The bottom of the pyramid (BoP) market in Africa is a significant opportunity for multinational banks. To address this banks’ need to increase their understanding of their BoP context, develop new approaches to overcome BoP obstacles, and use technology to create new commercially viable business models. The purpose of this study was to investigate how banks use co-creation with stakeholders to operate in BoP markets in Africa. The research explored how banks provide services to companies and individuals that currently do not use banks services, and acquire understanding by working with companies, individuals and other market actors to generate services that creates an infrastructure for BoP markets to ‘work’. This study addresses the gap in the research on how banks co-create in BoP markets, providing understanding of how banks’ create approaches to customers and operating models to achieve sustainable growth in BoP markets. Empirically, the study examined specific bank projects to better understand how co-creation supports banks to delivers sustainable and scalable business models. The main findings from the empirical research demonstrated positive results, strong leadership and commercial management are critical to banks operating in BoP markets in Africa; concurring with arguments put forward by Casado Cañeque and Hart (2015) and extending London and Hart’s (2010) analysis into a banking context. Research confirmed post-financial-crisis corporate governance of banks and their boards’ ability to ensure they can demonstrate their banks are well managed, and management having a detailed understanding of the operations, has created trade-offs and restrictions on how banks operate in BoP markets. No common strategies emerged to create a new business model for banking in BoP markets in Africa. No immediate significant new direction emerged for banks to overcome their business models’ legacy of inflexibility to address the needs of BoP customers. Results revealed bank proposition development approach remains generally focused on developed, rather than developing, customer contexts and regulations. The majority of BoP customers in Africa remain excluded due to cost, distance, and a lack of suitable products, as variables such as access, cost and regulation made it challenging for banks to provide compelling bank-wide propositions. BoP customers in Africa are becoming easier to access, as banks, card networks, and mobile network operators use digital technology, like mobile phones, to access BoP customer markets at lower costs than traditional business models, allowing new approaches to proposition development, such as test and learn in the field. The findings demonstrated value in co-creation via partnerships, supporting Simanis (2012), who maintained that firms are likely to be successful in BoP markets if they use existing infrastructure and local partnerships to enter BoP markets, and that pioneering work on microfinance initiatives embracing new approaches to digital technology across banking markets has led banks to reconcile the need for new approaches to BoP markets.

The overall purpose of this Master’s thesis was to gain an in-depth understanding of university student-athletes’ contributions. The first manuscript included in this thesis assesses the suitability of the Positive Youth Development Very Short Form (PYD-VSF) for use with an emerging adult athlete population, using data from 74 university student-athletes who completed an online questionnaire. The findings suggest that the PYD-VSF is not an appropriate measure for this population. The second and third manuscript used data from 10 interviews. The second manuscript examined university student-athletes’ motivations to contribute and found participants reported that contributing served as a way to satisfy the basic psychological needs and possessed multiple motives simultaneously. The third manuscript explored the facilitators and barriers relating to university student-athletes’ contributions and found that academic and athletic time constraints were significant barriers to contribution and teammates, coaches, and staff members of the athletics department facilitated contributions.

In the first essay, in contrast to some earlier studies, I document statistically significant within-country style effects in several emerging Asian equity market portfolios. Small capitalization and value stocks tend to outperform their style counterparts. However, there are considerable periods of time when large capitalization and growth stocks outperform. Overall, single style strategies are risky when applied to each individual market. In the second essay, I report that average return correlations among the zero-cost style portfolios are low - emphasizing the value of an intra-regional diversification strategy. These correlations exhibit significant variation over time. Measures of integration for the style portfolios are also low on average but tend to vary over time. Style returns in the original ASEAN-5 markets exhibit much higher correlations following the Asian financial crisis, and, these correlations remain elevated for several years. These results suggest that while diversification is helpful on average, there are some periods of time when a regional style rotation strategy is warranted and other times when country-specific rotation strategies are reasonable. In the third essay, I conduct bootstrap experiments on significant winner and loser continuations for each style and the style triplets in Asian emerging equity markets. I provide only modest evidence of style continuation in Asian emerging markets. I also test for style-level momentum in emerging Asia and condition style momentum returns on January, market state, monetary policy and cross-sectional dispersion. I find significant conditional style-level momentum in some Asian emerging markets but not others. I attribute the weaker style momentum results in emerging Asia to a lack of country-level style-specific derivatives in these markets.

