Browsing by Author "Budree, Adheesh"

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    Bridging the gap: factors driving retail analytics adoption in traditional retail businesses
    (2025) Moloi, Shaun; Budree, Adheesh
    This thesis investigates how South Africa's traditional retail sector adopts advanced analytics amid infrastructural, cultural, and economic constraints. Guided by the Technology Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, it addresses a critical gap in understanding the interplay of legacy systems, limited IT resources, and stringent regulatory demands on data-driven decision-making. A multi-case qualitative study of three large and mid-tier traditional retail chains in South Africa was conducted, involving 15 participants including store managers, IT directors, data analysts, marketing executives, and senior decision-makers. Findings highlight how outdated point-of sale infrastructure, patchy internet connectivity, and frequent power outages impede real-time analytics. At the organisational level, siloed structures and staff concerns over job displacement slow adoption, despite growing leadership support for pilot projects and training programmes. External forces, particularly the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), socio economic pressures such as high unemployment, and intense competition, further complicate large-scale analytics initiatives. Even promising solutions like loyalty cards and semi automated storefronts have yielded uneven returns when confronted by crime risks, transient consumer behaviour, or landlord restrictions. Nonetheless, incremental deployments (e.g., “mobile-first” analytics and phased cloud migrations) emerge as viable stopgaps to overcome resource and connectivity challenges. Findings underscore the importance of executive sponsorship, cross-functional collaboration, and targeted upskilling in fostering a data-centric culture. They also reveal that retailers can simultaneously advance sustainability goals, such as cutting waste and optimising energy usage, by harnessing predictive models that align with cost-saving strategies. Ultimately, this thesis argues that successful analytics adoption in emerging markets hinges on aligning technological ambitions with infrastructural realities and social imperatives. By integrating global best practices with localised approaches, retailers can enhance competitiveness, improve operational efficiencies, and contribute to inclusive, data-driven growth across South Africa's evolving retail landscape
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    BYOD: Risk considerations in a South African organisation
    (2018) Veljkovic, Ivan; Budree, Adheesh
    In recent times, while numerous organisations have difficulty keeping abreast with the frequent year-on-year technology changes, their employees on the other hand, continue to bring their personal devices to work to more readily access organisational data. This concept is known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Studies have demonstrated that the introduction of BYOD commonly has a positive effect on both organisation and employees: increased optimism, job satisfaction and productivity are some of the perceived positive effects. Furthermore, BYOD can improve employees’ opportunities for mobile working and assist with the work flexibility they seek. This phenomenon, however, is still not well understood. In the South African context, this refers particularly to an inadequate understanding of risks associated with the introduction of BYOD into organisations. Some of the risks associated with this phenomenon are, for instance, related to information security, legislation and privacy issues. Hence, the intention of this research was to investigate, determine and assess BYOD risk considerations in a South African organisation. Using the available literature on this subject and an interpretative exploratory case study approach, this research explored various facets of BYOD-related risks (e.g. implementational, technological, legislation, regulation and privacy risks, human aspects and organisational concerns) as well as the impact these risks may have on both employees and an organisation. The organisation under investigation – from this point onward referred to as “Organisation A” – is a South African based information technology (IT) security consulting and service management organisation, which has seen increased expansion in its business and thus an increase in the number of its employees utilising their personal devices at the workplace. Even so, Organisation A was uncertain regarding possible risks that might hinder benefits of BYOD. Hence, this researcher defined the main research question as “What are the risks of introducing the BYOD in the South African organisation and what is an effective approach to address identified risks?”. The main objective was to identify and describe BYOD-related risks and to propose an appropriate model for addressing these risks. To answer the main research question, this researcher reviewed the applicable literature on the BYOD, including the limited South African literature pertaining to the subject. The review elicited the most common BYOD-related risks but also some models, frameworks and standards that may be applied for addressing these risks. Based on these revelations, an applicable BYOD risk management model was created and proposed. The literature review findings were subsequently tested in the empirical setting (in Organisation A) by conducting comprehensive interviews with research participants. This research adopted a qualitative approach in general and a case study methodology in particular. The collected data were analysed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), which aided in providing a comprehensive understanding of the interviewees’ responses regarding the BYOD risks. The interviewees were selected based on a purposeful (pre-defined) sampling. The results of this interpretative research suggest that the interviewees’ responses are closely aligned with the information on BYOD risks collected from the pertinent literature. The results show that successful introduction and usage of BYOD in the studied organisation