ini bisa membuat bingung dalam menentukan calon pelanggan untuk memilih opsi asuransi yang sesuai dengan keinginan dan kebutuhan mereka. Asuransi jiwa adalah bisnis di jasa yang memberikan jaminan kepada pelanggan ketika mereka mengalami peristiwa yang beresiko hilang produktivitasnya menjadi keuangan. Namun, sebagian besar pelanggan benar-benar menyesal telah nasabah asuransi menjadi karena kurangnya pemahaman mereka untuk asuransi itu sendiri. sistem informasi berbasis komputer dapat digunakan dalam memecahkan masalah pengambilan keputusan sering disebut sistem pendukung keputusan yang dapat membantu setiap orang dalam pilihan masalah yang akan dihadapi. Metode ini dapat digunakan dalam pemilihan asuransi jiwa dinilai metode proses analisis dimana setiap alternatif akan dilakukan perengkingan untuk mendapatkan hasil terbaik. Dengan bantuan hasil akhir Criterium Decision Plus (CDP) 3.0 software sistem pemilahan dalam bentuk perusahaan asuransi jiwa yang digunakan sebagai alat dalam pengambilan keputusan untuk pelanggan potensial. sistem pendukung keputusan diharapkan dapat membantu calon pelanggan untuk memilih asuransi jiwa yang tepat dan sesuai dengan kebutuhan.
Reshaping Gender Norms in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Authors: Brown Sara E.
Published: April 2017

In instances of widespread conflict and mass atrocities, socially prescribed and perpetuated gender roles often begin to dissolve alongside the rule of law and state institutions. Mass violence tears at the social fabric of the community and accepted norms of gendered behavior are suspended. Recent conflicts, including the genocide in Rwanda, have created a temporary space for the inclusion of women in previously restricted public spheres and capacities. Rwanda stands out as unique because these changes were not temporary. Following the end of the genocide, Rwanda's state organs, nongovernmental organizations, and community members did not close off these public spaces or advocate for the return of girls and women to pre-genocide gender structures and patriarchal practices. This paper will analyze Rwanda's gender mainstreaming and gender equality initiatives, identifying three influential factors, and make recommendations for the replication of Rwanda's success in other post-conflict countries.
Goma 1994: Notes from the Field
Authors: Gordon-Gibson Alasdair
Published: April 2017

This article reflects on the varied and complex dynamics faced by humanitarian agencies working in the Goma area during a six-week period from mid-July 1994, shortly after the exodus of an estimated 850,000 refugees fleeing Rwanda who settled in the vicinity of Goma town in eastern Zaire, until the end of August 1994, which marked the period when the emergency phase of the humanitarian action in support of this refugee population began to stabilize. It considers three main dynamics, which were salient at the time: (1) the speed and size of the emergency; (2) the political environment inside the camps; (3) the traumas affecting the humanitarian environment. It covers the period when the author was assigned to support the emergency response to the crisis, and so combines personal reflections with reviews of some of the academic critique of the response by the international community. The article identifies the action as being critical to the evolution of international humanitarian response over the following two decades and concludes with a reflection on some of the lessons learned.
MTT assay to evaluate the cytotoxic potential of a drug
Authors: Bahuguna Ashutosh , Khan Imran , Bajpai Vivek K. , Kang Sun Chul
Published: April 2017

Quantification of cell viability and proliferation form the fundamental for numerous in vitro assays in response to external factors. An MTT assay is a colorimetric assay based on assessing the cell metabolic activity. A549 Lung adenocarcinoma cell line was used to see the cytotoxic potential of a new drug for initial screening of apoptosis or necrosis. The biochemical mechanism behind the MTT assay involves NAD(P)H-dependent cellular oxidoreductase enzyme that converts the yellow tetrazolium MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] into insoluble (E,Z)-5-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-1,3-diphenylformazan (formazan). The formed formazan can be dissolved with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to give a purple color with characteristic absorption at 540 nm. Intensity of purple color is directly proportional to the cell number and thus indicating the cell viability.Video Clip of Methodology: 3 min 56 sec  Full Screen   Alternate
Palynological characterization of honey samples from Kwara State, Nigeria
Authors: Oyeyemi SD , Kayode J
Published: April 2017

