Assessing fertilizer buying behavior of emerging farmers in a South African grain producing area
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Released OnWednesday, 06 September 2017
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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
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124 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: 1305 Downloads: 1766 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: 848 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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Structure and profitability in the banking sector
Munacinga Simatele
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Syden Mishi ,
Nomasomi Ngonyama
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/bbs.13(1).2018.05
Banks and Bank Systems Volume 13, 2018 Issue #1 pp. 49-59 Views: 792 Downloads: 124 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯThe relationship between profit and bank market structure continues to raise questions amongst both policy makers and researchers. While some evidence supports a positive relationship between market structure, competition and profitability, other evidence seems to support the fact that profitability and related market share result from efficiency. Moreover, extant literature on South Africa is conflicting and seems to contradict anecdotal evidence. While some studies point to a competitive environment despite concentration, others suggest that concentration in the banking sector is harmful. Prosecution of banks for uncompetitive behavior also casts doubt on the conclusion that the South African banking sector is competitive. This paper examines the relationship between structure and conduct in the South African banking sector. Using the Berger (1995) discriminating tests, the effect of industry concentration, market share and efficiency on three measures of profitability is estimated on a panel of 11 South African banks for data between 1994 and 2016. The results show that concentration affects conduct. The profit-structure relationship is dominantly explained by the structure conduct hypothesis and partly by the efficient scale hypothesis. These results suggest that policy which discourages concentration and promotes competition in the banking sector is socially beneficial.
