Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Knowledge Management (KM) is a role player in assisting organisations to accomplish their desired goals and objectives by managing the knowledge embedded within individuals and available in systems. Furthermore, knowledge management considers the use of advanced technology to enhance existing knowledge, create new knowledge, and transfer knowledge. However, the process of managing knowledge cannot be successful without proper communication. When this knowledge and the associated expertise are not transferred, organisations are faced with a loss of intellectual capital as employees enter and leave with knowledge and expertise. It is therefore critical to understand who knows what, who needs to know what, and how to transfer the knowledge throughout the organisations. Hence, this research explores the dynamics of knowledge transfer in relation to communication strategies, tools, methods or systems that the selected company can implement in order to transfer knowledge between interest groups and throughout the organisation. The research philosophy adopted is subjectivism with an interpretivist stance. A qualitative research approach was applied. The data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive data analysis techniques. The results point to poor levels of understanding the concept of knowledge management and knowledge transfer in the organisation, resulting in departments following silo processes in an effort to transfer knowledge within their specific areas. However, these processes are not sufficiently effective and cause crucial man risk within departments. The results of this study should help the organisation improve its knowledge management processes and organise internal communication in a way that will improve knowledge transfer.

Financial regulation is a subject that is more often than not regarded as distant and yet another level of bureaucracy that has to be endured by both the public and private sectors. The significance of creating and maintaining an efficient and effective system to regulate financial markets, financial institutions and financial service providers is a salient feature in the development of a country’s economic health. The recent global economic crises of 2007/2008 and the economic hurdles accompanying those events are perhaps the most dramatic instances of how necessary the implementation of efficient and effective financial regulation is. The international financial system has experienced a retinue of changes in the last two decades. One of the main challenges of financial regulators has been to keep abreast of as well as adapt to these changes, which are of an international nature. In a majority of countries, the financial sector is one of the most intensely regulated and supervised industries. Over a period of time, it has become evident that regulatory arrangements have a formidable impact on: i. The size, structure and efficiency of a financial system; ii. The business operations of financial institutions and markets; iii. Competitive conditions both overall and between sub-sectors of the system. The impact of regulation can either be stagnant or progressive; this depends on how the objectives of regulation are defined and how efficiently regulatory arrangements are related to their objectives. The issue at hand is to engage regulatory institutions, structures and mechanisms for supervision and enforcement need to be implemented because they are pertinent to the formal regulatory requirements in the overall regulatory regime. Effective financial regulation would be unable to exert its objectives in the absence of efficient supervision and enforcement. In numerous countries the institutional structure of regulation has experienced change or is in the process of change. Different models of institutional structure are availed such as the single/consolidated model, the twin-peak model and the multiple regulator model. For example, the United Kingdom has embraced the single/consolidated regulator model while Australia has employed the twin-peak regulator model. Kenya operates on the multiple regulator model. This report addresses the role of financial regulators in the Kenyan economy. The objectives of the research are to: Provide comprehensive information about the theory and practice of financial regulation; Identify the financial regulators in Kenya and define their roles; Address the issue of multiple regulators and the duplicity of roles; Discuss international trends in regulation and examine different regulatory regimes; Consider the viability of a single/consolidated regulatory regime in Kenya; Suggest a possible future regulatory regime for Kenya and identify the key issues associated with such a regime; Suggest areas for further investigation and research.The approach of this report will constitute the following: Chapter 1 discusses the rationale for the research, objectives, scope and scale of the research, preliminary literature review and the research methods to be employed. Chapter 2 focuses on financial regulatory systems in general as well as an extensive analysis of financial regulators in Kenya. Chapter 3 combines the research methods employed and also contains a comparative analysis of the regulatory regime. Chapter 4 examines the findings of the research, the lessons learnt and the regulatory responses. Chapter 5 includes recommendations towards improvement of regulatory systems and an executive summary of outstanding policy issues and priorities in Kenyan financial regulation.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / South Africa’s Financial Sector Charter of 2003 to 2008 contributed in many ways to financial inclusion of the excluded masses, resulting in a decrease in proportion of excluded excluded from over 50% in 2003 to 23.5% in 2010. Commercial banks around the world have been known to bank the unbanked or downscale using various models. The report investigates the motivation for commercial bank downscaling in South Africa, leading to the various models of downscaling chosen by the Big 4. The reports finds that commercial banks in South Africa are moving away from fragmented methods of engagement of the bottom of the pyramid due to the large market which exists at that segment. This market accounts for on average 50% of the banks’ clients which indicates that banks have been dealing with this market for some time. The recent rise of a Microfinance bank has been credited as the stimulus for the more aggressive approach that banks have taken in recent years. Bank employees believe they have the resources and support to explore models of serving the market profitably while external stakeholder to the bank believe the banks are not geared for the market due to their cost structures and mentality and are therefore not fully exploring the potential in the market.

