Browsing by Author "Shelley, Elanca"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    A model for the utilisation of networks and leveraging of the economic benefits of migration capital in emerging markets
    (2018) Chunnett, Wanda Ingrid; Shelley, Elanca
    The research considers the question: What can emerging market economies do to leverage sustainable growth opportunities from resource constrained, involuntary migrant entrepreneurs? It explores the positive economic impact that involuntary migrant entrepreneurs have made in an emerging market economy, South Africa, through the establishment of sustainable businesses. The objective is to understand the underlying enablers and constraints that facilitated the establishment of such businesses historically and to use them to develop a model that might be implemented by public and private institutions to maximise the economic benefits that groups of migrant entrepreneurs can deliver. It took the form of an inductive study of behavioural attributes to which a critical realist epistemology has been applied, using network theory and the lens of “desirable difficulties” within the context of social, economic and migration capital. The research was inspired by the work of Elizabeth and Robert Bjork (1996 and 2015) and extends the concept of desirable disabilities into the realm of societal “disabilities” that have been overcome by resource constrained migrant entrepreneurs, to accumulate the necessary social, knowledge and economic capital (Bourdieu, 1985) to establish sustainable businesses. The theoretical contribution of the research is to take the involuntary migrant debate beyond the "refugee as burden" paradigm, by focusing on constrained, involuntary migrants as potential economic contributors through: 1. A theoretical proposition that the legal, knowledge, language and economic capital required by constrained migrant entrepreneurs to leverage the enabling disabilities that they have and to establish their locus of power, is augmented by additional "migration capital", an offshoot of mobility capital, which originates from the interactions within and between the migrant group networks. 2. The development of a model, based on migration capital, which may be used by emerging market countries to maximise the economic growth opportunities that severely resource constrained entrepreneurs can offer. The model utilises a newly defined form of capital, namely migration capital, as its basis. It provides an alternative view to traditional, “push” based economic theories which have categorised refugees and migrants as economic burdens that must be supported by the host country for extended periods of time, to the detriment of the local population. The “pull” model is premised on the finding that migration is a temporal rather than geographic or ethnic issue and that there is additional value to be extracted over the lifespan of a migrant business if the social integration can be expedited through the facilitation of migration capital in addition to individual social, knowledge and economic capital. It considers the benefit that can be realised by the host country, where the process driver remains the migrant entrepreneur, eager to become established in a new country and achieve their long term vision.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Developing an intersectionality framework for exploring gender dynamics at management level within a state-owned organization in South Africa
    (2024) Bowers, Tania; Shelley, Elanca
    Gender oppression and inequality has gained momentum among academics as an emerging feminist concern. However, there are not many literary works about black South African women who work for state-owned enterprises (SOE) and encounter bias. Black women still experience subtle racial and gender discrimination, even though women are susceptible to bias more frequently than men. These discriminatory actions give rise to the idea of intersectionality, which highlight social stratification along racial, gender, and ethnic lines. Therefore, this study investigates marginalisation of women and develops an intersectionality framework for exploring gender dynamics at management level within a state-owned organization in South Africa. Although all concepts of citizenship and employment are gendered, women cannot rely on liberal social policy and programs to reduce inequities (Coulter et al., 2014). Black women in South Africa were seen as "full citizens" when the country embraced democracy, but inequality persists since these women's lived experiences are only hazily acknowledged. Even though a workplace is merely a small part of a society within of a network of mutually reinforcing social and political interactions, the ongoing underrepresentation of black women in society is brought into question. To explore how political and organizational engagement interact, we draw on ideas of intersectionality, systems thinking, and leadership theory. While black women are credited with creating the concept of intersectionality is ascribed to African women, early writing on European, Asian, and American women focused on family-related issues and to a lesser extent on the effects of prejudice and pervasive socio-economic inequalities and their manifestation in the workplace. Studies on intersectionality are no longer exclusively coming from the United States, Europe, or Asia, but they still have a lot to do with South Africa. So, the study points to a contextual gap regarding the African perspective, particularly when considering the experiences of black women in management in post-apartheid South Africa. What are the mechanisms that obstruct the advancement of black women at a managerial level in Eskom? is a concern that must be acknowledged and handled in a setting with a complicated, compliance-focused legal framework. Constructivist grounded theory methods was used to research this subject. The study aim was to strengthen the validity of the study by utilizing the 20 black female employees who served as a representative sample of Eskom's business divisions and their subjective lived experiences. As a result, the study acknowledges the underrepresentation of black women in management positions, but it also conflates issues of threats to business sustainability and emphasizes the importance of leadership stature and protection against political influence as crucial to resolving the research problem. The study also emphasizes the necessity of understanding the systemic and reciprocal effects of human, organizational, and environmental concerns in order to overcome the research paradox (Miyen & April, 2022).
