Issue #3 (cont. 2) (Volume 14 2016)

Strategy development has traditionally been exclusive and secretive. Social software offers new opportunities to harness the collective intelligence of the crowd within organizations and allows more open, participatory modes of strategizing. This paper describes this new phenomenon of open strategy though crowdsourcing and discusses its implications for research and practice. It draws on first examples of crowdsourcing strategy and is further based on observations and theoretical reflections. To understand the phenomenon with its requirements and consequences, a number of questions and challenges are identified which remain to be investigated. These include how the process of opening up needs to be designed, how individuals can be motivated to engage, for which topics and under which conditions crowdsourcing strategy is a suitable approach, how strategies emerge in such initiatives, the appropriate role of management, and how corporate culture affects and is affected by crowdsourcing strategy. Open strategy through crowdsourcing is a newly emerging empirical phenomenon, which seems to fundamentally change the strategist’s work. More open and inclusive ways of strategizing not only offer new opportunities, but also create some challenges for organizations. This paper deepens the insights in this new phenomenon and identifies seven topics critical for research and management practice.

Keywords: strategy, crowdsourcing, collective intelligence.
JEL Classification: M19

Nofsinger and Varma (2014) provide evidence that U.S. socially responsible funds outperform conventional funds during periods of market turmoil and, therefore, grant some crisis insurance. To investigate whether the U.S.-based evidence can be transferred to international markets, the authors analyze a comprehensive sample of internationally-investing socially responsible equity funds in a period from 2000 to 2012. As abnormal returns are model-specific, the authors apply standard and q-theory based performance measurement models. At first glance, the authors observe no crisis protection for internationally-investing socially responsible funds. However, splitting their sample in funds domiciled in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to account for biases due to the origin of a fund, the authors find that socially responsible funds from North America outperform their peers in crisis periods irrespective of the applied performance evaluation model. The authors suggest that the U.S.-based evidence is restricted to internationally-investing funds domiciled in North America, and discover that this outperformance seems to be owed to the stock-picking abilities of North American fund managers and their advantage due to the nature of the North American market.

Keywords: socially responsible investments, mutual funds, international markets, performance evaluation, managerial abilities.
JEL Classification: G11, G12, G15, G23, M14

The unique and dynamic Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in South Africa strives to thrive in a challenging business environment with the attendant need for stability, loyal and satisfied workforce. An empirical investigation was, therefore, conducted utilizing managerial and non-managerial employees in a stratified sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered to 250 employees from four selected organizations. The essence was to examine the nature of the relationship among change implementation, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Four significant results emerged. Firstly, there is a positive but moderate relationship between change implementation and OCB; there is a high or strong positive relationship between change implementation and job satisfaction; there is a positive, but moderate relationship between OCB and job satisfaction; and lastly the results confirm the assumption that job satisfaction moderates the relationship between change implementation and OCB. BPO firms need to understand the effects of change implementation on OCB and job satisfaction. This is because change management is inevitable in the BPO industry; therefore, organizations have to be constantly alert to tackle its demands.

Keywords: change management, job satisfaction, intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior.
JEL Classification: J240, J280, L240, M120

The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which strategic management process is utilized within the mining industry. Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ascertain that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. A typical strategy management process has the following steps: initial assessment, situation analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The other objective is to determine which analytical tools are commonly used for situational, internal and external assessment as input to the strategic management process. A structured questionnaire was used for the study. A total of 300 mines were randomly selected from a research population of mining organizations in South Africa, Africa and globally. The respondents were all part of senior management. A response rate of 64% was achieved. The results indicated that about 20% of the organizations did not institutionalize their strategic planning functions and did not have a good strategic foundation. The results also showed that 60% were not satisfied with their productivity and 30% indicated that their cash flows were not stable at all. There was a significant number of organizations who do not use strategic analytical tools. A statistically and practically significant positive relationship was found between strategic management dimensions and business performance implying that the use of strategic management process can lead to improved business performance.

Keywords: strategy, strategic management, strategic planning, mining industry, strategic analytical tools.
JEL Classification: M100

The discussion of companies’ compliance with corporate governance standards and codes has widely neglected the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Accordingly, the authors examine a sample of 151 SMEs listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2006 (before the financial crisis) and 2012 (after the financial crisis) and, thus, required to declare whether they comply with the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code or not. While code compliance seems to be quite homogenous comparing different branches, the authors found that company size has a positive impact on code compliance. With regard to a remarkably high number of recommendations a lot of companies do not comply to, company size might be a major problem, why the existing GCGC does not fit very well to the situation of SMEs. This is why, most remarkably, code compliance does not exert any significant influence on either market reaction or on operating performance of SMEs.

