Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Information Technology, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005. / This thesis investigates the applicability of certain software testing methodologies as the basis from which the new field of Web-based application testing can arise. In particular, it concentrates on performance testing issues and Web application testing, as these are responsible for ensuring the survival of a business organization in the new global competitive age presented by the Web and Internet technology. / M

The exponential growth of the Internet and other new technologies globally continues to re-shape the South African consumer and business landscapes. Media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications Limited has invested more than R1 billion in new technologies in the past 10 years alone. However, the company still has to realise the desired returns on this investment – a situation that is forcing management to review all its online activities. This research project sought to determine what the key success factors are for the local and international online media industry, with a view to recommending potentially viable Internet strategies that could turn around operations such as Johnnic Communications’ online offerings from being nice-to-have cost centres, into exciting and key profit-generating streams. The research found that while Internet offerings cannibalise the readership of printed newspapers in South Africa, new technologies also present media houses with the opportunity to tap into new and broader markets, and hence new revenue streams. To that extent, it concluded that continuing to invest in the Internet is an imperative for Johnnic Communications, rather than an option. In addition to recommending new digital strategies, the research also concludes that developing critical mass and having a clear online strategy are crucial factors towards the company making money out of new technologies.

This study aimed to provide South African advertising professionals with insights into the current state of online and mobile advertising in South Africa, highlighting areas in which this sector of the industry can develop in order for professionals to perpetuate successful and innovative use of the mediums available to them and their clients. The study draws on literature from the fields of traditional advertising, digital advertising and new media. Research on the South African digital advertising climate is not as readily available as that of international studies based in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The study therefore used two data collection methods namely, telephonic semi-structured interviews with advertising professionals employed within the South African advertising and marketing industries as well as an electronic survey also aimed at advertising professionals employed within the South African advertising and marketing industries. The data collected aims to provide an insight into the professional opinions and feelings of these professionals as to how the South Africa digital advertising landscape is perceived, how it compares to its international counterparts and whether online and mobile technologies have had an impact on the South African advertising industry in terms of ad-spend not only on digital but on traditional advertising. The data from both the semi-structured interviews and survey were analysed in terms of the aforementioned aspects and correlations were found between the qualitative and quantitative data. Five advertising professionals from various agencies from around South Africa were interviewed telephonically while 27 advertising professionals attempted the electronic survey with 21 completing the survey. The study found that advertisers acknowledge that online and mobile technologies have had an impact on the South African advertising industry as digital advertising is now seen as an important fixture within the advertising industry and is considered to now be as important as traditional advertising. However, although advertising professionals acknowledge this importance, the medium is still underutilised due to a number of determining factors. These factors include insufficient knowledge in the field of digital advertising by advertisers and clients as clients are still unwilling to allocate similar levels of ad-spend to digital as they would to traditional advertising, this despite a notable increase in digital ad-spend. Traditional advertising still dominates ad-spend and advertisers are of the opinion that despite the growth of digital media, this trend will remain prevalent in South Africa which continues to trail behind its international counterparts.

The primary objective of the study was to establish the role that e-commerce can play in improving some Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business processes and transactions. This was undertaken by investigating how SMEs in the Eastern Cape can be empowered to use e-commerce and overcome barriers in the adoption of e-commerce. The study was modelled on the concept that there are four key factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce, namely: level of e-commerce awareness, level of computer literacy, availability of Information Technology and telecommunication infrastructure, as well as trust and security of e-commerce applications. The literature study revealed that SMEs play a vital role in the development and growth of a country’s economy. The literature review also identified a wide-range of barriers hindering e-commerce development and adoption by SMEs, namely: lack of computer skills, low level of e-commerce awareness, lack of Information Technology and telecommunication infrastructure, as well as lack of e-commerce trust and security. Further, the literature study showed that Internet availability and affordability is key to e-commerce growth and development, as in developing countries Internet is not yet universally accessible. This is due to a lack of necessary policies and infrastructure enabling wide-spread Internet use. The empirical study consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to a population of executive management, middle management, operational employees and directors/owners in various SMEs in the Eastern Cape. The structured questionnaire was aimed at gathering views about e-commerce development and adoption by SMEs in the Eastern Cape with a special focus on barriers to the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. The results of the empirical study revealed that: E-commerce awareness needs to be created among SMEs. Awareness needs to be created among SMEs about all aspects surrounding the use of e-commerce. Improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure could reduce the unreliable connections experienced by SMEs. Skills development strategies could assist in equipping SMEs with skills required in the e-commerce environment. Non-governmental organizations, government and companies assisting SMEs could provide free Internet access to SMEs. Alternatively, Internet cafes could be placed at different places and charge reasonable fees. NGO’s and higher education institutions could help in developing electronic literacy skills among SMEs. Companies assisting SMEs with funding could provide more funds to allow SMEs interested in e-commerce to start e-commerce systems.