This thesis is about the formulation of a structured sequence of events using a multimethodology approach to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management, of key factors contributing to the failure of management information system development projects undertaken in the financial services industry1. Furthermore, a clear distinction is made between information system development projects undertaken within the ambit of the broader development context of ‘information technology’, as opposed to information system development projects undertaken within the ambit of the financial services industry, the latter, the focus of this thesis. The formulation of the structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors, was mooted specifically as a result of known failure factors of management information systems development projects undertaken in the financial services industry. In terms of this research, these factors fall into two mainstream categories2, namely: Ø The quality of business requirement functional specifications. Ø Change to business requirement functional specifications, while the latter is still in the process of being developed. From the field research undertaken for this thesis both locally and abroad, the analogy was drawn that the above two factors are normally juxtaposed, contributing to multi-faceted impacts to information system development project lifecycles. Key impacts point to not only the escalation of previously approved budgets, but also to extended timelines and already mapped processes. The research shows that these two entities would typically lead to an executive call for rework of not only the business case, but also of the processes supporting the whole development. This could invariable culminate in the termination of the project or culminate in extensive recoding and process changes, which in turn would lead to the requirement for extensive change management initiatives. Alternatively, the additional rework could result in benefits harvesting from the initiative to be delayed or severely impacted. This statement is made with the clear caveat, that should the rework result in end user effectiveness being significantly boosted as a result of the required rework, to the extent that the ratio of operating profit over the benefit life span of the system to total development cost be raised, it would undoubtedly quantify such rework. The structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management of key factors contributing to the failure of management information system development projects are formulated from selected key elements of the following system methodologies namely: Ø The ‘Capability Maturity Model’, which Herbsleb et al.5 defines as ‘a reference model for appraising software process maturity and a normative model for helping software organizations progress along an evolutionary path from ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature disciplined software’. Ø The ‘Balanced Scorecard’, which Kaplan & Norton6 defines as ‘a management system that can motivate breakthrough improvements in such critical areas as product, process, customer, and market development’. A multimethodology approach will be deployed in the formulation of the mitigating factors from the above listed systems methodologies, underpinned by the concept ‘system’. This then would be further enhanced by the author’s own contributions gleaned from experience spanning some 34 years in systems development for the financial services industry, both locally and abroad. These mitigating factors will come into play at two specific levels of a typical information technology project lifecycle namely: Ø At the formulation of business requirement functional specifications. Ø During the development and testing stages, which are typically associated with change in the systems development lifecycle. Using a multimethodology approach, the interrelationship of the various core entities, gleaned from the above listed system methodologies, ultimately supporting the structured sequence of events serving as mitigating factors are graphically depicted below. In addition, the mitigating factors are positioned to reflect their potential position in a typical systems development life cycle 7, commonly associated with information system development for the financial services industry. The purpose of this thesis is then to determine if a set of mitigating factors can be developed from a structured sequence of events using a multimethodology approach to facilitate the intervention and subsequent management of key factors contributing to the failure of management information systems development undertaken in the financial services industry. Furthermore, the thesis proposes that the structured set of mitigating factors be incorporated as an alternative methodology within the ambit of the greater information technology project management life cycle for all project initiatives in the financial services industry. / Prof. N. Lessing