requires the implementation of mixed risk management measures: technological (e.g. mobile device management and its additional components), non-technological (e.g. IT or BYOD security policies), the usage of general risk management frameworks (e.g. ISO 27001), the development of an organisational security culture and skilling of the human factor (e.g. employee awareness, training and education, for example). Additionally, it was found that participation of employees in the development of BYOD policies is an essential and effective tactic for transforming a fragile BYOD risk link (i.e. employees) into a strong risk prevention mechanism. Furthermore, this research also revealed that in the South African context, it is important that an organisation’s BYOD security policies are sound, preferably meeting the POPI Act requirements and thereby avoiding legislation risks. The contribution of this research is twofold: first academic, and second, practical. The academic contribution is realised by adding to the body of knowledge on the BYOD risks – most particularly in terms of understanding potential risks when introducing BYOD in the South African context. The practical contribution manifests through the provision of detailed risk considerations and mitigation guidelines for organisations wishing to introduce BYOD practices or considering ways to improve their current BYOD risk management strategy. It is acknowledged that this research has some limitations, particularly in regard to the limited generalisation of the findings due to the limited sample provided by only one organisation. Although the results are not necessarily applicable to other South African organisations, these limitations did not impact the relevance and validity of this research.
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    Exploring the disintermediation effect of blockchain technology on the tourism industry
    (2023) Faker, Imaan; Budree, Adheesh
    Researchers and practitioners believe that blockchain technology (BCT) will have a substantial impact on all industries, including the tourism industry. Blockchain technology is open-source software that allows the creation of an immutable, distributed ledger (record of transactions). One of the immediate effects recognized by researchers in this domain is that blockchain technology has the potential to remove intermediaries such as Online Travel Agencies (OTA's) and Global Distribution Systems (GDS), thereby disrupting the industry as it stands. This is known as the disintermediation effect. This domain is largely regarded to be in its infancy at both practical and academic levels, hence several researchers are calling for a more systematic and rigorous approach to have a big impact on the development process of this technology for the tourism industry. To address this request, this qualitative study explores disintermediation as a core characteristic and effect of applying blockchain technology to the travel industry. This research aims to strengthen already scarce research in this domain, and thereby move forward blockchain tourism research. It employs a case study design guided by a blockchain-based framework which specifies five factors necessary for an increased level of disintermediation. A modified version of the framework is presented as findings reveal that intermediaries are becoming more innovative in entering the blockchain market, and therefore further sub-factors can be identified based on how disintermediation is currently being introduced in this industry. Keywords: blockchain technology; travel and tourism; disintermediation; intermediaries; online travel.
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    Factors That Drive the Selection of Business Intelligence Tools in South African Financial Services Providers
    (2021) Gina, Bonginkosi Phila; Budree, Adheesh
    Innovation and technology advancements in information systems (IS) result in multiple product offerings and business intelligence (BI) software tools in the market to implement business intelligence systems (BIS). As a result, a high proportion of organisations fail to employ appropriate and suitable software tools meeting organisational needs, resulting in a prime number of BI solution failures and abandoned projects are therefore recorded. Due to such project failures, benefits associated with BI are not realised hence organisations loose enormous investments on BI solutions and competitive advantage. The study aims at discovering and exploring critical factors influencing the selection of BI tools when embarking on the selection process. This is a quantitative research study and questionnaire surveyed data was collected from 92 participants working in South African financial services providers listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) appearing in the top 100 based on market capitalization. The data was analysed quantitative by employing the use of SPSS and SmartPLS-3 software's to test the significance of influential factors using the proposed conceptual model that emerged from the literature. The findings showed that a combination of domain technical and non-technical factors is critical. Therefore, software tool technical factors (functionality, ease of use, compatibility, availability of an integrated hardware/software package, and availability of source code), vendor technical factors (availability of technical support, technical skills, quality of product, availability of user manual for important information, tutorial for learning and troubleshooting guide, and experience in using product developed by the same vendor), and opinion non-technical factors (end-users, subordinates, outside personnel acquaintances, and improvement in customer service) emerged as significant combination of influential factors to be considered. The study contributes to both academia and industry by providing influential determinants for software tool selection. It is hoped that the findings presented will contribute to a greater understanding of factors influencing the selection of BI tools to researchers and practitioners alike. Furthermore, organisations seeking to select and deliver appropriate BI tools will be better equipped to drive such endeavours.