Knowledge management is a prerequisite for eBusiness and its increasing client centric focus. To operate in an eBusiness environment, an organisation has to have a good command of knowledge on its markets, customers, products and services, methods and processes, competitors, employee skills and its regulatory environment. This is due to the fact that organisations can, with the advent of eBusiness, do business electronically, seamlessly across the globe, via the Internet and via intranets, which has caused an explosion of the richness and reach of information and knowledge. Knowledge management systems are now essential to ensure that value is extracted from knowledge internal and external to the organisation. eBusiness also broadens an organisation’s customer base due to the possibility of operating globally through electronic means. Customer relationship management in the global and digital economy has therefore forced organisations to rethink the ways in which they build relationships with a broadened customer base. Customer relationships cannot take place without knowledge management. To enable organisations to become more efficient and effective in delivering products and services to customers, knowledge on customers will have to be managed to ensure that the services organisations provide are those that will address customer needs. To date the role of knowledge management in eBusiness and customer relationship management has not been formally defined. It is critical for organisations to understand the role of knowledge management in eBusiness and customer relationship management to enable them to manage and leverage knowledge as a corporate asset that supports the organisation’s business strategy and operating model, and therefore the execution of the strategic intent of the business. This study defines the nature of the role of knowledge management in eBusiness and customer relationship management and secondly the value that knowledge management can add to eBusiness and customer relationship management. It tests the validity of this role and value proposition of knowledge management in eBusiness and customer relationship management, as defined by the researcher, in the South African context. Questionnaires were sent to large South African corporates where knowledge management has been implemented. The Diagnostic Management Application Profile (DMAP) tool was customized for this purpose. Respondents of the questionnaires cover a variety of South African Industries, including insurance, banking, telecommunications and professional services. This study makes a contribution to the understanding of the inherent nature of knowledge management, as concept in its own right, or as concept within a eBusiness or customer relationship environment. This study also contributes in understanding how knowledge management is perceived and applied in the South African market, given the advent of eBusiness and customer relationship management. The final contribution that this study makes is in understanding that knowledge management in South Africa has its own unique challenges, e.g. with reference to literacy levels and level of technology application, and that knowledge management programmes cannot be carbon copies from systems and programmes in Europe and the USA. / Thesis (DPhil (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Information Science / unrestricted

A research report to be submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce( Specialising in Taxation); March 2016 / The present study sought to investigate self-selection among internal and international migrants in Gauteng by making use of the Gauteng City Region Quality of Life Survey data. The present study also sought to disentangle the effects of observed and unobserved characteristics in the self-selection of migrants by conducting Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition on overall employment and self-employment outcome variables. Preliminary descriptive statistics indicated that international migrants experienced markedly higher levels of employment than both locals and internal migrants driven by higher rates of informal and self-employment. System GMM analysis of pseudo panel data confirmed these results and showed that international migrants had a higher probability of employment and self-employment. Oaxaca Blinder decomposition indicated that unobserved characteristics explained the greatest share of the differences in the rates employment and self-employment of locals, internal migrants and international migrants. These results provide evidence for the positive selection of international migrants to Gauteng on unobservable characteristics relevant to the region’s labour market. Key Words Self-Selection; Migration; Self-Employment; Employment / GR2018