Palynological analysis of honey samples from different localities in Kwara State, Nigeria was carried out to isolate and identified pollen types in the honey samples. Out of forty two pollen types belonging to twenty two botanical families recovered, twenty five were identified to species level, eight to genus level and eight to family level. A total of 849,978 pollen grains were counted with 46,355 in Shao, 101,356 in Ganmo, 22,000 in Idofian, 28,337 in Omupo, 200,090 in Iludun Oro, 298,079 in Ijagbo, 22,100 in Offa I and 131,142 in Afon. The major pollen occurrences in the honey samples include those of Sarcocephaluslatifolius, Parkiabiglobosa, Phyllantusdiscoideus, Tridaxprocubens, Combretaceae/Melastomataceae, Spondiasmombins and Hymenocardiaacida. Other important honey plants identified are Elaeisguineensis, Lanneasp, Parinarisp, Celtissp and Entadaabssynica. All these are characteristic plant taxa of the Forest-Savanna ecotype of the studied area. The presence of relatively high quantity of pollen shows their richness in pollen composition and also a clear evidence that the honey are from botanical sourceand also multifloral.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 52(1), 7-14, 2017
Nature of errors in percentage syllable articulation as an effect of reverberation time on Bangla
Authors: Imam SMN , Takahashi D
Published: April 2017

This paper identifies the nature of errors in the Percentage Syllable Articulation (PSA) test for Bangla, as a continuation and extension of a study conducted and published by the authors to determine the effects of Reverberation Time (RT) on Bangla. Errors due to RT 2.0 s are enumerated to derive Percent Error (PE) at initial, medial and final positions of phonemes in syllables, for both vowels and consonants. It is found that consonants are more vulnerable to errors than vowels, as their mean PEs are 37.8% and 27.6% respectively. Relative positions of phonemes in syllables have significant effect on PE.  For vowels, mean PE increases from 12.1% to 56.7% for their medial and medial plus final positions respectively. For consonants, mean PE rises from 17.1% to 67.8% for their initial and final positions. Variations in PE within same groups of vowels and consonants, exemplify unique inherent characteristics of each phoneme.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 52(1), 21-30, 2017
Effect of waterlogging on physical and mechanical properties of Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. tree
Authors: Elias - , Das AK , Rahman MM , Islam MA
Published: April 2017

This research intends to explore the mechanical and physical properties of waterlogged rain tree (Samanea saman). The variation of mechanical and physical wood properties grown in waterlogged and non-waterlogged area were studied. Four trees of the species were selected from two areas. Important mechanical and physical properties were examined for the wood of two types of trees Oven dry density for the wood of waterlogged tree was 420 kg/m3 whether it was 550 kg/m3 for the wood of non-waterlogged tree. The MOR of wood of waterlogged tree was 58.2 N/mm2 and wood of non-waterlogged tree produced 78.1 N/mm2. The MOE of the wood of waterlogged tree and non-waterlogged tree were 1478 and 4876 N/mm2. The physical and mechanical properties were lower for the wood of waterlogged tree. Such findings may in proper uses of the species.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 52(1), 49-52, 2017
One step Narylation of amines catalyzed by a non-toxic copper complex
Authors: Hashem MA , Sultana A , Mahmud TB
Published: April 2017

A new, simple and efficient copper  catalyzed method has been developed by using a non-toxic copper complex for the preparation of amine derivatives, some of which are biologically active and literary known with high purity. The protocol to prepare the copper complex uses N-salicylidene-N-phenyl amine as the ligand with Cu2Br2 in methanol.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 52(1), 53-60, 2017
Healthcare professionals' online use of violence metaphors for care at the end of life in the US: a corpus-based comparison with the UK
Authors: Potts Amanda , Semino Elena
Published: April 2017

The use of violence metaphors in healthcare has long been criticised as detrimental to patients. Recent work ( Demmen et al., 2015 ; and Semino et al., 2015 ) has combined qualitative analysis with corpus-based quantitative methods to analyse the frequency and variety of violence metaphors in the language of UK-based patients, family carers and healthcare professionals talking about cancer and/or end-of-life care. A new 250,324-word corpus of US health professionals' online discourse has been collected to add a contrastive, cross-cultural element to the study of metaphors in end-of-life care. In this work, we move towards a replicable method for comparing frequency and type of violence metaphors in UK and US contexts by making use of both search-and-recall and key semantic tag analysis using the corpus query tool Wmatrix. First, we discuss the most over-used and under-used semantic domains in the US corpus as compared with the pre-existing UK corpus of online healthcare professional discourse. Second, we show that there are no notable frequency differences in the occurrence of violence metaphors in the two corpora, but we point out some differences in the topics that these metaphors are used to discuss. Third, we introduce a novel framework for analysing agency in violence metaphors and apply it to the US corpus. This reveals the variety of relationships, concerns and challenges that these metaphors can express. Throughout, we relate our findings to the different US and UK cultural and institutional contexts, and we reflect on the methodological implications of our approach for corpus-based metaphor analysis.
Caring of People Affected by Tuberculosis: Grounded Theory
Authors: De Oliveira Cavalcante Elisângela Franco , Vieira da Silva Denise Maria Guerreiro , Cossi Marcelly Santos , Da Silva Flávio César Bezerra , Cavalcante Cleonice Andrea Alves
Published: April 2017

Objective: To understand how nurses in basic health care have dealt with the situations arising from the process of caring for the person affected by tuberculosis.