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    Investigating Factors that Influence Compliance of Digital Financial Service Agents to Legislation and Standards in Kenya
    (2021) Njuguna, Rebecca Wanjiku; Budree, Adheesh
    This study investigated the factors that influence compliance with existing legislation and standards among digital financial services (DFS) agents in Kenya. DFS in Kenya serve 60% of the adult population with at least 16 million subscribers. Much of these are attributable to the mobile money service Mpesa which accounts for the largest DFS market share. The number of DFS agents serving the market has grown to over five times the number of bank branches and ATMs in the country. With this growth in DFS, there have been many operational challenges among agents and the legislation has been at nascent. The aim of the study was to understand agent operational factors and how they influence compliance. Therefore, the main research question that guided the study was “How do operational factors affect compliance of DFS agents with agency banking legislation and standards in Kenya?” Additionally, the study investigated the compliance status among agents and identifiable groupings by compliance behaviour. Previous studies on DFS agents have identified persistent operational challenges but there has been no inquiry on how existing legislation addresses these challenges and whether their persistence is due to non-compliance. To investigate compliance, first, Configuration Theory (CT) was used to conceptualise DFS agents as organisations, classifying their operations under CT's principles of structure, strategy and environment. Subsequently, a conceptual model was developed with structure, strategy and environment as independent variables and compliance as the dependent variable. The first three propositions derived stated that structure, strategy and environment have an influence on compliance. The fourth proposition posed was that strategy has a greater influence on compliance than structure and environment. Quantitative paper-based questionnaires were used to collect cross-sectional data from 450 DFS agents in Kenya. A Partial Least Squares approach to Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyse the data on Smart PLS3. All four propositions were confirmed. Structure, strategy and environment had highly significant effects on compliance and strategy had the strongest effect on compliance. The findings suggest that Strategy, which was measured using training and technology utilization questionnaire items plays the biggest role in an agent's operations and compliance. Training equips agents with skills to manage liquidity, offer quality customer service, perform Know-Your-Customer (KYC), CustomerDue-Diligence (CDD) and suspicious transaction reporting (STR) procedures to assist with fraud detection and anti-money-laundering (AML) by identifying counterfeit customer identification documents, cash, and suspicious behaviour. Technologies such as CCTV cameras, counterfeit cash detectors and cash counting machines not only enhance efficiency but support the enforcement of the fraud and AML procedures. A two-step cluster analysis was performed to classify agents by compliance behaviour. Two distinct clusters emerged. The cluster where majority of agents fell exhibited better training and awareness of existing legislation, higher education levels and financial resources and was compliant with most of the questionnaire items measured. The second cluster with fewer agents was uncompliant on most questionnaire items measured and was characterised by lower education levels, financial resources and training levels. There were commonalities in both clusters which were relatively low scores on legislation awareness, and low compliance scores on liquidity and possession of DFS agent operational manuals. These findings suggest that an agent with a good alignment of financial and human resources (structure), good training and technology (strategy) and well informed about existing legislation (environment) would be compliant and is likely to experience less operational challenges. The findings also provide insights on what areas agents can take initiative for their own development, the most important being liquidity management, technology optimization and educating themselves on what legislations apply to them, and their compliance roles and responsibilities. Lastly, the study provides regulators with exploratory findings on the state of compliance among DFS agents in Kenya, indicating which areas agents are having most difficulty with. Banks and MNOs must recognize the crucial role of training and tailor programs to be responsive to all agent's operational and legislative areas.
