scholarly journals Investigating e-mail overload in the South African banking industry

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Burger ◽  
C. Rensleigh
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Banking Industry ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
E Mail

The information workers of today have a wide range of information sources available to make valuable decisions, so much so that it can lead to information overload. The purpose of this research was to investigate the extent of information overload in the South African banking industry. The empirical part of this study was done at the Standard Bank of South Africa, where 115 questionnaires were distributed to three categories of employees. It was found that e-mail is one of the most used computer-mediated applications and is used more than the World-Wide Web, instant messaging or peer-to-peer file sharing. Of the respondents, 65% felt overwhelmed by the amount of e-mails they received as 25% received more than 60 e-mails per day. A third of the respondents dedicated three hours or more to e-mails per day. Respondents agreed that the implementation of policies is important to ensure compliance with legislation, protection of privacy rights and copyright, and the filtering of spam. In conclusion, the respondents indicated that formal training in e-mail management should make a significant difference in the usage of e-mail within the organization and reduce e-mail overload. 

Growth and movement of the South African abalone Haliotis midae: A reassessment

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 583 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJQ Tarr
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Haliotis Midae

Growth rates of a number of Haliotis midae populations around the South African coast were studied by means of tagging. These populations ranged from the cool waters of the western coast to the more temperate environment of the eastern Cape. Standard von Bertalanffy growth curves were fitted and growth parameters derived. These ranged from 0.19 to 0.25 for K, the average rate at which L∞ is approached, and from 156 to 173 for L∞, the average theoretical maximum length. These indicate far higher growth rates than were previously published for this commercially fished species, and the reasons for this difference are discussed. The expectation that growth rates would be fastest in the warmer eastern Cape waters was not realized, there being no significant difference in growth between the Bird Island population on the eastern coast and the Robben Island population on the western coast. These new growth parameters indicate that H. midae in the commercial fishery grounds is attaining sexual maturity some four years earlier, and the minimum legal size some five years earlier, than previously considered. This has considerable significance for modelling studies presently underway. Movement of a small population of adult H. midae was studied over a three-year period, after which 47% of the original abalone were still present on the study site. Of these, 81.5% still occupied exactly the same position on the rocks. This indicates that H. midae that have located an optimum habitat, and that are not disturbed, tend not to move.

scholarly journals Do Managers Of Global Equity Funds Outperform Their Respective Style Benchmarks? Evidence From South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Heng-Hsing Hsieh ◽  
Kathleen Hodnett ◽  
Paul Van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
The South ◽  
Fund Managers ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Equity Funds ◽  
Investment Styles ◽  
Stock Picking

The results of our prior research on internationally-domiciled global equity funds suggest that active managers do not provide economic benefits, in addition to their underlying investment style benchmarks. This finding implies that the performances of global equity funds are derived mainly from the broad investment styles followed by the active managers rather than the stock-picking activities of the managers. We replicate our earlier research to investigate the performances of the six well-established global equity funds in the South African unit trust industry. Our results indicate that four out of the six South African fund managers under examination substantially underperform their passively-replicated style benchmarks. Our prior study results indicate that there is no significant difference between the performances of the internationally-domiciled global equity funds and their respective style benchmarks. By contrast, the stock-picking decisions of the South African fund managers are found to destroy value created by their respective style benchmarks in this study. Our findings suggest that investors who wish to follow particular investment styles would be better off by investing in exchange traded funds (ETF) that passively track the performances of their mandated investment styles in the global equity market with minimal costs.

scholarly journals Alternatives to Bankruptcy in South Africa that Provides for a Discharge of Debts: Lessons from Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Zingaphi Mabe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Insolvency Law ◽  
Debt Restructuring ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Insolvency Proceedings ◽  
National Credit Act

The problems faced by debtors in South Africa is not that there are no alternatives to insolvency proceedings, but that the available alternatives do not provide for a discharge of debt as with a sequestration order, which is ultimately what the debtor seeks to achieve. Debtors in South Africa can make use of debt review in terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 or administration orders in terms of the Magistrates' Court Act 32 of 1944 to circumvent the sequestration process. However, both debt review and administration orders do not provide for a discharge of debt and provide for debt-restructuring only, in order to eventually satisfy the creditor's claims. Attention is given to the sequestration process and the alternatives to sequestration as they relate specifically to the discharge or lack of a discharge of a debtor's debts. The South African law is compared to Kenyan Law. This article seeks to analyse the alternatives to the bankruptcy provisions of the newly enacted Kenyan Insolvency Act 18 of 2015 in order to influence the possible reform of insolvency law in South Africa. Like the South African Insolvency Act, the old Kenyan Bankruptcy Act (Cap 53 of the Laws of Kenya) also did not have alternatives to bankruptcy. The old Kenyan Bankruptcy Act, however, contained a provision on schemes of arrangement and compositions. The Kenyan Insolvency Act now caters for alternatives to bankruptcy and provides a wide range of alternatives to bankruptcy, some of which allow debtors in different financial positions to obtain a discharge.    