Method: Qualitative research following the methodological assumptions of the Grounded Theory. Nineteen nurses participated in the study. It was used the in-depth interview. Data analysis was performed using open, axial and selective coding using the Atlas ti software.

Results: It has been shown that in order to be effective in the treatment, the actions of the nurses and the ways of dealing with the circumstances of the care stem from their concern with the person affected by tuberculosis. In addition, it is also considered the situations that permeate the life of this person, so that it can achieve healing and the restoration of their health.

Conclusion: Concerns and ways of dealing with people affected by tuberculosis should be reflected in the planning of care practices for these citizens. With this it is possible to draw confrontations and conduits for successful actions.
The effects of sublethal and lethal doses of ivermectin on the reproductive physiology and larval development of the dung beetleEuoniticellus intermedius(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
Authors: Martínez M. Imelda , Lumaret Jean-Pierre , Ortiz Zayas Rosario , Kadiri Nassera
Published: April 2017

This study assesses the effects of the veterinary medical product ivermectin (IVM) in a range of concentrations on adult reproductive physiology and larval mortality of the dung beetleEuoniticellus intermedius(Reiche) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The ecotoxicological tests comprised eight treatments, including two controls and six increasing ivermectina concentrations (3.16, 10.0, 31.6, 63.2, 100, and 316 µg IVM/kg fresh dung). After 10 days of exposure, the females were dissected and the brood balls counted (fecundity). The brood balls were opened 15 days later and live larvae were counted to estimate larval mortality. Ivermectin altered the morphology of the ovary and stopped vitellogenesis, causing oocyte resorption and thus decreasing fecundity. The 30% threshold of decline in fecundity was reached at 115.9 µg IVM/kg dung, with no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) values of 10.0 and 31.6 µg IVM/kg dung, respectively. Larval sensitivity to ivermectin was higher, with a lethal concentration required to kill 50% of the population of 85.9 μg IVM/kg dung, and NOEC and LOEC of 3.16 and 10.0 µg IVM/kg dung, respectively. After cattle were treated with ivermectin at the recommended dose, the ivermectin concentration in their dung during the two first weeks after administration far exceeded the thresholds determined forE. intermedius.
Long-term survival of two dogs after mitral valve plasty
Authors: Kanemoto Isamu , Taguchi Daisuke , Mihara Kippei , Kawase Koudai , Sato Keiichi , Iwata Kazuya , Iwanaga Kouji
Published: April 2017

Two small 9-year-old dogs received mitral valve plasty (MVP) for severe mitral regurgitation that could not be controlled via drug administration. MVP consisted of chordal reconstruction using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) sutures and semicircular suture annuloplasty using polypropylene sutures. In both cases, the clinical signs dramatically improved after MVP, although postoperative echocardiography revealed slight residual mitral regurgitant flow. Both dogs survived for several years after MVP without any signs of cardiac distress; one dog survived for 9 years and 1 month, and the other dog survived for 7 years and 10 months. These findings highlight the durability of ePTFE sutures as artificial chordae and the excellence of semicircular suture annuloplasty in small dogs.
Open heart surgery with deep hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass and more than 90 minutes of aortic cross clamp time in 10 small dogs
Authors: Mihara Kippei , Kanemoto Isamu , Sato Keiichi , Mori Takuya , Abe Hirokazu , Niimi Seiya , Yamada Koji , Ohira Kenji , Andou Takanori , Hirakawa Atsushi
Published: April 2017

No previous reports have described cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) techniques involving long aortic cross clamp (ACC) times in small-breed dogs. We previously described open heart surgery under deep hypothermic CPB in small and toy dogs with an approximate ACC time limit of 1 hour, given the low success rate beyond 90 minutes of ACC time. Herein, we describe improvements in cardiac anesthesia, CPB, and cardioplegia that led to a high success rate of open heart surgery with a long ACC time in small dogs. Ten small-breed dogs with severe mitral regurgitation were subjected to mitral valve plasty that necessitated cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) beyond 90 minutes of ACC time. In the present study, all dogs survived surgery; 7 survived to discharge. In other words, we achieved a high success rate of 70% with mitral valve plasty beyond 90 minutes of ACC time (mean, 105.1 minutes: range, 90-117 minutes). For small dogs, successful open heart surgery with a long ACC time may require cardiac balanced anesthesia, CPB with increased drainage and, importantly, thorough cardioplegia without hemodilution.
Measuring the effectiveness of the women entrepreneurship programme on potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa
Authors: Botha Melodi , Niemann Gideon , Van Vuuren Jurie
Published: April 2017

The Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP) was developed after a need had been identifiedfor such a training intervention. The WEP provides entrepreneurial and business management training to women entrepreneurs. This empirical paper measures the effectiveness of the WEP after the respondents had been through the training intervention. The sample consists of 180 women entrepreneurs, where 116 respondents form the experimental group and 64 respondents the control group. Factor analysis is presented and several statistical tests executed to present the statistically significant differences between the two groups in the sample. The findings highlight the WEP delegates’ acquisition of new entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. Furthermore, the respondents reported an increase in the number of employees, turnover, productivity and profit. It was statistically proven that the WEP is effective in training potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa.
Entrepreneurial intensity: A comparative analysis of established companies in South Africa
Authors: Scheepers Retha , Hough Johan , Bloom Jonathan
Published: April 2017

Entrepreneurship is gaining recognition as an important way of attaining a sustainable competitive advantage and positive financial returns. This article compares the entrepreneurial intensity (EI) of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies with that of listed JSE companies (excluding ICT listings). A cross-section telephone survey was conducted. The findings suggest that ICT companies are more entrepreneurial than JSE companies. Additionally, the size of a company shows no relation to EI, but age is negatively correlated to EI. By implication, the older the company, the less entrepreneurial it becomes. The findings suggest that organisational factorsinfluence EI and that EI is industry specific. The managerial implication for companies that want to become more entrepreneurial is that they should create organisational conditions conducive to the development of corporate entrepreneurship.
The relationship between Eservice quality, Evalue, Esatisfacton and eLoyalty in online tourism portals
Authors: Wood K , Van Heerden CH
Published: April 2017

Customer satisfaction and loyalty are important drivers of business profits. In the online arena, acquisition costs are high, switching costs are low, the service encounter is non-personal and the Internet is often used only as a source of information. The aim of this article is to determine the relationship between critical eService quality elements utilised in online tourism portals in order toestablish eLoyalty. The target population of this study was South African tourism accommodation establishments who advertised on online tourism portals during 2005. A personalised branded HTML email with a clickable link to the online survey was mailed to all respondents. One hundred and nine valid responses were received. A multi-item questionnaire was used to measure the relationship between eService quality, eValue, eSatisfaction and eLoyalty pertaining to online tourism portals utilised by the respondents. The findings imply that online tourism portals would increase their eLoyalty (and thus increase profits) if they first satisfied their suppliers’ needs by providing them with a secure, visually pleasing user interface with which they could identify. Secondly, there is a need for online tourism portals to provide services that add value, making it easy for suppliers to add and change details on their own pages, as well as ensuring that their suppliers receive a substantial income stream through the portal.
Tax compliance and behavioural response in South Africa: an alternative investigation
Authors: Robinson Zurika , Gcabo Rebone
Published: April 2017

Taxpayer behaviour has in South Africa moved to the forefront of the investigation of revenue collection with regular tax awareness campaigns being launched by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Issues relating to tax amnesty and the contribution of the informal sector (second economy) to tax revenue have become important. This paper attempts to find explanations, be they economic or psychological, for taxpayer behaviour in South Africa. Factors influencing tax evasion and ultimately collection targets are thus examined. A questionnaire was designed to determine how individuals, in this case a sample of students, respond when filing taxes. Each question frames a scenario to invoke a specific tax regime. The paper’s unique findings show, generally, that behaviour is to a large extent determined by economic factors, specifically inequality as predicted by the expected utility theory. This theory also successfully predicts 50 per cent of the responses to the control questions. The remaining 50 per cent are explained by combined economic and psychological factors, modelled by the prospect theory. This is significant considering the fact that the results were generated within a developing and not a developed context as is the case in most studies of this type.
The impact of shopping mall development on small township retailers
Authors: Ligthelm Andre
Published: April 2017

The retail sector forms a critical element of a community’s economic and social welfare. It provides people with choices and services. These choices were until recently very limited in township areas. The pre-1994 retail landscape was dominated by small, often informal businesses offering basic household necessities to relatively low income earners. This has resulted in township residents’ preference to shop outside townships, known as ‘outshopping’. Rapid income growth of township residents since 1994 resulted in a substantial increase in consumer expenditure in these areas, known as ‘in-bound shopping’. This lucrative emerging market forms the last retail frontier in South Africa and is being explored by national retailers, especially supermarket chains. This article is aimed at establishing the impact of shopping mall development in townships on the traditional small township retailers including spaza/tuck shops. The net balance sheet on the impact of shopping mall development on small township retailers clearly suggests a decline in the township retailers’ market share. A change in small business model towards, inter alia, effective customer service with a small dedicated assortment of merchandise, satisfaction of emergency needs, selling in small units and extension of credit facilities may result in the survival of some small township retailers (albeit often at a smaller turnover).
A study of customer commitment through the use of the conversion model in the South African motor vehicle industry
Authors: Terblanche Nic
Published: April 2017

