Developing Entrepreneurial Competencies for Secondary Schools as Social Enterprises

2020 ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Thea van der Westhuizen ◽  
Sthokozile Luthuli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Strategic Development ◽  
African Context ◽  
Entrepreneurial Competencies ◽  
Strategic Management Process

The chapter is written from an Afrocentric perspective with a focus on South Africa and aims to investigate the potential of developing a school as a social enterprise while developing entrepreneurial competencies of the school's internal and external environments. Research objectives were set to determine perceptions of educators on learners' and their own involvement in the school's strategic management process, to explore critical organisational aspects that can engage educators in active decision making and educators' view of the current role they play within the decision-making process. It was found that secondary schools within a South African context, as mostly not viewed as a potential social enterprise and that educators have limited entrepreneurial competencies, which can contribute to strategic development of the school. It is recommended that the school's internal and external environment should be included to develop the school as a social enterprise with strategies to alleviate poverty and instill a mindset of entrepreneurial competence among youth and the community alike.

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 Social Enterprises’ Social Orientation: The Impact on the Organizational Commitment of Employees

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Donwe Choi ◽  
Keon-Hyung Lee ◽  
Hyungjo Hur
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Shared Decision Making ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Shared Decision ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates the relationship between social enterprises’ social orientation and the organizational commitment of their employees. The study also examines differences in organizational commitment between Millennial social enterprise employees and social enterprise employees of earlier generations. The findings from the study indicate that a social enterprise’s pursuit of social purpose, shared decision- making, and social performance are all positively associated with the organizational commitment of its employees. Additionally, the findings suggest that, in general, Millennials have a lower level of organizational commitment to their social enterprise employer than do earlier generations. Indeed, the organizational commitment of Millennials, we find, is primarily (and significantly) influenced only by shared decision-making. These findings contribute to the literature on social enterprise as well as to the literature on organizational commitment by providing insight into unseen aspects of social enterprise management from the perspective of employees. From a practical standpoint, these findings provide social entrepreneurs and managers of social enterprises with practical guidance on how to improve their employees’ organizational commitment.

Evidence of Strategic Marketing in Social Enterprises

2019 ◽  
pp. 182-212
Author(s):  
Debbie Ellis ◽  
Evelyn Derera
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Strategic Marketing ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
The Social

Social enterprises represent a unique form of organization with both commercial and social objectives. As such, the application of strategic marketing to these organizations is not clearly understood. Chapter 1 developed a framework for analyzing strategic marketing, which is applied in this chapter to three South African social enterprises to assess the evidence of the application of strategic marketing in the social enterprise context. The results of the study reflect rich qualitative data providing evidence of the application of elements of strategic marketing as well as adaptations more appropriate to the social enterprise context. From these lessons, recommendations are made for social enterprises applying a more systematic approach to strategic marketing in their organizations.

Social Enterprises and Fundraising Challenge

2019 ◽  
pp. 271-292
Author(s):  
Elenica Pjero (Beqiraj) ◽  
Ermelinda Kordha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Baby Boomers ◽  
Generation Y ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Customer Demand ◽  
Demographic Challenges ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Control

Evolving markets challenge the organization's ability to react to customer demand. Decision-making becomes paralyzed by process-based operations and chains of command and control, thereby decreasing agility. Many organizations today are also facing significant demographic challenges. Baby boomers, once the lifeblood of business, are retiring while Generation Y wants to communicate and interact in a completely different manner. There may be four generations in the modern workplace, and each has its unique traits and demands. There is growing complexity both inside and outside the organization. Organizations need to understand complexity instead of simply increasing complication. The growth of interest in this area is closely related to the fact that social enterprises constitute the fastest growing category of organizations in the USA and to the fact that universities and business schools around the globe are currently involved in various education programmes in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Parental decision-making factors for school choice: A South African middle class perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1046-1062
Author(s):  
Beverley Shannon Blake ◽  
Raj Mestry
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Schooling ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Parental Decision Making ◽  
Choice Decision ◽  
Decision Making Factors ◽  
African Context

The crisis in the quality of South African education is evident in a growing perception among South Africans that public schooling will not be able to enhance the educational outcomes and future of their children. This has resulted in a flight trend of learners across all types of primary and secondary education. Historically (pre-1994), South African parents were not actively involved in making choices regarding the schools their children would attend. Democracy opened the door to this possibility and parents are increasingly formulating their own ideas and preferences of what an ideal school should be and offer their children. In eliciting an understanding of this new trend this study aimed to develop a base of knowledge regarding the factors influencing the school choice decision in the South African context as perceived by middle class parents. To this end, a quantitative study utilizing questionnaires was used to establish parental perceptions regarding those aspects they valued, feared, desired, considered and followed in making the best possible school-choice decision for their children’s future. The results of the research point to a plethora of factors that drive decision-making emphasising agreement with international literature but unique and complicated in nature as often the decisions parents make in South Africa stem from consequences of apartheid policies and as such need to be understood in this specific context.

scholarly journals Scenario-planning in strategic decision-making: requirements, benefits and inhibitors

foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 602-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Meyerowitz ◽  
Charlene Lew ◽  
Göran Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Scenario Planning ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Agility ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the corporate requirements, benefits and inhibitors of scenario planning in strategic decision-making. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a sample of 15 case studies with executives in the South African context to reveal the perceived corporate requirements, benefits and inhibitors of scenario-planning. Findings From the cases, it is evident that industry-, organizational- and leadership-related factors enable or inhibit scenario planning. Requirements, benefits and inhibitors are revealed in strategic decision-making. Research limitations/implications Further research to determine supportive tools and technologies for enabling scenario-planning across multiple contexts is needed. Practical implications This paper expands insights into the requirements, benefits and inhibitors of scenario-planning in strategic decision-making. Originality/value Given the increasing complexity of the business environment, a framework of scenario-thinking is presented and recommend greater emphasis on developing strategic decision-making competence, changed mindsets and organizational agility.