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, 2015 / Improved understanding of the entrepreneurial behaviours and motivations of employees would allow senior management of corporate entities a better understanding of their employees’ opportunity recognition processes, thereby guiding the provision of appropriate assistance and support of these processes in order to boost entrepreneurial activity. This research aimed to further academic understanding of the corporate entrepreneurial process and opportunity identification by employees within existing corporate entities. It investigated the influence of employee perceptions of their company’s corporate entrepreneurial building blocks, entrepreneurial alertness and meta-cognitive processing, on the extent and quality of opportunity recognition. The study focused on employees in the South African financial services sector. It proposed a model of corporate entrepreneurial activity and the individual, which attempted to combine current models of corporate entrepreneurial activity with current thinking around the individual’s entrepreneurial decision-making within the entrepreneurial process. The conceptual model aimed to add to the body of knowledge in terms of the entrepreneurial employee aspiring to fill the knowledge gap in terms of how they think and act within the corporate environment. It applied current theory, around the entrepreneurial individual, to the entrepreneurial employee. The employee’s perceptions of their company’s entrepreneurial building blocks was analysed, as were their perceptions of entrepreneurial alertness and meta-cognitive processing in stimulating corporate entrepreneurial activity within the company. A sample of 784 employees from 102 employers in the South African financial sector was examined. The conceptual model was analysed using hierarchical regression and structured equation modelling. A number of moderating influences on the model were examined using regression analyses. The integrative model showed that the entrepreneurial behaviour required of employees is primarily focused around entrepreneurial alertness and meta-cognitive processing. The central nature of entrepreneurial alertness, as portrayed in the mediation model, showed that employee entrepreneurial activity could only occur through entrepreneurial alertness. The entrepreneurially alert employee is able to make connections and identify opportunities that an employee who is not entrepreneurially alert is unable to do. It is only once the entrepreneurially alert employee has identified potential entrepreneurial ideas (by connecting the dots in terms of the business information gathered), that the meta-cognitive processing abilities of the employee are able to turn this potential entrepreneurial idea into a viable entrepreneurial opportunity. Entrepreneurial alertness can therefore be seen as the first step in the employee entrepreneurial process, after the establishment of the entrepreneurial building blocks set in place by the company. The mediation model showed the importance of employee perceptions of their company’s entrepreneurial building blocks. It is therefore not only important that the company put these entrepreneurial building blocks in place, as the precursor to employee entrepreneurial activity, but also that these entrepreneurial building blocks be adequately communicated to employees. Employee perceptions of these building blocks, not their physical existence, allow for the appropriate employee entrepreneurial behaviour necessary to produce the appropriate levels of entrepreneurial activity for their company. This mediation model was shown to have a number of moderating influences at both the individual and the company level. / MB2016

Value-added tax (VAT) and similar taxes known as General Sales Tax (GST) are indirect taxes which are currently levied in over 150 countries world-wide. The republic of South Africa (South Africa) introduced VAT through the enactment of the Value-added Tax Act 89 of 1991. Financial services are exempt, by the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991, largely due to the South African VAT system being based on the New Zealand GST system. It is generally accepted that in theory financial services should be subjected to Value-Added Tax. This study will outline the VAT effects of certain common financial services and how financial service providers may account for the related input and output tax. Additionally the application of the VAT Act against some of the more complex financial arrangements, including new financial instruments that have gained popularity with the increased availability to technologies such as the internet, will also be examined. This report is limited to the application of the VAT Act only and does not consider other fiscal legislation and its interaction with the VAT Act in this regard. Key Words Value-Added Tax, Financial Services, Exemptions, Complex Financial Arrangements / Thesis (M.Com. (Taxation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2017 / Online resource (141 leaves) / GR2018

Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2017 / The past decade has seen increasing attention given to the process termed ‘financialisation’ within the socio-political and economic literature. Despite the existence of robust macroeconomic literature, there is still a deficiency of firm-level studies on how financialisation takes root, particularly in developing countries. This paper contributes here by examining two agricultural firms within South Africa. South Africa is of particular heuristic value as it has a very advanced financial industry comparatively, and its agricultural industry has undergone very dramatic changes since the adoption of free-market policies in 1994. The study finds that the experience of financialisation remains variegated in South African agriculture. It does not support the view that financialisation is simply the ‘return of the rentier class’, instead illustrating how the changing role of the financial industry has had varied, though not insignificant effects on individual firms. It also confirms microeconomic linkages between liberalization and financialisation (previously identified on a macroeconomic level) as well confirming the importance of banks and ownership structures in facilitating financialisation. / GR2018

Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016. / This study addresses the nature of the relationship between brand citizenship behaviour and its antecedent instigator, strategic internal brand management as they pertain to the quest for distinctive service competencies by firms in the financial services sector. In today’s fast moving technologically accelerated world of commerce and industry, the quest for differentiation and innovation has simultaneously become acute while at the same time significantly more challenging to attain and sustain. Such behoves organisations to identify competency areas that can be leveraged for segment level distinctiveness. For one, the value of a strong brand is well recognised in business and much has been written about the diversity of elements that accentuate the construct of a brand. Being exploratory in nature, the study was guided by a qualitative design. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of executives representing the functions of marketing, human resources and operations from a selection of leading South African financial services firms as part of an exploratory investigation. These senior level practitioners were identified in literature as the anchors upon which meaningful strategic initiative emanates. The aspirant attainment of employees who become true citizens of the brand in their behaviour towards customers and other stakeholders was noted to be an outcome of leadership deliberateness in ensuring sustained immersion of employees in an organisation’s culture and values. A model that offers a foundation for the identification of key intra-organisational constructs and processes was proposed as a key outcome of the study. In addition, the study raises awareness of how to frame the scope of aspects that need to be included into an integrated approach to internal brand management to yield employee brand citizenship behaviour and ultimately assist in enhancing an organisation’s differentiation efforts. Keywords: internal brand management, brand citizenship behaviour, brand identity, brand communication, brand leadership, internal marketing, retail financial services. / DH2016