Keywords: corporate governance, SMEs, Germany, firm performance.
JEL Classification: G3, G34, M10, L25

As SMEs are the drivers of employment and GDP in many cases, SMEs are also critical to the development of any economy and their survival and success are, thus, important. With the high levels of failure of SMEs, it has become imperative that there is a drive to ensure the survival of SMEs. A way in which SMEs, can enhance their potential success rate and business performance is by means of proper target market selection in order for the business to focus their marketing efforts. This will allow the business to timeously identify opportunities and threats in the market and to react to these situations. The business will also have a greater understanding of their target market, and their needs and wants. Understanding the target market will assist the business in developing marketing strategies that are suited for the target market and enhance its chances of success. This study aimed to identify whether SME owners and managers have target market knowledge within a South African SME context. The main results indicate that although SME owners and managers claim they are aware of their specific target markets (90%), they do not have customer knowledge regarding the psychographic and demographic aspects of their target market. By using effective target marketing communication, SMEs can improve on their merchandising planning and product assortment and offerings to better serve their target market(s).

Keywords: target marketing, SMEs, South Africa.
JEL Classification: M310, L26

A review of the literature on corporate governance and narrative disclosures highlights the need for assessment of the formulation of the chairperson’s statement. This research is justified as corporate reporting today is more integrated. The significance of the study may be that even though only the chairperson’s statement is investigated, it may be a good starting point for understanding how change is ushered into an organization and from what perspective this takes place. Findings of content analysis of 100 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed chairperson’s statements suggest that as part of the communication intended mainly for investors and other stakeholders of the company, the chairperson’s statement is written as a reactive statement to environmental factors or as a proactive statement to counter environmental factors that may affect or have affected the company’s performance. This study will be useful in helping readers to improve their understanding of a company’s efforts to communicate with them, from the chairperson’s perspective.

Keywords: chairperson’s statement, JSE, disclosures, reactivity, proactivity.
JEL Classification: G3, G30

The challenging retail environment requires a need to manage shopping malls effectively to understand the attributes that attract shopping mall visitors to visit shopping malls. The purpose of the study aimed to determine shopping mall visitors’ perceptions or ratings towards shopping mall attributes they consider when choosing which shopping mall to visit. A quantitative approach was followed to realize research objective using interviewer-administered questionnaires for data collection. The data were collected at shopping centre in the capital city of South Africa, City of Tshwane. A descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the quantitative data. The findings of the study revealed that the shopping mall visitors’ ranked adequate parking availability high. This study contributes to the current literature and provides valuable information to South African retailers and shopping mall developers, with regard to marketing communications and marketing strategies that aim to attract shopping mall visitors. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Keywords: shopping mall, shopping motivations, hedonic motivation, utilitarian motivation.
JEL Classification: M31, M37

This study identifies and discovers best practices in entrepreneurship education from highly-ranked universities and business schools globally. The study has been qualitative in nature, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 23 respondents at 12 higher education institutions. The study has made use of non-probability sampling by means of a convenience sampling approach. Data have been analyzed by means of thematic analysis. Results indicate that best practices in entrepreneurship education include little to no specialization at undergraduate level, with a strong preference for generic and widely applicable entrepreneurship modules. Individual entrepreneurship-related modules contain distinct individual themes. These modules are most commonly structured as electives, thereby allowing students to structure their courses according to areas of personal preference. At postgraduate level, it has been discovered that programs are often specialized in entrepreneurship and highly interdisciplinary in nature, most commonly with areas of specialization such as engineering and other sciences. Practical assignment and teaching tend to be favored in entrepreneurial teaching, rather than traditional classroom-based approaches. Entrepreneurship hubs and centers are mainly independent units loosely linked to a prominent university, with independent mandates and processes. The best practices identified in this study will assist universities and business schools to effectively structure entrepreneurship curriculums in line with global best practices.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, higher education.
JEL Classification: A23, I23

Organizations often experience problems and challenges due to the development of rigid bureaucratic rules and procedures, which may represent obstacles to creativity and innovation. In a global knowledge economy, innovation is an important competitive parameter. Consequently, anything that may stimulate innovation in an organization’s creative energy fields is valuable. This paper addresses one question: What management roles of an innovation leader may enhance the development of innovation in an organization’s creative energy fields? Methodology used is conceptual generalization.
The article suggests, clarifies and discusses four roles of an innovation leader’s that may have a positive impact on an organization’s innovation performance in creative energy fields. The roles are conceptualized as “the innovation leader as an expert”, “the innovation leader as a reputation builder”, “the innovation leader as a relationship builder”, and the “innovation leader as a creative change force”. The article argues how these four roles are important in promoting innovation in organizations. By doing this, the article contributes to the extant knowledge on how four different roles of an innovation leader’s may enhance an organization’s innovation performance in creative energy fields.

