Determining the use of human capital to achieve a competitive advantage in the National Ports Authority of South Africa

A new business world is emerging, which every organisation must appreciate and know how to exploit. The concepts of strategy do not need to be rewritten, but must be adapted to this new era. Utilisation of the Internet and human capital to its fullest is transforming the way that business is conducted in achieving its objectives. The key to an organisation’s competitive advantage, is to invest in training, skills enhancement and the personal development of its staff. A requirement of the National Ports Authority is to be committed to basic adult education and preparing employees for re-skilling from the shop floor to the boardroom to ensure it is seen as an equal opportunity employer. The research problem addressed in this study was to determine the factors necessary to achieve strategic advantage using human capital. Relevant literature was used to develop a new model to address some of the issues facing the organisation, as well as ensuring that the National Ports Authority can leverage itself into a competitive advantage. To manage and measure knowledge-based resources is one of the most important challenges for a modern company. This challenge is incorporated in the new model developed by the study. The theoretical model consisted of various factors, which were analysed and formed into principles which were identifiable from the literature study. This model was then used to compile a questionnaire to test the responsiveness of the role players concurring. The empirical results analysed indicated that the respondents concurred with the theoretical study and factors of the new model that was developed

Information Technology and the Dynamics of Firm and Industrial Structure

Internet, Disruptive technology, Market structure, Computers, IT consultancies

Wage Gaps Large and Small

The law of one wage does not strictly hold, nor should it be expected to hold, in contemporary labor markets. The law of one wage, however, provides a surprisingly good first approximation of the structure of U.S. wages. This generalization is drawn from research on a diverse set of topics: the Mincerian wage equation and earnings imputation, union wage differentials, product market regulation and the labor market, wages in male and female jobs, the wage effects of military service, and inter-area wages and cost of living. Working Paper 08-1

From search engine optimisation to search engine marketing management: development of a new area for information systems research

Search Engine Optimisation was a term used by web developers in the late 90s to highlight the importance of increasing a website’s position in search engines’ results. Further development of the Internet in terms of the diversity of its users and uses such as e-commerce, blogging and wikis have highlighted the need for technical staff to work more closely with marketing professionals resulting in a new area of work – Search Engine Marketing Management. The paper highlights the emerging role of Search Engine Marketing Management as a new and increasingly important area for future information systems researchers and research. Reaching beyond the 'simple' undifferentiated goal of increasing visitors to a website, a mature perspective of marketing is developing - that of realising strategic marketing objectives. The practical contribution of this paper is found in the development of awareness among management roles of the importance and nuances of search engines and the tactics required to harness the benefits of multiple online communication channels within organisational marketing strategy

Performance measures of net-enabled hypercompetitive industries: the case of tourism

This paper investigates the theory and practise of e-metrics. It examines the tourism sector as one of the most successful sectors on-line and identifies best practice in the industry. Qualitative research with top e-Marketing executives demonstrates the usage and satisfaction levels from current e-metrics deployment, selection of e-metrics for ROI calculation as well as intention of new e-metrics implementation and future trends and developments. This paper concludes that tourism organizations gradually realise the value of e-measurement and are willing to implement e-metrics to enable them evaluate the effectiveness of their planning processes and assess their results against their short and the long term objectives

2010 State New Economy Index

Measures states' economic structures on twenty-six indicators of their competitiveness in the New Economy: the prominence of knowledge jobs, globalization, economic dynamism, transformation to a digital economy, and technological innovation capacity

Assessing the drivers of virtual knowledge management impact in European Firm’s performance : an exploratory analysis

E-Business is a phenomenon that has progressed over the past decades at record speed, with considerable promise and hype. It has been embraced with varying degrees of enthusiasm and impact by both large firms and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). Parallel with its development, E-Business has attracted research interests, seen in a plethora of new modules, programmes, models and tools. Knowledge Management (KM) is one tool that seams to gain a more relevant role, especially as managing knowledge has become increasingly important to all companies. Appropriate KM practices within organisations can be seen as one of the prerequisites to the enhancement of continuous performance improvement in the interne-based context. Thus, our aim is to develop a conceptual framework related to KM practices in a virtual context and to identify the nature of the relationship existing in those knowledge-driven elements and performance achievements. This paper aims to bridge the gap between the KM and e-business performance-related literatures from the viewpoint of European firms by establishing a model tested in European companies. For this purpose, we used a structural equation modelling analysis. The results show that KM has a positive impact on the maximization of e-business performance and that some elements individually have a positive influence on e-business performance. As limitations of the study, we consider the need for more research into this field and the inclusion of news elements such as technological readiness and management support to KM initiatives. The present study advances knowledge on the nature of the relative importance of different components of Internet-based KM as drivers of e-business performance and reinforces its importance as an integrated e-business tool.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Changes In Competitiveness Among The Visegrad Countries After Accession To The European Union: A Comparative Analysis Based On A Generalized Double Diamond Model