The subject of this thesis is a group of emergent leading firms in developing countries pursuing a ‘dual frontier', achieving technology supremacy and establishing market autonomy, and entering a newly emerging market in the context of the latter half of the 20th century. Whilst the previous literature on catching-up and transition generally centres on the area of technological development of latecomer firms, this thesis extends the scope of analysis to a broader issue of technological development and marketing strategies of latecomer firms in transition. The thesis builds upon two different streams of literature: first the catching-up process in latecomer firms for the theoretical and empirical rationales, and second the boundaries of a firm and inter-firm coordination in technological frontier firms for the theoretical guidance to a systematic analysis. Using industry case studies of the Korean mobile handset manufacturers Samsung and LG Electronics, the thesis first shows that there could be windows of opportunity available for international technology transfer to emergent leading firms in the emerging stage of a new industry from competition to achieve a dominant compatibility standard among technology leaders. However, the research stresses that the characteristic of these technologies is cutting-edge but technologically incomplete and commercially unproven, which highlights the importance of previous experience and capacity for successful commercialisation. Moreover, the thesis shows that Korean firms pursuing a dual frontier overcame their uneven development between technological and marketing capabilities through intensive inter-firm collaborations with intermediary users, that is Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). In the thesis, it is stressed that Korean firms competed against technology leaders like Nokia in export markets by complementing weak marketing capabilities based on continuous collaborations with MNOs, evolving from von Hippelian to Teecean inter-firm relationships. Lastly, the thesis introduces to the literature on industry organisation a new form of an outsourcing organisation, termed a ‘contract developer' (CD), which has been identified as a group of firms that is unilaterally specialised in, and that carries out development outsourcing projects for, mobile handset Own Brand Manufacturers (OBMs). The thesis reveals that CDs emerged from the industry shake-out and the co-specialised structure between mobile handset OBMs and MNOs in the industry and served as one of main mechanisms that supported the successful globalisation of the Korean firms. Therefore, the thesis argues that the key strategy that Korean emergent leading firms adopted to compete at the world frontier can be described as a ‘quasi' extension of firm boundaries in terms of development resources (the CDs) and in terms of downstream capabilities (the MNOs).

香港一直被視為一個優秀的國際金融中心。金融業不僅為香港經濟發展的成功作出重大貢獻，同時也產生過多的廢物和污染物，耗盡天然資源。較富裕的金融業專才既是該行業的支柱，他們的行為對社會構成了重大影響。因此，他們的回收行為，減少駕駛和購買綠色產品對改變社會環保現狀有重要作用。 / 過往研究發現，個人價值，對環境的信念，社會規範，心理因素和位置因素對環保行為有一定影響。本研究採用定量和定性的方法重新審視它們的關係。首先向涉及積極財富創造的金融業專才發出二百六十份問卷結構性問卷，然後進行了十次深入訪談，旨在找出他們對回收，駕駛和購買綠色產品的想法和行業的潛規則。研究結果發現，香港的金融專才有良好的環保知識和信念。他們的環保行為會受到某些行業特殊因素所影響，包括較高的馬基維利主義，社會規範個人價值觀，信念和規範和不同類型的行為成本。深入訪談進一步發現，工作效率和長工時也妨礙他們的環保行為。本研究認為促進金融業內環保行為的成功在於以人為本的方法和企業政策的實行。 / Hong Kong has been considered as an excellent international financial center. Finance sector not only greatly contributes to the success of economic development of Hong Kong, but it also depletes the natural resources by producing excessive waste, creating pollutants by driving during the course. The active role of recycling, reduced driving and buying green products of affiuent individual financial profession is essential to change the status-quo and to save the environment as they are the pillars of the sector and their behavior poses a significant influence on the society. / Previous studies indicated that value, belief, norm, psychological factors, job nature and positional factors may contribute to the environmental behavior. This study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine their relations. 260 structured questionnaires were distributed to financial professions involved in active wealth creation, followed by 10 in-depth interviews aimed at finding out the hidden thought of financial professions towards recycling, driving and buying green products.Results indicate that financial professions in Hong Kong have a good environmental knowledge and positive environmental belief. Certain sector specific factors, including high Machiavellianism level, subjective norm, personal values, belief and norm, and different types of cost have a substantial effect on the environmental action.In-depth interviews further demonstrate that efficiency-oriented job nature and long working hour hinder their environmental action. It is suggested that the success of promoting pro-environmental behavior in financial sector lies in humanity approaches and corporate policy. / Lui, Sau Kwan. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-185). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 11, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.