Vol. 6 No. 8 (2014)

Despite the increase in research focusing on service relationship level in the banking sector, research on relationship benefit, student perceived shared value on relationship commitment, trust and student retention in the African banking context is still scant. Therefore, using a data set of 175 from students in colleges and universities in Johannesburg, this study examines these relationships. Smart PLS software technique was used to statistically analyse the measurement and structural models. All the posited six hypotheses were supported. The findings from the data analysis proved that there is a strong positive relationship between all six hypotheses.

Local economic development (LED) in the context of the development question is generally celebrated as a silver bullet to development challenges in Africa. However this discourse is more complex and needs greater theoretical scrutiny in order to understand its meaning. This paper picks up standpoint theory to critique the dominant understanding/s of local economic development and argues that unless it is more people-centered and benefits the local human/s, local economic development will remain an imposition from the top which will continue to alienate the local human and will remain an imperial project.

The focus of this paper is to present an exploratory study on the level of awareness regarding green marketing and its managerial implications, among selected, South African Manufacturing Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), in the province of KwaZulu–Natal (KZN). The concept of green marketing and thought provoking managerial implications are still an issue of concern in the South African manufacturing sector. The study aimed to explore the awareness levels about green marketing by selected South African manufacturing SMMEs in KZN, and the resulting managerial implications. Primary data was collected from 84 manufacturing SMMEs. This research was quantitative in nature and a questionnaire was used to collect data from SMMEs owners/managers in KZN. Findings of the research indicate that SMMEs in the study are aware of green marketing and its managerial implications. It further reveals that SMMEs’ owners/managers indicate that the South African Environmental Act and Consumer Protection Act are additional factors that influence their businesses operations. The paper will benefit SMMEs owners/managers, SMMEs marketing managers, and affiliated stakeholders, by introducing a new understanding of green marketing and how to cope with the demand of new green marketing strategies. Most work on the Green Zone has concentrated on green products, with little emphasis on green marketing and its implications. The findings are limited by the study’s exploratory, quantitative nature and small sample. Generalisation should be done with care and further research, with a large sample and consideration of other provinces, is therefore recommended.

Like in many other countries, the South African financial market facilitates the process of raising capital by channelling funds to more productive economic activity, thereby building the nation's economy while enhancing job opportunities and wealth creation. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of monetary policy on financial market in South Africa. It is important to constantly look into this interaction since policy decisions have a direct influence on financial market. A negative response from the market side may jeopardise economic stability. The study uses the vector autoregressive (VAR) model to evaluate the impact of monetary policy on financial market in South Africa. The model consists of five policy instruments as variables; namely: money supply (M3), real exchange rate(ER), discount Rate (R), consumer price index (CPI), gross domestic product (GDP) and the two market related variables: Stock market turnover (S) and Bond market turnover (B). Data is obtained from SARB and OECD databases for a period of 53 quarters from 2000:Q1 to 2013:Q1. By the use of impulse response function (IRF), the study found that given current economic situation in South Africa, stock market turnover reacts positively to money supply; discount rate; real exchange and GDP shocks. On the other hand stock market turnover reacts negatively to CPI economic shocks. To correct CPI negative impact on markets, we suggest that the policymakers could envisage a contractionary monetary policy translated by a proportional cut in money supply through the sales of government securities.

The use of investment cash flow sensitivity as a measure of financing constraints is an unresolved research agenda. This paper endeavors to explain the conflicting evidence by using proxies for both internal financial constraint and external financial constraint measures. Data is taken from selected six African countries, a region where no previous studies are conducted. It is observed that the investment curve is U- shaped when firms are classified on the basis of internal financial constraint measure (i.e. cash flow). Using external financial constraint proxies (age, size and payout) it is found that all category of firms show positive and significant investment cash flow sensitivity. This suggests that the sampled African firms are externally financial constrained. It is concluded that the way firms are a priori classified as internal vs. external financial constrained matters. This raises the issue of whether the term financial constraints itself is a multidimensional construct.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate and benchmark the performance of Tanzanian Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs). Measuring the performance of these organizations is useful in helping them to monitor and control their performance and business processes and improve productivity and profitability. The study used secondary data from audited financial statements from 103 SACCOs. Technical efficiency was estimated using the data envelopment analysis approach and profitability was measured using return on assets. Then an efficiency-profitability matrix was employed to distinguish best performers from struggling SACCOs. This particular approach has been selected to account for multiple dimensions of performance measures. Using the top 25% as a cut-off for profitability and efficiency we found that only 12% of the firms were diagnosed as best performers (stars). The majority of the firms (61%) were classified under the low efficiency low profitability category. Fourteen SACCOs were highly profitable but had low efficiency scores, which demonstrate a potential for performance improvement by increasing their efficiency. Another group of 14 SACCOs were classified as potential candidates for divestiture because they had high efficiency scores but low profitability. Conclusively the performance of the industry in Tanzania needs a well-thought turnaround strategy to make it commercially viable. For the majority of the SACCO both profit-increasing and efficiencyincreasing strategies are required.

This study aims to analyze the influence of biophysical, economic, location, socio-cultural, institutional and environmental aspects on the water supply and the need for clean water in Medan city. Clean water was originally consideredas social goods that were freely accessed. The need for clean water for the population in Medan city is heightened due to the population growth, the increase on economic activities such as industrial growth in small-scale, medium and large industries, the development of public facilities and the increasing welfare of the community. The primary and secondary data obtained from relevant agencies and public in Medan city are used in this study. The secondary data were obtained starting in 1990 - 2012, while primary data were obtained from 30 respondents. The analysis model used is the structural equation models. The results have shown that; (i) biophysical, economic, location, sociocultural, institutional, environmental aspects positively influence the water supply and the need for clean water; (ii) there is a greater influence of water needs on the water supply, as compared to the effect of water supply to the needs of clean water.

This paper identifies the main features of a shopping mall that govern customer satisfaction in Southern Gauteng in South Africa. Literature is reviewed, identifying various features in shopping malls such as merchandisers, accessibility, service, amenities, ambiance, entertainment, security and among others. This literature is based on previous authors' scientific work, on mall features that influence the satisfaction and patronage by customers. A quantitative study was conducted with 429 questionnaires used in the final data analysis. The study results suggest the important shopping mall features in Gauteng South in South African and confirm that specific shopping mall features are positively related to customer satisfaction and mall patronage. The paper further develops suggestions on mall features that should be emphasised for promotional campaigns, customer satisfaction and mall patronage by customers.