University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB)

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Browsing University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) by browse.metadata.advisor "De Coning, T. J."

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    Conflict, innovation and the mediating role of family influence in the South African wine industry
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Heyns, Etienne David-Olivier; De Coning, T. J.; Smit, E. van der M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. University of Stellenbosch Business School.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Family businesses have unique attributes that distinguish them from their non-family counterparts. This also applies to conflict and innovation – two key aspects regarding the long-term sustainability of these businesses. This study investigated the impact of family influence in terms of conflict and innovation, by scrutinising the potential moderating effect of family influence on the relationship between conflict and innovation in the South African wine industry. A research framework comprising multi-item measures of innovation, family influence and conflict was designed to investigate the potential moderating effect of family influence. This framework was applied in a quantitative study among members of the top management teams of family businesses in the South African wine industry. A questionnaire was developed by adopting existing scales, based on scholarly literature and input from a panel of experts. Subsequently, a large-scale survey served as the primary data source and yielded data that could be used to model the relationships under investigation. Moderator analyses and partial least square structural equation modelling were utilised to determine the moderating role of family influence. The correlations between the dimensions of family influence and conflict, as well as innovation were also evaluated. The study’s meaningful findings indicate that family commitment is a significant moderator of the relationship between task conflict and innovation. Additional key findings suggest that relationship conflict and harmony as a non-economic family goal are both moderators of the relationship between task conflict and innovation. Practical implications of these findings regarding managing conflict in family businesses were discussed in terms of promoting a family business environment conducive to innovation. Relationship conflict was presented as a dimension of family influence. The study makes a contribution to stewardship theory by providing new perspectives on the roles of family commitment, family harmony as non-economic goal and relationship conflict on decision comprehensiveness, participative governance and long-term orientation. Futhermore, the study provides a new perspective on the preservation of socio-emotional wealth by relating socio-emotional wealth priorities (family members identifying with the business, preserving binding social ties among family members, emotional attachment of family members and dynastic succession) to conflict and innovation.
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    An investigation into aspects of transformational leadership in South African small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004-03) Visser, Dirk Jacobus; De Coning, T. J.; V. d. Smit, E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences . Graduate School of Business.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To the world community at large globalisation has been a gradual process, whereas its impact in South Africa was more intensive and concentrated over a shorter period of time - in particular since South Africa's return to the international community in the early to middle 1990s, its economy, inter alia, has had to adjust to this phenomenon. It is within this environment that all enterprises constituting the South African economy also had to adapt and adjust to a new world environment. From the middle 1980s a new discourse in the literature on the effect of a "new" style of leadership (based on continuous learning, renewal, innovation and entrepreneurship) was reported on in which these leaders brought about significant change in organisations. These leaders recognise the need for change in their organisations. They create a new vision. They bring about change in their organisations to meet the challenges from the changing environment and have been accordingly recognised as transformational leaders. This leadership style has been extensively reported on in large organisations, in both the private and the public sectors. For example, literature and research abound on the impact of transformational leaders in large business enterprises (e.g. Lee lacocca of Chrysler, Jack Welch of General Electric) and government institutions, such as education, the military and health (e.g. Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Mahatma Ghandi of India). A review of the literature on the impact of transformational leadership in large organisations, without fail, reports significant manifestations of success in those organisations' growth, cohesion and development into' more successful and competitive units. Concomitantly, it is generally acknowledged by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the Asian Development Bank and other organisations of similar position, that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shape the very foundation of the majority of successful economies. The impact of transformational leadership in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has not been measured and reported on in an empirical appraisal and surprisingly little has been forthcoming on the role and impact of transformational leadership in SMEs globally. However, from an entrepreneurial perspective, much has been researched and written on the qualities that support risk-taking, innovation and competition in SMEs. It is within this context that it was decided to investigate the concept of transformational leadership in entrepreneurs, i.e. that group of people who are generally referred to as the drivers of the economy. This dissertation reviews the literature on leadership practices and styles in organisations as a basis to specifically identify the co-producers of leadership in entrepreneurs in SMEs. It is within this context that an empirical study on aspects of transformational leadership in SMEs in a South African context was conducted. This empirical survey verifies the relationship between characteristics of these entrepreneurs and characteristics typically associated with transformational leaders, as manifested in large organisations. Therefore, given the above empirical evidence, the model developed for this study defines the qualities of a transformational leader which will enable those leaders/entrepreneurs (in SMEs with growth potential) to take their organisations from average performance levels to levels comparable to world-class leadership and competitiveness.
