Most of the authors have discussed how technology could enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the production in various businesses. Yet, there is still a gap in literature, and little has been researched about the business inequalities which are fuelled by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) between Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) and corporates. The aim of this paper is to theoretically analyse the business inequalities instigated by the 4IR between corporates and SMEs. The paper argues that the 4IR is advocated by the corporates to increase their production because they are well-resourced and is a disadvantage to the SMEs due to their poor resources. The inadequate analysis of the business inequalities due to the inception of the 4IR provides a vacuum for further conceptual investigation of the phenomenon. The paper used literature-based methodology to analyze the business inequalities brought by the 4IR between corporates and SMEs. This methodology provided an extensive conceptual review of the literature regarding the subject under investigation. This paper reveals that the critical factor of production in corporates appears to be technology which increases production. In that, the 4IR is beneficial to the corporates and a disadvantage to the SMEs. Therefore, the literature indicated that there is an inevitable huge inequality between corporates and SMEs. The paper concludes that there are great business inequalities between corporates and SMEs brought by the 4IR. Thus, the paper recommends the support structures/organizations to assist the SMEs to respond to the growing technology and attempt to close the business inequalities.
The purpose of this paper is to conceptually explore and examine teaching in higher education during and post COVID-19 era. This paper uses literature-based approach which considers a narrative review of literature as its main approach in exploring and examining data related to online teaching and learning in higher education. There has been various challenges and criticisms about online teaching ever since lockdown regulations instigated by COVID-19 in South Africa. Online teaching and learning has been criticized for their lack of quality assurance in higher education. Although there are claims, hiccups and criticisms of the quality assurance and credibility of online teaching and learning, accessing education is inevitable irrespective of the challenges encountered. Accessing education is important and goes beyond or post COVID-19 pandemic whereby distance learning should be endorsed in higher institutions. The paper argues that the usage of online platforms during COVID-19 pandemic became a panacea for the students who were remote from physical institutions of higher learning to access higher education. Therefore, the paper submits that while COVID-19 would have its aftermath in higher education institutions, there are lessons and prospects that could be drawn from the challenges. The paper recommends the re-thinking strategies that could possibly be employed to enhance students' learning and engagement thereof. Among those strategies, is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that encapsulate the blended method of pedagogy and Open Distance Learning (ODL) that may be effective in teaching and learning in the current circumstances.
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