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    Investigating the factors driving adoption of RPA in South African banking: a qualitative analysis
    (2020) Tew, Mark; Budree, Adheesh
    Background: Studies have shown that the traditional banking sector is under threat from digital banks and financial technology (fintech) organisations that can operate with a lower cost base and respond to the market faster. In response to this threat, leading banks have implemented Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to reduce costs and simplify operations. The adoption of RPA has, however, proven to be challenging as in many cases the impact of automation technology implementations is perceived to affect the livelihoods of staff who work in banks. Within the South African banking context, there is a particular sensitivity to factors that impede employment and labour unions are deeply involved in protecting workers. Objective: While there is research on RPA implementations, it is limited in the banking context. Further, there is currently little to no RPA adoption research specifically in the South African banking context. This study seeks to investigate the factors that drive RPA adoption in South African banks. Method: This study has used the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework, extended with Institution Theory, as a lens to structure an approach in organising RPA adoption factors in an extensive literature review on the phenomenon. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data that was collected. Themes were aggregated and organised by the TOE perspectives to create structure throughout the study. Results: The findings were that the adoption of RPA in South African banks is driven by the expected benefits of RPA which are achieved when well-suited processes are targeted, an effective operating model for the program including business and IT personnel, with the right skills. A well-designed change program is critical for RPA adoption in banks. South African banks are also working closely with the trade unions and are, on the whole, following best practices when automating parts of their workforce's roles by ensuring that they are given the opportunity to work on more engaging tasks.
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    Investigating the impact of organisational resources, entrepreneurial orientation dimensions and big data analytics on business performance of South African E-commerce SMMEs
    (2025) Mogale, Marungwane; Budree, Adheesh
    Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are key contributors to economic growth in South Africa. It is important to understand the essential organisational resources (IT Infrastructure, IT human resources and financial resources) and dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking) that influence the utilisation of big data analytic (BDA) capabilities. It is also important to understand the impact of big data analytic (BDA) capabilities on business performance (productivity and profitability). Leveraging insights from BDA capabilities is believed to create economic value, especially in e-commerce which generates large volumes of data. This study investigated the combined impact of organisational resources and EO dimensions on BDA capabilities, and ultimately on the business performance of South African e-commerce SMMEs. The study uses both the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities view to build a theoretical framework. The study was guided by a conceptual model developed through a literature review and utilised quantitative methods to analyse data collected from SMME owners, partners and managers. A probability simple random sampling technique was used for this study. Data were collected from 288 responses to a questionnaire and were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings revealed that IT infrastructure, IT human resources and financial resources have a significant positive impact on BDA capabilities. Furthermore, innovativeness and risk-taking (EO dimensions) enhanced BDA capabilities positively and significantly while another EO dimension, proactiveness, had an insignificant impact on BDA capabilities. The mediation analyses revealed that BDA capabilities fully mediate the relationship between organisational resources and business performance, while the EO dimensions are partially mediated. The study makes important theoretical and practical contributions and future research directions are discussed. A framework is provided that can be tested in future academic studies, specifically in the context of South Africa. Practically, the study indicates areas of investment for South African SMMEs engaged in e-commerce which may support their expansion and long-term sustainability, profitability and productivity. Both the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities view theories are context-sensitive, these findings should be considered limited in their generalizability and relevance to different contexts.
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    The effect of digital nudging on the users of eCommerce websites in South Africa
    (2025) Chihota, Tapiwa; Budree, Adheesh
    Post pandemic, online shopping applications have seen a rise in consumer traffic over the past three years. E-commerce sales have grown by 35% year over year, with online penetration remaining 30% higher than pre-Covid levels (McKinsey & Company, 2021). In South Africa, e-commerce is driven by high and fast-growing internet usage, pushing e- commerce growth from 27 million to 38 million by 2027. Given the ubiquitous use of e-commerce applications, it has become increasingly important for e-retailers to optimize the design of their web stores to attract consumers and gain a competitive advantage. Usability concerns affect transactional websites (e-commerce), as they need to enable users to achieve their goals efficiently, effectively, and satisfactorily (Díaz et al., 2017). Many e-commerce applications have incorporated digital nudging techniques to change consumers' online choice environments and influence their purchase decisions. This thesis aims to understand the effect of digital nudging on the users of e-commerce websites in South Africa. Specifically, this study investigates the effect of timed promotions, shipping information, and returns information nudging on customer response based on an experimental e-commerce platform. The responses were recorded using a questionnaire with a specific focus on three dependent variables to measure the customer responses between the nudge variants. Online experiments were conducted with the e-commerce clothing store “Superbalist” which is the second most popular e-commerce site in South Africa generating 220 million in annual revenue. This study employed a one-way between - subjects ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) ,to analyze the quantitative data. The results of the study show that the individual digital nudges examined (timed promotions, shipping information, and returns information nudges) result in more positive customer responses to most of the variable questions than no nudging. Moreover, combination nudges created by combining individual nudge variants have shown interesting insights into the negative backfiring effect of having too many nudges, resulting in a less positive customer response than no nudging at all.