Consumer markets have become increasingly competitive. Numerous measures to gauge and predict loyalty and commitment have been developed to assist management in this respect. The marketing literature contains many examples illustrating that longer relationships achieve customer retention, and have been rewarded with a considerable increase in customer net present value. Customer retention is undoubtedly a major contributor to profitability in the long term. Research shows that the most successful measures for achieving customer retention are customer delight, customer satisfaction and customer commitment. This study makes a closer exploration of customer commitment, as measured by the Conversion Model, in the South African motor vehicle industry. The findings highlight the commitment segments of the most popular motor vehicle brands in South Africa, as well the typical marketing strategies for managing the different commitment segments.
Export intensity and the competitive intelligence of exporting companies: evidence from South Africa1
Authors: Cuyvers Ludo , Dumont Michel , Viviers Wilma , De Pelsmaker Patrick , Muller Marié-Luce , Jegers Marc , Saayman Andrea
Published: April 2017

The present paper investigates the relationship between Competitive Intelligence (CI) factors, characteristics, information sources, needs, requirements and the export intensity of exporting companies in South Africa. We establish whether there are significant differences between firms, grouped according to export intensity with respect to awareness, use, information sources and attitude towards CI activities. A questionnaire was developed and sent to exporting firms, resulting in a usable sample of 309 South African respondents. These firms are grouped according to export intensity, and CI practices between groups are compared. The results show that export intensive firms appear to be more aware and supportive of CI activities than less export intensive firms.
The influence of length of relationship, gender and age on the relationship intention of short-term insurance clients: an exploratory study
Authors: Steyn Derik , Mostert Pierre , De Jager Jan-Willem
Published: April 2017

Building long-term relationships with clients is extremely beneficial for organisations. This does not necessarily imply, however, that the clients themselves need or want a long-term relationship with an organisation. Relationship marketing could profitably be looked at from the client’s perspective, at the same time identifying those clients who have a strong relationship intention and would, in fact, like to engage in a long-term relationship with organisations.The objective of this research was to explore whether three aspects relating to clients, that is, the varying lengths of their relationship with organisations, their age and their gender display significantly different levels of relationship intention. Relationship intention is measured in terms of constructs like involvement, expectations, forgiveness, feedback and fear of relationship loss.Non-probability sampling was used in this study, and 114 respondents from the short-terminsurance industry completed self-administered questionnaires. Findings indicate that, for a group of high relationship-intention clients of a short-term insurance organisation, no practically significant discrimination exists on any of the relationship-intention constructs for clients’ length of relationship, gender or age.
Adapting the Macaulay duration for defaultable and option-embedded bonds
Authors: Van Vuuren Gary Wayne , Styger Paul
Published: April 2017

Most contemporary bonds have embedded options and all face the possibility of default. Both features introduce risk (the former market risk and the latter credit risk) by altering the quantity and timing of the promised cash flows. The Macaulay duration, although a popular risk tool, is increasingly unable to cope in this complex financial environment. While the Macaulay duration has undergone modifications before, a new theoretical framework is now introduced which augments its functionality while retaining its tractability. The approach – though still unable to isolate the effects of the two features – yields consistent results which agree well with empirical data.
South African price changes and inflation since 1974: a note on the testing of inflation accuracy
Authors: Rossouw Jannie , Padayachee Vishnu
Published: April 2017

As inflation credibility in South Africa records low readings when measured in terms of inflation credibility barometers, this note aims at assessing whether actual price movements provide any grounds for low inflation credibility.  It compares the price movements of similar items with the rate of inflation over a period of 32 years, i.e. from 1974 to 2006, and discusses the use of an inflation accuracy indicator to compare estimated price levels adjusted by the rate of inflation and actual price levels.  Over the period of comparison no systematic over- or underreporting of changes in prices in terms of the rate of inflation could be detected and the analysis suggests that little or no basis can be found to justify low inflation credibility.  Inflation credibility is more likely than not influenced by the most recent purchasing experiences of consumers.  Doubts concerning the accuracy of inflation figures could nevertheless result in the general public concluding that monetary policy aiming at the achievement of an inflation target brings only the pain of high interest rates without the tangible benefits of lower inflation, thereby jeopardising the usefulness of an inflation-targeting monetary policy framework.
The economic impact of a rural land tax on selected commercial farms in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Authors: Darroch MAG , Lee RB , Ortmann GF
Published: April 2017