Computer-Mediated Interaction: A Tool for Facilitating the Educational Helping Relationship

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice A. Gasker ◽  
Toni Cascio
Keyword(s):  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Public University ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Class Participation ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Work Class ◽  
E Mail

Recent literature highlights the importance of the educational helping relationship in adult learning. This study investigated computer-mediated interaction as a means of facilitating that relationship. A voluntary e-mail communication project along with a survey concerning students' perceptions of that project were conducted at a midsize public university. Students enrolled in an introductory” social work class reported positive effects on learning, on peer relationships, and on their relationships with their instructor. In addition, there was no significant difference between the rate of e-mail postings submitted by men and those submitted by women, which suggests that this mode of class participation may provide a level playing field for male and female students.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Moral Development in the South African Context

1996 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 851-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Smith ◽  
Angina Parekh
Keyword(s):  
Moral Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
The South ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
African Context ◽  
Moral Choices

This study has two aims, to examine aspects of Kohlberg's claims of universality within a unique research context and to explore differences in moral development between black and white South Africans. 81 participants from four different age groups were administered Form A of Kohlberg's moral judgement interviews. Analysis supported the age-relatedness of Kohlberg's stages of moral development and provided some support for the notion that the stages should be evident in various cultures. A significant difference in moral development between black and white groups in the 19- to 28-yr. age group was found. Further, black and white groups had different concerns when justifying moral choices. The results were discussed in the context of the South African system, which until recently has been one of institutionalised racial division.

scholarly journals The validation of a workplace incivility scale within the South African banking industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Smidt ◽  
Leon T. De Beer ◽  
Lizelle Brink ◽  
Michael P. Leiter
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Banking Industry ◽  
Workplace Incivility ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
African Context ◽  
Negative Predictor

Orientation: Workplace incivility holds consequences for both individuals and organisations. Managers are becoming increasingly aware of this phenomenon. Currently, there is no workplace incivility scale validated for use within the South African context. Research purpose: To investigate the reliability and validity of the adapted workplace incivility scale by Leiter and colleagues for use within South Africa. Motivation for the study: As it is currently difficult to measure workplace incivility within the South African context because of the lack of a valid and reliable scale, it is necessary to validate such a scale.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional research approach was used for the study. Convenience sampling (N = 345) was used within the South African banking industry. Specifically, the factor structure, convergent validity, discriminant validity and predictive validity were investigated in order to establish the overall validity of the scale. Main findings: The results confirmed that the scale showed a three-factor structure as bestfitting with acceptable reliability coefficients. Furthermore, discriminant validity could be shown between workplace incivility and workplace bullying, that is, supporting that these two constructs are not the same phenomenon. In terms of relationships, colleague incivility did not significantly predict any of the outcome variables and instigated incivility only being a negative predictor of job satisfaction and a borderline statistically significant negative predictor of work engagement. However, supervisor incivility predicted all the outcomes negatively. Practical/Managerial implications: Based on the results, workplace incivility should be addressed because of the harmful effects it can have, not only on employees but also on organisations. It is therefore necessary for managers to create awareness of workplace incivility in order to ensure that it does not integrate within the organisational culture and affect individual and organisational performance. Contribution/Value-add: The study contributes to the limited research available in South Africa regarding workplace incivility by providing a scale that is valid and reliable.

scholarly journals Assessing service quality in the mobile telecommunications market

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 510-517
Author(s):  
Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy Govender
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
South African ◽  
Mobile Telecommunications ◽  
The South ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Customer Expectations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Telecommunications Market

The South African telecommunications market is vibrant and growing, dominated by two players. It is recognised that service quality plays an important role in establishing a competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to assess ratings of service quality among mobile telecommunications customers. To this end, a survey was conducted among 400 customers using the SERVQUAL questionnaire to measure customers’ expectations and perceptions based on the five dimensions of service quality. The findings indicate that there are gaps between customer expectations and perceptions of service quality. The tangibles dimension exhibited the smallest gap for both companies and the assurance and empathy dimensions revealed the largest gap scores. There were no significant differences in overall expectations between the two companies, but there were significant differences between the companies on overall perceptions of service quality. There was no significant difference in the overall expectations and perceptions between males and females.

scholarly journals Art investment in South Africa: Portfolio diversification and art market efficiency

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdi Botha ◽  
Jen Snowball ◽  
Brett Scott
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Price Index ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
House Price ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Government Bond ◽  
The South ◽  
Bond Price ◽  
House Price Index ◽  
Significant Difference

Art has been suggested as a good way to diversify investment portfolios during times of financial uncertainty. The argument is that art exhibits different risk and return characteristics to conventional investments in other asset classes. The new Citadel art price index offered the opportunity to test this theory in the South African context. Moreover, this paper tests whether art prices are efficient. The Citadel index uses the hedonic regression method with observations drawn from the top 100, 50 and 20 artists by sales volume, giving approximately 29 503 total auction observations. The Index consists of quarterly data from the period 2000Q1 to 2013Q3. A vector autoregression of the art price index, Johannesburg stock exchange all-share index, house price index, and South African government bond index were used. Results show that, when there are increased returns on the stock market in a preceding period and wealth increases, there is a change in the Citadel art price index in the same direction. No significant difference was found between the house price index and the art price index, or between the art and government bond price indices. The art market is also found to be inefficient, thereby exacerbating the risk of investing in art. Overall, the South African art market does not offer the opportunity to diversify portfolios dominated by either property, bonds, or shares.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document