National competitiveness is a buzzword that awakens much interest and controversy. In its broadest perspective, it is seen as a modern way of describing the development efforts of nations in the times of globalization (Reinert 2001, p. 23-42). This means that forces driving the changes in the global economy: liberalization of international trade, booming investment by multinational enterprises and development of regional integration groupings, need to be included into the competitiveness model. Well-known and commonly used approach to national competitiveness: Porter’s diamond of competitive advantage does not however capture this international context. By concentrating solely on the elements of the domestic environment, the model does not show the complicated international linkages that have shaped the competitiveness of many countries. Especially in the case of small, open ‘catching-up’ economies, assessing national competitiveness solely on the basis of the potential of domestic companies, based on local conditions, does not fully reflect their developmental context, which is also driven by the complex networks of international interdependencies. Building upon the generalized double diamond model developed by Moon et al. (2000), this paper explores the extent to which economic relations with international partners and the activities oftransnational corporations affect the competitiveness of the Visegrad Group countries, and how this relationship has been changing in the post-accession period. To answer the research problem posed, Eurostat and Global Competitiveness Report data have been gathered to assess the competitiveness variables on both the domestic/national and international levels. It has been shown that integration within the global economy constitutes an essential element of competitiveness for each of the analysed countries.Międzynarodowa konkurencyjność gospodarki narodowej to zagadnienie, które wybudza wiele kontrowersji. W najszerszej perspektywie: to „współczesne” ujęcie fundamentalnych problemów rozwoju gospodarczego, osadzone w realiach globalizacji (Reinert, 2001, s. 23-42). Oznacza to, że siły napedzające rozwój gospodarki globalnej: liberalizacja handlu międzynarodowego, działalność inwestycyjna korporacji transnarodowych oraz zacieśnianie współpracy gospodarczej w ramach regionalnych ugrupowań integracyjnych, powinny zostać uwzględnione w modelu konkurencyjności. Jedno z najpopularniejszych wielowymiarowych ujęć: diament przewag konkurencyjnych Portera skupia się na źródłach konkurencyjności przedsiębiorstw w ramach poszczególnych gałęzi przemysłu. Poprzez podnoszenie stopnia zaawansowania technologicznego firm, poprawia się produktywność czynników wytwórczych, co w efekcie przyczynia się do rozwoju gospodarczego i wzrostu standardu życia ludności. Pomimo popularności tego ujęcia, nie znajduje ono zastosowania dla wszystkich krajów. Szczególnie w przypadku małych, doganiających gospodarek otwartych, których rozwój jest w dużej mierze uzależniony od efektywnej integracji w ramach międzynarodowego podziału pracy, spojrzenie na źródła konkurencyjności jedynie przez pryzmat warunków wewnętrznych jest niekompletne. Bazując na uogólnionym modelu podwójnego diamentu przewag konkurencyjnych Moona (2000), w niniejszym artykule, podjęto próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie: w jak dużym stopniu powiązania gospodarcze z partnerami międzynarodowymi oraz działalność korporacji transnarodowych wpływały na kształtowanie przewagi konkurencyjnej firm z krajów grupy Wyszehradzkiej oraz jak rola ta zmieniała się w przypadku każdego z tych państw w okresie poakcesyjnym. W celu udzielenia odpowiedzi na to pytanie badawcze, zgromadzono dane z baz Eurostat oraz wskaźniki Global Competitiveness Report aby oszacować zmienne na poziomie krajowym i międzynarodowym. Wyniki przeprowadzonej analizy potwierdzają, że integracja w ramach gospodarki globalnej to ważny element konkurencyjności każdego z krajów grupy Wyszehradzkiej