Challenges and Constraints for Government Agencies Supporting Firm Level Innovation: Some Reflections from South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 259-277
Author(s):  
David Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Firm Level

scholarly journals Significant factors for enabling knowledge sharing between government agencies within South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Avain Mannie ◽  
Herman J. Van Niekerk ◽  
Chris M. Adendorff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Balanced Score Card ◽  
Performance Contracts ◽  
Significant Factors

Background: Globally, organisations have recognised the strategic importance of knowledge management (KM) and are increasingly focusing efforts on practices to foster the creation, sharing and integration of knowledge.Objectives: This study aimed to validate the significant factors that influence the effectiveness of KM between government agencies in South Africa. The commonly identified pillars of KM in the extant literature served as a primary framework in establishing these factors.Method: Data were gathered using an electronic survey made available to different national government agencies within the security cluster. Responses were analysed using structural equation modelling.Main findings: Existing literature highlighted organisational culture, learning organisation, collaboration, subject matter experts and trust as being determinants for knowledge management. The first two were identified as the most significant factors for knowledge sharing to succeed.Conclusion: Whilst there is universal consent as to the strategic importance of KM, actionable implementation of knowledge sharing initiatives appears to be lacking. This study emphasised the fact that leaders must instil a knowledge sharing culture either through employee performance contracts or methods such as the balanced score card. The study also showed that it is imperative for leaders to acknowledge that KM is a multi-faceted discipline that offers strategic advantages. Leaders of developing countries should note that they are on a developmental journey. This requires their organisations to be learning organisations, which necessitates a change in the organisational culture and knowledge interventions through their academies of learning.

Access to finance and firm innovation

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
MccPowell Sali Fombang ◽  
Charles Komla Adjasi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Trade Credit ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data

Purpose The study aims to examine the importance of access to finance in firm innovation by using firm-level data from the World Bank enterprise survey (WBES) on selected African countries. Design/methodology/approach This study utilises firm-level data from the WBES database and computes aggregate innovation index by using multiple correspondent analysis. The authors then apply instrumental variable models (to control for possible endogeneity between innovation and finance) to assess the link between finance and innovation. Findings The research finds that finance in the form of overdraft overwhelmingly drives innovation in all selected countries – Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. Trade credit enhances innovation among firms in Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon, while asset finance drives innovation amongst firms in Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa. Practical implications Policy incentives such as tax breaks could be put in place for financial intermediaries that have shown proof of extending loans to financially constraint firms to enable them to innovate. Furthermore, different financial institutions such as microfinance institutions can be supported to increase credit to enterprises. Partnerships with organisations willing to fund firms and support start-ups should be encouraged. One of such support mechanisms could be specialised schemes such as a credit guarantee scheme to encourage and secure lending to enterprises to promote innovation. Originality/value This paper provides empirical insights into how finance enhances innovation in African enterprises. It also shows how different finance structures (overdraft, asset finance and trade credit) affect firm innovation in different African countries.

scholarly journals South African firm-level evidence of the links between finance and efficiency

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-286
Author(s):  
Waldo Krugell ◽  
Marianne Matthee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Using Data ◽  
World Bank Enterprise Survey ◽  
Enterprise Survey ◽  
Lower Capacity ◽  
Different Sources

Small and medium-sized enterprises are often seen as drivers of economic growth and development by generating employment opportunities. However, for SMEs to be successful they need finance. Access to finance has been found to be a major obstacle to SMEs’ ability to do business in South Africa. This paper takes a closer look at firms, their access to finance and output per worker in South Africa, by using data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2007. The results show that firms that are financially constrained are more vulnerable to shocks and competition, and are weaker contributors to employment creation and growth. These firms are typically small and less established. They hold less inventory, have lower capacity utilisation and are unlikely to be exporters or to introduce new products in response to competition. The results from the regression model confirm that access to finance and different sources of finance are drivers of productivity at firm level.

Economic Nationalism and International Business

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Luis Alfonso Dau ◽  
Elizabeth M. Moore ◽  
Amílcar Antonio Barreto ◽  
Maria A. Robson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Motivating Factors ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Economic Nationalism ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Strategic Processes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this chapter is to illuminate the importance of the biases and motivating factors that have propelled economic nationalist movements across the globe. Too frequently scholars assume economic nationalism as a starting point to understand strategic choices. The authors argue that ethnic and racial biases, however, are an important antecedent to economic nationalism that transitively impact firm strategic processes such as internalization. Specifically, they suggest that ethnic and racial tensions that exist within and between governments and people add unique pressure structures to which firms respond. Through a case study of South Africa, the authors highlight the impact that these pressure structures have on firm-level strategic processes surrounding internalization.

scholarly journals Exporters and global value chain participation: Firm-level evidence from South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caio Torres Mazzi ◽  
Gideon Ndubuisi ◽  
Elvis Avenyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Export Performance ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
Foreign Markets ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Entry ◽  
Related Trade

Using the South African Revenue Service and National Treasury firm-level panel data for 2009–17, this paper investigates how global value chain-related trade affects the export performance of manufacturing firms in South Africa. In particular, the paper uses extant classifications of internationally traded products to identify different categories of global value chain-related products and compares the productivity premium of international traders for these different categories. Also, the paper investigates possible differences in learning-by-exporting effects across the identified categories of global value chain-related products by estimating the effect of exporting before and after entry into foreign markets. The results confirm that global value chain-related trade is associated with a higher productivity premium compared with traditional trade. However, within the categories of exporters, only the firms that trade in global value chain-related products and simultaneously engage in research and development in the post-entry periods appear to learn from exporting.

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