The history of the gold mining industry and that of South Africa are closely linked and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Despite declining production figures in the last decade, the gold mining industry remains a key contributor to economic development in the country. The legitimacy of the industry has been based almost entirely on the financial contribution to the fiscus and job creation. More recently, this legitimacy has been questioned by perceptions of shortcomings in the contribution to sustainable development. The purpose of the research was to gain an enhanced understanding into how the gold mining industry is respond to the challenges of sustainability in South Africa. Through a combination of qualitative interviews and secondary data review, the research had specific aims to: Establish the strategic stances of South African gold mining companies on sustainability Identify key drivers and impediments to implementing sustainability strategies into the day-to-day decision making; establish the maturity levels of the practices adopted by the companies; and establish an approach that can be used to assist South Africa’s gold mining companies embed sustainability in their strategies. By and large, the South African gold mining industry recognises its responsibilities towards society and the ecosystem. However, the focus seems to be more short-term and based on liability, cost and risk reduction. Additionally, there seems to be a gap between intent and actual performance. The Mining Charter and global sustainability frameworks are key drivers in the companies’ response to sustainability challenges.Leadership within the industry, the credibility and trust deficits, and the fragmented approach to sustainable development were identified as major impediments. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The Miombo woodland vegetation of southern Africa has been subjected to anthropogenic pressures in recent years, resulting in a change in its cover and floristic-structural composition, and the population status of important tree species. The recent land use land cover changes (LULCC) is of concern due to the negative impacts on the Miombo woodland ecological functions. Understanding the overall dynamics of the vegetation that include LULCC, forest cover change, tree species composition, and diversity, population structure (PS) in relation to forest degradation, loss of endangered/rare species, is pivotal in influencing policy and sustainable woodland management. The Malawi Government instituted policies that allowed for improved forest management. However, the impact of forest management regimes on forest cover, tree species diversity, and structure is not well established. The study aimed to determine LULCC and forest cover changes and the associated drivers and how co-management (CM) and government-management (GM) impact on the florist-structural composition, diversity and the population structure of the important tree species in Malawian Miombo landscape. Firstly, the study analysed LULCC and the comparative impact of CM and GM on the forest cover in Malawi, for the period 1999-2018. CM involves a contractual agreement between communities (with a forest management plan who have been empowered to manage forest resources) and the Forest Department (representing the Government) in managing forest reserves. GM is the protection of forest resources by the government through the Forest Department. Since the introduction of participatory forest management (PFM), such as CM, its impact has not been established. Google Earth images (Landsat mosaics) for 1999 and 2018 for Malawi were acquired, registered, and pre-processed in Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI 4.7) Harris Geospatial Solutions. LULCC estimation using the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) classes was determined using the differences in error-adjusted areas between 1999 and 2018. Overall accuracies were >90%. Woodland net losses of 8.4% were to Plantation, Grassland, and Agriculture transition intensities. Agriculture net gains of 9.6% were from Grassland, Settlement, and Woodland transitions for Malawi. Forest cover within CM and GM indicated losses. Participatory land use plans and monitoring for diversified management in Malawian Miombo woodlands are required to mitigate anticipated irreversible impacts in the landscape. The second study investigated the factors that influence changes in CM and GM forest reserves between 1999 and 2018. CM and GM regimes in Miombo woodlands are possible interventions to mitigate forest degradation and deforestation in southern Africa. However, few studies have investigated the direct and indirect drivers of LULCC using socioeconomic characteristics and Remote sensing data in CM and GM regimes. The drivers of LULCC in forest reserves, and management challenges were identified using participatory assessments in both management regimes. The changes in woodland were observed with varying extent. Communities' perceptions in the factors contributing to changes in CM and GM forest reserves were similar and mostly due to the conversion of woodlands to agriculture while extraction of woody products led to forest degradation. In both management strategies, population pressure, youthful age, poverty, and poor education were associated with forest-based livelihood activities and therefore the woodland changes. The overall woodland cover loss to grassland is attributed to its importance as a source of energy. There is thus a need to harmonize policies for sustainable use and management of woodlands in order to address local, national, and regional ecosystem services. Future studies will need to link Remote sensing and socioeconomic data as part of a monitoring tool that could assist to sustainably adapt to changes in the woodlands and surrounding communities. The third study compared the Miombo Tree species composition and diversity between CM and GM regimes in Malawi. Tree species composition and diversity information is limited between CM and GM regimes. Two CM and two GM forest reserves were purposively selected to act as representatives of management regimes in the northern and southern regions of Malawi. Forest inventory data from 80 randomly selected nested circular plots were used. Two plot sizes: a large plot (0.16 ha; radius 22.6 m) to record stems ≥30 cm DBH, and the main plot (0.04 ha; radius 11.28 m) to record stems 5.0-29.9 cm DBH and species names. In total, 109 tree species belonging to 38 families, 87 species in GM FRs (Kaning’ina 58, Thambani 52), and 69 in CM FRs (Perekezi 45, Liwonde 43) were recorded. The largest families (number of species between brackets) were Fabaceae (34, with 3 subfamilies, Caesalpinioideae (17), Papilionoideae (12), and Mimosoideae (5), an indication of their adaptive potential in the area. Other important families were Combretaceae (7), Rubiaceae (7), and Clusiaceae (4). Species similarity between management regimes was low and was attributed to site factors, species characteristics and intensity of disturbances. TWINSPAN classification results were related to differences in site conditions and disturbances caused by historical and current resource use in management regimes. The eigenvalues ≥0.3 across CM and GM sub-communities indicated high stability. Brachystegia and Julbernardia species were highly important in CM and GM sub-communities. Uapaca species were highly important in agriculture and settlement abandoned areas in GM forest reserve. The study recommends selective harvesting to allow for dominant (Brachystegia and Julbernardia) and associated Miombo species to regenerate. Species richness and evenness (diversity) was high in more disturbed CM and GM sub-communities compared to intact areas. The high diversity was related to tree species high abundances of smaller stems with few scattered big trees. These results call for a Forest policy review to allow planned harvesting in GM forest reserves. Law enforcement is also required in both management regimes to mitigate unsustainable harvesting in sensitive areas. Future studies should include zonation to improve differentiation between site factors and wood extraction in stand development stages in management regimes. The fourth study compared the Miombo population structure (PS) between CM and GM regimes. Such information is limited in CM and GM regimes since the introduction of PFM in Malawi. The size class distribution (SCD) of sub-canopy/canopy species showed a reversed J-shaped profile in CM and GM forest reserves (South), when compared to CM and GM, in northern Malawi. These findings may reflect differences in the historical woodland utilization in the two regions. The bell-shaped SCDs in CM sub-communities with high stem density of Brachystegia and Julbernardia species suggest strong demand for light for successful recruitment from regeneration to adult trees and could be related to wood utilization. The reversed J-shape SCDs in northern GM sub-communities with high regeneration stem density of Pittosporum viridiflorum suggest an increase in shade-tolerant evergreen tree species under a low-level disturbance. Timber species showed interrupted SCDs with few to no stems, indicating challenges in regeneration. Pioneer species were associated with disturbances under CM indicating woodland recovery. The patterns in SCD showed similarities and differences between CM and GM sub-communities between the two management strategies. In Community 2, there were significant differences (p = 0.002) between management strategies with low canopy densities in CM, which could be attributed to unsustainable harvesting. Furthermore, saplings showed significant differences with a higher stems ha-1 in CM compared to GM. Trees and regeneration SCDs suggest a thorough analysis of the PS of varied species associations to guide sustainable resource use. An adaptive management approach that uses silvicultural systems to promote sustainable forest management is recommended. Additionally, selective harvesting in recovery stages would reduce intense competition in the dense, even-aged stands. However, there is need for instituting enabling policies and to monitor changes in both management regimes to promote biodiversity conservation, resource use, and diverse ecosystem services at all levels. / Thesis (PhD (Forest Science))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Malawi Government Scholarship Program and the African Forest Forum / Plant Production and Soil Science / PhD (Forest Science) / Unrestricted

