Information, communication and broadcasting convergence is changing the business landscape in South Africa, as organisations adopt new converged information, communication technology (ICT) products and services to satisfy the needs of customers. Simultaneously, major changes are taking place in the South African telecommunications business environment creating new marketing opportunities and threats for Telkom SA, the only fixed line telecommunication operator in South Africa. Some of the findings of the study are • the commodization of the fixed line telecommunication network • political and regulatory changes are reshaping the telecommunications landscape by allowing the entry of new competitors • new technological innovations in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and mobile communication is driving change • social and economic change is fueling the speed of environmental change poor economic climate is quickening the competitive pace amongst South African businesses forcing them to attain efficiencies and effectiveness for survival • organisations worldwide are competing for limited resources and markets and turning to ICT to achieve their objectives • customer needs are changing - demanding better and innovative communication products and services - providing opportunities to competitors • the Internet is reshaping traditional business models as businesses are seeking to establish competitive advantages through the Internet • the migration of the Internet to the mobile telephony sector These changes are creating new marketing opportunities and threats for South African fixed line telecommunication operators and are threatening the survival of fixed line telecommunication operators worldwide and in South Africa. Information Technology, broadcasting and telecommunication technology convergence, has created many new ICT products and services opportunities that telecommunication competitors are offering existing customers of the fixed line operators network indicating lethargy from their side. In order for the fixed line operators to survive they must apply innovation and revise their strategic planning models. / Business Management / DCOM (Business Management)

This research is concerned with the value of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) as a technique in the identification of suspects. A problem was identified in the withdrawal of cases where suspects had been identified by means of fingerprints. The study attempted to determine the value of AFIS in the identification of suspects, to find new knowledge that could improve the situation and suggest ways to apply this knowledge to enhance the performance of AFIS experts, criminal investigators and the prosecution in a court of law. The study adopted a multi-method approach to data collection, with the researcher using a literature review, docket analysis and interviews with AFIS experts from Limpopo Province as his sources of data. The results of the study showed that AFIS is a valuable system for the identification of fingerprints in that it is fast and accurate but that in South Africa AFIS experts encounter a number of challenges with the system. The main challenges identified were the potential for the system to be attacked by computer hackers; the slowness of creating an SAPS 69 record, particularly when dealing with prints of poor quality; which leads to cases being closed where AFIS experts’ evidence is not tested/accepted; and the fact that in South Africa AFIS is not applied across government departments, which would allow a more comprehensive database. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends that steps be taken to improve the quality of prints taken at crime scenes, that attention be paid to speeding up the process of dealing with the relevant SAPS 69 records, that investigators and prosecutors be informed about the AFIS process and that the AFIS database be extended to include the fingerprints of all South Africans and immigrants to the country. Lastly, the study suggests that the databases of government departments such as Home Affairs, Public Works Roads & Transport and Safety Security & Liaison (Traffics) be combined to form one national database. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning in higher education. The use of technology in higher education, particularly in the ODL environment, has brought some changes on how we teach and assess students. The traditional assessment practices needed to be reviewed and reconfigured to meet the requirements of the 21st century assessment practices. The purpose of this doctoral study was to design a framework to guide the assessment of an E-portfolio as an alternative assessment approach in an ODL context. The integrated theoretical framework of the learning theories (behaviourism, cognitive and constructivist) and the ODL theories (connectivist, online collaborative and self-directed) underpinned the study. This integrated framework explored lecturer and student experiences in the use of Eportfolio, as an alternative assessment to enhance self-directed learning. In striving to get in-depth insight into this study, the pragmatism paradigm, which calls for the mixed methods research design, was employed for the collection and analysis of data. The sample was drawn from a cohort of six participants and fifty-six respondents in the three colleges of the university. This sequential exploratory mixed methods design employed semi-structured interviews, document analysis for qualitative data collection while a Likert scale of an online questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The findings of this research indicated that the E-portfolio can be of greater use as an alternative assessment approach and was able to empower students with higher order thinking skills, critical thinking skills and self-directed learning equipping them with the 21st century skills. Several challenges were experienced during the implementation of the E-portfolio, which included lack of digital literacies and technical assistance, nonsynchronisation of the learning management system for hosting E-portfolio (myUnisa), UNISA’s policies which do not include E-portfolio assessment processes and procedures. In conclusion, the literature study, the findings of the empirical research and the recommendation of this study formed the basis for designing the framework to guide the assessment of an E-portfolio as an alternative assessment strategy for an ODL context. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / Ph. D. (Curriculum Studies)