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    The Privacy Paradox: Factors influencing information disclosure in the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in South Africa
    (2020) Davids, Natheer; Budree, Adheesh
    The Internet of Things (IoT) has been acknowledged as one of the most innovative forms of technology since the computer, because of the influence it can have on multiple sectors of physical and virtual environments. The growth of IoT is expected to continue, by 2020 the number of connected devices is estimated to reach 50 billion. Recent developments in IoT provide an unprecedented opportunity for personalised services and other benefits. To exploit these potential benefits as best as possible, individuals are willing to provide their personal information despite potential privacy breaches. Therefore, this paper examines factors that influence the willingness to disclose personal information in the use of IoT in South Africa (SA) with the use of the privacy calculus as the theoretical underpinnings of this research. The privacy calculus accentuates that a risk-benefit trade off occurs when an individual decides to disclose their personal information, however, it is assumed that there are more factors than perceived risks and perceived benefits that influence information disclosure. After analysing previous literature, this study identified the following factors; information sensitivity, privacy concerns, social influence, perceived benefits, (perceived) privacy risks and privacy knowledge as possible key tenants in relation to willingness to disclose personal information. This research took on an objective ontological view, with the underlying epistemological stance being positivistic. The research incorporated a deductive approach, employing the use of a conceptual model which was constructed from a combination of studies orientated around privacy, the privacy calculus and the privacy paradox. Data for this research was collected using the quantitative research approach, through the use of an anonymous online questionnaire, where the targeted population was narrowed down to the general public residing within SA that make use of IoT devices and/or services. Data was collected using Qualtrics and analysed using SmartPLS 3. SmartPLS 3 was used to test for correlations between the factors which influence information disclosure in the use of IoT by utilising the complete bootstrapping method. A key finding was that the privacy paradox is apparent within SA, where individuals pursue enjoyment and predominantly use IoT for leisure purposes, while individuals are more likely to adopt self-withdrawal tendencies when faced with heightened privacy concerns or potential risks.
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    Towards a Higher Education curriculum for South African ecommerce entrepreneurs
    (2025) Budree, Adheesh; Cliff, Alan
    This study investigated the development of an inclusive curriculum for eCommerce entrepreneurship in South Africa. The main research question posed in this study was ‘How can an inclusive curriculum be developed to support the development of eCommerce entrepreneurs in South Africa?' The research question was broken down into three sub-questions addressing three domains, namely empirical, actual and real in the context of a South African eCommerce entrepreneurship curriculum, in line with a postcolonial critical realism theory as a theoretical framework. The study sought to identify the development principles associated with a curriculum based on the skills and competencies required by eCommerce entrepreneurs within the context of conducting online business in South Africa that allowed them to not only fully comprehend the markets they operate in, but to also thrive within these markets and adjust to evolving circumstances. This required the exploration of the attributes needed for successful eCommerce entrepreneurs within the context in which the entrepreneur exists which then informs the curriculum development process required to develop a curriculum that addresses the needs of up-and-coming eCommerce entrepreneurs in the country. Subject-matter experts in eCommerce entrepreneurship involved with curriculum development and the eCommerce industry were interviewed to analyse the requirements for an inclusive eCommerce entrepreneurship curriculum in South Africa. A thematic analysis was conducted to extract the main themes arising from the interviews. These were aligned with a conceptualised theory incorporating postcolonial critical realism which was used as the theoretical framework to interrogate the phenomenon. The themes were then analysed to derive design principles. By integrating these principles, the curriculum design for eCommerce entrepreneurship in South Africa can be both transformative and responsive to the needs and realities of a postcolonial society, leveraging education as a tool for empowerment and social change. The findings of this study are aimed at informing curriculum development across South African Higher Education institutions, both in the public and private sectors, which could positively impact on both higher education policy in allocation of budget to appropriate areas of development and economic development in both the short and long terms.