Title from title page of source document. Dissertation no. 3398. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-106).

Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) are considered a vital catalyst for economic growth and a source of job creation. In South Africa, with the high levels of unemployment, the contribution made by SMEs is of particular importance. However this sector of the economy is plagued by a high rate of business failure. In an effort to improve the current situation, this study sought to identify which business practices and entrepreneurial traits are present in SMEs in the Eastern Cape that may enhance business performance. The research was carried out amongst SMEs in the Eastern Cape however the results and recommendations of the study can be applied to SMEs in other parts of the country. The research methodology employed in this study was a quantitative approach. A web-based survey was distributed to potential respondents. The criteria used in identify potential respondents for the purpose of this study was that, the SME had to have less than 200 employees and been in business for more than three years. A combination of snowball and convenience sampling was used to select the sample. The researcher developed a conceptual framework using the literature as basis. The survey was distributed to 40 potential respondents. A total of 21 responses were received which translates to a 51 percent response rate. Data analysis was performed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. The study confirmed the existence of a significant relationship between the independent variables being human resource management, accounting, technology, internal controls and entrepreneurial traits and the dependent variables being business performance. The study affirmed the notion that certain business practices and entrepreneurial traits should be prevalent in a SMEs business in order to enhance business performance. The findings of this study are such that these business practices should be present however the variables highlighted here are not absolute as there are other business practices that are of equal importance.

This thesis examines whether UK companies engage in classification shifting after the introduction of IFRS in 2005. While IFRS was issued to improve the quality of accounting practices and provides users with more useful and valuerelevant information, non-recurring items disclosures is less regulated under IFRS than under UK GAAP. Therefore, firms may have more opportunity to exercise their discretion on the classification of items within the income statement. Previous studies showed weak evidence of misclassification of recurring items within the income statements in the UK prior to the introduction of IFRS. However, it is unclear whether the flexibility under IFRS has affected the misclassification of recurring items within the income statement. The empirical results reveal that managers are more likely to exercise their discretion in the disclosure of non-recurring items following the adoption of IFRS. More specifically, it is found that managers are more likely to misclassify some recurring items as non-recurring before they engage in new debt contracts in the next period, and when classification shifting allows them to report core earnings increases. However, the results reveal that companies do not engage in classification shifting to avoid reporting core loss. This thesis also examines whether external auditors and corporate governance are able to mitigate classification shifting practices. The results show that high quality auditors are less likely to question the proper classification of recurring items. However, high quality internal governance in terms of board and audit committee are more likely to challenge management accounting practices, especially, the disclosure of exceptional items. These inferences are robust to a number of modelling specifications and variable definitions. The results collectively demonstrate that IFRS provides management with greater opportunity to misclassify some recurring items, and while external auditors do not mitigate such practices, strong internal governance do.

Emerging markets are contributing more to the global economy’s growth. This has attracted multinational manufacturing and service firms to these markets. This research investigated whether the subsidiaries of service multinationals outperform those of manufacturing service multinationals in emerging markets. The research identified 430 listed service multinational subsidiaries and 359 listed manufacturing subsidiaries currently operating in 27 emerging markets. The subsidiaries performance was analysed using the Shapiro Wilk’s test for normality and the Mann-Whitney test. In addition to this, the research ran 10 multiple regression models to test the impact of country competitiveness factors on subsidiary performance. The findings show that service multinationals’ subsidiaries outperform manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries. Additionally the findings show that manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries have developed capabilities better suited to minimising the impact of the emerging market environment on their performance. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / mngibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Strategic functional management is the approach a functional area takes to achieve corporate- and business unit objectives and strategies by maximizing resource productivity. It is concerned with developing and nurturing a distinctive competence to provide a company or business unit with a competitive advantage (Wheelen, 2002:160). The credit function, with debtors as the largest current asset on the balance sheet, is such a functional area that should be concerned with providing the organisation with a competitive advantage. Although many generic organisational strategic models are available, there is a lack of guidelines on how to mange the credit function strategically. The objective of this research was to develop a framework, which could be used by credit managers as a management tool, to select those aspects of the credit function, which are relevant for an organisational strategic role. In order to achieve this goal, the following sub objectives have been identified in which the framework should enable credit managers to: scan the credit function's external and internal environments to keep in touch with opportunities and threats and to determine strengths and weaknesses, and to formulate, implement and evaluate credit and collection strategies that could contribute to organisational strategic goals. A literature study method was used to collect data to be incorporated in the development of this framework that will serve as basis for the alignment of strategic credit management principles with strategic organisational principles. The focus of the proposed framework was to use and adapt the four basic elements of Wheelen's organisational model (Wheelen, 2002:2) into a more specific model applicable for credit functions. It was concluded that a competitive advantage could be obtained by the use of this proposed strategic credit management framework. Credit managers should be trained on how to use this framework effectively and then ensure that it is implemented, evaluated, monitored and controlled on an ongoing basis. However, the applicability thereof in practice is reserved for future studies. / Prof. A. Boesenkool

