Human Capital Development and Economic Growth in BRICS Countries: Controlling for Country Differences

This paper investigates the effect of human capital development on economic growth, as well as controlling for country differences, in the BRICS economies – from 1990 to 2017. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) were used as the estimation techniques. We use one-way ANOVA and Scheffe pairwise comparison tests to understand how human capital development differed between each pair of countries. Findings suggest that the effect of human capital development on economic growth, though significant, was limited in these countries. A comparative analysis of results showed that China, Brazil and Russia were able to utilise their human capital to enhance economic growth more efficiently than South Africa and India. Consequently, this study observed that a 1% increase in government expenditure on education would result in a 0.13% increase in GDP for China, a 0.06% increase in Russia, a 0.07% increase in Brazil, a 0.04% increase in South Africa, and a 0.01% increase in GDP in India. In addition, the study concluded that human capital development practices differ in all the countries. Although this result was previously implied in the literature, comparison of a comprehensive list of human capital development practices among countries was lacking. Overall, the paper argues that the classical theory of economic growth, in combination with the new theory, and also the theory of market value, will not only help sustain a strategy tripod, but also shed significant light on the most fundamental questions confronting human capital development and economic growth in many developing economies

Employee Engagement in Multinational Diverse Organization in Difficult Terrain: A Study of Non-Family Station Organization

Engagements and commitments of many expatriates are often determined by several socio-economic, demographic, cultural, environmental and organizational factors. These issues faced by employees in duty stations like United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) often have telling effects on their work. Consequently, the broad objective of this study was to assess the influence of the working environment on foreign job commitment in UNAMID. The study applied "a mixed-method research approach", utilizing both "qualitative and quantitative research" strategies, with a sample size of 100 respondents from the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Darfur, Northern Sudan. Specifically, questionnaires and in-depth Interview were the main instruments. Findings from the quantitative studies showed no significant relationship between employee disengagement, work terrain, job stress, communication, socio-cultural factors and expatriate’s job commitment in UNAMID. While for the qualitative analysis, it was reported that there are both negative and positive effects of working in another country. The study, therefore, concludes that employee disengagement, job stress, working terrain, communication and socio-cultural factors are not associated, with expatriate's job commitment in UNAMID. It is therefore recommended that organizations should develop organizational peculiar plans and programs that would help cushion the physical and psychological effect of new working terrain on expatriates for them to be able to be effective, productive and be able to eventually achieve the ultimate goal of their deployment to the new work station

Strategic leadership in post-conflict states: A study of The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

The research examines the impact of strategic leadership in post-conflict states. This was achieved by comparing different leadership styles with the performance of the post-conflict state to identify which leadership style fits best with specific performance indicators in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study explores the qualitative methodology to assess the impact of strategic leadership in post-conflict states through an explanatory view using an interpretive approach, participant contributions, direct observations, documents, and interviews. Data were analyzed using NVivo data analysis software. The research discovered leadership deficiency at all levels of society. The leadership lacks some essential characteristics to guarantee the well-being of the people. The study also observed an inadequate commitment to support the vision. Also, the mismanagement of country natural resources often causes insecurity and triggers the creation of many armed groups to exploit the resources illegally. The study, therefore, recommended strong committed leadership, the political will, and stable state institutions. One needs a committed leadership to set the vision which can make a change in people's lives, and we can gain the milestones and eventually achieve the vision with the support of the political will and stable state institutions. The study contributes to knowledge by developing a much more user-friendly formula that summarizes the strategic, leadership needed in post-conflict states

Loyalty programs for the passenger transportation industry: a study of Zimbabwean Companies

The paper examined firstly whether companies in the passenger transportation industry have utilised loyalty programs and then ascertained how much value the companies have drawn from them in enhancing market share, operational efficiency and financial benefit. Specifically, the study assessed the influence of loyalty program on customer relationship management, operational efficiency and profitability. The research was undertaken on ten companies who have implemented some form of loyalty programs through applied research’s in-depth interviews with the top executives. The qualitative methodology was utilised to simplify and manage the collection of data without affecting the environment and context. Data collected were further analysed via Chi-square statistics and the three hypotheses were tested at 5% level of significance. The results indicate that companies have begun to utilise loyalty programs in their operations, though not entirely sweating the programs to attain the best possible value from them. Most importantly, the study concluded on the positive significant relationship between loyalty program and customer relationship management, operational efficiency and profitability in the Zimbabwe loyalty program. Both filled a few highlighted gaps in the literature. Research for the road passenger transportation sub-sector offers useful theoretical and managerial implications as few studies have been conducted for the airline industry, which has successfully implemented loyalty programs through frequent flier schemes. It is recommended that companies should ascertain passenger behaviour through passenger registration, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the relationship. This study provides theoretical support for the importance of loyalty programs as passenger relationship management tools if appropriately applied and implemented. Loyalty programs offer companies across industrial sectors with useful benefits such as brand loyalty, business efficiency due to enhanced planning and profitability due to increase in patronage from passengers who are less sensitive to the marketing efforts of competing brands. This knowledge should, therefore, enable transporters to ascertain the value of adopting and using loyalty programs appropriately thereby enhancing their competitive advantage in a fast-paced world economy

