Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The internet is widely regarded as a major driving force that is changing the business environment in terms of industry boundaries, competitive forces, and the character of business practices. Electronic commerce on the internet provides businesses and consumers with an alternative choice to conduct their business transactions. In the services research literature the component of electronic commerce that receives the most attention, is the business-to-business component. This study focuses on the business-to-consumer component, with special reference to the service quality of internet banking in South Africa. The literature study investigates extant literature on the internet and electronic commerce, service quality as applied to an internet-based consumer-business interaction, and the current state of the internet banking environment in South Africa. The literature study is supported by statistics on the current internet access, and how this affects the adoption of internet banking in South Africa. Statistics on the current internet banking environment is also presented and discussed. The empirical study focuses on the service quality of internet banking in South Africa. The research instrument is a checklist-based questionnaire and it is applied to the internet sites of the four major banks, namely Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, and First National Bank. The result of the evaluation yielded data that is useful to determine the qualitative nature of the banks' internet offerings in terms of ease of use, functionality and extra mile service. It also provides a measure of the comparative nature of the internet sites of the banks. Recommendations relating to improved service quality in internet banking are suggested and areas of future research are identified. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die internet word alom beskou as 'n hoof dryfkrag vir die verandering van die besigheidsomgewing in terme van die industrie grense, kompiterende dryfkragte en die aard van die besigheids praktyke. Elektroniese besigheid via die internet verskaf aan besighede en hulle kliente alternatiewe metodes om besigheid-transaksies te beklink. Die komponent van elektroniese besigheid wat tans die meeste navorsings-aandag geniet, is die besigheid-tot-besigheid komponent. Die fokus van hierdie studie is op die besigheid-tot-klient komponent, met spesiale verwysing na die dienste kwaliteit van internet-bankwese in Suid Afrika. Die literatuur studie fokus op huidige literatuur aangaande die internet en elektroniese besigheid, dienste kwaliteit soos toegepas op die internet-gebaseerde klient-besigheid interaksie, en die huidige toestand van die internet bankwese in Suid Afrika. Die literatuur studie word gerugsteen deur statistiek aangaande die huidige internet toegangklikheid, en hoe dit die aansluiting van internet bankwese in Suid Afrika beinvloed. Statistiek wat die huidige internet bankwese in Suid Afrika beskryf word ook aangebied en bespreek. Die empiriese studie fokus op die dienste kwaliteit van internet bankwese in Suid Afrika. Die navorsings instrument was 'n oorsiglys-gebaseerde vraelys wat aangewend was op die internet webtuistes van die vier grootste banke in Suid Afrika, naamlik Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Eerste Nasionale Bank. Die resultaat van die evaluasie het data opgelewer wat nuttig is om die gebruiks vriendelikheid, funksionaliteit, en die kwaliteit van hulle aanvullende internet dienste te bepaal. Dit het ook 'n maatstaf van die kompiterende aard van die banke se internet webtuistes verskaf. Die studie word afgesluit met voorstelle wat kan dien om die dienste kwaliteit van internet bankwese te verbeter en voorstelle vir toekomstige navorsing word aangebied.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The internet has introduced a new channel of sales to the retail industry. Traditionally, the bricks and mortar retail space has predominated the retail giants’ attention; however, the e-commerce space has introduced a new dynamic they cannot ignore. South Africa, as a developing country, has faced challenges with the availability of internet access across all its regions due to the geographical location and spread. Location and logistics are but a few of the challenges facing the e-commerce organisation and consumer. A review of the public literature has identified a gap in research into the critical success factors and challenges facing the clothing e-commerce industry in South Africa. The intention of this study was to identify key themes of critical success criteria and challenges facing the clothing e-commerce industry by interviewing e-commerce professionals. The open questions and challenges identified through these interviews were combined with open questions from the literature review to form a primary questionnaire that could be launched to a primary consumer market segment. This retail consumer market was approached through a mall intercept survey and an online survey to obtain a reasonable representation of internet users and non-internet users in the target sample. Key findings from the e-commerce professional and manager interviews ratified the key themes of the critical success factors and challenges identified in the public literature review. The interviews did, however, place stronger emphasis on product range, price and customer service as being key contribution areas for critical success factors. The research identified a good product range, experienced and skilled senior management, good customer service, a robust and quality logistics model, strong security and clearly defined efficient internal processes. The research also identified high delivery costs and delays, product promised is not the product delivered, inefficient return policies and low quality e-commerce websites as key challenges facing the clothing e-commerce industry. The researcher suggests that further research can be conducted on the consumer adoption rates of clothing e-commerce and the impact of the declining Rand on the profitability of clothing e-commerce in South Africa.

Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The turbulent, rapidly changing knowledge economy has forced enterprises to become more entrepreneurial in order to capitalise on new opportunities and to create value. Previous research has shown the financial and non-financial benefits of corporate entrepreneurship (CE), but the implementation and management of CE remains problematic. Despite heightened awareness and interest by both scholars and practitioners in studying and better understanding entrepreneurship within large organisations, CE is still regarded as an emerging field of inquiry. Furthermore, limited research has thus far been conducted on CE and entrepreneurial intensity (EI) in the South African context. A review of the CE literature revealed a research gap that culminated in the following research question: How do the antecedents to CE influence the entrepreneurial intensity of firms active in e-business operating in South Africa? To address the research question stated above a literature review of antecedents to CE, and entrepreneurial intensity was conducted, and an empirical study was executed. The literature review emphasised five salient internal antecedents to CE: management support for CE; autonomy of employees; rewards for CE; time and resource availability; and flexible organisational boundaries. The external antecedents which influence CE were identified as munificent, opportunity-rich environments, and hostile environments filled with threats. Other factors that also play a role in influencing the level of entrepreneurship in enterprises are the type of industry, size and age of a company, managerial influence and the role of the individual in the CE process. The level of entrepreneurship was defined as entrepreneurial intensity, a function of frequency and degree of entrepreneurship. To address the research problem, empirical cross-sectional telephone surveys were conducted in two stages. The sample selected for the study was companies active in e-business operating in South Africa and aware of innovation practices. Two groups of companies were identified, namely JSE companies and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. The key respondent targeted in JSE companies was the Information Technology (IT) Manager or the Chief Information Office (CIO), while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Sales Manager was the key respondent in ICT companies. The population consisted of 715 companies. The response rate for first stage of the study was 44%, while the response rate was 20% for the second stage of the study. Measurement instruments were adapted, developed and revised where necessary to ensure the reliability and validity of the data. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that internal antecedents to CE have a significantly stronger influence on degree of entrepreneurship than munificent, external factors. This finding underlines the important role managers can play in providing a supportive climate for CE. The prominent internal antecedents in this study were management support for CE, autonomy of employees and rewards for CE. The findings also emphasised the importance of a positive, munificent business climate, as perceived by managers inside the organisations. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the more frequently enterprises act entrepreneurially, the higher their degree of entrepreneurship should be. Differences in EI, degree of entrepreneurship, internal and external antecedents were also discernable between JSE and ICT companies, with ICT companies showing higher levels of entrepreneurship than JSE companies. Moreover, the findings suggested that the size of a company did not influence EI, but the age of companies showed a negative relationship with EI, degree of entrepreneurship and the internal antecedents to CE. It appears that as companies become older, their internal environments become less supportive of entrepreneurial behaviour. The most important contribution of this study is the testing of CE-theories in the South African context. The managerial implications of the behavioural model tested in the study are that top and middle management could create a supportive environment for CE, while munificent environments encourage entrepreneurial behaviour. Measurement instruments have been developed, which may be used by managers, consultants and other researchers to measure these phenomena in future. Furthermore, the findings suggest that there are country differentials with regard to CE, while opportunities for further research were also identified.