This study investigates the economic impact of a land tax implemented under the Local Government Municipal Property Rates Act No. 6 of 2004 on commercial farms using five case studies with five-year data sets in the Mtonjaneni and Umgeni municipal districts of KwaZulu-Natal. The case farms’ ability to pay annual rates between 0.25 per cent and 1 per cent of the value of improved land using real annual economic profit with and without rebates of up to 70 per cent proposed by the Department: Provincial and Local Government ranged from zero to five out of five years, with a mean of two out of five years. A 2 per cent land tax rate with such rebates could also be financed only in two out of five years on average. These results suggest that proposed annual land tax rates of 1.5 per cent (Mtonjaneni) or 1 per cent (Umgeni) on these specific farms would markedly reduce the incentive to invest in farm improvements
Explaining long-term growth in Namibia
Authors: Eita Joel Hinaunye , Du Toit Charlotte
Published: April 2017

Supply-side economics stresses the importance of analysing and modelling the long-term properties of an economy’s production structures in order to investigate each factor of production’s impact on final output. This helps to determine how much should be produced, how much is available for consumption and, eventually, how an economy can improve its long-term economic growth path. This study applied the neoclassical growth model to Namibia’s growth over the period from 1971 to 2005 in order to identify and develop the main supply-side components of long-term economic growth in the country. Along with a production function, behavioural equations were estimated for the factors of production labour demand and capital investment, as well as for the links between prices and wages.
Using information technology governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) as a creator of business values – a case study
Authors: Lubbe Sam , Jokonya Osden
Published: April 2017

The relationship between Information Technology (IT) Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) and organisation business values continues to interest academics and practitioners (IT Governance Institute, 2003). Like governance, risk management and compliance generally, IT GRC is about the decision rights and accountabilities that encourage desirable behaviour in the use of IT (IT Governance Institute, 2003). A case study approach was used in an organisation with many business units. The organisation selected is a mining company, RioZim, situated in Zimbabwe. Data was collected from business units on IT issues and business values. The interviews centred on the IT GRC practices based on responsibility and authority for IT decision making. The results suggest that IT GRC does not adequately support business values. The study revealed that business values should drive IT GRC and IT GRC should be the responsibility of executives and all business units.
Direct use values of selected vegetation resources in the Okavango delta wetland
Authors: Mmopelwa G , Blignaut James , Hassan Rashid
Published: April 2017

The economic benefits generated by wetlands and the costs associated with their degradation or loss are frequently overlooked. This often leads to decisions that stimulate wetland conversion and degradation.  An important step towards correcting this situation and countering this neglect is to establish the true values of a wetland’s ecosystem goods and services.  This study attempts to estimate the direct use values of native plants, such as palm leaves for basketry, grass for thatching, fuelwood, edible fruits and plant parts used by three villages adjacent to the Okavango Delta during the 2003 calendar year.  Other sources of ecosystem goods and services, such as fishing, floodplain farming and tourism, were not considered in this study.  The average annual value per household of these harvested resources is generally higher than that of similar resources found in other southern African wetlands, owing to higher consumption rates. The overall total direct use value of plant resources, including household income contributions “in kind”, was estimated at US$1 434 per household for 2003 (or US$43.41/ha). This value is almost equal to the average household financial income of US$1 416/year. The net present value of the overall benefit from the direct use of the vegetative resources is estimated at US$101.9 million. This clearly indicates the value of the use of natural resources and their contribution to livelihoods and quality of life.  This value is so significant that economic development planners ought to incorporate it into development planning. They should not conceive infrastructure development that would jeopardise the communities’ access to these natural resources without any well-developed mitigation strategy.
Outsourcing scorecard for the UN and similar international public sector organisations
Authors: Charles Ken , Cloete Chris E
Published: April 2017

Outsourcing has become one of the most powerful, organisation-shaping management tools available today. However, the UN’s experience in outsourcing is limited to providing troops for peacekeeping operations.  The purpose of the paper is to develop an outsourcing scorecard for the UN and similar organisations.  Forty national and international organisations were surveyed through questionnaires, review of relevant literatures and records. The research established that by identifying core competencies, goals and objectives, risks, selection of provider as well as measurements and evaluation of providers performance using an outsourcing scorecard, support functions can be outsourced successfully. Other criteria indicated as important is peace-building, suitable for humanitarian organisations. The scorecard developed by the research could provide the UN with a number of benefits, such as maximization of efficiency and savings in costs.  The paper develops the first outsourcing scorecard to guide the UN and similar organisations in identifying services that can be outsourced successfully.
Issues surrounding the classification of accounting information
Authors: Van der Poll Huibrecht , Gouws Daan
Published: April 2017