Regional integration, defined as a process in which countries enter into agreements to enhance regional trade, economic and political cooperation, remains an integral part of Africa’s development strategy as evidenced by the proliferation of regional integration agreements on the continent. The implications of these regional agreements on the strategy and operations of multinational corporations on the continent is a question that has received little attention, and as a result, largely remains unanswered. The East African Community, the regional intergovernmental organisation between the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, may lay claim to the position of being the most advanced regional block in Africa with respect to progress made at implementing integration objectives. As such, the impact that deepening integration may have had on multinationals operating in the East African Community evokes much interest and attention. This research therefore interrogates the implications of deepening regional integration on business strategy in the East African Community. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study assessed multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed markets with subsidiaries based in the emerging markets, to determine whether being based in a dynamic market influences the positive attention in terms of support and autonomy that these subsidiaries receive from headquarters. The purpose of the research was to expand on previous research conducted by Bouquet and Birkinshaw (2008) by surveying subsidiaries from emerging markets, and determining whether MNCs amend their attention strategy to subsidiaries based in emerging markets as a result of their limited understanding of the dynamics of the local business environment, or whether they maintain a standardised strategy for engaging all subsidiaries. 39 MNC subsidiaries from the emerging markets of Southern Africa, Latin America and the Middle East were surveyed via a web-based questionnaire, assessing various aspects of their business activities and local business environment to determine the type of positive attention which subsidiaries in these markets received from headquarters. The results indicated that the business environment within emerging markets is complex and requires alternative forms of assessment and involvement by headquarters, however overall subsidiaries based in emerging markets do not receive the support and autonomy from headquarters which is required to exploit local opportunities effectively. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This paper investigates how individuals in emerging markets, specifically South Africa, approach their savings decision. The researcher attempts to identify those attributes most desirable to emerging market consumers, in so far as the allocation of their disposable income to saving is concerned. In the wake of one of the biggest financial crises to hit the modern world, there is going to be increased scrutiny into how financial institutions and countries capitalise their balance sheets. The manner in which financial advice is given to individuals will face similar scrutiny as such the subject matter requires even greater understanding. Human beings in some parts of the world are living increasingly longer. Longevity risk is the risk that people may live for longer than the average expected. This poses risks of uncertainty of the quantum of financial assets to build up in preparation for retirement. These are pertinent reasons for the need for a study of this nature. The research found that stereotypical understandings of the profile of a typical emerging market individual are being challenged. As such organisations looking to take advantage of business opportunities present in these markets need to be cognisant of this change in shaping their business strategies. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This research aimed to explore the influence of the institutional context on the growth-potential of new businesses in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to highlight the major responsibility of bureaucracy to enable high-growth entrepreneurship in emerging economies by building a favourable economic, social and legal environment, known as the institutional context.An adapted research model was defined through an extensive literature review of prior studies in the fields of both institutional theory and entrepreneurship theory. An online survey was administered to many South African entrepreneurs via a number of databases across the country. The responses were then collected and analysed by means of a multiple regression analysis to test the six hypotheses of the research model.The results revealed that all the identified institutional factors were found to have significant influences on high-growth entrepreneurship in the intended directions, while access to technology was found to have the largest influence, and the regulatory framework also contributed substantially. This implies that the bureaucracy of the country has to consider all the identified factors when attempting to design a supportive institutional environment to stimulate high-growth entrepreneurship. However, the greatest results will be achieved by focusing specifically on the access to an extensive technological infrastructure and an effective regulatory framework. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to explore and gain insight into the current purpose of contracting and, in the main, the future of contracting in emerging markets. The study aimed to explore the nature of contracting in emerging markets in order to understand what the future of contracting will be in emerging markets. The study was a qualitative study and a sample of ten participants was interviewed. Findings of the study indicated that the emerging market environment is risky due to unfamiliar local nuances; and local laws are preferred over international law. Technology and innovation are not a strong focus in emerging markets but relationship frameworks allow for some degree of flexibility and innovation. Relationships and their importance were the biggest finding of this research prompting an exploration of the Confucian concept of guanxi highlighting relational networks within social settings. The research further identified that contract professionals need to firstly be both competent and globally literate. Relationships and links between skills, knowledge and the operating environment are intertwined in determining the future of contracting. The research concluded by making recommendations to Chief Executive Officers of multinationals, lawyers, contract professionals and consultants in emerging market firms in light of the findings of this research. The research highlights the legal and both internal and external contextual considerations of contracting and also suggests variables for further research that are crucial for a deeper understanding of contracting in emerging markets. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

This research examines the life pathways of 1.5 and second generation Haitian immigrants in South Florida. The purpose of the research is to better understand how integration occurs for the children of Haitian immigrants as they transition from adolescence to adulthood. Building upon a prior study of second-generation immigrant adolescents between 1995 and 2000, a sub-set of the original participants was located to participate in this follow-up research. Qualitative interviews were conducted as well as in-depth ethnographic research, including participant observation. Survey instruments used with other second-generation populations were also administered, enabling comparisons with the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). The results indicate that educational and occupational achievements were markedly below the participants’ original expectations as adolescents. Gender figures prominently in participants’ familial roles and relationships, with men and women distinctly incorporating both Haitian and American cultural practices within their households. Contrary to previous research, these results on the identification of participants suggest that these young adults claim attachment to both Haiti and to the United States. The unique longitudinal and ethnographic nature of this study contributes to the ongoing discussion of the integration of the children of immigrants by demonstrating significant variation from the prior integration trends observed with Haitian adolescents. The results cast doubt on existing theory on the children of immigrants for explaining the trajectory of Haitian-American integration patterns. Specifically, this research indicates that Haitians are not downwardly mobile and integrating as African Americans. They have higher education and economic standing than their parents and are continuing their education well into their thirties. The respondents have multiple identities in which they increasingly express identification with Haiti, but in some contexts are also developing racialized identifications with African Americans and others of the African diaspora.

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are an unregulated suite of constituents frequently detected in environmental waters, which possess the potential to cause a host of reproductive and developmental problems in humans and wildlife. Degradation pathways of several CECs are well-characterized in idealized laboratory settings, but CEC fate and transport in complex field settings is poorly understood. In the present study I use a multi-tracer solute injection to study and quantify physical transport and photodegradation in a wastewater effluent-impacted stream in Ankeny, Iowa. Conservative tracers are used to quantify physical transport processes in the stream. Use of reactive fluorescent tracers allows for isolation of the relative contribution of photodegradation within the system. Field data were used to calibrate a one-dimensional transport model, and forward modeling was then used to predict the transport of sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic in the effluent which is susceptible to photolysis. Results show that accurate predictions of reactive CECs at the scale of stream reaches can be made using the fate and transport model based on field tracer studies. Results of this study demonstrate a framework that can be used to couple field tracer and laboratory CEC studies to accurately predict the transport and fate of CECs in streams.