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Online sport ventures seem promising and sure of success, if one considers reports on the success of on-line sport ventures and the size of the market such a venture attracts. These reports however, relate mostly to the United States and are based on a number of assumptions which might not ring true in the South African environment. Further investigation is required before committing resources to an Internet sport venture in South Africa. In this thesis the viability of such a business venture in South Africa is tested according to a well-structured model. The literature study reflects investigation into some specific Internet Business Drivers as identified, which can be related to sport in South Africa as well as investigation into typical problems faced by Internet Business Ventures. The Sports Information and Science Agency (1998) commissioned research to evaluate the impact of sport on the South African economy. Eskom (2000) commissioned research to analyse the lifestyle of South Africans in general. This useful information as well as other research will also be analysed and discussed regarding relevance to an Internet Sport Venture. The Venture Opportunity Screening Guide (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) provides a structured model to evaluate the viability of business ventures taking all available aspects into account. The model is based on a number of screening criteria used by venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and investors to screen business ventures. This model will be used as the foundation of this thesis to research a final conclusion on the viability of an Internet Sport Venture in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit lyk asof Internet Sport ondernemings baie potensiaal het. Dit lyk asof die meeste verslae wat handel oor sulke ondernemings verwys na suksesse in Amerika. Die gevolgtrekkings gemaak geld nie noodwendig vir Suid Afrika nie. Verdere ondersoeke is noodsaaklik voordat die navorsing as toepaslik tot die Suid Afrikaanse milieu geïdentifiseer kan word. Die lewensvatbaarheid van 'n soortgelyke onderneming in Suid Afrika word in hierdie tesis ondersoek deur middel van 'n goed gestruktureerde model. Die literatuurstudie som navorsing in verband met spesifieke toonaangewende Internet ondernemings op, wat van toepassing is op die Suid Afrikaanse situasie. Tipiese probleme ondervind deur Internet ondernemings word ook bespreek. Navorsing in verband met die uitwerking van sport op die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie is aangevra deur Die Sport Informasie en Wetenskap Agentskap (1998). Navorsing aangaande die lewenstyl van Suid-Afrikaners is ook aangevra deur Eskom (2000). Data van hierdie en soortgelyke navorsing word geanaliseer en bespreek om die impak daarvan op 'n Suid Afrikaanse Internet Sport Onderneming te ondersoek. Die "Venture Opportunity Screening Guide" (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) verskaf 'n gestruktureerde model om die potensiaal van besigheids-geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model is gebaseer op die evaluerings-kriteria wat gebruik word deur finansiers, entrepeneurs, en beleggers om die potensiaal van geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model sal dien as basis van die ondersoek in hierdie tesis waarvan 'n finale slotsom in verband met die potensiaal van sodanige onderneming gemaak kan word.

