Assessing fertilizer buying behavior of emerging farmers in a South African grain producing area
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Author(s)Ronald Lotriet ,Christo BisschoffLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6845-7355
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Aron Kole
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DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.15(2-2).2017.14
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Article InfoVolume 15 2017, Issue #2 (cont. 2), pp. 456-467
- 469 Views
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134 Downloads
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Fertilizer not only plays a major role in the profitability of the farmer’s business, but also represents an expensive farm input. The emerging farmer market segment is expanding and holds a great deal of potential for fertilizer companies to supply the growing need for fertilizer in this market. Almost all fertilizer marketing strategies of South African companies have been designed to cater for the commercial farming sector; however, if fertilizer suppliers want to focus on the emerging farmer market segment, they need to understand buying behavior of emerging farmers, as well as their needs when developing strategies to utilize opportunities in this developing market. This study aims to identify factors playing an important role in the buying behavior of emerging farmers in the Free State when purchasing fertilizer. The results show that service, brand, product, and learning or psychological factors highly influence emerging farmers’ fertilizer purchase decision. The study also finally draws recommendations and conclusions for managerial perusal.
- Keywords
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JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)Q13
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References37
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Tables3
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Figures5
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- Figure 1. The provincial distribution of the maize crop in SA
- Figure 2. The agricultural sector categories in SA
- Figure 3. The three main farm inputs in SA
- Figure 4. The stimulus response model
- Figure 5. Mean values of all categories
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- Table 1. Differences between commercial and emerging grain farmer industry
- Table 2. Reliability of the data
- Table 3. Correlation analysis
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The growth strategies of a global pharmaceutical company: a case study of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited
Problems and Perspectives in Management Volume 15, 2017 Issue #1 (cont.) pp. 248-259 Views: 1482 Downloads: 1811 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯGiven the rapid and sustained growth of Aspen over the past decade, the main aim of this study is to identify and analyze the growth strategies, adopted by Aspen over the period from 2004 to 2014. The research method used was a descriptive study through a single case study of Aspen by analyzing secondary data in the form of publicly available company reports and presentations, as well as financial results, issued between 2004 and 2014. The study finds that, guided by strategic and visionary leadership, Aspen adopted a number of growth strategies including (i) organic growth, as a key factor in creating incremental value for Aspen and its stakeholders, (ii) inorganic growth, in the form of carefully planned and well executed acquisitions, aligned to the Group strategy, (iii) extending territorial coverage through global expansion, particularly into emerging pharmaceutical countries, and (iv) ongoing investment in production capabilities as a means of achieving a strategic advantage. Despite the challenges of intense competition, restrictive legislation, pressure on medicine prices, currency volatility and market specific risks, Aspen has delivered double-digit earnings growth to its shareholders for 16 consecutive years.
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Antecedents of attitudes towards and usage behavior of mobile banking amongst Generation Y students
Banks and Bank Systems Volume 12, 2017 Issue #2 pp. 78-90 Views: 1035 Downloads: 830 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯDespite the benefits that mobile banking has to offer, coupled with positive mobile penetration rates, the use of mobile devices to perform banking transactions and access financial information is not as widespread as expected. The significantly sized Generation Y cohort is a rewarding market segment for retail banks. In South Africa, however, this cohort’s mobile banking adoption is largely under-researched. Understanding the antecedents that positively influence Generation Y students’ attitudes towards and usage behavior of mobile banking will assist retail banks in their efforts to tailor their business and marketing strategies effectively towards this cohort, and in doing so, foster increased acceptance of their mobile channels. As such, the purpose of this study was to extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) and determine the influence of perceived ease of use, relative advantage, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived integrity and the perceived system quality of mobile banking on South African Generation Y students’ attitudes towards and usage behavior of mobile banking. Following a descriptive research design, self-administered questionnaires were completed by a non-probability convenience sample of 334 students registered at the campuses of three registered public South African universities located in the Gauteng province. Data analysis included correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that while perceived ease of use, perceived integrity and the perceived system quality predict Generation Y students’ mobile banking usage behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and the perceived relative advantage of mobile banking predict attitudes towards mobile banking, which, in turn, predict their mobile banking usage behavior.
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Guiding buyer-supplier relationships through supply chain disruptions: a study of South African 3PLs and clients
Evert de Goede , Jaco Nel , Wesley Niemann
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.16(2).2018.11
Problems and Perspectives in Management Volume 16, 2018 Issue #2 pp. 113-133 Views: 1004 Downloads: 93 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯEven though a lot of attention has been directed towards risk management, disruptions are inevitably present within supply chains and should therefore be successfully managed if organizations are to thrive in today’s ever-changing world. How organizations respond to these disruptions has an impact on the relationship between the parties involved. This study explored what factors influenced buyer-supplier relationships in either a strengthening or weakening manner within a disruption context. A generic qualitative research approach was used to gather data by conducting semi-structured interviews with 24 participants that consisted of 3PLs and clients who have experienced a recent disruption between each other. This study reported on the relational factors within pre-, during- and post- disruption phases. A total of 18 strengthening factors were identified with the majority being classified into the during-disruption phase. The factors that added to existing disruption literature included having a mutual business understanding, problem solving ability and an introspective focus when resolving disruptions. Twelve weakening factors emerged from the data. Common business problems, a lack of, or weak prior relationship, no mutual business understanding and the occurrence and late detection of the disruption are novel findings. Practitioners gain value from this study as it equips them to manage supply chain disruptions successfully by highlighting important strengthening and weakening relational factors to consider when working with supply chain members to resolve disruptions. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by being one of the first empirical studies conducted on the relational effects of supply chain disruptions in a developing country context.