Abstracts in English and Venda / Online shopping gained importance with the increase in Internet adoption. The development in the e-commerce industry, with opportunities created for retailers, demanded research on factors influencing online shopping behaviour. The purpose of the study is to determine factors influencing consumers’ behaviour towards online shopping for consumer electronics in Gauteng, South Africa. The study employs a descriptive research methodology involving a quantitative research design. The study adopts a convenience sampling method for collecting data by intercepting individuals in Cresta Mall in Johannesburg and Sunnypark Shopping Centre in Pretoria. Self-administered, printed questionnaires were distributed, and data were collected from 207 respondents. This research followed the correct protocol for administering surveys, questionnaire design, measures to ensure data integrity and appropriate analysis strategy, providing reliable and valid research. The data were subjected to factor analysis and the descriptive statistics were also conducted. The parametric, independent sample T-test and Analysis of variance tests were employed for hypothesis testing. The study results suggested that demographic, utilitarian and hedonic factors affect consumers’ online shopping behaviour. This study concludes that demographic factors affect online shopping consumer behaviour traits of electronic goods. It also found statistical differences amongst demographic factors, against hedonic and utilitarian factors. The study also tested whether utilitarian values influence consumer behaviour towards online buying of electronic goods, concluding the existence of a significant relationship between utilitarian values towards online shopping behaviour. Lastly, the study determined if hedonic factors influence consumer behaviour when shopping online. It is concluded that hedonic factors influence consumer behaviour when shopping online. Findings of this study provide a positive contribution to e-commerce research in South Africa by assessing practices of online consumers and factors influencing online shopping adoption. The study recommends further longitudinal research concerning customer behaviour towards online shopping while supporting further studies to focus on the identified factors influencing online shopping. / Ku xava eka inthanete ku vile ka nkoka ku ya hi engetelo wa inthanete. Nhluvukiso eka swa indhasitiri yo xava hi inthanete, ni ku tumbuluxiwa ka miintirho ka vaxavisi, ndzavisiso wa swilo swo kucetela mahanyelo yo xava hi xielekitironiki. Nkongomelo wa dyondzo leyi i ku kumisisa swilo leswi kucetelaka mahanyelo ya vatirhisi loko va xava eka inthanete switirisi swa xielekitironiki eGautengi, Afirika-Dzonga. Dyondzo yi tirhisa endlelo ya ndzavisiso wo hlamusela hi ku hlawulekisa ku katsa na dizayini ya ndzavisiso wa nhlayonhlayo. Dyondzo yi tirhisa endlelo ra kahle ro sampula ku hlengeleta data hi ku vutisisa vanhu emolweni wa le Joni wa Cresta na Senthara ya Sunnypark yo Xava ePitori. Swivutiso leswi u swi lawulaka, no swi kandziyisa swi hangalasiwile, na swona data yi hlengeletiwile ku sukela ka 207 wa vavutisiwa. Ndzavisiso wu landzelerile maendlelo yo hetiseka ku lawula milavisisontsongo, tidizayini ta swivutiso, swipimelo ku endlela leswaku data yi va hi xiyimo xa kahle na xitirateji analysis lexinene, lexi nyikaka ndzavisiso lowu kamberiweke no khorwisa. Data a yi fanele ku analayiziwa na nhlayonhlayo wo hlamusela hi ku hlawulekisa wu endliwile. Mimbuyelo ya ndzavisiso yi nyikile miehleketo ya leswaku nhlayonhlayo ya vanhu na swilo swa utilitarian na hedonic swi khumbaka mahanyelo ya vatirhisi yo xava emolweni hi xielekitironiki. Dyondzo leyi yi gimeta leswaku swilo swa nhlayo ya vanhu hinkwavo swi khumbanaka mahanyelo yo xava tinhundzu Ku kumeka na ku hambana ka nhlayonhlayo exikarhi ka nhlayo ya vanhu hinkwawo mayelano na timhaka ta hedonic no tirhiseka. Dyondzo yi kamberile loko mikoka ya swithirisiwa yi kucetela mahanyelo ya vanhu eku xaveni ka tinhundzu hi xielekitironiki, no gimeta vukona bya nkoka wa vuxaka exikarhi ka mikoka yo tirhiseka ka mahanyelo yo xava hi xielekitironiki. Xo hetelela, dzondzo yi kumisisa loko timhaka ta hedonic ti kucetela mahanyelo ya vatirhisi loko va ri ku xaveni hi xielekitironiki. Ku gimetiwile leswaku timhaka ta hedoniki ti kucetela mahanyelo ya vatirhisi loko vax ava hio xielekitironiki. Leswi swi nga kumeka ka dyondzo swi na xiave xa kahle ka ndzavisiso wa e-commerce eAfirika-Dzonga hi ku xopaxopa mintolovelo ya vatirhisi ya xielekitironiki na timhaka to kucetela ku tirhisa ku xava ka xielekitironiki. Dyondzo yi bumabumela ku yisa emahlweni na ndzavisiso wa longitudinal mayelana mahanyelo ya vashavi eka ku xava hi xielekitironiki na ku seketela ku yisa emahlweni tidyondzo to kongomisa ka timhaka to kucetela ku xava eka inthanete. / Business Management / M. Com (Business Management)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been used widely across the globe for the purpose of improving the quality of both basic and higher education. Lately, different kinds of technologies, such as smart boards, have been incorporated into the teaching and learning process with the aim to contribute to the effectiveness of teaching and learning outcomes. The main aim of this study was to investigate the integration of smart boards by secondary school teachers in the Tshwane West district (Gauteng province) in their business studies teachings. The study focused on the teachers’ perspectives, the challenges they experienced, and the support they required for the integration of smart boards in the classroom. The study used a qualitative research approach to gather and analyse data. Using a multiple case study design, 5 business studies teachers were purposive sampled based on their experience on the use of smart boards. Both semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations were used to collect evidence. Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) was used as a framework by which to understand the study. The four pillars of trustworthiness (credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability) were applied to ensure trustworthiness of the study results. The ethics guidelines (voluntarily participation, anonymity, confidentiality, and informed consent) were also taken into consideration and applied. The main research question for this study was: How do secondary school teachers integrate smart boards in teaching business studies in the Tshwane West district? The findings suggested that business studies teachers have positive perspectives on the integration of smart boards with the belief that smart boards make their teaching easier and allow them to incorporate a variety of audio and visual material into a lesson. The findings also revealed that teachers face various challenges, such as smart board malfunctioning, computer viruses, and limited time given for the integration of smart boards in the classroom. From the findings, it was clear that teachers had received professional development training on smart board integration, but that the training was inadequate. Despite the challenges that business studies teachers face during the integration of smart boards, the findings of this study indicated that teachers still had an interest in and were willing to integrate smart boards into the classroom. The study recommended that teachers should be provided with sufficient professional development on the integration of smart boards in a business studies classroom, which would improve the level of competency of teachers on smart board integration in the teaching and learning process. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Financial services institutions invest in self–service technologies for various reasons. These include the demands to rationalise costs and to meet the channel preferences of a „technology- savvy‟ client base. Some advantages of self–service technologies (“SSTs”) include the optimisation of staff activities and faster and improved customer services. Retail banks experience various migration-related costs when migrating customers to an SST environment; in terms of both branch infrastructure and the development of employee skills. Some customers continue to favour face-to-face service interactions, which necessitates an identification and evaluation of the necessary skills required by employees to facilitate this migration process. This study aims to both identify and classify the requisite skills needed by financial services professionals to enable them to migrate customers from physical to electronic service channels; including ATMs. With the appropriate training and competencies, employees can guide customers more effectively through the migration process in a non-judgemental way. This would, in turn, address the lack of self-service technology understanding among customers in the longer term. The lack of support from skilled service employees has, in many instances, led to customers paying higher transactional fees and experiencing inconvenience at physical channels, thereby resulting in overall lower self-service usage. / Business Management / DBL

The improvement of throughput rates is a crucial factor at higher education institutions; hence, university departments focus on improving pass rates per module. This study investigated how lecturers in the School of Computing (SoC) at the University of South Africa, use technology for improving throughput rates in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) context. The study sought answers to the main research question on how lecturers in the SoC use technology for improving throughput rates in an ODL institution. A mixed research methods approach was used, where quantitative data was extracted from the university systems and integrated with the qualitative data collected from interviews. Thirteen lecturers for the thirty modules under investigation were interviewed. A thematic analysis was used on the qualitative data, and quantitative data was analysed using rankings and correlation coefficients, leading to the interpretation that the use of myUnisa technology assisted to improve throughput on the modules. / Mathematics Education / M. Sc. (Computing Education)

This qualitative study investigated the influences of psychosocial meta-capacities on learning capacity development in a foreign government agency that is undergoing extensive organisational change. The data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with seven participants, who are employees of a foreign visa-processing unit based in South Africa. The participants shared their experiences during the organisational change process, and how different aspects impacted on their learning capacity development. The study highlighted self-efficacy and emotional intelligence as key meta-capacities that can be enhanced to aid learning capacity development. Furthermore, the study recommended that organisations intending to introduce significant changes should be aware of the psychosocial meta-capacities that can be exploited to enhance employee learning capacity development, thereby ultimately ensuring organisational success. This study seems to suggest that the positive influences on learning capacity development are: self-efficacy in the form of self- beliefs about one’s performance ability; the ability to take initiative; and learning orientation - for example, a sense of exploration; emotional intelligence in the form of self-awareness in relation to what needs to happen, and the positive impact of social support systems, for example, supervisors, role models and fellow colleagues. Negative influences on learning capacity development seem to include the following: the inability to manage performance anxiety; high levels of self-doubt, the lack of technical expertise, and learning paralysis in the form of procrastination and the lack of self-motivation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