A lot of research has been done concerning the internationalization process of companies. However, researchers have identified a new type of firm that is leapfrogging and is operating internationally right after inception. These companies are Born Globals. We are interested in this trend and the purpose of this research is to understand the strategic behaviour of Born Globals. Therefore, we have done qualitative research on these companies and we will focus on their pre-internationalization steps, their key drivers and their relation to the home market. We have found three case companies, who have helped us in our understandings and we have made several conclusions, regarding their strategic behaviour.

Background: Services are without doubt the driving force in today’s economies in many countries. The increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies and its productivity rates are testified by the fact that the current list of Fortune 500 companies contains more service companies and fewer manufacturing companies than in previous decades. Many products today are being transformed into services or have a higher service component than previously. In the development of this increasingly important bundling of services with products, outsourcing and offshoring play a key role. Companies have been outsourcing work for many years now appointing the latter a well-established phenomenon. Outsourcing to foreign countries, referred to as offshoring, has also been fuelled by ICT and globalization, where firms can capitalize on price and cost differentials between countries. Constant improvements in technology and global communications virtually guarantee that the future will bring much more outsourcing of services, and more specifically, outsourcing of IT services. While outsourcing and offshoring strategies play an important role in IT services, we would like to investigate the drivers that affect the successful outcome of an offshore outsourcing engagement. Purpose: The principle aim of the present study is therefore twofold: a) to identify key drivers for the successful outsourcing of IT services seen from the outsourcing partner’s perspective and b) to investigate how the outsourcing partner prioritizes these drivers. / Tel: +46 767864795

