The Influence of Selected Demographic Variables on the Choice of Bootstrap Financing Methods in Small Owner-Managed Businesses in Zimbabwe

Published ArticleAcquiring financial resources for survival and growth continues to be a challenge for small businesses in the developing world context. In many cases, small businesses have to resort to innovative and non-traditional means to remain viable. The main objective of this study was to explore the influence of selected demographic variables on the choice of bootstrap financing methods among owner-managers of small businesses which were operating in an unstable economic environment characterised by limited access to business finance. Data was collected from 62 owner-mangers of small business using a questionnaire that measured their preference of bootstrap finance methods. Results of the study showed that the owner-mangers preferred bootstrap finance methods that raised funds without going to the bank, and that owner-managers’ characteristics influenced their choice of bootstrap finance methods. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of small businesses’ survival and growth in unstable macro-economic environments

Development of a Thermal Desalination System Using Low Quality Thermal Energy

Abstract Development of a Thermal Desalination System Using Low Quality Thermal Energy Takudzwa Chipunza The blowdown water from the cooling tower of the power plant and the produced water from shale gas industry cannot be disposed directly to the environment as they may contain dissolved solids that are harmful to the environment. A detailed physical and chemical process to remove the mineral and organic solids has been developed in West Virginia University. Such a process includes running the blowdown and produced water through a softening tank, activated carbon tank, and a reverse osmosis (RO) system. The RO reject contains a high concentration of total dissolved salts (TDS) and cannot be disposed to landfill. This work develops a shell and tube heat exchanger unit to further condense the RO reject by removing the water in RO reject through evaporation. The RO reject water is treated by running it through a one pass shell and tube heat exchanger system with the thermal energy needed for the evaporation of water provided by low quality steam extracted from steam turbine. The heat exchanger is designed with two outlets: one expected to collect steam and the other residual water. Low quality steam is run through on the tube side of the heat exchanger to provide the thermal energy necessary for the evaporation of water in shell. Preliminary testing is conducted using an initial iteration of a simple thermal desalination system with 82.2g/L of brine to observe if 10lbf brine can be produced. The design of the heat exchanger involved using analytical correlations, which are further verified with simulations using ANSYS FLUENT. The heat exchanger designed has been fabricated and integrated with other components purchased into a thermal desalination system with the steam provided by a steam canner. The steam canner is equipped with a 2kW electric heater and two pressure relief valves which are activated when the pressure in canner is beyond 1.65bar. The integrated system has been tested and inspected by EHS to make sure it is safe to run at the designed operating condition, and the safety valves do activate at the pressure designed. The preliminary operation test verified that the system must be insulated due to the large heat loss from the system to ambient air. The insulated system was tested to verify its capability in evaporating the water in shell. The preliminary test concluded that such a facility is able producing fresh water at a mass flow rate of 2.5 kg/h. The thermal energy transferred from the steam in tube to liquid water in shell estimated using water produced is 1.5 kW, which is about 75% of the heat produced by the electrical heater. The rest of energy is lost from the system to ambient air. It should be noted that the current system was manually operated by adjusting the flow rate control valve at exit of steam canner and exit valve of the tubes. The temperature of cooling water is also controlled by changing the cooling water and blending the cooling water in condenser. Further insulating the system and improving the control of the system will increase the utilization of the thermal energy in evaporating water in shell and reducing the energy cost of the thermal desalination system

The Influence of Selected Demographic Factors on the Choice of Marketing Communication Tools: Comparison of Foreign and Local Spaza Shop Owners in South Africa

Published ArticleOrientation: The continued proliferation of foreign-owned spaza shops in South African townships presents intense competition between local and foreign owners, with evidence that foreign spaza shop owners are more likely to use marketing communication tools than local spaza shop owners. Research purpose: The main purpose of this study was to compare the influence of selected demographic variables (education, age of business and owner’s experience) on the choice of marketing communication tools between foreigners and locals who own spaza shops in South Africa. Motivation for the study: This study was motivated by a lack of insight in comparing the use of marketing communication tools between foreigners and local spaza shop owners. Research design, approach and method: A descriptive, cross-sectional comparative research design was adopted, where a convenience non-random sample of 236 spaza shops owners, both foreign and local ones in the Free State Province, was analysed using four-way analysis of variance. Main findings: The results of the study revealed that foreign spaza shop owners are more influenced by selected demographic factors to use marketing communication tools than South African spaza shop owners. Practical/managerial implications: Given that foreign owners are more influenced by demographic factors to use marketing communication tools to outperform their counterparts, the study highlights the need to support local spaza shop owners for continued sustainability. Contribution/value-add: This study added knowledge by exploring untested comparison of demographic variables influencing the use of marketing communication tools in spaza shop businesses

The Impact Of Perceived Justice On Behavioural Intentions In Retail Banking: An Investigation Of Explanatory Roles Of Service Recovery And Overall Satisfaction

