Internet marketing benefits for South African SME owner-managers

Published ArticleWith the recent explosion of global marketing strategies, business enterprises have to contend with severe and escalating competition. To sustain competitiveness, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa should produce high-quality, customised goods and services efficiently. Adoption of Internet marketing technologies is fundamental towards meeting this challenge. However, the adoption and diffusion of technologies in marketing practices is the outcome of purposeful processes emanating from the realisation by SMEs that adoption of these technologies yields significant paybacks. The purpose of this study was to establish the managers' perceptions of the benefits of Internet marketing adoption in small and medium enterprises. Using a quantitative approach, a questionnaire was administered to owner-managers of small and medium enterprises in the Vaal Triangle in South Africa. A total of 269 questionnaires were completed, returned and considered useful for the survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis in order to establish the factors considered to be the salient Internet marketing benefits. Four underlying factors were extracted namely: customer relationship building, information gathering, promotion and enhanced productivity. The mean scores indicated that information gathering was perceived as most important, but after sturdier tests for association were applied to the data set, customer relationship management demonstrated the most significant and positive correlation with SME productivity. As such, there is need for the small and medium enterprises to develop strategies to expand and sustain the identified benefits of Internet marketing

The assessment of angiogenesis and fibroblastic stromagenesis in hyperplastic and pre-invasive breast lesions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the changes of the neoplastic microenvironment during the different morphological alterations of hyperplastic and pre-invasive breast lesions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>78 in situ ductal carcinomas of all degrees of differentiation, 22 atypical ductal hyperplasias, 25 in situ lobular carcinomas, 18 atypical lobular hyperplasias, 32 ductal epithelial hyperplasias of usual type and 8 flat atypias were immunohistochemically investigated for the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), smooth muscle actin (SMA) and CD34, while microvessel density (MVD) was counted using the anti-CD31 antibody.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>VEGF expression was strongly correlated with MVD in all hyperplastic and pre-invasive breast lesions (p < 0.05). Stromagenesis, as characterized by an increase in SMA and a decrease in CD34 positive myofibroblasts was observed mostly around ducts harboring high grade in situ carcinoma and to a lesser extent around moderately differentiated DCIS. In these two groups of in situ carcinomas, a positive correlation between MVD and SMA (p < 0.05) was observed. On the contrary, CD34 was found to be inversely related to MVD (p < 0.05). No statistically significant changes of the stromal fibroblasts were observed in low grade DCIS neither in any of the other lesions under investigation as compared to normal mammary intra- and interlobular stroma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Angiogenesis is observed before any significant fibroblastic stromagenesis in pre-invasive breast lesions. A composite phenotype characterized by VEGF positive epithelial cells and SMA positive/CD34 negative stromal cells, is identified mostly in intermediate and high grade DCIS. These findings might imply for new therapeutic strategies using both anti-angiogenic factors and factors selectively targeting tumor stroma in order to prevent the progression of DCIS to invasive carcinoma.</p

The relationship between website sport consumption motives and future behavioural intentions among soccer fans

Knowledge and skill in addressing website consumption motives are essential aspects in contemporary sport marketing. There is growing body of literature on website consumption motives in sport. However, there is a dearth of research on the relationship between website consumption motives and future behavioural intentions to use team websites. This study examined the relationship between website consumption motives and future intentions of using the sports team websites. The study used a conveniently selected sample of 219 soccer fans who regularly visit the website of a team in the South African Premier Soccer League. Eight website consumption motives namely information, entertainment, escape, pass time, fanship, team support, economic factors and technical knowledge were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Spearman’s correlations showed that future intentions were significantly and positively related to information sharing and entertainment. Escape and pass time showed moderate correlations with future intentions to use the team’s website. The regression analysis shows that information sharing, entertainment and the escape motive were the primary predictors of future behavioural intentions among fans to use their team’s website. The findings of the study are significant in that they may enable sport marketers to implement strategies of satisfying the needs of their online customers, thereby ensuring that the sport organisation’s marketing goals are accomplished.Keywords: Team sport, Website, sport, consumption, motives, Premier Soccer League

Business development challenges in a rural District Municipality in South Africa: A case of Fezile Dabi District Municipality

