Strategic alliance governance in Zimbabwe policy and strategy

Worldwide interest in strategic alliances has increased dramatically partly because of their potential to expand firms operations in the short run. Among the many issues posed by the increasing interest in strategic alliances, this paper focuses specifically on the dynamics associated with the governance of strategic alliance relationships. Furthermore, due to the constant deterioration of the Zimbabwean economy and the resultant heightened customer expectations, Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have to enter into collaborative relationships which involve a high level of trust, goal alignment and commitment. The research used a multi-method field approach to gather, information on strategic alliances and corporate governance from 50 strategic alliance relationships from a wide spectrum of firms in a variety of industries in Zimbabwe. Ultimately, this paper identifies four critical governance areas into a framework for strategic alliance governance. The advent of the Internet has increased the ease of application or collaboration to form strategic alliances. Factors such as increased competition because of easier market entry, speed of data, and demanding customer requirements are necessitating a revolutionary change in the way that SMEs are managed. The struggling economy of Zimbabwe provides a platform that enables SMEs to extend their alliances to its suppliers thereby forming dynamic industrial districts. These factors, shared with an eagerness to contribute towards information and technology flow, will enable an efficient alliance thereby responding to the needs of customers

A framework for combating insider trading on developing stock exchanges: Evidence from the Zimbabwean stock exchange

Stock exchanges play a vital role in any capitalist economy as they provide a secondary market where investors can buy and sell shares under orderly conditions at fair and competitive prices. This role requires stock exchange operations to be regulated in order to enhance the efficiency, transparency and full disclosure in their operations. This is particularly true with respect to the potential harm associated with insider trading. In Zimbabwe the trading of shares is conducted through Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and is regulated by the Zimbabwe Securities Commission. The Zimbabwean Stock Exchange is a typical emerging stock exchange whose performance has been noteworthy in the past two decades in terms of returns on investment in United States dollar terms and in terms of share price increases. In recent years however, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has faced some challenges associated with insider trading. On the other hand principles of corporate governance, business ethics and morality have been emphasized as critical managerial attributes that result in fair trading and business practices. Based on literature review on the subject and responses to qualitative interviews with stakeholder groups on insider trading in Zimbabwe, this paper discussed the concept of insider trading and its causes and proposes a framework for combating insider trading in developing stock exchanges

Relationship marketing: Strategic and tactical challenges for SMEs

This study sought to explore the tactical and strategic challenges, which small and medium sized service firms may face in their bid to successfully practice and implement Relationship marketing. The framework of the requirements for successful practice of relationship marketing propounded by Gronroos (1996) was used in this study to explore likely, the tactical and strategic challenges that small and medium sized service firms face in their endeavour to practice Relationship marketing (RM). A critical literature review was undertaken on the inherent characteristics of SMEs and how they pose the aforementioned challenges. Small and medium sized firms could find it strategically and tactically challenging to meet effectively, the requirements of successfully implementing and practicing Relationship marketing owing to their inherent characteristics and constraints. Researchers are recommended to empirically investigate the applicability of the ''generalized'' requirements for the successful practice of Relationship marketing in small and medium sized service firms. The study viewpoint, which is the first of its kind, demonstrates that the ''one size fit all'' approach as regards the practice of Relationship marketing does not generically apply to all business forms (large and small) hence, may not be generalized to small and medium sized service firms as well across all types of economies

Teaching Project Management at a South African Tertiary Institution

The subject of project management is relatively new and has increased in stature over the years as its use expanded across disciplines from construction-based projects to initiatives that have scope, time and cost constraints. Developing effective pedagogical approaches is key to the development of the subject. This paper highlights some significant factors and suggests examples of best practice based on qualitative data collected from teaching and learning experiences gained at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The paper follows a reflective approach and uses multiple project cases to propose areas of focus for teaching project management using the Project Based Learning approach