Oludele A. Akinboade, Mandisa Putuma Mokwena and Emilie C. Kinfack
The purpose of this paper is to discuss citizen participation in public service delivery protests in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss citizen participation in public service delivery protests in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three local municipalities: Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured sample of 1,000 respondents was used in the study. The descriptive and inferential statistics approaches were applied to understand the root causes of the protests.
Findings
Overall, the average level of satisfaction with public service delivery is quite low. Service delivery protest participants opine that doing so is the only way of getting things done in the municipality. The overwhelming opinion of respondents is that the councillors are unresponsive.
Practical implications
Public service delivery in Sedibeng municipality must improve so that citizens' confidence in municipal governance can rise. Sedibeng municipality should urgently improve the socio‐economic conditions in the communities and should prioritise crime prevention, job creation and development for young people. Health care delivery is important to long‐term residents. Government should ensure that all allegations of corruption and maladministration are speedily and transparently dealt with, without fear or favour.
Originality/value
Studies that provide insight into citizen participation in public services delivery protests in Africa are very few and so this study makes an important contribution to our understanding of this important field.
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Oludele A. Akinboade and Emilie Kinfack
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the regulation, awareness, compliance and performance of small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon's Central and Littoral…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the regulation, awareness, compliance and performance of small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon's Central and Littoral regions, focusing on the manufacturing and retail sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
The full survey was conducted on 700 randomly selected SMEs which have identifiable business locations. From this, only 575 enterprises were retained for analysis after performing the coherence test.
Findings
Businesses registered for tax and those in the manufacturing sector see tax regulation as a burden. Those having opinions that regulation is rigid, inconsistent and that there is corruption also opine that regulation is negatively impacting on business. High compliance with customs and municipal regulations significantly negatively affect business development. On the other hand, high compliance with health and safety as well as trade regulations is good for SME development. Businesses registered with the Ministry of Trade tend to be more compliant, while those registered with the Municipality are not.
Practical implications
Overall, it is important that government should create an enabling environment for the development of the SMEs in Cameroon.
Originality/value
The number of studies focusing on the relationship between regulation and business performance in Africa is limited. Hence, the contribution of this paper is to enrich our understanding of this important field.
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Olu Oludele Akinloye Akinboade, Trevor Taft, Johann Friedrich Weber, Obareng Baldwin Manoko and Victor Sannyboy Molobi
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local governments in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.
Findings
Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.
Practical implications
This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.
Social implications
Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.
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Oludele Akinloye Akinboade and Mandisa Putuma Mokwena
South Africa is among the world's highest levels of alcohol consumption per drinker. Liquor abuse is hence rampant and many drinkers engage in risky drinking regularly. The…
Abstract
Purpose
South Africa is among the world's highest levels of alcohol consumption per drinker. Liquor abuse is hence rampant and many drinkers engage in risky drinking regularly. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of liquor abuse and seek to understand the degree to which respondents are aware of the alcohol problem in South Africa and whether they have experienced incidents of alcoholism, its impacts and in particular, the study seeks to determine the degree to which minors are exposed to liquor. Awareness of the seriousness of the problem is crucial to finding a lasting solution to it.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducted a survey in five provinces of the socio‐economic aspects of liquor abuse. These are Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal (KZN), Mpumalanga and Western Cape provinces. The paper intends to address whether there are: differences in liquor abuse between experiences of demographic (racial) groupings per province; differences in the knowledge of alcohol‐related activities and impacts per province; and differences in exposure of minors to liquor‐related violence per province.
Findings
South Africans are generally aware of the liquor abuse problem and many have had personal experiences or know family members who have had personal experiences. Liquor abuse is associated strongly with negative social activities in the country. Among occupational groups, administrative officers in Gauteng and Mpumalanga are significantly associated with being transported by drunk drivers. Drinking at work is significantly associated with professionals in KZN.
