Doctoral Degrees (Business Management)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Business Management) by Subject "Business management"

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    Entrepreneurial intensity: the influence of antecedents to corporate entrepreneurship in firms operating in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007-12) Scheepers, Margarietha Johanna; Hough, J.; Bloom, Jonathan Z.
    The turbulent, rapidly changing knowledge economy has forced enterprises to become more entrepreneurial in order to capitalise on new opportunities and to create value. Previous research has shown the financial and non-financial benefits of corporate entrepreneurship (CE), but the implementation and management of CE remains problematic. Despite heightened awareness and interest by both scholars and practitioners in studying and better understanding entrepreneurship within large organisations, CE is still regarded as an emerging field of inquiry. Furthermore, limited research has thus far been conducted on CE and entrepreneurial intensity (EI) in the South African context. A review of the CE literature revealed a research gap that culminated in the following research question: How do the antecedents to CE influence the entrepreneurial intensity of firms active in e-business operating in South Africa? To address the research question stated above a literature review of antecedents to CE, and entrepreneurial intensity was conducted, and an empirical study was executed. The literature review emphasised five salient internal antecedents to CE: management support for CE; autonomy of employees; rewards for CE; time and resource availability; and flexible organisational boundaries. The external antecedents which influence CE were identified as munificent, opportunity-rich environments, and hostile environments filled with threats. Other factors that also play a role in influencing the level of entrepreneurship in enterprises are the type of industry, size and age of a company, managerial influence and the role of the individual in the CE process. The level of entrepreneurship was defined as entrepreneurial intensity, a function of frequency and degree of entrepreneurship. To address the research problem, empirical cross-sectional telephone surveys were conducted in two stages. The sample selected for the study was companies active in e-business operating in South Africa and aware of innovation practices. Two groups of companies were identified, namely JSE companies and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. The key respondent targeted in JSE companies was the Information Technology (IT) Manager or the Chief Information Office (CIO), while the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Sales Manager was the key respondent in ICT companies. The population consisted of 715 companies. The response rate for first stage of the study was 44%, while the response rate was 20% for the second stage of the study. Measurement instruments were adapted, developed and revised where necessary to ensure the reliability and validity of the data. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that internal antecedents to CE have a significantly stronger influence on degree of entrepreneurship than munificent, external factors. This finding underlines the important role managers can play in providing a supportive climate for CE. The prominent internal antecedents in this study were management support for CE, autonomy of employees and rewards for CE. The findings also emphasised the importance of a positive, munificent business climate, as perceived by managers inside the organisations. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the more frequently enterprises act entrepreneurially, the higher their degree of entrepreneurship should be. Differences in EI, degree of entrepreneurship, internal and external antecedents were also discernable between JSE and ICT companies, with ICT companies showing higher levels of entrepreneurship than JSE companies. Moreover, the findings suggested that the size of a company did not influence EI, but the age of companies showed a negative relationship with EI, degree of entrepreneurship and the internal antecedents to CE. It appears that as companies become older, their internal environments become less supportive of entrepreneurial behaviour. The most important contribution of this study is the testing of CE-theories in the South African context. The managerial implications of the behavioural model tested in the study are that top and middle management could create a supportive environment for CE, while munificent environments encourage entrepreneurial behaviour. Measurement instruments have been developed, which may be used by managers, consultants and other researchers to measure these phenomena in future. Furthermore, the findings suggest that there are country differentials with regard to CE, while opportunities for further research were also identified.
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    Relationship between corporate governance and firm performance : an African perspective
    (2007-12) Kyereboah-Coleman, Anthony; Biekpe, Nicholas; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Business Management.
    Corporate Governance has engaged the attention of academics and practitioners alike for some time now. It is sad to note, however, that most of the studies carried out in this area have been conducted in countries such as the USA and the UK. In recent times, interest in Corporate Governance on the African continent has assumed heightened proportions, probably as a result of the 1997 East Asian crisis and the relatively poor performance of Corporate Africa. Melvin Ayogu who researched into governance matters around the continent pointed out that corporate governance perhaps is nothing but a mirror image of political governance bridled with a lot of corruption. In spite of the recognition that corporate governance is critical for firm performance and for sustained macroeconomic growth coupled with the heightened interest in the area, research in corporate governance has not received the needed attention on the continent. This was the main motivation for the study. In carrying out this study we considered 103 listed companies drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and 52 Microfinance Institutions from Ghana. Data consisted primarily of governance and financial variables. Though, most of the financial data was obtnaied through secondary sources, the governance data was essentially obtianed through questionnaire administration. Analysis of the data was done primarily within the Panel Data Framework and various shades of panel data estimations were run. This dissertation presents the results of the research work underlying seven stand-alone but related essays that focus on the relationship between corporate governance and various aspects of firm behaviour. Whilst, five of the essays dwell on corporate governance and firm attributes, one considers determinants of board size and composition by using data from Ghana and the last essay explores how corporate governance and stock market development affect economic growth. The first essay looks at corporate governance and firm performance and the second focusses on the determinants of board size and composition. The third essay concentrates on corporate governance and shareholder value maximisation. The fourth essay considers how corporate governance affects the financing choices of firms. The link between firms’ investment opportunity set and corporate governance is the subject matter of the fifth essay. While, the sixth looks at how corporate board diversity through gender affect the performance of microfinance institutions in Ghana, the last and seventh essay is devoted to an exploration of the linkage between corporate governance, stock market development and economic growth using board independence as the main governance indicator. The findings of the study indicate that large and independent boards enhance firm value and that when a CEO serves as board chair, it has negative effect on performance and such firms employ less debt. We also found that a CEO’s tenure in office enhances firms’ profitability while board activity intensity has a negative effect on firm profitability. The study also revealed that while larger boards employ more debts, the independence of a board has a significant negative relationship with short-term debt. The size of audit committees and the frequency of their meetings have a positive influence on market-based performance measures and institutional shareholding essentially sends a positive signal to potential investors thereby enhancing market valuation of firms. The study also confirmed the widely-held view that board size and its composition are functions of firm and industrial characteristics. Thus, while firm level risk has a positive relationship with board size, CEO tenure correlates negatively with board size and that firms with larger institutional shareholding employ fewer outside directors. Firms in the finance sector were seen to employ smaller board sizes and fewer outside directors partly due to the existence of other regulatory mechanisms in these institutions. More so, it was found that large board sizes enhance shareholders wealth and that both sector and country specific effects impact on shareholders value. The mining sector was seen as dominant in maximising shareholder value in terms of dividend yield. The study once again showed that shareholder value maximisation is also dependent on the level of country specific risk. Our results also point to the fact that firms with investment or growth opportunities employ large boards (high board and auditor fees), have longer CEO tenure and are profitable, and that the extent of growth response to governance structures is influenced by both country and sector specific effects. Findings again, suggest that board diversity through the inclusion of women is important for enhanced performance of microfinance institutions and the independence of corporate boards in particular is important for firm performance. These findings have important policy implications.