During the last two decades, there have been a number of policy and legislative changes in respect of South Africa’s intellectual property (IP) and the national system of innovation (NSI). In 2012, a Ministerial Review of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in South Africa made recommendations to improve the STI landscape and effectively the national system of innovation. The study provides a critical review of drafts of the national IP policy published in 2013 as well as the IP Framework released in 2016 for public comment. The review of the IP and the NSI are within the context of the National Development Plan (NDP), which outlines South Africa’s desired developmental goals. South Africa is part of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The South African economy is characterised by a desire to move away from being dependent on resources and commodities, to becoming a more knowledge based and innovation driven economy. It is hoped that such a move would assist the country to address some of the social and economic development challenges facing South Africa, as captured in the NDP. South Africa has a functioning IP system, but its relationship with South Africa’s development trajectory is not established. More particularly, the extent to which the IP system relates to the innovation system and how these two systems must be aligned to enable South Africa to transition successfully from a country based on the production of primary resources and associated commodity-based industries to a viable knowledge-based economy is unclear. The Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provides that IP must contribute to innovation and to transfer of technology and knowledge in a manner that is conducive to social and economic welfare. Certain provisions set out the foundations of intellectual property systems within the context of each member state. This study has thus explored the complex, complementary and sometimes contested relationships between IP and innovation, with particular emphasis on the potential of an intellectual property system to stimulate innovation and foster social and economic development. The study has also analysed the interconnectivity of IP and innovation with other WTO legal instruments, taking into account South Africa’s positioning within the globalised economy and in particular the BRICS group of countries. The research involved a critical review of South Africa’s IP and innovation policies, as well as relevant legislation, instruments, infrastructure, IP and innovation landscape, and relationship with international WTO legal instruments, in addition to its performance, given the developmental priorities and the globalised economy. The research documents patenting trends by South Africans using European Patent Office (EPO), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) databases over the period 1996-2015. A comparative analysis of patenting trends amongst BRICS group of countries has also been documented. The study also documents new findings, observations and insights regarding South Africa’s IP and innovation systems. Some of these, particularly in relation to higher education and research institutions, are directly attributable to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act. More particularly, the public institutions are becoming relevant players in the NSI and are responsible for growth of certain technology clusters, in particular, biotechnology. At the same time, the study makes findings of a decline of private sector participation in patenting as well as R&D investment over the 20-year period. Recommendations are included regarding specific interventions to ensure coherence between the IP and innovation systems. Such coherence and alignment should strengthen the systems’ ability to stimulate innovation and foster inclusive development and competitiveness, which are relevant for addressing South Africa’s socio-economic development priorities. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of adoption, usage and factors that influence the adoption of electronic banking (e-banking) by small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) listed in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). Despite efforts by commercial banks to promote e-banking (internet and cell phone banking) to its customers, the adoption rate for internet and cell phone banking appears to be low. Based on the literature reviewed, the SMME sector has been widely excluded from the formal banking services. It is also observed that e-banking can enable SMMEs to grow and enter international markets. Technology acceptance model (TAM) integrated with perceived risk theory (PRT) was used to investigate factors that influence adoption and usage of e-banking. The study followed a quantitative research approach. Respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect the data. The survey was conducted on 160 SMMEs in the CTMM with the assistance of fieldworkers. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Pearson’s bivariate correlation, and multiple regression. The results revealed that perceived ease of use had a significant positive influence on the attitude towards e-banking. Perceived usefulness had a positive but insignificant influence on the attitude towards e-banking. Security risk was the only perceived risk dimension that had a significant negative influence on attitude towards e-banking. However, financial risk, privacy risk, performance risk and social risk had a positive and insignificant influence on attitude towards e-banking. It was envisaged that this study will enable banks to develop strategies that are aimed at increasing their SMME market share. / Finance, Risk management and Banking / M. Com. (Finance)