Harnessing Externalities to Enhance Competitiveness in an Industrial Cluster

2015 ◽  
pp. 202-219
Author(s):  
Mary Jesselyn ◽  
Bruce Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Pattern Matching ◽  
Industrial Cluster ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Technology Spillovers ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Manufacturing Network

This chapter investigates the effects networks have on the acquisition of external economies. The objectives of this chapter include determining if businesses located in clusters are benefitting from external economies and identifying the extent to which these firms are using their networks in accessing these external economies. Six SME business owners were interviewed. They form part of an automotive manufacturing network based in Port Elizabeth in South Africa. The researchers used content analysis and pattern matching to analyse the data. The findings indicate that the entrepreneurs interviewed were all using their networks to gain external economies. They used networks to gain technology spillovers in the form of information on new trends and processes in the industry and highlighted the fact that the network contacts provided opportunistic information. The study also found that some of the entrepreneurs used their network to source skilled employees from the pooled labour market and obtain specialized services and input.

scholarly journals UNDERGRADUATE ECONOMICS CURRICULUM AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1000-1013
Author(s):  
Beatrice Ngulube
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Undergraduate Curriculum ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Study Guides ◽  
Undergraduate Economics ◽  
Academic Qualifications

Graduates with employability skills are considered as assets by employers because they are dynamic and adapt easily to today’s work environment. Thus, higher education globally is under pressure to produce graduates who are employable and able to continue learning and remain employed. This study examined the extent to which the undergraduate economics curriculum in South Africa equips economics graduates with employability skills. This was achieved through a qualitative approach using a content analysis design. Data analysed from advertisements extracted from the Sunday Times for four consecutive years and data from six undergraduate economics study guides indicated that there was a disjuncture between undergraduate economics skills and those required by the industry. The analysed study guides only cover about 29.4 % of the needed skills in the labour market. It is imperative for higher education institutions to produce employable graduates because evidence demonstrates that employers today do not hire employees solely based on academic qualifications. Recommendations are that there should be an alignment between employability skills required in the labour market and those offered by the academic institutions. Curricula and pedagogy should also be adjusted to enhance graduate skills outcomes. Keywords: employability skills, undergraduate curriculum, content analysis

Patients’ Perceptions of Caring and Uncaring Nursing Encounters in Inpatient Rehabilitation Settings

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan C Cheruiyot ◽  
Petra Brysiewicz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Inpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
The Self ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Textual Data ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Being There

This study explores and describes caring and uncaring nursing encounters from the perspective of the patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation settings in South Africa. The researchers used an exploratory descriptive design. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data through individual interviews with 17 rehabilitation patients. Content analysis allowed for the analysis of textual data. Five categories of nursing encounters emerged from the analysis: noticing and acting, and being there for you emerged as categories of caring nursing encounters, and being ignored, being a burden, and deliberate punishment emerged as categories of uncaring nursing encounters. Caring nursing encounters make patients feel important and that they are not alone in the rehabilitation journey, while uncaring nursing encounters makes the patients feel unimportant and troublesome to the nurses. Caring nursing encounters give nurses an opportunity to notice and acknowledge the existence of vulnerability in the patients and encourage them to be present at that moment, leading to empowerment. Uncaring nursing encounters result in patients feeling devalued and depersonalised, leading to discouragement. It is recommended that nurses strive to develop personal relationships that promote successful nursing encounters. Further, nurses must strive to minimise the patients’ feelings of guilt and suffering, and to make use of tools, for example the self-perceived scale, to measure this. Nurses must also perform role plays on how to handle difficult patients such as confused, demanding and rude patients in the rehabilitation settings.

Exploring gender digital divide and its effect on women's labour market outcomes in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-108
Author(s):  
Kehinde Oluwaseun Omotoso ◽  
Jimi Adesina ◽  
Ololade G. Adewole
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
Market Participation ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Variable Approach ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
Labour Market Outcomes

Technology plays a significant role in bridging gender gap in labour market outcomes. This paper investigates gender differential in broadband Internet usage and its effects on women‘s labour market participation. Employing an instrumental variable approach, findings suggest that exogenously determined high-speed broadband internet usage leads to increases of about 14.1 and 10.6 percentage points in labour market participation for single women and married women with some level of education, respectively. Moreover, further analyses suggest that married women are generally less likely to use the Internet to search for job opportunities and this could partly explains their low labour market participation rate. The findings suggest that more policy effort is required to bridge gender differentials in digital technologies and employment opportunities in South Africa.