Study project (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The exponential growth of the Internet in the 1990's has seen the advent of buying and selling products and services over the Internet. While buying and selling over the Internet has grown dramatically, so has been the failure of ventures that were started to sell goods or services over the Internet. To make sense of the confusion, the challenge is to assess the strategic thinking behind business on the Internet, and to examine how a successful implementation of e-business could be related to the classic strategic analysis tools of Michael Porter. To make the study more relevant to the South African situation, the main objective of the study is to arrive at a practicai set of guidelines that managers of South African companies can use to assess the strategic impact of e-business on their company. To realise the main objective, and to arrive at a sound theoretical background to the research problem, a literature study presents the worldwide view of researchers regarding the strategic impacts of e-business. The findings are as follows: • E-business leads to more intense competition. As more transactions take place electronically, transaction costs as well as profits are expected to decrease. As a result of decreased margins, higher levels of market competition can ultimately lead to cost cutting strategies and the need for increased production efficiency. • E-business allows companies to save communication cost and to improve the efficiency of the value chain. This impacts the relationship with suppliers and customers, and cost savings are found especially in procurement, distribution and seiling. • Improved linkages in the value chain can result in cooperative, long-term relations, ana ultimately strategic relationships, integrated processes and outsourcing. The role of intermediaries is redefined as a result, towards the areas of matching, facilitation and regulatory functions. An empirical field investigation is conducted, where the competitive forces and value chain modeis are quantified as a set of ordinai levei attributes. Based on the literature study, the impact of e-business is then defined as a set of expected changes to the attributes of the two models. A survey questionnaire is designed, where respondents indicate the impact of e-business on their company as a set of increases and decreases to the constituents of the five forces and value chain models. Finally, responses to the survey are compared with predicted values to determine the impact of e-business on South African companies. Empirical research reveals that industry attractiveness is not materially affected by ebusiness: Surprisingly, the threat of new entrants is decreased, and the bargaining power of buyers can be also be reduced in certain conditions, but other competitive forces yieid no positive result. The rules of competition are therefore not impacted to the extent that there are new sources of competitive advantage, although the overall result is more favourable than expected. Systematic increases to the value add and outsourcing of value chain activities, on the other hand, show that e-business can enhance the eXisting competitive advantage of a business by improving process efficiency and reducing communication costs. The results of the empirical research are used to provide some practical conclusions and recommendations. In brief, e-business should be seen as a channel that enhances an existing offering, and not as a new source of competitive advantage. From an operational perspective, e-business can make processes more efficient, and reduce communication, information gathering as well as transaction costs. Rapid feedback and real-time information can increase the rate of innovation and differentiate services, especially through partner networks. Keywords: E-business, Internet, strategy, information, technology, competition, competitive forces, value chain. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eksponensiële groeitempo van die Internet in die 1990's het die koop en verkoop van produkte én dienste op die Internet meegebring. Terwyl handelop die Internet dramaties toegeneem het, het die hoeveelheid mislukte besighede ooreenkomstig gestyg. Ten einde sin te maak van dié verwarrende prentjie, is die uitdaging om die strategiese denke onderliggend aan besigheid op die Internet the bepaal, en dan af te lei hoe die implementering van 'n suksesvolle e-besigheid verband hou met die klassieke strategiese analise-modelle van Michael Porter. Om die studie meer van toepassing op Suid Afrika te maak, sal die hoofdoel wees om praktiese riglyne te vind wat Suid-Afrikaanse bestuurders in staat sal stelom die strategiese impak van ebesigheid op hulle onderskeie maatskappye te bepaal. Ten einde die hoofdoel te verwesenlik, en om 'n grondige teorietiese raamwerk vir die navorsingsprobleem te bewerkstellig, word die werk van navorsers regoor die wêreld in 'n literatuurstudie aangebied om 'n algemene indruk te kry van waar ebesigheid die aard van kompetisie sal beïnvloed. Die bevindinge is soos volg: • E-besigheid lei to verhoogde kompetisie. Soos meer transaksies elektronies plaasvind, word verwag dat transaksiekoste sowel as winste sal afneem. Laer winsgrense kan lei tot hoër vlakke van mededinging, wat uiteindelik strategieë van kostebesnyding en verhoogde effektiwiteit tot gevolg kan hê. • E-besigheid stel maatskappye in staat om op kommunikasiekoste te bespaar, en om die effektiwiteit van die waardeketting te verhoog. Dit lei tot nuwe verhoudings met verskaffers en kliënte, en uiteindelik tot kostebesparings veral in aankope, verspreiding en verkope. • Verbeterde koppelings in die waardeketting kan samewerking en langermyn besigheidsverhoudings tot gevolg hê, en gevolglik tot strategiese verhoudings, geïntegreerde prosesse, sowel as ontbondeling van sekere besigheidsaktiwiteite lei. Die rol van tussengangers word as gevolg hiervan herdefinieer, en beweeg stelselmatig daarna om bloot kopers en verkopers te verbind, sowel as om fasilitering en regulatoriese funksies te vervul. 'n Empiriese veldondersoek word uitgevoer, waar die kompeterende kragte en waardekettingmodelle gekwantifiseer word as 'n stelordinale elemente. Gebaseer op die literatuurstudie, word die impak van e-besigheid dan gedefinieer as 'n stel verwagte veranderinge in die elemente wat die twee modelle verteenwoordig. 'n gestruktureerde vraelys word daaruit ontwerp, waar respondente die impak van ebesigheid op hulle maatskappye aandui as 'n stel verhogings en verlagings van die elemente van die kompeterende kragte en waardekettingmodelle. Die uiteinde is 'n statistiese vergelyking van die antwoorde op die vraelys met die verstekwaardes aangedui deur die werke in die literatuurstudie, wat dan gebruik word om die impak van e-besigheid op Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye te bepaal. Empiriese navorsing dui aan dat die aantreklikheid van 'n industrie nie veel beïnvloed word deur e-besigheid nie. Verbasend genoeg word die bedreiging van nuwe kompeteerders verlaag, en in sekere gevalle kan die onderhandelingskrag van kopers ook verlaag word, maar die oorblywende kragte lewer nie 'n positiewe resultaat nie. Die reëls van kompetisie word dus nie tot die mate beïnvloed dat daar geheel en al nuwe vorme van kompeterende voordeelonstaan nie, hoewel die algehele uitkoms meer positief is as wat in die literatuurstudie aangedui is. Sistematiese verhogings in beide die waardetoevoeging en ontbondeling van waardeketting-aktiwiteite, aan die ander kant, dui aan dat e-besigheid die bestaande kompeterende voordeel van 'n maatskappy kan verhoog deur die effektiwiteit van prosesse te verhoog en kommunikasiekoste te verlaag. Die voorafgaande empiriese resultate word gebruik om sekere praktiese gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings te maak. Kortliks behoort e-besigheid gesien te word as 'n nuwe kanaal wat 'n bestaande produk kan verstewig, en nie as 'n totaal nuwe bron van kompeterende voordeel nie. Operasioneel kan e-besigheid prosesse meer effektief maak, en ook kommunikasie, inligtinginsamelings- en transaksiekoste verlaag. Vinnige terugvoer, sowel as oombliklike toegang tot inligting, kan die innoveringstempo verhoog en dienste differensieer, veral deur 'n netwerk van vennote. Sleutelterme: E-besigheid, Internet, strategie, inligting, tegnologie, kompetisie, kompeterende kragte, waardeketting.

