Stephen Migiro

Mobile banking in South Africa recently has undergone rapid growth, and research on it is on the increase. This paper seeks to improve authors’ understanding of the current state of knowledge of mobile banking in South Africa by providing a systematic review of the existing literature on the phenomenon. The literature review shows that research to date has centred on small academic models with a high level of practitioner involvement, consequently, narrowing research issues of greater concern. Thus, issues of assessing mobile banking needs, factors imparting continuance usage, and the measurement of impact have been comparatively neglected. A future direction for research and practice within the mainstream of mobile banking and financial services is suggested to remedy this imbalance and to contribute to mobile banking applications in South Africa

This study examines the benefits of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in evaluating the performance of decision making units (DMUs). DEA is a mathematical programming tool applied in performance measurement. The problem identified is establishing business support units as value adding business units. A case is made for applying DEA when evaluating the performance of such business support units. To this end, a literature review of the results of applications of DEA to the evaluation of information technology and purchasing supply chain management functions was conducted. The findings indicate the benefits of DEA are that the method identifies efficient performers in a given population and, therefore, allows for benchmarking against the ’best in class’ performer. This as opposed to more commonly used parametric methods, such as regression analysis, which result in a comparator that represents the average performance for a given population, therefore, allowing only for measurement against the average. In addition, the findings indicate that in respect of business support units, the DEA methodology allows for the incorporation of intermediate outcomes, which facilitates the measurement of the contribution of these units to overall company performance. Although the DEA methodology has been widely applied, it is still not as well known or generally applied as the more common approaches. The recommendations made in this paper will be beneficial in bringing DEA to the attention of decision-makers. The recommendations will also raise awareness of the potential benefits to be realised when applying the method in developing performance measurement frameworks for business support units.

Keywords: performance measurement, data envelopment analysis, decision making units, business support units.
JEL Classification: C61, L25

In the modern world, developing countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and several others in the African continent have been encouraged to reform their public expenditure management systems through computerization of the entire public sectors in response to the increasing volume of data or information that need to be processed. There are, however, various factors to be considered prior to the implementation of the public expenditure management information systems. This paper undertakes a theoretical review of the critical success factors that impact on the implementation of an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) with a view to identify factors applicable to the Migori County of Kenya. The paper, then, identifies the key factors to be incorporated in the proposed IFMS framework. The proposed framework draws from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and the Work Around Theory (WAT). The paper fuses these theories towards a successful adoption of use of modern technology within the public sector IFMS. The key factors include technical, organizational, environmental, cultural and ethical behavior. These factors could improve efficiency and transparency through direct payments to suppliers and contractors, reduced prices due to gains based on the time value of money, as well as the comparative analysis of market rates and advanced relations across the numerous organizational units within government on execution, reporting, and thoroughness of budget transactions.

One of the main aims of the National Credit Act (NCA) of 2005 in South Africa is to curtail rising consumer over-indebtedness by encouraging credit providers to adopt responsible lending practices. This research study seeks to ascertain whether the NCA’s responsible lending requirements have limited reckless lending by credit providers. Data are collected by a telephonic survey amongst debt counselors and in-depth interviews amongst bank employees. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze data from the descriptive survey, while data from in-depth interviews are analyzed using the thematic approach. Credit providers have divided opinions on whether the NCA limits reckless lending practices. Debt counselors claimed that credit providers are lending irresponsibly. By contrast, insights obtained from bank employees indicate compliance. However, both agree that borrowers are not borrowing responsibly. As a result, consumer education is required to educate consumers on both the benefits and risks of borrowing. It is also recommended that lenders be audited for compliance to the Credit act.