Financial markets play a vital role in the allocation of funds for investment at all levels of economic activity. Therefore, an understanding of the functioning of financial markets is a critical business skill. Yet, history proves financial markets to be erratic creatures. The purpose of this research report was to determine whether stock prices always reflect fundamentals or whether they display persistent deviations from their long-run equilibrium fundamental values due to irrational investor behaviour. The research was limited to earnings and dividends in terms of fundamentals and under- and overreaction in terms of investor behaviour. A two-regime non-linear dynamic model was applied to quarterly data of stock price, dividends and earnings for companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange (“the JSE”) from 1980 to 2007. The results of the study demonstrate that although the South African equity market is not totally extreme, it contains quite substantial short-term noise. This outcome provides a compelling case for value investing. Against this backdrop, recommendations were made to individual investors and corporate managers. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This paper investigates whether there is a difference in the investor returns of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The analysis covers companies listed in the financial and industrial sectors during the period January 2002 to June 2007 and looks at overall returns, returns through share price changes and returns through dividend distributions. The purpose is to gain insight into whether ownership structure has an effect on company returns and to expand the information base that investors can draw on when assessing opportunities. In performing this research company management and ownership information has been used to categorise companies as owner-managed or non-owner managed and then share price data, dividend distributions have been used to calculate investor returns on a quarterly basis. This allowed descriptive analysis and hypothesis testing to be performed on the data to identify differences and then the statistical significance of any of these differences. The results obtained indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in the overall returns between the two groups but that differences between the two groups of companies do exist, primarily in the makeup of the returns rather than an overall difference in returns. In drawing these conclusions, it became apparent that further questions have arisen, particularly related to the reasons for the difference in nature of the returns. This begs for further investigation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

One of the aims of BEE is to foster sustainable corporate growth of empowerment companies. This is projected to contribute to the growth of a deracialised South African economy, eradication of inequalities, underdevelopment and the achievement of enhanced widespread income levels in the economy. This study assessed the growth performance of empowerment companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange against a background of enabling regulatory and other BEE support measures. In general, corporate growth manifests itself through numerical improvements in financial measures like turnover, total asset value and share price. These financials for a sample of empowerment companies were statistically analysed and compared to market averages and selected growth predictor models. The results indicate that for the period 2003 to 2006, share price growth for empowerment companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange followed closely that of both the FTSE/JSE All Share Index and the sales growth predictor model but not the FTSE/JSE Style Indices and the asset growth predictor model. This implies that over this period, the aggregate portfolio of listed empowerment companies did not exhibit attributes similar to those of other listed companies weighted towards identifiable growth and value characteristics. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The determinants of the antecedents of the profitable performance of companies are a field of interest which should be at the forefront of the mind of the executives of any profit making institution. Industry structure and its effects on profitability have long been a focus of study in the management literature. This study focuses on the effects industry and time have on profitability in the South African business milieu. A quantitative research method was followed whereby three different profitability ratios were calculated across two hundred and eighty nine listed South African entities over a ten year period to determine if there is a statistically significant link between industry effect and profitability as well as time and profitability. The study was undertaken in the form of hypotheses tests to determine if such links did exist. In the empirical evidence resulting form the hypothesis tests, three out of the three tests for industry effect on profitability were found to be statistically significant and two of the three tests for the effect of time on profitability were found to be statistically significant. These results show that in South African listed companies, industry has a statistically significant effect on profitability. While the effect of time on profitability does appear to be statistically significant however this is dependent on the types of profitability measures used. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted