Developing Corporate Strategies To Enable Resilience In The South African Information Systems And Technology Industry

Globalisation has contributed to many new challenges in the Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) industry, which placed increased pressure on organisational long-term sustainability.  Just like their global counterparts, IS&T organisations in the South African marketplace also need to be cognisant of its competitive business environment in order to survive in a very competitive environment.  However, in the dynamic business environment, organisational resilience becomes a crucial building block in achieving sustainability.  The objective of this article is to identify and consider key factors in the South African IS&T industry that not only embraces a thorough understanding of the business environment, but also of corporate resilient strategies that may support its long-term sustainability.  Based on a PEST and SWOT analysis, it was found that the local IS&T business environment, which includes the uncertain and unpredictable role of government together high-levels of crime and unemployment, makes for both challenging and promising times in the South African IS&T industry

Integrated Reporting Compliance With The Global Reporting Initiative Framework: An Analysis Of The South African Mining Industry

For all financial years ending on or after March 1st 2010, all companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd (JSE) have to provide an Integrated Report (as part of the JSE’s listing requirements). This report is to supply sustainability information in addition to the conventional IFRS-based statements. Yet, no statutory requirement for adherence to reporting standards relating to sustainability exists. This creates the risk that sustainability reports will omit negative impacts or be otherwise misleading, yet the company is still seen as adhering to listing and thus statutory requirements. This article considers the quality of integrated reporting of the South African mining industry by evaluating compliance to the globally accepted Sustainability Framework of the Global Reporting Initiative, which includes Sector specific performance indicators, as well as GRI core indicators. Using a sample of the mining companies included in the JSE Top 40 companies, the results show that these companies used the GRI G3.1 version guidelines in producing their integrated reports and that adherence to the GRI guideline has improved over the two years under consideration

Climate Change: A Comparison Of Market-Based Instruments From A South African Perspective

This article aims to consider the relevancy of (i) cap-and-trade schemes and (ii) carbon tax schemes in a developing economy context. Even though both schemes have a common goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they operate very differently, each with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Sustainable developments comprise various elements categorised in three primary dimensions – environmental, economic and social. The objective of reducing greenhouse gases via the implementation of carbon tax or cap-and-trade schemes primarily addresses the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, the impact of both schemes on the economically sustainable development, including industry competitiveness and growth, still has to be determined. In South Africa, the National Treasury made a decision to implement carbon tax as opposed to cap-and-trade schemes. In this article, the reasoning behind their decision in favour of carbon tax in the South African context is critically considered, firstly by evaluating the key characteristics between cap-and-trade and carbon tax schemes and secondly by considering the effectiveness hereof in the global context. It was found primary reason behind the favourable consideration of carbon tax was the fact the implementation thereof would be ‘simpler’ using the existing taxation systems, whereas cap-and-trade would require the implementation of sophisticated mechanisms that may not provide the optimum benefit in a developing economy context

Carbon Tax Implications On Corporate Social Investment In The South African Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry

Carbon excise tax was implemented on all passenger motor vehicles in South Africa as of 1 September 2010. Since its implementation, the impact of carbon tax on the corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives and expenditure of South African motor vehicle manufacturers has not been assessed. Given that the carbon tax price should ideally compensate for the damage caused by carbon emissions on the environment and people, the key knowledge gap this article aims to consider is whether the implementation of such a carbon tax is likely to affect the CSI decision-making process in respect of motor vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. The research methodology applied in this study is in the form of both a literature review and empirical research. A literature review was performed on the history, emergence and significance of CSI expenditure within the South African context. The empirical research includes an exploratory case study into the impact of the tax in the decision-making processes with regard to CSI expenditure, as well as the impact of carbon tax on CSI spending by motor vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. It was found that although the advent of carbon tax in the industry would place added pressure on the financial performance of the companies, it is unlikely that it would adversely affect the industry’s commitment to the CSI initiatives

Carbon Tax Pricing And The Social Cost Of Carbon: The Case In The South African Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry

Since the implementation of carbon tax on motor vehicles in South Africa during 2010, the pricing of the tax has never been challenged or assessed. The purpose of this study is to gauge the reasonability of the carbon tax price in South Africa as applicable to the motor vehicle manufacturing industry. A detailed review is performed to determine the adequacy of the carbon tax price by comparing the social cost of carbon from motor vehicle emissions against the revenue raised from carbon tax levied on motor vehicles in the same period. Empirical research includes an exploratory questionnaire into the adequacy of the carbon tax price in South Africa with input data from multinational motor vehicle manufacturers operating in South Africa. The findings from the literature review confirm that although the respondents do not consider the level of carbon tax price as adequate to be relevant for the social cost of carbon, the revenue raised from this tax exceeds the social cost of carbon leading to the conclusion that the tax is adequately priced

