Entrepreneurial Studies & Management

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the system dynamics of the trading strategy called the mixed-mix portfolio for effective utility of the strategy. The focus is on the impact of the volatility in the financial growth and transaction costs under this portfolio strategy. In addition we justify and design a system that sufficiently utilizes the presence of volatility. A counter intuitive dynamical system approach is considered to counter the unrealised infinitesimal rates based on the financial engineered foundation on how to render a stochastic process to a stationary process.

The potential of active portfolio management with fixed-mix strategies is analysed under the systemic risk setting of the derivative market and the financial assets market. The fast exponential growth of fixed-mix portfolios under the non-degeneracy condition, which is the non-constancy of the price ratios and as well as the prices's total returns, and the stationary condition, (see [Dempster, Evsteegniv and Schenk-Hopp´e, in Journal of Mathematical Economics, 46 (2010), pp. 248-266]), asserts a potential to uphold such conditions with financial engineered transactions. The proxies which analytically hold the assumptions and the required conditions of constant rebalanced portfolios are studied by analysing the dynamics of stochastic prices of futures and forward contracts on commodity prices. The mean-reversion typical setting of the prices of traded contracts declare the non-degeneracy condition and the associated stationarity form on the marking-to-market process of a traded instrument. The performed computations of portfolio strategies in the South African financial market, without

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the system dynamics of the trading strategy called the mixed-mix portfolio for effective utility of the strategy. The focus is on the impact of the volatility in the financial growth and transaction costs under this portfolio strategy. In addition we justify and design a system that sufficiently utilizes the presence of volatility. A counter intuitive dynamical system approach is considered to counter the unrealised infinitesimal rates based on the financial engineered foundation on how to render a stochastic process to a stationary process.

The potential of active portfolio management with fixed-mix strategies is analysed under the systemic risk setting of the derivative market and the financial assets market. The fast exponential growth of fixed-mix portfolios under the non-degeneracy condition, which is the non-constancy of the price ratios and as well as the prices's total returns, and the stationary condition, (see [Dempster, Evsteegniv and Schenk-Hopp´e, in Journal of Mathematical Economics, 46 (2010), pp. 248-266]), asserts a potential to uphold such conditions with financial engineered transactions. The proxies which analytically hold the assumptions and the required conditions of constant rebalanced portfolios are studied by analysing the dynamics of stochastic prices of futures and forward contracts on commodity prices. The mean-reversion typical setting of the prices of traded contracts declare the non-degeneracy condition and the associated stationarity form on the marking-to-market process of a traded instrument. The performed computations of portfolio strategies in the South African financial market, without

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are recognised around the world for their contribution to a country's social and economic growth. They are the fertile generators of economic growth and development for South Africa. It has been recognised that one of the strategies that contributes to the longevity and success of businesses is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).    Hence, this study provides an insight into the influence of CSR on business growth in South Africa.

Various scholars assert that CSR is more evident in major corporations with structured CSR strategies.  Such businesses have separate divisions dedicated to CSR initiatives. However, CSR activities in SMEs in South Africa are still sketchy.  They are based on the personal judgement and beliefs of owners and managers.  There is a lack of awareness of the advantages of CSR in SMEs in South Africa.  The lack of top management commitment has also been identified as a barrier to SMEs participating in CSR in South Africa.  Consequently, there is more focus on the application of CSR in big corporations, thus neglecting SME participation in this initiative.

It has thus been established that CSR remains a development tool that facilitates growth for SMEs in South Africa. Not all CSR activities require businesses to spend millions on such activities.  SMEs may choose projects that are within their economic means.  Hence, CSR awareness campaigns are useful to assist SMEs to make their projects more explicit.

