Browsing by Subject "business management"

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    Open Access
    A governance framework for blockchain technology in the South African insurance industry
    (2025) Damon, Aldo; Roodt, Sumarie; Chigona, Wallace
    Purpose: The governance of blockchain technology is a topic of continuing study, and a multidisciplinary perspective on blockchain governance is essential for building a formal governance framework for this emerging technology. While the subject of blockchain governance is sometimes misunderstood, blockchain technology has gained growing interest from businesses and academics. Blockchain stakeholders cannot work or make rational decisions optimally without enough insight into the governance of blockchains. Its advancement and stabilization are of utmost importance for stakeholders that depend on blockchain. Where organizations and individual end-users must consider in their decision the element of regulation for the blockchain technology or network, regulators and developers still need to grasp it. The purpose of this study is to explore the understanding of blockchain governance by reporting on frameworks and themes that capture the main dimensions and layers of blockchain governance. The study proposes a governance framework that can assist strategic management within businesses to analyse the governance of the blockchain in a comprehensible manner in order to facilitate strategic decision-making in the insurance industries within South African organisations. Design/methodology/approach: This deductive qualitative research that is shaped by subjectivism ontology, interpretive epistemology, uses comprehensive literature review and deductive thematic analysis of eight semi-structured and focus group interviews for data collection, which then identifies the key dimensions and layers of blockchain governance, including technical, economic, social, and legal aspects of consideration. The deductive thematic analysis selected follows the seven steps of deductive qualitative research. Findings: The innovative blockchain governance framework consists of four perspectives, each tied to key themes from the collected data. The OSS Governance Phases focus on decision-making, community engagement, and conflict resolution. The OSS Life Cycle Stages emphasize onboarding, code contribution, and version control. The Blockchain Governance Framework Dimensions & Layers highlight on chain voting, off-chain communication, and incentive structures. Lastly, the TOE Framework Model addresses technological readiness, organizational roles, and regulatory compliance. These perspectives align with the study's findings, ensuring clarity and alignment with research objectives. xi P a g e Research limitations/implications: The paper contributes to blockchain governance theory. The innovative perspectives provide a synthesized conceptual framework for researchers to evaluate and understand blockchain governance development from multiple perspectives. Practical implications: The synthesized blockchain governance framework presents a road map for practitioners and business managers to follow in their blockchain projects. Originality/value: The research uses an innovative perspectives and other individual research methodologies to synthesize the existing research framework proposed. It is one of the first research papers in the information systems field to make use of deductive thematic analysis approach to consolidate the existing qualitative research and interviews to systematically propose a blockchain governance framework.
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    Open Access
    Analysing factors influencing purchase intentions, perception and culture for consumers of women’s luxury footwear in South Africa
    (2018) Bridglall, Shenai; Chigada, Joel
    Consumer behaviour and purchase intention are some of the most discussed topics in marketing academia and practice alike. A rich and constantly developing body of literature complements this field. However, even though many theories exist, one’s understanding remains limited in some areas. The motivation for conducting this study was attributable to the researcher’s experience who has worked with luxury footwear brands in South Africa, Europe and Asia. In addition, marketers’ failure to understand consumer buying behaviour and purchase intentions are difficult tasks that have driven the researcher to undertake this study. The primary objective was to determine the factors that influenced the purchase intentions of consumers of luxury footwear This study explored South Africa and the literature around propositions of the model of purchase intentions proposed by Vigneron and Johnson through a positivist lens. Data was collected using Elle South Africa’s Instagram social media networking platform. A total of 1350 participants were involved in the survey, which was only limited to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Only 200 participants met the criteria of women spending money on luxury footwear. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used in this study because the sample elements were readily available using the Elle South Africa Instagram social networking platform. Quantitative data was analysed through Structural Equation Modelling and the findings were presented in frequency tables. The results showed that culture moderated the relationships between luxury perception and the purchase intention for consumers of luxury women’s footwear; extrinsic factors were more relevant than intrinsic factors in the purchasing of luxury footwear; and that luxury perception positively influences the purchase intentions for consumers of the luxury footwear market in South Africa. Knowing what motivates women’s purchase intentions is critical to growing brand customer bases, which is possible through improving market segmentation. Suggestions for improving segmentation are possible through greater definition of variables. Additional research was suggested to establish details which encourage this market to buy luxury footwear brands. This is particularly important in terms of South Africa, which is home to many different cultures where these ethnic groups are confined to a small region. Customers need to be able to make trade-offs between intrinsic and extrinsic factors and costs in this market, which is critical knowledge especially in economic downturns.