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Enabling a generation of social entrepreneurs: A study to establish if the practice of social entrepreneurship offers inclusive self-employment opportunities for disenfranchised South African youth
    (2018) Carpenter, Janine; Shelley, Elanca
    This study is concerned with contributing to solutions that address the problems of youth unemployment, inequality and poverty in South Africa, specifically among those youth who are being marginalised from participating equally in mainstream economic activities. It argues that financial and digital exclusion, as well as poor access to a quality education, are factors which are currently limiting these youths' economic potential and perpetuating a cycle of unemployment, inequality and poverty in South Africa. The literature and theory of social entrepreneurship presents a strong case to address unemployment, inequality and poverty, as well as to stimulate economic growth by creating new business and self-employment opportunities for the youth. This qualitative grounded theory study evaluates the theory of social entrepreneurship in practice, by comparing the theory to the lived realities of some disenfranchised youths in Cape Town. The study also provides an analysis of the systems of privilege and the dual economy that exist in South Africa. Through feedback received during interviews with a representative sample of the target group, the study offers new insights into the challenges faced when young people are seeking employment or want to start a business in the South African economy. Youth social entrepreneurship development and start-up incubation programmes arguably perform a critical function in facilitating inclusive economic participation among the youth. Developing new insights, concepts and recommendations to maximise these programmes' social impact is a critical function of this study, which ultimately hopes to contribute to the creation of more inclusive entrepreneurial opportunities for disadvantaged South African youth.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The role that courage plays in an experiential learning process
    (2014) Shelley, Elanca; Ryan, Tom
    Experiential learning is a well-known learning theory that underpins management development. This study presents a causal theory that is based on experiential learning and explains why some students experience a transformational learning experience that increases their management effectiveness and others do not. This theory was developed within a critical realist ontology and it used a constructivist grounded theory methodology to emerge the key variables that formed the theory. Prior to the grounded theory study, a pilot study was conducted to develop the conceptual framework for the research. This pilot study included approximately 240 research participants from within the classrooms in my work context. The conceptual framework facilitated the development of the key research question: How do engaged, learning ready students, who can manage their own learning process, undergo transformational learning experiences that increase management effectiveness?
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Strengthening Parliament's oversight role during international trade negotiations: A grounded theory approach
    (2016) Sheldon, Margot; Shelley, Elanca
    The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter referred to as "the Constitution"), outlines the different roles and functions of the arms of government, namely the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature. In terms of international agreements, Section 231 of the Constitution provides the parameters within which the Executive and the Legislature are responsible for when entering into international agreements. The Executive is responsible for negotiating and signing all international agreements, which must then be approved by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces in order to be ratified. Furthermore, the Constitution requires the Legislature to oversee the work of the Executive. In this regard, Parliament, as the representative of the people of South Africa, has a duty to ensure that even international agreements will benefit the citizenry and not undermine national objectives. However, due to the democratic principle of separation of powers, Parliament has little control over the outcomes of the negotiations which the Executive undertakes on behalf of the nation. Signed international agreements may not always be in the national interest. In these instances, Parliament cannot alter the terms of the agreement. It can at best approve this for ratification with reservations or reject it once it has been tabled. Several challenges arise in relation to the approval for ratification of international agreements. This is primarily related to Parliament's capacity and the time available to consider signed agreements, and its knowledge and understanding of the content and implications of international agreements. This study, therefore, considers how Parliament can effectively oversee developments during international trade negotiations. This is to circumvent situations where the trade agreements do not support national strategic objectives. A grounded theory approach was used to develop a theory on how to strengthen Parliament's oversight role during international trade negotiations. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method, which uses a mainly inductive approach. Data was gathered through conversational interviewing with a number of stakeholders such as Members of Parliament and parliamentary officials, as well as technical and nontechnical literature. These were analysed to develop key concepts or variables. Next, a literature review was conducted to determine the parent body of knowledge within which the research study falls. This process yielded further variables. It also assisted in determining the linkages between the key concepts. Finally, I undertook a theory building process to determine the relationships between the key concepts and the key concern variable. From the analysis, this study proposes that the Executive and Members of Parliament need to understand the importance and relevance of holding the Executive accountable for its actions in relation to international trade negotiations. Once this is clearly established, there will be an incentive to develop institutional capacity to perform oversight over this type of Executive action. This enhanced capacity will lead to more effective oversight over the Executive's involvement during international trade negotiations and thus greater accountability by the Executive to ensure that these negotiations support national strategic objectives.