A Consideration Of IFRS Education And Acceptance From Culturally Diverse Backgrounds: A South African Perspective

Accountancy’s double-entry bookkeeping system has spread throughout the world over the past 5 centuries. Within each country, local accountants have adopted accountancy practices to suit their unique environment. In the modern global business environment, this uniqueness makes cross-border financial statement comparisons difficult. A key objective of a globally acceptable set of accounting standards (such as IFRS), is to enhance such trans-national comparisons of corporate performances. However, research revealed that the influence of cultural backgrounds is a key contributing factor influencing accounting practices. It is evident that culture is a key concomitant of accounting development, including accounting education. Two globally recognized authors on the importance of culture in the work environment, Hofstede and Gray, developed cultural dimensions to gauge the cultural impact in a business environment. The primary objective of this research was to consider the impact of different cultural backgrounds, as measured by Hofstede and Gray on prospective accountants in South Africa, as an early adopter of IFRS. The results of the study suggest that culture will play an important role in accounting education and acceptance in the culturally diverse South African context

An Evaluation Of The Co-Operative Business Model Within The Context Of The Global Reporting Initiative

Sustainability reporting, renowned as an instrument for businesses to communicate how they function more efficiently and responsibly within the social and physical environment, while simultaneously remaining profitable, has evolved in an up-and-coming trend by businesses. In addition, this leads to integrated reporting, which implies that a business strategy, performance, risk and sustainability are inseparable from one another. The International Year of Co-operatives (2012), with the theme Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World, recognises that co-operatives, in their range of forms, support the fullest participation in the social and economic development of people. Co-operatives also have the remarkable opportunity to grow everywhere for the reason that modern society needs their role and initiatives.This article considers to what extent the GRI guidelines, as a reporting framework, are feasible or applicable to co-operatives as a business model. The selected agricultural co-operative (Agri-Com) is used in the form of a case study, where the GRIs Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are applied to its activities. This study found that the co-operative business model performed admirably well under these guidelines and suggests that the co-operative business model is very relevant in the modern business environment

Understanding Accounting Students Cultural Diversity And Its Implication Of The Interpretation Of IFRS

In the global business environment, accountants often adopt accountancy practices to suit their unique cultural and business environments. This aspect often makes the cross-border comparison of financial statements difficult. Several completed research projects conducted has revealed that culture often dictates the accounting environment and based thereupon, it is evident that culture is often closely integrated to accounting development, training and standard setting, as well as the application of accounting standards.This article considers the potential impact of diverse cultural backgrounds, as defined by the Hofstede and Gray methodologies on accountancy students in a cross-national inter-cultural context, including both developed and developing economical contexts. Using a sample consisting of final-year accounting students from two different university campuses in South Africa and a third university in the United Kingdom, our results suggest that culture does indeed play an important role on accounting education; and that it can also affect the acceptance, understanding and interpretation of accounting standards by these students

A Model To Determine Capital Needs For Efficient Boer Goat Farming

The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal capital needs to establish a Boer goat farm. A study was performed to simulate the financial performance of 55 scenarios, with varying farm sizes and varying levels of capital employed. These results formed the basis to create a data envelopment analysis model, where farm sizes and capital employed are used as input variables versus eight financial performance indicators as output variables. The study found that the scenarios are technically efficient, but only 23 of the 55 scenarios are fully scale efficient, with six scenarios operating on a scale that is too small and 26 operating on a scale that is too large, which implies that 32 of the scenarios did not achieve economies of scale. Furthermore, nine of the ten farm sizes used are not scale efficient when using 100% of their capital needs. The study therefore concludes that the financial success of starting a South African (SA) Boer goat farm is locked up in the natural growth of the herd, with the practical implication that aspirating SA Boer goat farmers will be most efficient when using a limited amount of capital and not immediately stock the farm at the maximum level of animals, but to stock it only partly and wait for the gain in the growth of the herd

Estimating Scale Efficiency Of Platinum-Mining Companies Environmental Performance: A South African Perspective

The purpose of the study is to develop a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to estimate the relative scale efficiency of platinum-mining companies environmental performance. South African platinum-mines were used to demonstrate the model, which uses environmental performance indicators as the input variables in order to generate mineral extraction and financial performances as the output variables. The input variables considered were greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and energy usage, while the output variables were platinum production, return on equity and return on assets. The contribution of the study is that a DEA model was developed that could identify relatively efficient companies that could act as benchmarks with regard to environmental issues in the mining sector. A further contribution is that the study concluded that platinum-mining companies tend not to achieve economies of scale, where the companies that are relatively larger in size tend to operate on a scale that is too large and companies that are physically relatively smaller in size tend to operate on a scale that is too small