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    An investigation into the co-producers of preferred strategic behaviour in small, micro and medium tourism enterprises in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Tassiopoulos, Dimitri; De Coning, T. J.; Smit, E. van der Merwe; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Graduate School of Business.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African tourism industry has undergone transformation with numerous “windows of opportunity” having been opened for tourism entrepreneurs. The South African small, micro and medium tourism enterprises (SMMTE) sector, however, faces numerous challenges. To ensure long-term sustainability, according to Whittle (2000: 8), the owners of SMMTEs need to make efficient and effective business decisions about the internal and external threats and challenges their businesses face. This will ensure that they have sufficient strategic information on which to base decisions in order to maintain their competitive advantage in the tourism industry. Motivation/problem statement: Small business planning behaviour is described as unstructured, irregular and incomprehensive. This characterises SMMTE strategising as incremental, sporadic and reactive. A clear need for strategic planning and management coordination of SMMTEs is identified in the light of increasing competition in the tourism industry and the dominance of large international companies in most sectors of the tourism industry (Cooper & Buhalis, 1996: 101). This study examines determinants of strategic behaviour through a sample frame of formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa. Because of the importance of the issue for a developing economy such as South Africa, the study contributes toward an improved understanding of strategic determinants of sustainable business performance at SMMTE level. It is against this background that the study examines the extent to which linkages or relationships can be established between the characteristics or attributes that are unique to SMMTE owners and manifestations of strategic behaviour. The overall research question in this study is: Do relationships exist between the attributes of SMMTE owners and strategic behaviour? Methods/procedure/approach: The research design for the proposed study primarily involves descriptive and explanatory research. The purpose of using this methodology is to determine predictors of strategic behaviour of SMMTEs in South Africa. Primary and secondary data gathering methods are used in this study. The target-sampling frame is the formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa, and the research sample is determined through using a systematic random sampling method, stratified by province. The study focuses on two elements, namely profile attributes of the SMMTE owner and preferred strategic behaviour that has manifested within the SMMTE. The possible preferred relationship between these two elements is addressed from a theoretical perspective with the basic premise that some of the manifestations of the SMMTE owners’ strategic behaviour have a better likelihood of success. On the basis of this conceptual framework, the development of a suitable data-gathering instrument is discussed and developed to determine the degree of SMMTE strategic behaviour in the ventures. Results/findings/product: The descriptive statistical aspect of the research is discussed in detail. The business characteristics, profiles of the typical attributes or traits of the SMMTE owners, as well as their demographic profiles are discussed in detail. This study further investigates a possible relationship between strategic behaviour (the dependent variable) and entrepreneurial attributes (independent variables) using inferential statistics. The relationships and constructs, as depicted in the a priori model, are empirically tested by means of various statistical techniques: • Reliability testing of the data set is conducted (ref. Section 7.5); • The validity of the research instrument is determined (ref. Section 7.6); • The reliability of the new constructs after exploratory factor analysis is determined (ref. Section 7.6.2); • The relationships between the selected variables are investigated through Spearman’s rho and ANOVA (ref. Section 7.7); and • The relationships between the selected variables of the hypothesis are further investigated (ref. Section 7.7.2) through regression analysis. The research results support an overall statistically significant association between the independent and dependent variables, and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (and the rejection of the null hypothesis), namely that there is an association between certain attributes of the owners of the SMMTEs (which is characterised by locus of control, reasons for starting a business, holistic capabilities, formal management education and prior experience) and preferred strategic behaviour. However, the research findings do not support an overall statistically significant association between the risk propensity independent variable and strategic behaviour dependent variables. Consequently the following null sub-hypothesis (ref. Section 7.2.2) is accepted: There is no relationship between risk propensity and strategic behaviour. Conclusion/implications: The study makes various recommendations for further research (ref. Section 8.5.1) and explains the practical implications (ref. Section 8.5.2) thereof. The findings of this study have identified entrepreneurial attributes that have a significant association with strategic behaviour and have made a contribution toward the largely underresearched subject of the role of strategy in entrepreneurship. The study has further applied this to a largely under-researched economic sector in South Africa, namely tourism. The results in this study have produced a foundation for further analysis of the attributes of SMMTE entrepreneurs and the manifestation of strategic behaviour in SMMTEs.