Micro Social Enterprises in Developing Countries

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Lauren Jankelowitz ◽  
Kerrin Myres
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
South African ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Developed World

Social enterprises have a strong focus on social mission, whether they have non-profit or commercial roots. In the developing country context, non-profit organizations are adapting to meet scarce funding resources by becoming more entrepreneurial and adopting profit-making behaviors. Concurrently, businesses are engaging more with their clients and the communities within which they work, developing innovative business solutions to address social problems. While the study of social enterprises in the developed world focuses on choice, autonomy, legitimacy, and growth in the transition to social enterprise, very few comprehensive studies have been conducted on social enterprises in the developing country context. It is thus difficult to assess whether developing country contexts are different or not. A recent study to understand who South African social enterprises are and whether their context is relevant, found that these organizations are similar to and different from those operating in the developed world, thus suggesting that context does play a role.

scholarly journals Consumer decision-making styles of generation Y cohorts : validation of the Consumer Styles Inventory (C.S.I) in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tinashe Musasa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
South African ◽  
Generation Y ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Consumer Decision ◽  
Bivariate Correlation ◽  
Decision Making Styles ◽  
African Context

The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of the Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986 cited by Azizi 2012:91) in determining consumer decision-making styles within South Africa. Likewise, the major problem of this study revolved around generalisability of US and European based data of consumer decision-making styles in an African context. Moreover, generational evolution necessitated the need for current introspection within an African context. Accordingly, objectives of this study included determining consumer decision-making styles of millennial South Africans, determining additional dimension(s) of the CSI model characteristic of a multi-cultural society, ascertaining an updated consumer decisionmaking style model and explore the implications associated with cohorts identified as recreational shoppers. The study adopted a quantitative survey in gathering data from millennial consumers. Structured questionnaires with Likert scales were utilised in data collection. These encompassed four aspects of research: demographic profile of sample, decision-making styles of sample, psychological orientation of sample under study and innovativeness thereof. The targeted population comprised of 400 generation Y South African consumers in which 320 were successfully selected and tested through convenience sampling. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 was utilised in data analysis. Factor analysis and bivariate correlation analysis were used in determining hypothesis, testing the tenability of the exploratory framework and ascertaining consumer decision-making styles characteristic of South African millennials. Empirical findings of this study were linked to literature in the latter chapters of this study. Suggestions for future research work concluded this study.

Strategic Marketing for Social Enterprises

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Debbie Ellis ◽  
Evelyn Derera
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Strategic Marketing ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs

The purpose of this introductory chapter is to define and describe the two primary domains of this book and present an analysis of the literature at the nexus of these domains. The aim is to determine from literature, how strategic marketing can, and has been found to be, relevant in social enterprises. The analysis finds strong support for the value of strategic marketing in social enterprises and presents evidence of research proving this value. Recommendations are thus provided to social entrepreneurs and managers of social enterprises on the key elements of strategic marketing that should be applied in their organizations. The chapter provides a foundation for the complimentary Chapter 8, which looks for evidence of strategic marketing in three South African social enterprises. It also provides a strong platform from which other chapters in the book present research on specific elements of strategic marketing in a variety of social enterprise contexts.

scholarly journals Assessing the test–retest reliability of career path appreciation as a measure of current and potential work decision-making capability

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolf M. Oosthuizen ◽  
Melinde Coetzee ◽  
Ester Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
South African ◽  
Career Path ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
African Context ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Orientation: Assessing and developing managerial decision-making capability in a complex and volatile marketplace is imperative for most South African businesses.Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the test–retest reliability of the career path appreciation (CPA) procedure in assessing current and potential levels of work decision-making capability. The study also explored whether different gender and race groups differed significantly in terms of these levels at two CPA assessments.Motivation for the study: Limited recent test–retest research has been done regarding the reliability of the CPA technique as a tool for measuring the work decision-making capability of professional and managerial talent in the South African context. Scholars and practitioners in the field of industrial psychology could therefore benefit from follow-up research into the reliability of CPA.Research approach, design and method: The research followed an ex post facto correlational design using longitudinal data of a non-probability purposive sample (N = 527) within the Bioss SA database.Main findings: The results showed that the participants’ first CPA assessment scores correlated significantly and positively with their second CPA assessment scores. Gender and race groups differed significantly in their levels of current work decision-making capability at both assessments.Practical/managerial implications: The CPA procedure can be used with confidence as an assessment tool in the selection, mentoring and development of high-potential managerial and professional talent for diverse gender and race groups.Contribution/value-add: These findings contribute valuable information regarding the reliability of CPA and the differences between race and gender groups in the South African context.

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