Over the years, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained popularity as a management philosophy whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their operations and interactions with stakeholders. It aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, or charitable nature by engaging in activities or supporting volunteering or ethically-oriented practices. This practice has mostly been associated with large organisations. However, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been recognized for their contributions in social and economic development of any country. Hence, this study examines the influence of CSR on human resource performance in the selected manufacturing SMEs in South Africa. This study was quantitative in design and examined production and related experiences of the manufacturing SME organisation that had adopted CSR strategy for human resource improvement. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), was used to analyse data. The selected company operates in the eThekwini District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The study was achieved by collecting pre-and post-quarterly data for employee turnover and labour absenteeism. The results indicate that both employee turnover and labour absenteeism have no relationship with human resource performance post-CSR implementation. However, CSR has a relationship with human resource performance. Any increase in CSR activities results in an increase in human resource performance. Formal CSR programmes can boost employee morale and lead to greater productivity in the workforce.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are recognised around the world for their contribution to a country's social and economic growth. They are the fertile generators of economic growth and development for South Africa. It has been recognised that one of the strategies that contributes to the longevity and success of businesses is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Hence, this study provides an insight into the influence of CSR on business growth in South Africa. Various scholars assert that CSR is more evident in major corporations with structured CSR strategies. Such businesses have separate divisions dedicated to CSR initiatives. However, CSR activities in SMEs in South Africa are still sketchy. They are based on the personal judgement and beliefs of owners and managers. There is a lack of awareness of the advantages of CSR in SMEs in South Africa. The lack of top management commitment has also been identified as a barrier to SMEs participating in CSR in South Africa. Consequently, there is more focus on the application of CSR in big corporations, thus neglecting SME participation in this initiative. It has thus been established that CSR remains a development tool that facilitates growth for SMEs in South Africa. Not all CSR activities require businesses to spend millions on such activities. SMEs may choose projects that are within their economic means. Hence, CSR awareness campaigns are useful to assist SMEs to make their projects more explicit.

Research demonstrates that there are over 6,000 languages in the world and countries believe that their national interest should come first, and in this case the national language(s) must be prioritized. However, it became imperative for people, let alone countries, to use a language they can understand for trade (economy) and socio-political or cultural relations. This raised a number of problems including the fact that colonial masters’ language was upheld to the detriment of their once “slaves” language which they called a dialect. With the advent of democracy and improvement in international bilateral and multilateral relations, linguistic rights were recognized as part and parcel of other human rights, and subsequently, a win-win approach became reasonably what countries would expect in international co-operation. Today the reality is that English serves as a lingua franca in trade and co-operation but this is to some extent abusive to people’s democratic and linguistic rights....

Using managerial tools such as the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis as well as the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Ecological and Legal (PESTEL) framework, the paper presents an outlook of what transpires about the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)’s partnership and looks into its prospects through the lenses of management’s expertise. It is an attempt to make sense of the BRICS challenges and opportunities in order to eradicate poverty and other socio-economic ills. Among other things, the positive aspects of the BRICS include but are not limited to being an alternative to the World Bank and the IMF as far as capital-intensive projects financing is concerned. The negative aspect hitting the BRICS are no other than trade (tariff) war against the US, the Russia-China attempt to proximity with EU as well as inherent socio-economic problems within each of the member countries. Using mixed methods and a predominantly qualit...

Since South Africa (SA) joined the BRIC countries in 2010 to form the BRICS partnership, there has not been an agreed-upon mineral beneficiation model for the partnership. Co-operation among the BRICS countries requires the partners to embrace collaborative synergies for international business integration. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the BRICS partnership on mineral beneficiation in SA. Four objectives were assigned: first, to explore the influence of BRICS partnership on mineral beneficiation in SA; second, to identify the implementation challenges of BRICS interventions in SA; third, to explore the possible outcomes of BRICS influence on mineral beneficiation; and lastly to develop a model for mineral beneficiation in the context of BRICS in SA. Theories on international trade and co-operation as well as mineral beneficiation form the basis of the research and are explored along with theories that emphasise the significance of risk, trust and uncertainty in ...

Sustainability reporting has been created to satisfy many interests, by virtue of stakeholder theory, it has become crucial factor contributing to corporate sustainability. Integrated Reporting is becoming the leading new corporate reporting standard. The Integrated Reporting process is still in the development phase in South Africa with many companies uncertain about its benefits and how to assess its impact. However, the majority of the companies have not yet developed integrated reports and is grappling with questions such as: What is the meaning of integrated thinking? The study looks into the content and quality of integrated reports of three listed companies in South Africa in order to evaluate whether they contribute to a more concise and balanced understanding of corporate performance compared to stand-alone sustainability reports. We chose the tourism sector because tourism has often been portrayed as a best practice for sustainable development. The paper aims to empirically test the assumption that the preparation of Integrated Reports will lead to an improvement in the quality of information disclosed. We explore whether integrated reporting actually satisfy stakeholders' informational needs and contributes to their empowerment. Quality information must result in reduction of information asymmetries, allowing effective control of managers and establishing good governance. The results confirm that general norms and enforcement mechanisms that regulate stakeholders' rights can have a significant impact on business disclosure practices. An important result is to consider " excessive " the definition of integrated thinking. This result is in sharp contrast to the theory and the principles of integrated thinking, but it highlights how difficult it is to translate into operational terms the integrated thinking. Accordingly, our results need to be confirmed by further studies, also qualitative study, based on the preferences of managers in different countries and sector.