The act of classifying information created by accounting practices is ubiquitous in the accounting process; from recording to reporting, it has almost become second nature. The classification has to correspond to the requirements and demands of the changing environment in which it is practised. Evidence suggests that the current classification of items in financial statements is not keeping pace with the needs of users and the new financial constructs generated by the industry. This study addresses the issue of classification in two ways: by means of a critical analysis of classification theory and practices and by means of a questionnaire that was developed and sent to compilers and users of financial statements. A new classification framework for accounting information in the balance sheet and income statement is proposed.
Openness, technological spillovers in the r&d sector and economic growth
Authors: Chen Pei-Pei , Gupta Rangan
Published: April 2017

Recent studies have pointed out that trade liberalisation leads to technological spillovers, which tend to improve the efficiency of the domestic research and development (R&D) sector, and ultimately boost economic growth. In this paper, we theoretically formalise the above mentioned relationship between trade openness and growth, via knowledge spillover in the R&D sector. We show that, under certain conditions, an increase in the degree of openness not only enhances growth, but also improves the standard of living. The study, thus, prescribes policies of developing and improving the domestic R&D sector in order to reap the benefits of trade liberalisation.
The South African business cycle: what has changed?
Authors: Burger Philippe
Published: April 2017

This paper identifies the basic empirical characteristics and changes of the South African business cycle since 1960. As such, the paper examines changes in volatility as well as the co-movement between several national account variables and real GDP. To examine the co-movements the paper follows Kydland and Prescott, Gavin and Kydland as well as Bergman, Bordo and Jonung and uses correlation coefficients and Granger causality tests. Following Ramos, the paper extends the results of the Granger causality tests using variance decomposition analysis in the context of a VAR (vector auto regression) to establish the contribution that selected national account variables make to the h-period-ahead forecast error variance of themselves and the other variables included in the VARs. The paper indicates that since 1994 volatility in the South African economy decreased significantly, while durable consumption appears to lead the business cycle.
Ethics in economic and management sciences: a researcher’s resource
Authors: Pienaar Jaco
Published: April 2017

In an international research climate of increasingly demanding ethical review, based on a biomedical model, reflection on best practices in social, behavioural and economic science research is necessary. It is widely believed that these sciences cannot be held to the same practical requirements as those for biomedical research, although the principles of ethical research are surely universal. This article considers the ethical requirements, principles and guidelines directing research in the social, behavioural and economic sciences, recognised in the national and international arena. By means of a systematic review of available best practices, it is anticipated that general guidelines for social, behavioural and economic science research could be developed and offered to researchers in these fields. Specific consideration is given to the unique characteristics of social, behavioural and economic science research.
A road to organizational perdition? Business, ethics and corporate social responsibility
Authors: Coldwell David
Published: April 2017

The paper delineates a heuristic device comprising relationships between levels of instrumentality towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) implicit in differential theoretical organizational approaches, associated managerial freedom in ethical decision making, and corresponding managerial moral orientations. Prominent theoretical approaches to CSR including: criticalism, fundamentalism, social corporatism, social institutionalism and moralism identified in the extant literature are delineated. These approaches are synthesised and articulated with the concepts of degrees of CSR instrumentality, ethical freedom and managerial moral orientations to produce a composite heuristic device with specific potential practical implementations. Ramifications of the analysis in terms of developing managers with ethical acumen and providing organizational circumstances allowing this to flourish are briefly discussed.
Task-based factors influencing the successful functioning of copreneurial businesses in South Africa
Authors: Farrington Shelley , Venter Elmarie , Eybers Carey , Boshoff Christo
Published: April 2017

Globally, evidence exists to suggest that the number of copreneurial businesses or spousal partnerships are on the increase. The primary objectives of this study are to identify the task-based factors influencing the effectiveness of a copreneurial business, to propose a conceptual model based on these factors and to subject the model to empirical testing. The model is empirically tested among copreneurial businesses to assess potential relationships between selected independent variables (shared dream, leadership, personal needs alignment, division of labour, complementary skills, supportive employees, competencies and adequate resources) and measures of copreneurial success (perceived success and financial performance). In order to address the primary objective of this study, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 1548 respondents (spouses in business together) of which 380 questionnaires were useable for statistical analysis. The empirical results revealed that apart from division of labour all the other factors investigated exert a significant influence on the successful functioning of copreneurial businesses.
Career development of South African knowledge workers
Authors: Du Toit Adeline , Van Staden Roelof
Published: April 2017

The demand for knowledge workers is on the increase, yet little is known about their career perceptions and attitudes. The objective of this article is to determine the factors affecting the career development of knowledge workers in South Africa. Part-time learners of a postgraduate course were used as a purposive sample and 82 completed questionnaires were received. The results of the online survey provide an interesting look at the unique career issues knowledge workers experience from a South African perspective. Issues identified dealt with the lack of importance placed upon organisational training, the lack of interest in temporary work assignments and the low importance placed on learning from mentors. Organisations need to take note of their reward structures as knowledge workers have indicated that promotions and rewards based on their knowledge is insufficient.
The effect of stressed economic conditions on credit risk in Basel II
Authors: Esterhuysen Ja'nel , Van Vuuren Gary , Styger Paul
Published: April 2017