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    A study for an expanded conceptual scanning framework and the impact on current business environment scanning : a systems thinking approach
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Heckroodt, Steyn; De Coning, T. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Graduate School of Business.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study addresses the question of whether there is a need for an expanded conceptual scanning framework that could benefit present-day business organisations. It addresses this question through the conceptualisation of such a framework, based on findings from the literature review executed during the secondary research phase of the study. Through the primary research phase, an attempt is made to reach conclusions pertaining to the research question. The extent to which businesses perform scanning and related activities as per the findings of the literature review is investigated by means of a Likert scale questionnaire presented to a sample of respondents. The study acknowledges that the imperative of environmental scanning for business organisations also holds true for non-business organisations, but focuses on business organisations that specifically drive sustainable competitiveness and increased business success. The study involves the conceptualisation of an expanded scanning framework through combining aspects and components of the ontological and epistemological dimensions prevalent in scanning and its derived activities. These derived activities include information gathering, scenario planning and strategy selection, and their impact on business performance. Furthermore, the conceptualisation of an expanded framework involves the application of a systems thinking approach in executing business environmental scanning. The inclusion of the ontological and epistemological dimensions are proposed as part of the a-priori design of an expanded conceptual scanning framework, offering the opportunity to present-day scanners to deal with matters of environmental dynamism more effectively through increased levels of understanding of the environment. The study aims to move beyond the empiricist mode of scanning and merely levels of knowledge that scanners have about the environment, to how they should approach, view, understand and manage it. The study expands on current conceptual scanning frameworks, methodologies and approaches applied by business organisations when scanning the business environment. It proposes an expanded conceptual scanning framework, which could increase the depth and width of current conceptual scanning frameworks. The aim is to provide a tool with which business organisations can increase the compound whole of information gleaned from the environment, and its integrity. The expanded framework includes a conceptualisation of the construct content of an emerging newness between two or more systems in the scanned environment. It is based on the analysis of the inter-relatedness, inter-dependence and relation between the co-contributing systems of the emerging newness and the interplay of the co-contributing systems’ aspects, characteristics, dimensions and qualities. This conceptualised inclusion of emergent newness is based on the methodological analysis of system complexities through the application of a systems thinking approach to create the expanded conceptual scanning framework. Strategy, as the juncture between environmental scanning and an organisation’s capacity, has an environment-strategy interface and an organisation-strategy interface. The proposed expanded conceptual scanning framework incorporates both the ontological environment-strategy interface and the epistemological organisation-strategy interface, which concerns a particular worldview. This worldview underpins their approach when business organisations scan the environment. The expanded conceptual scanning framework aims to enhance the understanding of environmental complexity in order to enhance the management thereof. In this regard, it deviates from the notion that enhanced management of the environment would depend on a more accurate prediction of future environmental changes. Rather, it highlights the notion of increasing the understanding of the environment, in order to manage the opportunities and threats embedded in the environment and its future dynamism better.