Public procurement is the government activity most vulnerable to corruption. Lack of transparency and accountability are recognised as a major threat to integrity in public procurement. Repeated findings by the Auditor- General(SA) on poor document management and lack of compliance with the Public Finance Management Act ( No1 of 1999) by the SCM units in departments of the Eastern Cape Provincial Administration necessitates the use of e-procurement for purposes of accountability and proper documentation of transactions. The study assessed the current status of e-procurement in the Eastern Cape Provincial government. This entailed an overview of IFMS, identifying its implementation and shortcomings. Also reviewed was implementation of the Logistical Information System ( LOGIS) in the Eastern Cape Provincial Administration (Department of Health) as its e-procurement platform, as well as e-procurement at the Department of Social development and Special Programmes .The status of government suppliers’ internet connectivity was also assessed.

Customer profiling has recently gained much recognition in the e-commerce domain because of the benefits it is capable of bringing to online business. Customer profiling has been implemented in various systems development approaches such as in a client-server environment. Recently there has been an increase in the number of organisations adopting and implementing e-commerce systems using service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles. This research set out to determine how a customer profile can be implemented using open source SOA implementation tools, and how SOA-based customer profiles can be utilised to provide appropriate personalisation in an SOA environment. The research further endeavoured to complete a comparative study on customer profile implementation in two different architectures, namely SOA and client-server. An extensive literature review was conducted on SOA, customer profiling and e-commerce systems development. SOA enabling technologies, such as, web services, enterprise service bus (ESB) and open source Sun Java SOA implementation tools, for example, Open ESB, GlassFish application server and Netbeans IDE were analysed. A Java web services-based customer profiling system was prototyped following SOA design principles. An end-user evaluation survey was conducted using eye tracking with a sample of 30 participants. The evaluation was done on two e-commerce systems with the same interface but running on two different customer profile back-ends, SOA and client-server. The results show that participants did not experience significant difference between the two systems, however, eye tracking results showed a significant difference between the two systems. The research concluded that customer profiling using SOA offers more benefits than implementations using other architectures such as client-server. SOA component-based development proved to be easier to manage, develop, integrate and improves interoperability between different technologies. The research brought together necessary techniques and technologies that organisations can use to implement SOA. Using SOA, organisations can integrate and utilise different technologies seamlessly to achieve business goals.