ArticleCustomers’ behavioural intentions following a service failure is a major concern in the retail banking sector, especially given the fact that the cost of keeping an existing customer is much less than that of acquiring a new one. Service recovery is widely used as a strategy to please a customer after a service failure and yet literature focusing on service recovery ignores the role of overall satisfaction, and in this way, provides an incomplete explanation of the long-term impact of perceived justice on customers’ behavioural intentions. The current study strives to develop and test a service recovery model that explains the relationships among perceived justice, recovery satisfaction and overall customer satisfaction; and their effects on behavioural intentions for a retail bank in a developing economy. The study also seeks to examine the mediation roles of recovery satisfaction and overall satisfaction on the relationship between justice and behavioural intentions. To test the proposed model, data collected from 210 bank customers who recently experienced problems with their bank, were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results suggest that the influence of justice on behavioural intentions is mediated by recovery satisfaction and overall satisfaction in series. Thus, the results reveal that the inclusion of overall satisfaction in service recovery models increases their explanatory power. Furthermore, an exploration of the mechanisms that enable justice to influence behavioural intentions stands out as one of the few empirical attempts that can bridge the theoretical gap arising from paucity of studies in this area. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Malnutrition enteropathy in Zambian and Zimbabwean children with severe acute malnutrition: A multi-arm randomized phase II trial.

Malnutrition underlies almost half of all child deaths globally. Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) carries unacceptable mortality, particularly if accompanied by infection or medical complications, including enteropathy. We evaluated four interventions for malnutrition enteropathy in a multi-centre phase II multi-arm trial in Zambia and Zimbabwe and completed in 2021. The purpose of this trial was to identify therapies which could be taken forward into phase III trials. Children of either sex were eligible for inclusion if aged 6-59 months and hospitalised with SAM (using WHO definitions: WLZ <-3, and/or MUAC <11.5 cm, and/or bilateral pedal oedema), with written, informed consent from the primary caregiver. We randomised 125 children hospitalised with complicated SAM to 14 days treatment with (i) bovine colostrum (n = 25), (ii) N-acetyl glucosamine (n = 24), (iii) subcutaneous teduglutide (n = 26), (iv) budesonide (n = 25) or (v) standard care only (n = 25). The primary endpoint was a composite of faecal biomarkers (myeloperoxidase, neopterin, α1-antitrypsin). Laboratory assessments, but not treatments, were blinded. Per-protocol analysis used ANCOVA, adjusted for baseline biomarker value, sex, oedema, HIV status, diarrhoea, weight-for-length Z-score, and study site, with pre-specified significance of P < 0.10. Of 143 children screened, 125 were randomised. Teduglutide reduced the primary endpoint of biomarkers of mucosal damage (effect size -0.89 (90% CI: -1.69,-0.10) P = 0.07), while colostrum (-0.58 (-1.4, 0.23) P = 0.24), N-acetyl glucosamine (-0.20 (-1.01, 0.60) P = 0.67), and budesonide (-0.50 (-1.33, 0.33) P = 0.32) had no significant effect. All interventions proved safe. This work suggests that treatment of enteropathy may be beneficial in children with complicated malnutrition. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier NCT03716115

Toward a Unified Framework of Perceived Negative Leader Behaviors Insights from French and British Educational Sectors

In this paper, we challenge the commonly held assumption that actors in the education sector are largely ethical, and that there is therefore little need to scrutinize leader behaviors in this sector. We also overcome past scholars’ tendencies to either focus selectively on positive leader behaviors, or to stay content with categorizing leader behaviors into effective and ineffective (if at all they do focus on negative leader behaviors). Using data (Critical Incidents) from three case studies previously conducted in eight British and French academic establishments, we show that not only do negative leader behaviors abound in the education sector, but they can also be differentiated into three types: (1) behaviors emanating from leaders’ lack of functional skills i.e., ineffective behaviors, (2) behaviors emanating from leaders’ insouciance toward harming the organization and its members i.e., dysfunctional behaviors, and (3) behaviors emanating from leaders’ lack of honesty, integrity, ethicality, and transparency i.e., unauthentic behaviors. We enrich current understanding on ineffective, dysfunctional, and unauthentic leader behaviors, and offer a unified (yet differentiated) framework of negative leader behaviors in the academic sector. Since each type of negative behavior emanates from different motivational drivers, different measures are required to curb them. These are also discussed. A comparison of our findings with those from leadership studies in other sectors reveals that negative leader behaviors in the education sector are quite similar to those in other sectors

Social Behaviour & Social Processes In Organizations: IPS 221

Social Behaviour & Social Processes In Organizations: IPS 221, Supplementary Examination January 2009

Introduction to Industrial Psychology: IPS 121

Introduction to Industrial Psychology: IPS 121, supplementary examination February 2010

Introduction to Industrial Psychology: IPS 121

Introduction to Industrial Psychology: IPS 121, Supplementary examination February 2011

Employee Resourcing: HRM 121

Employee Resourcing: HRM 121, Supplementary examination February 2010