text: Volume 45, Issue 3, 2014
  South African Journal of Business Management - Volume 45, Issue 3, September 2014
  Authors: S. Van Heerden and C. Theron
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 1 –29 (2014)
  As a direct result of having segregated amenities and public services during the Apartheid era where Black individuals were provided with services inferior to those of White individuals, the country is currently challenged by serious and a debilitating skills shortage across most industry sectors, high unemployment and poverty rates, and inequality in terms of income distribution as well as in terms of racial representation in the workforce. These challenges are the consequence of a larger problem that knowledge, skills and abilities are not uniformly distributed across all races. In the past, and still now, White South Africans had greater access to skills development and educational opportunities. It is this fundamental inequality that has to be addressed. It is argued that skills development - specifically affirmative action skills development should form part of the solution. A need therefore exists to identify the individuals who would gain maximum benefit from such affirmative action skills development opportunities and to create the conditions that would optimise learning performance. To achieve this, an understanding is required of the complex nomological network of latent variables that determine learning performance. De Goede (2007) proposed and tested a learning potential structural model based on the work of Taylor (1994). The primary objective of this study was to expand on De Goede's (2007) learning potential structural model in order to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity underlying learning performance. A subset of the hypothesised expanded learning potential structural model was empirically evaluated. The first analysis of the structural model failed to produce a good fit to the data. The model was subsequently modified by both adding additional paths and by removing insignificant paths. The final revised structural model was found to fit the data well. All paths contained in the final model were empirically corroborated. The practical implications of the learning potential structural model on HR and organisations are discussed. Suggestions for future research are made by indicating how the model can be further elaborated. The limitations of the study are also discussed.
  The HEDQUAL scale : a new measurement scale of service quality for MBA programs in higher education
  Authors: G.E. Icli and N.K. Anil
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 31 –43 (2014)
  Choosing celebrity endorsers for advertising campaigns in cosmopolitan China : does their ethnicity matter?
  Authors: V. Apaolaza, P. Hartmann, J.M. Barrutia, C. Echebarria and J. He
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 45 –55 (2014)
  This study asks if endorsers function as surrogates for country-of-origin, and if the effectiveness of the tactic varies with the perceived ethnicity (Western versus Chinese) of the celebrities. It finds no significant influence on the country-of-origin perception, brand attitudes or product quality evaluations in the reactions of 797 consumers in Shanghai to magazine advertisements featuring celebrities of Chinese vs. Western ethnicity. The lack of any significant effect of the ethnicity of celebrities on a brand's perceived country of origin precludes country image having any effect on those variables for the case of the cosmopolitan Chinese consumer.
  The interactions between different types of financial and human resource slacks on firm performance : evidence from a developing country
  Authors: M.M. Fonseka, X. Yang, M.M. Fonseka, G-L. Tian and R.L.T.N. Rajapakse
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 57 –66 (2014)
  This paper investigates the effect of both FS and HR slack together on firm performance and how different levels of these slack resources affect performance of private-owned enterprises (POEs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Hypotheses are tested using a longitudinal data set of 11,985 listed Chinese companies from 2000 to 2009. Findings reveal that the unabsorbed-financial slack and HR slack show an inverse U shape relationship on firm performance for both POEs and SOEs. However, a less-negative interaction occurs for unabsorbed-financial and HR slacks for POEs. The absorbed-financial and HR slacks also shows an inverse U shape relationship on performance and this relationship does not have a significant negative effect on SOE's performance. The article concludes with theoretical contributions and practical implications of the findings.
  Extrinsic rewards in family businesses : perspectives of nonfamily employees
  Authors: S.M. Farrington, E. Venter and G.D. Sharp
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 67 –79 (2014)
  The rewards employees receive in exchange for their labour play an important role in influencing their levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, and ultimately in retaining their services. The issues surrounding rewards are, however, complex in the field of family business. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of selected extrinsic rewards, namely, compensation, promotion opportunities and job security, on the levels of job satisfaction and ultimately on the levels of organisational commitment of nonfamily employees working in family businesses. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the hypothesised relationships, and the results show that compensation and job security are significantly and positively related to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was found to be significantly and positively related to organisational commitment and also found to act as a mediator between these extrinsic rewards and organisational commitment. Establishing the perspectives that nonfamily employees have of the rewards given to them by the family businesses in which they work, provides family business owners with valuable insights into attracting and retaining this valuable stakeholder group.
  Keys to reduce earnings management in emerging markets
  Authors: M. Palacios Manzano, I. Martinez Conesa and H. Garza Sanchez
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 81 –96 (2014)
  This paper examines earnings quality adapted to International Financial Reporting Standards in Mexican emerging capital market and how investor protection and audit quality to override managers' incentives to engage in earnings management. We evidence that the new accounting regulation could be considered of high quality financial reporting standard because it is associated with lower earnings management. The analyses also suggest that cross-listed firms have higher quality local generally accepted accounting principles accounting information as measured by earnings management. There is also evidence that earnings of Mexican companies with Big 4 auditors are of higher quality. The results contribute to the ongoing debate on whether high standards are sufficient and effective in countries with weaker investor protection rights.
  The impact of infrastructural change and regulation on entrepreneurial competitiveness in the South African telecommunications sector
  Authors: M. Cullen and C. Adendorff
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 97 –110 (2014)
  The fast pace of technological advancements is regarded as one of the global drivers of change. In the telecommunications sector in South Africa, these technological advancements as well as sector transformation pose competitiveness challenges to entrepreneurs. This paper reports an empirical study performed to contribute to the promotion of entrepreneurial competitiveness within the telecommunications sector of the South African economy. From the empirical study, significant relationships proved to exist between the intervening- and independent variables and the dependent variable of this study, namely Perceived Entrepreneurial Competitiveness. The independent variable Infrastructural Change positively influenced both the intervening variable Entrepreneurial Orientation and dependent variable Perceived Entrepreneurial Competitiveness. In the same manner, the independent variables of Regulatory Alignment and Entrepreneurial Mindset did positively influenced Perceived Entrepreneurial Competitiveness within this study.
  The study found that entrepreneurs can position their businesses more competitively if the factors that impact directly or indirectly on Entrepreneurial Competitiveness in the South African Telecommunications sector are taken in consideration.
  Customer orientation on new product activities and performance from the contract manufacturer's viewpoint
  Author B.C.Y. Lee
  Source: South African Journal of Business Management 45, pp 111 –120 (2014)
  Studies have suggested the positive effect of customer orientation on superior performance. However, these studies have not shown how to covert customer orientation into superior performance through new product development (NPD) activities. The purpose of this study was to fill the gap between customer orientation and new product performance and elucidate the mediating influence of product launch, product development capability, and innovativeness on the relationship between customer orientation and new product performance. From the contract manufacturer's perspective, it was proposed that customer orientation toward new product performance affects NPD activities. Focus was placed on product launch because the launch stage is the most expensive and riskiest aspect of NPD activities. Focus was also given to product development capability, which facilitates superior product performance. Product innovativeness also plays a crucial role in building competitive advantage. NPD activities include product launch, product development capability, and product innovativeness. We used a questionnaire to collect data to test the postulated research model and hypotheses from project, account and product managers in the high-tech industry. The results demonstrated the strong positive effect of customer orientation on NPD activities, and NPD activities play crucial roles as mediators between customer orientation and new product performance.