Browsing by Author "Bick, Geoff"
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- ItemOpen AccessAn Inclusive Business Model Innovation in the Delivery of Blended Undergraduate Medical Education(2018) Hibling, Andrew; Bick, GeoffThe World Health Organization predicts that by 2030 there will be a shortage of 1.1 million medical practitioners in Africa. Establishing medical schools is difficult and expensive. Existing schools, albeit under increasing austerity pressure, need to increase their output of medical practitioners. This project aims to explore the implementation of an eLearning ecosystem in medical undergraduate education at the University of Cape Town, as a potentially key component in a blended learning curriculum. This could enable medical schools to use their existing infrastructure, and human and learning resources, to deliver effective off-campus teaching and learning; to increase the number of places available on-campus and, therefore potentially the number of graduating medical practitioners. The project addresses the question of how students would use the eLearning ecosystem, what features they would require, and whether there would be any benefits to students, learning or otherwise. This project employs a qualitative case study design with questionnaires, focus group observations and semi-structured interviews with multiple respondent types including medical and science students, facilitators, and lecturers. An inductive coding process was used to analyse the collected data. Teaching and learning can potentially be offered off-campus by using an eLearning ecosystem with appropriate tools - but only if there significant faculty adoption, students are schooled in digital learning practices and have access to their lecturers and the eLearning ecosystem facilitates off-campus learning opportunities. This project proposes a managed publishing business model innovation to help universities add value by empowering them to deliver a blended learning curriculum.
- ItemOpen AccessCustomer experience as an antecedent to market orientation: a mixed methods study of postgraduate students(2023) Raja, Shameema Ebrahim; Bick, GeoffMarket Orientation and Customer Experience are both constructs that belong to the world of business. It has now become necessary for universities to also embrace these business concepts in order to remain relevant and competitive, given the vast changes in Higher Education landscapes globally. Previous studies have looked at the relationship between Market Orientation and Customer Satisfaction. However, Customer Experience has not been identified as an antecedent to Market Orientation. This exploratory study posits that it is Customer Experience that influences Market Orientation at Higher Education institutions. Customer Satisfaction alone does not provide opportunities for students to be co-creators of their educational experiences. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine whether focusing on Customer Experience rather than just evaluating Customer Satisfaction levels can be a greater source of information to guide Market Orientation objectives and its implementation. The theoretical frameworks that guided the conceptual model of this study were the ResourceBased View and the Service-Dominant Logic theory. A cyclical relationship between Market Orientation and Customer Experience was proposed, with the nexus of this relationship being the concept of co-creation. A mixed methods convergent design approach was applied to collect data at a University of Technology in South Africa. The focus was on the postgraduate master's programme, and both research supervisors and master's students were part of the study sample. During the quantitative phase, data was collected via online surveys from 151 research supervisors, using purposive convenience sampling. Twenty-four master's students were interviewed using the critical incident technique method during the qualitative phase. Descriptive statistics together with Exploratory Factor Analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data, whilst qualitative data was coded and categorised into positive and negative incidents inductively in order to analyse the content to derive themes. The quantitative results and qualitative findings were merged to establish whether the results converged, augmented, differed, or were contradictory. The major contribution of this study is a cyclical model rather than a sequential model, where a positive relationship between Customer Experience and Market Orientation is possible, contingent on the institution's ability to promote co-creation initiatives amongst its key stakeholders. This study's findings reflect, that the stronger the level of Market Orientation practiced by supervisors, the more likely it is that the student experience would be positive, and the greater the impact on students' customer satisfaction levels. Co-creation initiatives vii between the university and all its stakeholders, especially students, were viewed as enhancing this relationship. This study reaffirms the roles of the institution, academics/employees and students in building and designing the customer experience at Higher Education institutions. The knowledge contribution of this study was the focus on Customer Experience and Market Orientation in the context of a developing country like South Africa, among others, given its unique economic, social and cultural structures. Furthermore, this study advances the importance of institutional reputation and research service experience in promoting a conducive environment that supports timely output of postgraduate students who can transfer their knowledge and skills into sectors of the South African economy. The methodological contribution of this study was the validation of the UNIVERSITY-I-MARKOR in the context of the developing world, highlighting the specific dimensions of Market Orientation that needed to be stimulated to enhance the student experience and the quality of the services provided by Higher Education institutions. Notably, areas for possible future research considerations were highlighted by this study.
- ItemOpen AccessRe-introducing prize-linked savings products in South Africa through business model innovation(2022) Khayelihle Ludgar Busa Mkhize; Bick, GeoffThe aim of this research study was to determine how business model innovation can be used to re-introduce prize-linked savings (PLS) products in South Africa in the context of the illegalization of FNB's Million-a-Month-Account (MaMa) by the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling in 2008. The study first explores the detailed underlying factors that led to the demise of FNB's MaMa program, beyond the obvious Lotteries Act challenges. Using FNB's Million-a-Month account experience as a case study, a qualitative research study was undertaken, with primary data collected through 10 in-depth semi-structured interviews with financial services experts and regulatory authorities. Content analysis of the data was used to identify themes to address the research questions. Key research findings suggest that the failure of FNB's MaMa program was due to: the ambiguities of the Lotteries Act with regards to prize-linked savings that existed until the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal was made in 2008; poor co-operation between government departments towards positive alignment between the regulation of the financial services industry versus the national lottery; and high industry or market concentration in the banking sector that led to lack of innovation and collaboration. A theoretical and practical contribution is made in the form of a comprehensive business model innovation framework for re-introducing PLS products in South Africa, which will provide valuable guidance to practitioners and researchers. As far as could be determined, it is the first academic study to explore prize-linked savings products from a business model innovation perspective
- ItemOpen AccessUtilising social entrepreneurship to facilitate the successful transition of foster youth to adulthood in South Africa(2017) Lesea, Tsakane; Bick, GeoffYoung people, emerging out of the foster care system, often struggle to become productive and self-sustainable adults in society. They are at high risk of being trapped in poverty and unemployment for their entire adult life because they are unable to make a successful transition out of the foster care system to adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore how social entrepreneurship can be utilised to establish a developmental transitional service to facilitate the successful transition to adulthood of youth in foster care. The research participants were purposefully selected and comprised social workers and foster youths based in the township and the former homelands of the Free State. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and focus groups and was analysed using content analysis. The study found that the current model of the foster care system is not designed to facilitate and support foster youth to make a successful transition to adulthood. This may be ascribed to the following: ● The legislative requirements imposed on this population group, ● The lack of preparatory transition services and ● The limited capacity of social workers to address the needs and challenges of foster youth. The study concludes that intervention is needed in the foster care system to prepare, equip and support foster youth to become productive and self-sustainable citizens. Through the application of the social entrepreneurship framework, this study demonstrates how existing resources and new actors can be leveraged to provide a developmental transitional service that will serve to promote the resilience of youth in foster care and assist them to break the cycle of poverty.