Vol. 11 No. 1(J) (2019)

The study seeks to assess the effects of leadership style on Employee performance (EP) of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) companies in South Africa. The specific objectives are: to determine the effects of autocratic leadership style on EP; to evaluate the effect of participative/ democratic leadership style on EP; to ascertain the relationship between laissez faire leadership style and EP; to assess the relationship between transactional leadership style and EP in the FMCGs. Quantitative research survey design was adopted for the study; both primary and secondary sources of data were utilized during the investigation. The sample size of 233 was obtained from the estimated population using Rao soft online calculator at 5% error tolerance and 95% level of confidence. Data was collected via questionnaires and analyzed utilizing Simple Linear Regression (SLR) and Pearson product moment correlation (PPMC). It was discovered that there is a significant relationship between the various leadership styles and the performance of organisations. However, transactional leadership style was found to account for more influence on employee performance than other styles of leadership. Therefore, the study recommends the transactional style of leadership for managers of FMCGs in order to increase employee performance, ensure profitability and sustainability of the organisation.

Building a vibrant brand in a highly competitive market is of strategic importance as it provides greater loyalty which generates large market share and decreases competitive pressure on a firm. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the role of brand equity in supporting the formation of loyalty in the traditional medicine market. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of brand equity on loyalty in the traditional medicine market. Based on the dimensionality of Aakers brand equity framework, four research propositions were put forward and evaluated by using structural equation modelling. The study relied on a sample of 348 customers who buy herbal medicines from the traditional medicine market in Kumasi metropolis. The study established that perceived quality, brand association and awareness significantly contribute to enhance the value of the brands which in turn, creates loyalty in the traditional medicine market in the Kumasi Metropolis. Recognizing the strategic importance of loyalty to the success of a firm, traditional health practitioners should direct their efforts towards developing perceived quality, brand association and awareness to enhance the value of their brands to support loyalty in the Kumasi traditional medicine market.

This study examined the effects of information technology on internal audit in Southwest Nigeria Universities. Primary data were employed and questionnaires were distributed to the selected Universities. Out of 180 questionnaires, 152 questionnaires were filled and returned by the respondents. The study employed factor analysis and binary logit regression analysis as estimation techniques. The findings from factor analysis showed that Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s tests value was 0.786(78.6%) implying that the variables have a 78.6% variation in the data. The value of components variance revealed 62.750 on component 4 indicating that at component 4 there was 62.8% factor variation in the data. Nonetheless, the logit regression equation revealed that fraud discovery of IT (FD) has a positive and insignificant effect on internal audit. Also, IT effectiveness (ITE) revealed that ITE has a negative and significant effect on internal audit. Equally, asset recovery (AR) exhibited a negative and insignificant effect on internal audit. Furthermore, the external audit (EA) has a positive and insignificant effect on internal audit. This study concluded that a significant relationship exists between information technology and internal audit in Southwest Universities. It was recommended that Universities in Southwest should promote and encourage information technology in the internal audit department and also encourage the external users.

Impulsive buying behavior is an emerging phenomenon in marketing literature and it affects consumers across the board. Impulsive buying is seen as the outcome of demonstrative reactions that breed the unexpected craving to purchase. Impulsive buying is becoming an important factor for retailers since they generate a lot of income through this kind of behavior. Due to the expansion of organized retail over the country, shops are trying to comprehend the buying behavior of consumers and try by all means that they trigger consumers to act in an impulsive way. Traditional buying behavior of consumers was seen as when purchasers made a list for purchasing products then depart to a particular store and purchase it. But now the whole buying behavior is changing due to the rise in the income level of consumers. This is giving the consumers more buying power, transformation in the socio-cultural environment way of life and consumption pattern. This, therefore, influences the consumer to act in an irrational manner which is known as unplanned buying without considering the potential consequences which may include non-usage of the product, negative economic consequences and feelings of regret, fury and fault. So the present study aims to analyze how uniqueness, price and past orientation influence impulse buying behavior are focusing on classical clothing brands like Nike, Adidas and Reebok. This study attempts to discern how consumer's traditional planned shopping behavior is shifting to impulse buying behavior. The study used a quantitative research method and analyzed the data by means of SMART PLS to test the relationships and the model. 350 questionnaires were used for data analysis using convenience sampling process. The outcomes of the research showed a progressive and significant association between the predictors (the need for uniqueness, price and past orientation) and the outcome variable (impulsive buying behavior).

One of the many impediments to a specific region, country and/or continents political, social and economic growth prospects is corruption, the aim of this paper is to unearth the drivers and consequences of corruption in post-colonial Africa. Corruption is a global phenomenon; however when observing global corruption statistics and/or trends, it seems to be more prominent in underdeveloped continents such as Africa. Corruption in Africa is purely driven by low levels of economic growth, bad governance structures weak constitutions political instability, high levels of poverty coupled with high and ever-increasing levels of unemployment. We argue that post the colonial era, there has been a rise of corruption activities within the continent where individuals including some African heads of states have looted the continent of its resources meant for the general populace. In this sense, corruption takes resources meant for the poor, limits foreign direct investments (FDI) and has severe effects on a continent that is already the least developed in the world.