The robustness of the Basel II accord in protecting banks during volatile economic periods has been challenged in the ongoing credit crisis. In particular, advanced approaches to measuring and managing credit risk have drawn criticism for being both irrelevant and too complex. Despite accusations that the accord was largely responsible for the crisis, this article explores which of Basel II's credit risk approaches were more successful in allocating capital. It was found that, in general, compliance with Basel II actually protected banks during the crisis, with simpler approaches enjoying greater success than more advanced ones in protecting banks against credit risk.
A comparison of inflation expectations and inflation credibility in South Africa: results from survey data
Authors: Rossouw Jannie , Padayachee Vishnu , Bosch Adel
Published: April 2017

This paper reports a comparison of South African household inflation expectations and inflation credibility surveys undertaken in 2006 and 2008. It tests for possible feed-through between inflation credibility and inflation expectations. It supplements earlier research that focused only on the 2006 survey results. The comparison shows that inflation expectations differed between different income groups in both 2006 and 2008. Inflation credibility differed between male and female respondents, but this difference did not feed through to inflation expectations. More periodic survey data will be required for developing final conclusions on the possibility of feed-through effects. To this end the structure of credibility surveys should be reconsidered, as a large percentage of respondents indicated that they ‘don’t know’ whether the historic rate of inflation is an accurate indication of price increases.
Knowledge work difficulty factors: An empirical study based on different groups of knowledge workers
Authors: Heidary Dahooie Jalil , Afrazeh Abbas , Hosseini Seyed Mohammad , Ghezel Arsalan Mohamad Reza
Published: April 2017

The determination of the difficulty factor in knowledge work can be important for improving the performance of knowledge workers. In this article a regression model for investigating the difficulty of knowledge based activities (KBAs) is proposed. Four factors are considered in the model: Uncertainty, Variability of information, Amount of information and Level of skill and expertise. An empirical study based on 119 jobs from three different groups of knowledge workers (i.e. managerial, professional and clerical) shows that there are significant differences between the difficulty of the KBAs in managerial, clerical and professional jobs, and that managerial KBAs are more difficult than the KBAs of the other two groups.  Furthermore, regression models indicate that Level of skill and expertise is the most influential factor in the difficulty of the KBAs in each of the three groups.
Gender differences in student attitudes towards sexual appeals in print advertising
Authors: Klug Philippa , Vigar-Ellis Debbie
Published: April 2017

Sexuality is a widely used appeal in advertising today. The aim of this research was to establish whether or not this form of advertising connects with South African students and whether gender differences existed. A triangulated research design with data collected in focus groups, was used. The findings generally indicated negative attitudes towards sexual appeals in advertising. The main difference in gender responses was that males responded more negatively to adverts that contained male models as opposed to female models, whereas, women responded in similar ways regardless of the gender of the model.
The relative importance of financial ratios in creating shareholders’ wealth
Authors: Oberholzer Merwe
Published: April 2017

The purpose of the study is firstly to use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to aggregate the overall performance (technical efficiency) of firms to convert scarce resources into outputs that create wealth for shareholders, and secondly, to determine the degree to which this mentioned performance is reflected in a number of profitability and market value ratios. Annual financial statement data were used for 55 manufacturing companies listed on the JSE Limited over a five-year period in a cross-sectional analysis. The study found that return on equity has the most significant relationship with technical efficiency, followed by return on assets. The market value ratios price/earnings and dividend yield have no significant relationship with technical efficiency. The value of this study is that it is the first of its kind where technical efficiency, which aggregated operating, profitability and marketability efficiencies, is used to determine the relative importance of not only the readily available profitability ratios, but also market value ratios.
Does personality matter for small business success?
Authors: Farrington Shelley
Published: April 2017

Personality traits influence occupational choice and are valid predictors of managerial success. The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between possessing certain personality traits and small business success. The personality dimensions of the five-factor model of personality, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Neuroticism were the focus of this study. Convenience sampling was employed and 383 usable questionnaires were returned. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument was assessed. Multiple regression analysis was undertaken to establish relationships between the independent variable (the five dimensions of personality) and the dependent variable, Business success. The findings of this study show that individuals who have high levels of the personality traits Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness to experience are more likely to have successful small businesses. Openness to experience is of specific importance as it demonstrates the strongest influence, and is the only trait that has a positive influence on both the financial and growth performance of the business. As such, insights are provided into the personality profile most suited to successful small-business ownership.