The Market Theatre of Johannesburg in the New South Africa

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-374
Author(s):  
Hilary Burns
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New South ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
Black Artists ◽  
The Past ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Incumbent Regime ◽  
Apartheid Regime ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

The Market Theatre of Johannesburg opened in 1976, the year of the Soweto Uprising – the beginning of the end for the oppressive apartheid regime. Founded by Barney Simon, Mannie Manim, and a group of white actors, the theatre's policy, in line with the advice to white liberals from the Black Consciousness Movement, was to raise the awareness of its mainly white audiences about the oppression of apartheid and their own social, political, and economic privileges. The theatre went on through the late 'seventies and 'eighties to attract international acclaim for productions developed in collaboration with black artists that reflected the struggle against the incumbent regime, including such classics as The Island, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, and Woza Albert! How has the Market fared with the emergence of the new South Africa in the 'nineties? Has it built on the past? Has it reflected the changes? What is happening at the theatre today? Actress, writer, and director Hilary Burns went to Johannesburg in November 2000 to find out. She worked in various departments of the theatre, attended productions, and interviewed theatre artists and members of the audience. This article will form part of her book, The Cultural Precinct, inspired by this experience to explore how the theatres born in the protest era have responded to the challenges of the new society.

scholarly journals Exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethel Ndidiamaka Abe ◽  
Vitallis Chikoko
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
Career Decisions ◽  
Career Decision ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Career Decision Making ◽  
Stem Students ◽  
African Context

Abstract Background Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators and stakeholders in South Africa are interested in the ways STEM students make their career decisions because of the shortages in these critical skills. Although various factors including family, teachers, peers, and career interest have been reported as determinants of career decision-making, there is a scarcity of studies that have qualitatively explored the levels of influences of any of these factors in the South African context. The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence career decision-making among STEM student majors in a South African university. By better understanding students’ viewpoint on these factors, educators and policymakers can assist students in making career decisions that fit their experiences, personality, and expectations. Students in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of study respectively, were invited to respond to a semi-structured questionnaire about the factors that were influential in their decision to pursue a career in STEM. A total of 203 texts (response rate: 63%) were qualitatively analyzed utilising a hermeneutic phenomenology approach to traditional content analysis, whereby themes develop inductively from the data. Results We used a hermeneutic phenomenological method to traditional content analysis to examine the factors influencing participants’ career decision-making. Peer interrogation, modified member verification, compact description, code-recode tactics, and assessment trails were engaged to confirm quality and rigour. Three key results emerged, namely interpersonal, intrapersonal, and career outcomes expectancy. The perceptions of STEM students of their career decision-making in the South African context are more multifaceted than reported previously. The insights could inform policies to counter skills shortages in the STEM area. Conclusions In this exploratory study, we gave attention to describing the various ranges of students’ perceptions and experiences regarding their career decision-making. Several students reported, among other factors, that their families, personality, and expectations played influential roles in their career decision-making. Here, we discuss the meaning of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and outcome expectations with respect to career decision-making from the perspective of STEM students in a South African university.

scholarly journals Utilisation of zakāh and waqf fund in micro-takāful models in Malaysia: an exploratory study

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-105
Author(s):  
Said Adekunle Mikail ◽  
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Ahmad ◽  
Salami Saheed Adekunle
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Form Part

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the utilisation of both zakāh and waqf fund as external resources to ensure micro-takāful services are delivered to underserved communities in an effective and sustainable manner. It also addresses Sharīʿah issues related to the zakāh- and waqf-based model. Design/methodology/approach The study is a qualitative-based research. It uses both focus group and content analysis approach to gather primary data and identify and interpret relevant secondary data and Sharīʿah concepts in developing the zakāh- and waqf-based micro-takāful model. Findings It is discovered throughout the investigation of attributes of beneficiaries of zakāh and waqf institutions as well as micro-takāful scheme that all share commonalities in terms of social securities and socio-economic support to low-income households in societies. The study also finds that the disintegration of zakāh and waqf which form part of the Islamic ecosystem from the micro-takāful model makes it less effective and sustainable. Originality/value This study appears as a primitive attempt to discuss and develop a zakāh and waqf-based micro-takāful model with reference to Malaysian jurisdiction.

scholarly journals Dignity, religion and freedom of expression in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus C.W. Van Rooyen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Republic

The issue that this article dealt with is whether, in South African law, speech that infringes upon the religious feelings of an individual is protected by the dignity clause in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The Constitution, as well as the Broadcasting Code, prohibits language that advocates hatred, inter alia, based on religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. Dignity, which is a central Constitutional right, relates to the sense of self worth which a person has. A Court has held that religious feelings, national pride and language do not form part of dignity, for purposes of protection in law. The Broadcasting Complaints Commission has, similarly, decided that a point of view seriously derogatory of ‘Calvinistic people’ blaming (some of) them as being hypocritical and even acting criminally is not protected by dignity. It would have to be accompanied by the advocacy of hatred as defined previously. The author, however, pointed out that on occasion different facts might found a finding in law that religion is so closely connected to dignity, that it will indeed be regarded as part thereof.

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