Municipalities are at the forefront of South Africa’s developmental agenda. To assist in the foregoing, the municipalities perform the primary task of service delivery - mandated by the Constitution of South Africa. The efficiency of the municipal service delivery function is depended on municipal funds, as derived from various sources. Apart from these funds, municipalities also receive funding through National and Provincial grant allocations, in addition. Notwithstanding the aforementioned most South African municipalities are experiencing financial problems which may adversely affect their relevant service delivery tasks. A possible contributor to the financial problems of South African municipalities is that of human resources (HR) risk factors. For this study, the emphasis was placed on testing whether perceived HR risk factors had any influence on the financial problems experienced in Overberg District Municipalities. Empirical research was conducted through the means of collecting quantitative primary data from 106 respondents, all of whom had to adhere to relevant delineation criteria. Stemming from the results, it was found that perceived HR risk factors did not have any statistically significant influence on the financial problems experienced in Overberg District Municipalities.

The proponents of African regional integration hoped to create large economic spaces that allow economies of scale, increased efficiency, competitiveness and faster growth of Africa states. Whereas the linear model of regional integration seemed to have worked for the European Union, many have questioned its applicability in the African context. The applicability of the Linear model at the stages of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) like the EAC has met with significant stagnation primarily because of some bottlenecks such as poor infrastructure that limits the connectivity with the continent and lack of political will out of fear for the loss of sovereignty. The question thus lies in how the dream for a regionally united Africa will arise when its people cannot move and interact freely within the continent? By utilizing a secondary research design, this paper, therefore, sought to not only examine the effectiveness of the linear model of regional integration for Africa but also explore the possibility of incorporating the functionalist and federalist approach into an inclusive model for African regional integration. In examining the economic dynamics of regional integration, the paper identifies the benefits of economic integration, such as larger markets as a result of free movement of people and goods that could be harnessed by trading communities within Africa. Thus, the central argument in this paper does not discard the benefits and successes of the linear model of regional integration but concludes that its effectiveness can be enhanced by incorporating functionalist and at later stages federalist approaches to regional integration in Africa. The principal argument is that political and elitist integration agreements are futile when the continent is not connected physically and trade wise.

Financial managers base an investor’s risk profile on their demographics and level of risk investors are willing to tolerate. Risk tolerance is often influenced by the different levels of life satisfaction that an investor experience and may differ based on the demographic composition of that investor. Demographic variables such as gender can differentiate between investors level of life satisfaction, which can ultimately affect investment decisions. As a result, the degree of life satisfaction can affect investment decisions by manipulating the level of risk that investors are willing to tolerate. Male and female investors can be categorised into different risk tolerance levels based on their satisfaction with life status. The aim of this study is to determine the risk tolerance level of male and female investors considering their level of life satisfaction. The results of this study indicated that the more unsatisfied investors are with their lives the less likely they will be to take on high-risk investments. Therefore, low life satisfaction is accompanied by a lowrisk tolerance level. Male investors had higher life satisfaction compared to female investors. Female investors were only willing to tolerate high risk when experiencing extremely low life satisfaction or extremely high life satisfaction stages.

Diversification is a popular strategy for growth in response to a volatile economy. Current research, however, devotes little attention to the leadership required to ensure successful diversification, except for theoretical contributions on leaders’ thinking processes from scholars within the strategy discipline. This study thus conducted fieldwork in South African organisations to explore empirically how senior leaders’ thinking processes, demonstrating contextual intelligence, contributing to successful diversification. A qualitative study was conducted by collecting data through semi-structured interviews from 15 executives with an average of 21 years’ experience in senior management roles, who had been involved in diversification in South Africa. A critical incident interview technique was used, and interviewees offered examples of how they changed their way of thinking in creating an environment for successful diversification. The analysis revealed that continuous change was required to successfully implement a diversification strategy. Leaders demonstrated specific thinking processes, for example: being intently aware of their context, they filtered and compared this information to their schema or preconceived cognitive representations. In case of a mismatch, they changed their way of thinking; and directed contextual information to challenge others’ current way of thinking. Surprising findings included leaders’ sensing other’s emotions and appealing to these through storytelling to elicit support for their diversification. Diversification requires organisations to invest in developing the agility and global perspective of leadership to increase awareness of trends in their context, their own biases and to shift their mindsets as well as purposefully challenging other’s thinking.

This study aims to describe the condition of the welfare gap between residents and regions in Indonesia on a number of welfare indicators namely poverty depth index, poverty severity index, Gini Coefficient Index (GCI), and the Human Development Index (HDI). This study also aims to analyze the importance of fiscal policy, especially in the form of state expenditure allocations to minimize the gap. This study uses a quantitative descriptive analysis method that is by calculating some of the indicator data needed through the approach of average value, termun, standard devasi, and others. The result is a description of the welfare gap between people / regions in Indonesia and an overview of government policies that have been carried out. Whereas one of the recommendations is that the government should allocate state expenditures that are more effective, efficient, quality and pay attention to priority scale so that it can solve the welfare gap problem above.