Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten global health threats and the first threat to fighting COVID-19 through vaccination. With the increasing level of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy amidst the rising level of confirmed cases and death tolls, this paper provides rapid systematic literature reviews on the measurement of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, key determinants and evidence-based strategies to prevent COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The findings reveal three standard measures of vaccine hesitancy: optional response questions, Likert scale, and linear scale measurements. Factors such as sociodemographic/economic factors, occupational factors, knowledge on the vaccine, vaccine attributes, conspiracy belief and psychological factors are the major predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Evidence-based findings identified measures such as effective education on the vaccine, clear and consistent communication to build public confidence and trust, health education on vaccination and its social benefit, outreach program and targeted messaging to minimize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Background: Arguments are made for strategic planning as an important organisational capability used to realise a firm’s goals and objectives. Despite this, conflicting views appear to emerge from the extant literature over the link between strategic planning and financial performance. Notably, within a South African context, a few studies have been conducted ascertaining this relationship especially within small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs). Aim and setting: The study aimed to determine this relationship using survey responses from a sample of 225 respondents classified as owners or managers of SMMEs operating within theBuffalo City Metropolitan in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Method: Data were analysed through regression and correlation analysis. Results: Findings reveal strategic planning to have a positive relationship with the financial performance of the SMMEs. Furthermore, aspects of strategic planning (formulation, implementation, evaluation and control) were also found to have a positive relationship with financial performance. Conclusion: Suggestions for theory and practice are made based on these findings, including how the adoption and usage of strategic planning cannot only be an important organisational capability but also a basis for attaining a competitive advantage within the SMME.

Background: Following the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many businesses have put out measures to counter the impact of the outbreak and its related reactions from economic actors (individuals, authorities and other businesses) on their business operations. However, nearly no empirical studies or reports have been carried out to investigate the effectiveness of those measures.Aim: This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of business response measures to COVID-19 impact on business outcome.Setting: This study focused on businesses that are value-added tax (VAT) registered.Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The authors applied logistic regression technique to analyse the effectiveness of business response measures on business outcome.Results: The authors found evidence that business responses such as virtual connection, innovative e-commerce and increasing working hours are more effective business responses, whilst decreasing work hours, laying off workers temporarily and ordinary e-commerce are less effective measures against the impact of the outbreak. Furthermore, business characteristics such as industry type (e.g. ‘agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing’ and ‘electricity, gas and water supply’) are more resilient to COVID-19 shock, whilst pure export market and small businesses, secondary and tertiary, are significantly less resilient.Conclusions: Firstly, the study shows that some business responses are more effective in remediating the adverse impact of COVID-19 and therefore recommends policy intervention and industrial actions to promote them. Secondly, it is also recommended that financial bailout and/or Internet infrastructure and domestic support for small and export businesses could make them more resilient to the adverse impact of the outbreak.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has unquestionably become one of the most extensively employed techniques to minimize unemployment, keep society operating, and shield the public from the virus. However, the impacts of work-from-home (WFH) on employee productivity and performance is not fully known; studies on the subject are fragmented and in different contexts. The purpose of this study is therefore to provide systematic review on the impact of WFH on employee productivity and performance. A sample of 26 studies out of 112 potential studies (from various databases, including Scopus, Google Scholar, and the Web of Science database from 2020 to 2022) were used after a comprehensive literature search and thorough assessment based on PRISMA-P guidelines. Findings reveal that the impact of the WFH model on employee productivity and performance depend on a host of factors, such as the nature of the work, employer and industry characteristics, and home settings, with a majority reporting a positive impact and few documenting no difference or a negative impact. This study recommends that an improvement in technology and information technology (IT) training and capacity-building would yield more significant results to those who are willing to adopt the WFH model even after the pandemic.

Background Farm productivity on smallholder family-owned crop farms remains low despite several interventions to transform agriculture especially in developing countries. Farmers in rural areas face serious constraints that impede their productive capacities for the principal dietary staple, notably maize. Smallholder farmers have access to unprofitable markets that in turn make their enterprises less profitable. Efforts to commercialise smallholder maize production have not yielded desired results. This study, therefore, estimates profit efficiency and its determinants in the smallholder cropping systems in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Methodology A random sample of 158 smallholder maize farmers was selected. A normalised translog profit function was then fitted by means of a one-step estimation of technical efficiency and its determinants using the STATA software. Results The results indicate that cost of fertiliser and area under cultivation for maize were the positive drivers of profitability. Complementarities among resources were very important determinants of profit. Conclusion The study concludes that family-owned farms have a positive effect on crop production. Farm profits rise with cultivated area in maize farms. Therefore, the study recommends that policy favouring smallholder commercialisation would improve farm profits.

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The relationship between profit and bank market structure continues to raise questions amongst both policy makers and researchers. While some evidence supports a positive relationship between market structure, competition and profitability, other evidence seems to support the fact that profitability and related market share result from efficiency. Moreover, extant literature on South Africa is conflicting and seems to contradict anecdotal evidence. While some studies point to a competitive environment despite concentration, others suggest that concentration in the banking sector is harmful. Prosecution of banks for uncompetitive behavior also casts doubt on the conclusion that the South African banking sector is competitive. This paper examines the relationship between structure and conduct in the South African banking sector. Using the Berger (1995) discriminating tests, the effect of industry concentration, market share and efficiency on three measures of profitability is estimated on a panel of 11 South African banks for data between 1994 and 2016. The results show that concentration affects conduct. The profit-structure relationship is dominantly explained by the structure conduct hypothesis and partly by the efficient scale hypothesis. These results suggest that policy which discourages concentration and promotes competition in the banking sector is socially beneficial.