Volume 8 Issue 1

In South Africa, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) add significant socio-economic value to the national economy and are regarded as the driving force for economic growth. Prior research shows that these business entities' sustainability leaves much to be desired as approximately 80% of South African SMMEs fail after being in operation for only three years; believed to be caused mostly by unmanaged economic factors. Although unmanaged economic factors may culminate in risks which adversely affect the sustainability of South African SMMEs, internal control activities can be used to mitigate the probability and potential impact of such risks. One of the most cost-effective internal control activities is that of document usage and design (e.g. source documents and internal documents). For this study, the primary objective was to determine the influence of source document usage, as an internal control measure, on the sustainability of South African small, medium and micro retail enterprises. The study was empirical and quantitative in nature and survey research was conducted by means of disseminating and collecting questionnaires to 120 SMME owners and/or managers. Stemming from the results, it became apparent that the use of source documents by the responding SMMEs did not have any statistically significant influence on their sustainability.

This study explored the moderating role of Environmental Dynamism (ED) on the relationship between opportunity evaluation and growth of agro-based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Kenya. These NGOs play a critical role which includes poverty reduction, through employment creation and food security and therefore their growth is fundamental in continuing to serve the society. Agro-based NGOs in Kenya, operating in dynamic business environments face greater levels of unpredictability and turbulence than those in more stable business environments. The need to link opportunity evaluation and growth is very important for organisations to attain growth. To better understand this relationship, this paper employed a mixed method approach guided by cross-sectional research design. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed to analyse the data from 124 agro-based NGOs in Kenya using SPSS version 21 and AMOS graphic analytical software. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to analyse the measurement model and test the hypothesized relationships in this study. The study established that, opportunity evaluation has a significant and positive influence on growth of agro-based NGOs and that ED moderates this relationship. The findings are critical to the NGO management who are the core implementers of entrepreneurial projects that satisfy the donors and targeted communities. This study also enriches the social entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating the role of ED on the growth of agro-based NGOs in Kenya and provides a new perspective of conceptualizing development of NGOs in Kenya.

Delegation is an enabler in organisations, yet managers still struggle with how to use it effectively to get maximum value. There are many definitions of delegation and what it tries to achieve; at the heart of it, delegation is about giving power and authority to work on assigned tasks. It deals with how power should be handed over for delegated tasks to be completed successfully. Since there are no guarantees that delegated tasks will be delivered as expected and on time, there is a need to understand the success factors of delegation. The research is about the success factors of delegation by looking at accountability, quality and compliance. The research goes further and looks at the foundational elements of delegation to make it work which include competencies, skills, attitude an aptitude. It analyses the impact of leadership in delegation by assessing the leadership style(s) that support delegation. Alignment is key in delegation and the research looks at the relationship between the delegators and delegatees and how the relationship impacts delegation success. The interests of delegatees is unpacked by looking at motivation, recognition, rewards, empowerment, growth and development. The process looks at how managers monitor delegated tasks and feedback mechanisms to get comfort that delegated tasks will be done as per the original requirements. Furthermore, the research looks at how organisational hierarchy and job design can impact delegation success. The impact of culture is also looked at and how the broader organisational culture impacts delegation.

The leader's commitment in realizing transparency of public information is one of the key parts of good governance. The Indonesian Government issued ACT No. 14 in 2008 which was focused on Public Information Disclosure (KIP ACT) to encourage transparency by involving the public in every government policy. The government of Pemalang District, in executing the mandate of KIP ACT, was designated by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Diskominfo) to have an Office of Information Management and Documentation (PPID) responsible of storage, documentation, provision, and service information. This research is using secondary data research to explore these issues. The results showed that the leader's commitment in transparency of public information in Pemalang District has not been applied effectively because the leader has not exercised his duties and functions by following the Standard Operational Procedure of PPID. More specifically, certain guidelines on the drafting of publicly accessible information and excluded information lists have not been implemented in accordance with the standards. In addition, there is still low supervision over the performance of the main PPID officers, so there is no sanction for the delay of public information reporting and impact on the ranking of PPID in Pemalang District, which has not been informative.

This study aims to examine the influence of the personality types of the neuroticism and agreeableness personality on entrepreneurial intentions with subjective norms as a moderator. This research was conducted through a survey method with a sample of 149 participants, residents of Tegalyoso Village, Klaten Utara District, Klaten Regency, Central Java Province, from the Republic of Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that 2 personality types of The Big Five are valid and reliable, namely agreeableness and neuroticism. Both personality types have a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Subjective norms only have an interaction effect on the influence of neuroticism on entrepreneurial intentions.

This part of the study continues the literature review conducted, and empirically addresses the research questions raised, in the preceding part of the study: Success factors of big data to achieve organisational performance: Theoretical perspectives. Overall, the focus is on the success factors of big data from an organizational context: how and when big data analytics capabilities yield benefits and improve organisational performance. The research questions that were addressed are: 1. What is the general understanding of big data and its current situation? 2. What capabilities are required in order to be successful at translating big data insights into organisational performance? 3. What are the biggest challenges/ risks to converting big data insights into organisational performance? The methodology was qualitative and exploratory, using semi-structured interviews to have in-depth discussions with big data employees at varying job levels to ascertain the success factors and challenges of the big data environment. These constructs provide companies with the ability to improve their BDAC capabilities in order to generate value from big data, thereby improving organisational performance.

Organisations have found an increase in the complexity of their information environments and emerging from this is the concept of “Big Data”, which is considered a breakthrough technological development in both business and academia. Hypothetically, superior big data analytics capability provide organisations with a competitive advantage and is therefore important to develop. This part of the study conducts a comprehensive literature review, with a focus on the success factors of big data from an organizational context: how and when big data analytics capabilities yield benefits and improve organisational performance. It concludes with the following research questions: 1. What is the general understanding of big data and its current situation? 2. What capabilities are required in order to be successful at translating big data insights into organisational performance? 3. What are the biggest challenges/ risks to converting big data insights into organisational performance?