Migrants sending money to their countries of origin provide capital that has the potential to improve the long-run economic performance of many countries in the world. But the cost for sending remittances is unreasonably high, and there are a number of barriers hindering low- cost solutions, such as mobile money transfer services, to increase in scale. The transformation of the remittance industry is therefore impeded. This research aimed to address this problem and find the factors that are driving the market for mobile remittances forward. By identifying and understanding the key drivers, this research makes it possible for companies providing mobile remittance services to find countries that can foster a sustainable industry growth and transform the industry efficiently. As a complement to a majority of quantitative studies performed within the field of mobile money, this research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. To apply a holistic approach, the PESTLE framework was used as a structure for several parts of the research process. Key drivers were identified from an extensive literature review and interviews with industry experts. By answering a questionnaire, professionals, industry experts and researchers, rated the key drivers’ importance for the growth of the mobile remittance market. The most critical key drivers were identified and used to develop a framework for evaluating how suitable a country’s market environment is for mobile remittances. One main finding was that the perceptions on what, and who, is driving the market for mobile remittances forward are varying and highly dependent on whom is asked, but that there are some factors that people agree are of particular importance. First, the mobile remittance service should be easy to use, secure, and of lower cost than other services. It is important to have a supportive infrastructure providing efficient liquidity management for agents, high agent density and network reliability. To increase the customer awareness and adoption, agents should be educated in how to use and sell the service, and how to educate the customer. Collaborative partnerships could leverage the distribution network and increase the market interoperability, and lastly, it was shown that mobile remittances can be supported by a regulatory environment that enables mobile money and branchless banking. This research showed that to the degree to which a country’s market environment fulfils these criteria can give an indication on how suitable it is for mobile remittances. A wide range of aspects and stakeholders need to be considered and supported to foster a sustainable industry growth, and this research provides guidelines that are relevant for both companies and researchers. / Det kapital som migranter bidrar med när de skickar pengar till sitt hemland bidrar också till det landets ekonomiska utveckling. Kostnaden för att skicka remittanser är emellertid orimligt hög och det finns ett antal barriärer som hindrar lågkostnadslösningar, såsom mobila finansiella tjänser, att nå stor skala. På grund av sådana barriärer hämmas utvecklingen av den ineffektiva och ofta riskfyllda remittansindustrin. Den här studien har strävat efter att angripa problemet genom att hitta faktorer som driver marknaden för mobila remittanser framåt. Genom att identifiera och förstå de drivande faktorerna gör den här forskningen det möjligt för företag som erbjuder mobila remittanstjänster att hitta länder som kan främja en hållbar remittansindustri och bidra till en effektivare förändring av industrin. Som ett komplement till de i huvudsak kvantitativa studier som genomförts inom området för mobila finansiella tjänster har den här studien använt både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder. För att göra tillvägagångssättet holistiskt har PESTLE-ramverket använts som en struktur under flera delar av forskningsprocessen. Drivande faktorer identifierades genom en omfattande litteraturstudie och intervjuer med industriexperter, och genom att besvara en enkät graderade yrkesverksamma, industriexperter och forskare de drivande faktorernas betydelse för den mobila remittansmarknadens tillväxt. De mest kritiska drivande faktorerna identifierades och användes för att utveckla ett ramverk som har syftet att utvärdera hur passande ett lands marknadsmiljö är för mobila remittanser. En av huvudslutsatserna är att uppfattningarna kring vad och vem som driver marknaden för mobila remittanser framåt varierar stort mellan de tillfrågade. Men forskningen visar också att det finns några faktorer vars höga betydelse de tillfrågade personerna var eniga om. Mobila remittanstjänster ska vara enkla att använda, säkra och kosta mindre än andra remittans- tjänster. Det är viktigt att infrastrukturen är stöttande genom en hög drifttillförlitlighet och att agenter har möjlighet till effektiv likviditetshantering. För att öka kundmedvetenheten och upptagandet bör agenter bli utbildade i hur tjänsten ska användas och säljas, samt hur kund- erna ska utbildas. Marknaden för mobila remittanser kan stöttas ytterligare genom partnerskap som utnyttjar distributionsnätverk och ökar marknadens interoperabilitet, samt genom regel- verk som främjar mobila finansiella tjänster. Forskningen visade att flera av dessa faktorer kan indikera hur passande ett lands marknadsmiljö är för mobila remittanser. Det finns många aspekter och intressenter som behöver tas hänsyn till och bli stöttade för att främja tillväxt, och studien bidrar med riktlinjer som kan vara av värde för både företag och forskning.

As the environmental crises have increased around the world in the past decades, companies have become more aware of the importance of sustainability and social responsibility. While large companies are required by law to perform sustainability reports, small companies do so on a voluntary basis. The purpose of this study is: (1) To investigate what factors affect the quantity of sustainability reporting amongst small, Swedish listed companies; and (2) To investigate how sustainability reporting has developed over the years in small, Swedish listed companies. A quantitative method with cross-sectional and longitudinal design was used in this study. Annual and/or sustainability reports and financial information from 53 companies were collected and examined. Furthermore, we conducted a content analysis with an index of keywords to quantify data from the annual and/or sustainability reports based on predetermined categories. The results show that there is a positive relationship between voluntary sustainability reporting and firm size amongst small, Swedish listed companies. No other relationships were detected in this study. The results further show a remarkable increase in sustainability reporting when studying the years of 2012, 2016 and 2020.

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