Keywords: the knowledge society, innovation in organizations, creative energy fields, innovation leaders, roles of an innovation leader.
JEL Classification: O31, O33, D83

Street vending is a phenomenon that has been in existence for hundreds of years. It has since increased owing to economic challenges experienced, especially in developing countries. This article sought to highlight changing patterns in the demographic profiles of urban street vendors in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe through a desk research study. The aim was to sensitize local governments, particularly in Zimbabwe, to develop appropriate policies in line with changing patterns in the demographic profiles of urban street vendors. Findings revealed that there has been an increase in the number of single and married women in urban street vending; more young people have joined this practice and more educated people are also part of urban street vendors. The study concluded that street vending is a dynamic phenomenon with changes having been noticed in gender, marital status, age and level of education of urban street vendors. Recommendations were that local governments need to re-visit policies pertaining to planning for urban street vending in line with the changing circumstances.

Keywords: changing patterns, urban street vending, dynamic phenomenon, qualitative analysis.
JEL Classification: P25, C13

Youth unemployment is one of the central concerns affecting global economics in the world today. The recent World Economic Forum held at Davos prioritized the discussions on issues confronting youth unemployment. The International Labor Office (ILO, 2013) projected a global youth unemployment rate of 12.7% by 2017. According to the ILO, (2013), 202 million people are unemployed globally and 40% are under the age of 24. South Africa fares even worse. Statistics SA (2012) indicates that 71% of the unemployed are aged 25-34 and the unemployment rate among youth is 36%. About 3.3 million youth aged 15-34 are not employed or studying (Financial Mail, 7th February 2013). With this in mind, the paper intends to look at the perceptions affecting youth entrepreneurship development in South Africa and whether entrepreneurial education and training fosters the development of entrepreneurial orientation in the South African youth. A five point Likert Scale was used, 1 = Strongly disagree 3 = Neutral and 5 = Strongly agree. Furthermore, a quantitative research method was used and 132 grade eleven learners were purposefully selected randomly in Crawford high school in Gauteng. Findings indicate that entrepreneurship education and training can direct students towards certain career choices; secondly, planned behavior can be predicted; and thirdly, practically is able to increase the propensity of students to start a business.

Keywords: SA, learners, entrepreneurship culture, orientation, education, youth unemployment.
JEL Classification: L26, J24

This article explored human capital intelligence and economic development in Zimbabwe with some examples adopted from Israel and many other countries. A qualitative-exploratory literature review methodology was used for the purpose of this study because of its suitability. The primary concern of the author was to have and provide an in-depth analysis and understanding of the multiple realities and truths pertaining to human capital intelligence and economic development in Zimbabwe. An inductive approach was adopted for the purpose of this study. The findings of this article will make it possible to generalise the role of human capital intelligence towards economic development of a country and to develop some valuable propositions for future studies. The findings showed that human capital intelligence plays a critical role in economic development, through laying a foundation for economic development, attracting foreign direct investment, personal remittances, as well as attracting venture capitalists. Empirical evidence from countries such as Israel shows the criticality of human capital intelligence development to economic development of a nation. This article will assist business managers, societal leaders, policymakers, as well as governments to understand the criticality of human capital intelligence towards the development of a company, society and nation at large. This article has, therefore, academic, societal and business value.

Keywords: Zimbabwe, economic development, human capital, intelligence, intellectual capital.
JEL Classification: O1, J41, O34

Interest in the study of emotions have always been present. Academic jobs are susceptible to multiple demands from various stakeholders. This paper presents the occasion to question whether academics are emotional laborers? The concept of emotional labor have been heavily investigated and researched in the customer service domain. Notably, emotional labor in higher education institutions is a relatively understudied research area. A theoretical framework of emotional labor is presented. It is essential to understand the demands that emotional labor places on academics and its impact on higher education institutions. Subsequently, the paper explores emotional labor among academic staff in higher education institutions, namely, the university system. The consequences and challenges of emotional labor are further evaluated. The paper is a meta-analysis and qualitative in nature. The study uses secondary data and reviews various literature on emotional labor, teaching and higher education institutions, and presents a conceptual paper. It considers the evaluation of academics in higher education institutions as emotional laborers. Literature was further probed to investigate academics as emotional laborers. Subsequently, the consequences and challenges were discussed. The paper further suggests that higher education intuitions need to be cognisant of the demands that emotional labor places on academic staff and the impact on their well-being. It is essential that the quality of work life of academics within higher education are addressed, as such studies are long overdue and under researched.

Keywords: emotional labor, emotions, academics, university, teaching, higher education institution.
JEL Classification: I23