Business development continues to be an important driver of economic growth in many rural settings. Some of the results of business development in rural areas include job creation, innovation, entrepreneurship, infrastructural development, and skills development, among others. Many developing countries have identified rural business development as a critical area in their development agenda. The purpose of this study was to explore business development challenges faced by enterprises in the Fezile Dabi District Municipality in rural South Africa. Using the survey method, a questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample composed of 143 business owners and managers located within the municipality. Data were assessed for frequencies and percentages on each item in the questionnaire. In addition, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used to test the reliability of the scale. The findings of the study indicate that there are gaps in four areas, namely, markets and business development (1), labour supply (2), business planning (3) and the local operational environment (4). These gaps hinder business growth in the municipality. Establishment of business incubators, improvement of networking between business leaders, and the implementation of an appropriate business retention and expansion program are some of the strategies that may be implemented to eliminate the identified gaps. Keywords: Business development, district municipality, economic growth, small to medium enterprise

Scoring through the net: Website establishment intentions among sport organisations in the Gauteng province, South Africa

The application of technology is widely acknowledged as an effective marketing tool in the sport industry and seen by sport marketers as a valuable communication medium. However, the use of the Internet as a marketing communications tool in the sport industry in South Africa has not received extensive research attention, despite an increase in the adoption of technology by sport organisations. The purpose of this study was to examine website establishment intentions by sport organisations in South Africa. A self-administered survey was used to collect information from a sample of 164 website owners, web administrators or webmasters based in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The results indicate that providing information to visitors, generating awareness, projecting a favourable image and interacting with web visitors are regarded by sports organisations to be important reasons for establishing websites. The study also shows that while a majority of sport organisations have websites, gaining access to previously inaccessible customers, obtaining feedback on service performance and selling merchandise or tickets seem to be unimportant to sport organisations.Keywords: Sport organisations, Internet marketing, website, South Africa

EMPLOYEE PERCEPTIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY

The inability to follow occupational health and safety standards typically resultsin accidents that place severe financial burdens on both employees as well asorganisations. The aim of this studyis to explore the perceptionsof employees inthe steel industry towards occupational health and safety standards in the steelindustry in South Africa. A survey was conducted in which a structuredquestionnaire was distributed to a purposive sample of 165 employees employedby a largesteel processing company in Gauteng Province. The collected data wereanalysed using SPSS (Version 22.0). A combination of descriptive statistics andanalysis of mean scores was applied to meet the aim of the study. The resultsreveal that employees in the steel industry perceived that occupational health andsafety standards were satisfactory in all seven occupational health and safetydimensions considered in this study. These are (1) information and training, (2)health and safety awareness, (3) employee behaviour (4) role of the supervisor, (5)health and safety reporting mechanisms, (6) workplace inspection, and (7)workplace environment. Among these dimensions, safety awareness emerged asthe most important dimension to employees. The results may be utilised bymanagers in the steel industry to identify and direct their attention to the keyoccupational health and safety factors in their different contexts

The relationship between job satisfaction and job loyalty among municipal sports officers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and job loyalty among municipal sports officers in South Africa. With the rise in the popularity of sport in South Africa, municipalities throughout the country face the challenge of providing improved sports services. To meet this challenge, municipalities employ a variety of sports professionals, among whom are municipal sport officers. In order for them to function effectively, it is necessary for municipalities to ensure that their employees are satisfied and loyal. By examining the relationship between job satisfaction and job loyalty among municipal sports officers, municipalities could be able to come up with strategies of enhancing the levels of job satisfaction and job loyalty among municipal sports officers. The study used a quantitative approach, which involved administering a questionnaire to 185 municipal sports officers based in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The reliability of the measuring instrument was tested through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation was conducted. Non parametric correlations and regression analysis were used to test the existence of any causal relationship among the job satisfaction factors and job loyalty. Five job satisfaction factors, namely working conditions, ability utilisation, teamwork, creativity and autonomy were identified. A positive relationship between the five job satisfaction factors and job loyalty was found, with ability utilisation contributing the highest and autonomy contributing the lowest to the job loyalty of municipal sports officers. By making positive improvements on the five job satisfaction factors identified in this study, municipalities will be able to improve the job loyalty of municipal sports officers. This will effectively enable municipalities to meet the challenge ofproviding improved sports services.Keywords: Job loyalty, job satisfaction, municipal sports officer