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2017 / The continuous growth of e-commerce has led to a keen interest in the uptake of online shopping. This phenomenon is even more prevalent in developed western countries. However, penetration has taken place at a lessor rate in developing countries in most parts of Africa including South Africa. Apart from infrastructural capability and adequate online store reputation, the success of online shopping fundamentally rests upon e-tailers who are able to capture consumers by understanding what variables drive them to shop online. Although several studies have explored factors that drive online purchase intention, few have explored variables of interest as done in this present study. More specifically, this sort of research is scarce within the South African general merchandise online retail sector. This study aims to determine whether data charges, delivery dependability, geographical distance, product risk and information quality have any influence on consumers‘ online purchase intention. The conceptual model adopted in this study selected data charges, delivery dependability, geographical distance, product risk and information quality as predictor variables, online shopping satisfaction and trust as mediating variables and online purchase intention as the outcome variable. This is a quantitative study whereby 20 000 online survey questionnaires were distributed to a base of two renowned South African online retailers who predominately specialize in general merchandise. Of those distributed, 924 were complete and thus deemed useable by the researcher. The findings support all eight proposed hypotheses, therefore indicating that the aforementioned variables indeed influence online purchase intention at varying levels of significance. The study seeks to contribute new contextual knowledge, adding to the existing literature linked to online retailing and to contribute new empirical and theoretical findings. The research findings highlight new insights to marketing practitioners who, with better understanding of consumer decision making theory, will be able to create strategies that can be employed to influence consumers‘ online purchase intention in the South African general merchandise online retail sector. Keywords: E-commerce, online shopping, purchase intention, general merchandise retail. / GR2018

Thesis (M. Tech.: Information Technology)-Dept. of Information Technology, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xiv, 170, [20] leaves / This study examines the efficiency, ease of use and ease of understanding of user interface designs implemented in current e-commerce websites. Four South African based e-commerce websites formed the test cases of this study. Selection of the test cases was based on the results and conclusions of previous surveys conducted by an independent research institution. The outcome of that survey identified the most popular e-commerce websites among South African internet users.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 xviii, 161 leaves / Information technology is fundamentally changing the banking industry worldwide. The advent of internet banking offers banking firms a new frontier of opportunities and challenges. An understanding of how demographic characteristics, social factors, and consumer perceptions and attitudes towards internet banking influence the adoption of internet banking can allow banks to create solutions and plans to attract consumers to their internet banking services, thus enabling them to gain a greater share in the banking market. In South Africa little is known and understood about the emergence of internet banking even though this is now beginning to represent an important share of the banking market. This is because internet banking is a new industry here, and so consumer acceptance and use of internet banking is still limited. To date very little research has been conducted into factors which influence consumer adoption of internet banking, and so therefore there is a need for a study such as this. This study investigates attitudes of retail banking customers in South Africa, specifically in the Ethekweni metropolitan region, towards the adoption of internet banking.