Originality/value
There are few studies that examine issues related to the problem of liquor abuse and the awareness of its seriousness. The findings could assist in understanding how to target education campaigns to inform the public of the problem of liquor abuse.
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Oludele Akinloye Akinboade, Emilie Chanceline Kinfack and Mandisa Putuma Mokwena
The purpose of this paper is to analyze citizen satisfaction with public service delivery in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze citizen satisfaction with public service delivery in the Sedibeng district municipality of South Africa. The municipality consists of three local municipalities, Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal.
Design/methodology/approach
The sampling procedure was carefully designed, taking into account the spatial distribution of the population in the Sedibeng district municipality and the three local municipalities. A structured sample of 1,000 respondents was used for the study and descriptive and inferential statistics approaches were used. The focus was on citizen satisfaction with public service delivery in health care, housing, water, electricity, solid waste removal, community services or overall physical appearance of the community, cutting crimes and job creation.
Findings
Respondents are most dissatisfied with roads maintenance, government efforts to create jobs and reduce crime. Respondents from Emfuleni local municipality hold more positive feelings about public service delivery in the area of water, electricity, and solid waste. Their most negative feeling is in the area of job creation, roads and the municipality's efforts in cutting down on crime. On balance, respondents from Lesedi hold positive feelings about public service delivery only in the area of water and electricity supplies. Similarly, their most negative feelings are in the area of job creation, roads, and the municipality's efforts in cutting crime. Respondents from Midvaal do not hold positive feelings about public service delivery in their local municipality. Similar to other two local municipalities, their most negative feelings are in the area of job creation, roads, and the municipality's efforts in cutting crime. Overall, the most negative sentiment about public service delivery has been expressed by respondents from Midvaal, followed by Emfuleni and Lesedi.
Practical implications
It is important for public service delivery in Sedibeng municipality to improve so that citizens' public confidence can rise.
Originality/value
Throughout Africa, governments have been entrusted to finance and provide basic services such as health, education, telecommunications, safe water and modern sanitation. Adequate access to these services enhances development. Public services are a key determinant of quality of life that is not measured in per capita income. They are also an important element of any poverty reduction strategy. Thus, improving public service delivery is one of the biggest challenges in the continent.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss growth and performance of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Central and Littoral provinces of Cameroon’s manufacturing and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss growth and performance of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Central and Littoral provinces of Cameroon’s manufacturing and retail sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
A full survey of 700 randomly selected SMEs owner-managers was conducted though only 575 enterprises were retained for analysis after performing the coherence test. The survey was conducted in the central and littoral regions, the location of almost 70 per cent of the SMEs in Cameroon. The survey questionnaire administered consisted of about 50-60 questions covering the profile of the business owner, and business growth and performance. The full sample consists mainly of enterprises in the tertiary and secondary sectors. They were mostly retails and wholesales (supermarket, hardware shop, clothing shop, perfume shops and liquor store). Although, the secondary sector contributes 31 per cent of Cameroon's GDP and employs 15 per cent of the population, they are mostly large enterprises, with very few SMEs. Hence few businesses were interviewed in this sector.
Findings
Business location affects turnover growth. The likelihood of negative growth or zero growth decreases with the age of enterprise. Increased levels of education result in improved turnover growth. There is no association of gender of with growth of business turnover. The burden imposed by municipal regulation and compliance with it negatively affects turnover growth. Time taken to be in compliance with tax regulations overall also negatively affects turnover growth.
Social implications
Disseminating regulatory information to SMEs would be useful in order to improve compliance in general and newly formed enterprises located in the Littoral Province in particular. It is important to reduce regulatory burden on SMEs overall. Restrictive trade and business regulations in Africa tend to be largely devised through negotiated settlements with large corporates, and the onerous requirements tend to be inappropriate and out of reach for small, medium and micro firms. The business environment in the Littoral Province should be improved.
Originality/value
Studies that examine econometric determinants of the growth of SMEs in Africa, and especially in Cameroon are few indeed. This is an area that is very crucial to examine and fully understand for policy development.
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Oludele Akinloye Akinboade and Emilie Chanceline Kinfack
The purpose of this paper is to empirically report the findings on the relationship between financial sector development, economic growth and of millennium development goals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically report the findings on the relationship between financial sector development, economic growth and of millennium development goals (MDGs) for poverty reduction, education and health development in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing technique was applied to two indicators of financial development, economic growth and four indicators of MDGs.
Findings
Economic growth and MDGs jointly cause financial development. Similarly, economic growth and financial sector development jointly cause the attainment of MDGs. The attainment of MDGs such as increased per capita expenditure on food and education as well as economic growth jointly cause financial development.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between financial development, economic growth and MDGs. It is essential that the government of South Africa pursue a three track strategy of promoting financial sector development, economic growth and MDGs. The development of one strategy causes and is caused by the development of the other two.
Originality/value
Relationships between financial development, economic growth and MDG targets are unsettled in the literature. This paper studies the link between the three variables in South Africa. Hence, the contribution of this study is to enrich the understanding of this important field in the context of an important African country.
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Effective corporate governance is significant for firms in developing countries because it can lead to managerial excellence and help firms with a weak corporate governance…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective corporate governance is significant for firms in developing countries because it can lead to managerial excellence and help firms with a weak corporate governance structure to raise capital and attract foreign investors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers, issues, and challenges hindering effective development and implementation of corporate governance in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was employed to collect information. Specifically, data were collected from 296 managers, company presidents, and board of directors in selected firms. Descriptive data and interview analyses are presented with respect to the barriers and issues hindering effective corporate governance development and implementation in Nigeria.
Findings
The study provides significant current information on corporate governance and barriers hindering its development and implementation in Nigeria. The findings reveal a number of constraints that hinder the implementation and promotion of corporate governance in Nigeria. These constraints include weak or non‐existent law enforcement mechanisms, abuse of shareholders' rights, lack of commitment on the part of boards of directors, lack of adherence to the regulatory framework, weak enforcement and monitoring systems, and lack of transparency and disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to four cities in Nigeria. A broader geographic sampling would better reflect the national profile. Another limitation could stem from the procedure used in data collection (drop off and pick up). However, extreme measures were taken to protect the identities of the respondents.
Originality/value
The significance of this study stems from the fact that very few studies have explored the impact of human resource challenges and prospects in Nigeria. The results provide additional insights into corporate governance practices in Nigeria, a sub‐Saharan African country. This region has thus far been neglected by management researchers, and so the insights gained from this study will contribute to the future development of this line of research, particularly in a non‐Western country like Nigeria.
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Maxwell K. Hsu, Junzhou Zhang and Yamin Ahmad
This study aims to examine the relationship between tourism development and economic growth while considering exports simultaneously. Governments in many countries have been…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between tourism development and economic growth while considering exports simultaneously. Governments in many countries have been developing and deploying strategies to attract tourism receipts as a means for economic growth. However, assessing the potential impact of tourism on economic growth among large economies is still in its infancy.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a vector error correction model framework, this study examines the relationship among exports, gross domestic product (GDP) and tourism receipts (including international tourism receipts and domestic tourism receipts in two separate models) with macro data that covers two recent decades (1994-2013) in China.
Findings
The empirical findings confirm the existence of a long-term equilibrium relationship in each of these two tri-variate models. The empirical findings reveal that (1) both tourism-led-growth and export-led-growth hypotheses are supported, (2) the growth rate of tourism receipts exhibit a higher relevance with GDP growth than export growth and (3) the growth rate of international tourism shows a higher relevance with GDP growth than domestic tourism growth.
Originality/value
Using macroeconomic data collected by the Chinese government, the current study employs an advanced econometric methodology to explore the potential benefits of tourism on economic growth in China.