This research investigates the effect of corporate governance through ownership structures; ownership concentration, managerial ownership and government ownership on firm performance. A multiple regression analysis was employed on sample data collected over ten years from 2001-2010 from 80 South African companies to test the magnitude of their influence to company performance as measured by return on assets (ROA). This study found a positive and significant correlation between ownership concentration, government ownership and firm performance. Results also showed a negative relationship between insider ownership and firm performance. To this account, the research concludes that managerial ownership is a single factor that significantly weighs down company performance. In validating the significance of the performance determinance model, evidence shows that companies that maintain the recommended King Report shareholding structure have an average to above average performance. Hence, corporate governance is a critical catalyst for company performance.
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the challenges South African fashion designers experienced when managing their supply chain network in the retail clothing industry. In today’s complex markets, the susceptibility of the supply chain is viewed as an ongoing issue for several industries and it is no different for fashion designers. As a result, in the past, the visibility of South African fashion designers in the retail environment appeared to be minimal, due to a number of challenges. This paper is based on qualitative research that made use of in-depth semi-structured interviews with a total of twenty-four participants, with the sample divided into five groups representing different industry professionals. Semi-structured interviews allowed the participants to answer the questions unreservedly based on their own personal and professional experiences. The findings revealed that South African fashion designers in the retail industry experienced a number of supply chain challenges such as cash flow and funding, fabric, challenges associated with cutting, making and trimming (CMT) companies, skills and knowledge, fashion designer’s business acumen, market access and location, human skilled resources, garment and production quality, fragmentation, costing, marketing, competition, and other isolated challenges that were mentioned by a few participants. The practical implications of this paper include the need for responsible stakeholders to put in place mechanisms to reduce the supply-chain-management challenges South African fashion designers are facing in the retail clothing industry. As a result, close proximity supply chain networks that could support effective communication amongst members of the supply chain are recommended.
Studying people’s perceptions of their attitudes and behaviour toward the use and inappropriate disposal of plastics is necessary because it helps explain the meaning of sustainable environmental behaviour in the context of African countries. Formulating appropriate behavioural change interventions may lead to a shift in people’s behaviour in terms of plastic consumption if they become aware of the environmental risk of plastics. Using a qualitative review of literature, relevant materials for this paper were identified using a search strategy that involved keywords and databases. Previous empirical studies employed several theoretical frameworks. However, inconsistences in the use and definition of variables, make comparing the results of these studies difficult. Although the literature is growing, more empirical evidence is still needed to understand the drivers of people’s perceptions toward unsustainable environmental behaviour in the context of African countries and to formulate appropriate behavioural change interventions. A review of the literature determined four broad drivers of people’s perceptions toward unsustainable environmental behaviour. These include policy or institutional variables, product and market attributes, community variables, and individual characteristics. Additionally, we offer a consolidated conceptual framework for analysing consumer perception in relation to the use of nondegradable plastics and environmental pollution and identify the drivers of people’s perceptions. Policy implications for developing countries as well as future research directions are flagged.
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