This study examined whether customer care initiatives are being implemented on South African e-commerce web sites. The customer care initiatives are categorised into four sections: • General section which assessed the website's content, • Contact section which assessed vanous contact mechanisms and community development, • Security section which determined the security aspects of the web site, and • Ordering section which assessed the payment options, shipping and tracking the order. A search engine was used to generate a random sample of web sites that engaged in e-commerce. The web sites were then assessed against a checklist to determine if the 58 customer care initiatives were present or not. In order to capture the data, a generic Internet browser was developed so that the top half of the screen comprised the web site and the lower half of the screen contained the checklist. As the initiatives in the checklist were captured, the data was transferred into a database where it was later analysed both in the database and in a spreadsheet. The results revealed that, on the whole, the web sites fared well in the General section particularly with respect to the designs of the web sites. However, it was apparent that more commitment is needed in the Contact, Security and Ordering sections of web site design. The main recommendations include greater management commitment towards the more costly technologies such as encryption software to increase the security of online financial transactions and protect personal information; the inclusion of shopping basket technology and the inclusion of search facilities on the web sites. To a lesser extent there needs to be more commitment towards the creation of communities via the web site. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / The main objective of this research project was to explore organisational electronic commerce (e-commerce) adoption barriers experienced by SMMEs (Small Medium Micro Enterprises). In order for an SMME to become an e-business model. An SMME may start-up as an e-business without any transformation. Barriers to e-commerce adoption in htis research need to be identified. The research study should provide guidlines for SMMEs to use and pro-actively avoid possible barriers before and during the adoption process of e-business.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / With growing invesbnent in WWW technologies bye-Commerce businesses the measurement of Information Systems (IS) effectiveness in this area has become increasingly important over the last decade. As business users have become reliant on outsourced IS service providers for a wide range of services, the quality of service rendered by the latter is an important issue which impacts on IS effectiveness. Researchers have for many years recognised the importance of service quality as a measure of IS performance. Service quality measurement tools such as SERVQUAL from the marketing field, have been proven to be applicable to the IS domain. However, empirical studies in this regard are concentrated in the context of large, non- eCommerce organisations only. In South Africa, e-Commerce has been recognised as an important driver for growth in SMMEs. The literature suggests that IS service delivery to eCommerce businesses needs to be evaluated differently to that of traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. There is however a paucity of research regarding IS evaluation in e-Commerce environments, including that of the application of service quality principles. It is thus difficult for managers of IS service providers in this context to develop a complete picture of the effectiveness of the IS they deliver. Furthermore, because e-Commerce SMMEs are almost wholly reliant on these service providers for the supply of IS and support, their service expectations could be different from those in traditional businesses. The primary objective of this research was to investigate whether IS service quality criteria applied in large traditional businesses, are also applicable to SMME e-Commerce businesses. The applicability of a service quality measurement instrument, based on SERVQUAL, was tested in an ev Commerce SMME context. Specifically, this instrument measures the service quality expectations that e-Commerce SMMEs have of IS service providers. A SERVQUAL measurement scale from a recent MISQ paper was adapted and used to collect data concerning service quality expectations of e· Commerce SMMEs. Using a structured survey method, the research was delineated to e-Commerce enabled bed-and-breakfast and self-catering accommodation businesses in the Western Cape, South Africa. The research results indicate that, although SERVQUAL principles were applicable to the e-Commerce SMME context, the service quality dimensionality was different. There are four derived dimensions for service quality expectations of e-Commerce SMMEs in this research, viz., Credibility, Expertise, Availability and Supportiveness. A fifth dimension is the Tangibles dimension, which is retained from SERVQUAL. Furthermore the results indicate that the Credibility was the most important dimension in this research context, while the Tangibles dimension was the least important.

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / The emphasis on economic development of rural communities, especially small businesses within it has attracted the attention of most local, regional and national governments and non governmental agencies alike. As we move towards technology-oriented global market, community development now becomes a veritable strategy for ''pushing back the frontier of poverty" and maintaining socio-economic stability. This research argues that the deployment and use of appropriate e-commerce technology to facilitate this strategy is useful, and possibly, more suitable than any other tool or strategy. The research further examines the opportunities offered by ecommerce for small business development within the Western Cape. A framework that describes how e-commerce can support the addressing of the specific developmental needs of this community was developed. Six pilot communities involved in the pilot for the Cape Gateway Access Project initiated by the Centre for e-Innovation (Cel) of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape were investigated to find out how appropriate technologies are put to use and how they can be effectively deployed to promote entrepreneurship in these rural communities. The findings of this research reveal that the use of e-commerce by rural communities is a bit complicated. It is found that the availability and use of appropriate e-commerce technologies extend beyond provision of access, to provision of support outside technology and multi-stakeholder approach to addressing the economic situation of rural communities. The findings provide the basis for the recommendations and conclusions drawn in this research. However, the few entrepreneurs identified within the communities are found to be at different stages of e-commerce use. In general, most of the community members are unconsciously engaged in some form of e-commerce ranging from 828, 82C and G2C' , though not as significant as one would have envisaged.