The Influence of Information Communication Technology (ICT) integration on teaching and learning in South African Schools

Despite recent emphasis on the quality of education for all in South Africa, the department of education still face major challenges that hinder the progress of implementing quality education, especially in the rural areas. Consequently, this study followed an action qualitative method. The overall purpose of the study was to determine the influence of ICT integration in on the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom and to further examine the benefits of using ICT to enhance personal growth, individual performance, critical thinking skills reading and writing skills. The research questions were semi-structured and open-ended. The researcher interviewed nine (9) learners and seven (7) teachers in a two session focus group, first session involved only teachers and last session had only grade 12 learners. The themes of the sessions were documented separately, however, relationship between the themes were identified. The study also performed observation in the classroom to access situations that would have been almost impossible to identify in an interview or a questionnaire. Results shown that a lot still need to be done by the government to initiate the process of integrating ICT in education or empower teachers with ICT skill and to do away with the traditional teaching method. The study however concluded on the positive influence of ICT integration on teaching and learning practices in the classroom for both teachers and learners. Consequently, the study recommends the following: government must provide training and incentives to encourage personal development in teachers and for young graduates to value teaching; policies about lost equipment must be drafted and understood by all parties; deployments of technology innovation, as well, as the imperatives of following the recommendation of UNESCO’s four stages of ICT integratio

Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment: New Granger Causality Evidence from Asian and African Economies

Previous studies on the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) have predominantly focused on developed and emerging economies. However, there seem to be few studies concentrating on a comparative analysis of vast African and Asian countries. This paper analysed drivers of foreign direct investments (FDI) to Asian and African economies using a panel dataset from 1980 to 2013.This study used Granger causality test, under vector error correction modelling (VECM) to test for causality among the variables. While the drivers of FDI inflows were measured using five dimensions as proposed by Anyanwu; the dependent variable, FDI inflows, was proxied by the ratio of FDI flows to gross domestic product (GDP). Findings revealed that variables manifesting the determinants of FDI inflows positively affected FDI into these continents. Specifically, factors such as trade openness, macroeconomic condition, infrastructural development, and monetary union have positive and significant effect on FDI to Asian economies. No significant relationship was found between FDI inflows and market size to the Asian continent during the study period. On the other hand, trade openness, macroeconomic condition, market size and infrastructural development have positive and significant effects on FDI inflows to African economies although there was no significant relationship between FDI inflows and monetary union to the African continent during the study period. In fact, there were bi-directional relationships between FDI inflows and some of the determinants in both continents. Theoretically, this model provides predictive implications on improved FDI inflows, given the activities of critical variables manifesting as determinants of FDI inflows

Impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in Africa

Several studies have been conducted to examine the influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow on economic growth. Indeed, the overall evidence is best characterized as mixed. This paper investigates the effect of FDI on economic growth in some randomly selected African economies from 1980 to 2013, using a modified growth model by Agrawal and Khan (2011). This model consists of Gross Domestic Product, Human Capital, International Technology Transfer, Labor Force, FDI and Gross Capital Formation (GCF). Ordinary least squares and generalized method of moments were used as the estimation techniques. Of all the results, only Gross Capital Formation, Human Capital, and International Technology Transfer in the Central African Republic were found not to have any statistically significant influence on economic growth. In general, the impact of FDI on economic growth in African countries is limited or negligible. Consequently, this study observes that a 1% increase in FDI would result in a 0.12% increase in GDP for South Africa, a 0.05% increase in Egypt, a 0.03% increase in Nigeria, a 0.02% increase in Kenya, and a 1% increase in GDP in the Central African Republic. The findings also reveal that South Africa’s growth is more affected by FDI than the other four countries. The study also provides possible reasons behind South Africa’s great show of FDI and the lessons other African countries could learn from South Africa better utilization of FDI. This study integrates the related drivers of the effectiveness and success of FD

The Effect of Leadership Styles on Employee’s Productivity in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of leadership style on employee productivity in the Nigerian oil and gas industry using Chevron Nigeria Limited as a case study. The study used a five-point Likert scale questionnaire consisting of forty questions covering autocratic, democratic, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, transactional, charismatic leadership styles and employee productivity variables. The questionnaire was deployed to one hundred and twenty-five respondents (125) and received ninety-three (93) valid responses. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze respondent responses. Demographic analysis, normality test, homoscedasticity, multicollinearity, reliability test (Cronbach’s Alpha) were presented; results affirm the validity and reliability of research findings. The results of the descriptive and regression analysis indicate that the autocratic leadership style is the most predominant leadership style in the Nigerian Oil and Gas followed by laissez-faire, bureaucratic, transactional, democratic and charismatic leadership styles. The study concludes that leadership styles significantly influence employee productivity albeit different leadership styles have varying effects on employee productivity and varying leadership styles can co-exist within the same organization. The study highlighted various policy implications and recommendations. This study adds to the existing literature on leadership practice and is intended to be a reference point to scholars and researchers for further studies on leadership practices in the oil and gas industry