Browsing by Subject "inclusive innovation"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of social housing residents in relation to their digital exclusion
    (2019) Williams, Jonathan; Nilsson, Warren
    There is no more significant threat to a prosperous South Africa than the persistent socioeconomic exclusion and continuous spatial segregation of South African society. Social housing and digital inclusion both play a critical role as inclusionary interventions for the socioeconomic advancement of the previously disenfranchised and the reintegration of apartheid-era segregated communities. Access to ICTs provides marginalised communities with platforms and tools to amplify their voices, gain access to information and reaffirm their citizenship, thereby allowing for more vigorous participation in the national discourse. “The goal of ICTs is not to necessarily solve the digital divide but rather to further the process of social inclusion.” (Warschauer, 2003) Furthermore, these technological platforms provide access to life chances, capital enhancing activities, information and the possibility of building networks outside of individuals' modest social networks. This study seeks to understand how digital exclusion influences the experience of overall inclusion in South African social housing. This dissertation is a qualitative study employing a mixture of phenomenological and ethnographic methods to document and make sense of the lived experiences of participants in relation to their exclusion. The study uses of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys to explore participants' adaptation and integration into local formal institutions and the host community of Blue View Terraces, a mostly white, middle-income neighbourhood located in Cape Town. The study discovered the coexistence of many different and competing forms of exclusion. Firstly, a key finding during the process of residential desegregation or spatial inclusion was participants' pervasive experiences of power dynamics. These power dynamics manifested as discrimination and marginalisation that was partly caused by the absence of relocation support, public awareness programs about social housing and a failure by the social housing institution to adequately address more forms of inclusion than just spatial. Secondly, the findings showed the design of the housing development to be hopelessly inadequate to support newcomers' actual lives. Necessary infrastructure was omitted in favour of a lower build cost. This led to a higher cost of living that is unaffordable for social housing residents and negates the benefits of lower cost rental accommodation. Lastly, findings showed that digital exclusion negatively influences the adjustment of low-socioeconomic status children into high-socioeconomic schools and leads to forced assimilation when learners come into daily contact with schools in their locality. The findings signify that social and economic inclusion efforts and even building projects can and should not be considered in isolation. Each form of exclusion competes with another, often exacerbating its effects. Also, of significance is the default approach to integration in South African schools of assimilation rather than multiculturalism. The outcomes of this study highlight the importance of considering multiple forms of exclusion together rather than in isolation, especially in the context of social inclusion projects.
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    Creating the conditions for entrepreneurial learning within an inclusive and scalable African business education ecosystem
    (2019) Hosken, Christopher; Baets, Walter
    Entrepreneurship is key to growing and uplifting emerging economies like South Africa. There exists an extremely high failure rate amongst entrepreneurs in this country, this coupled with a lack of support for entrepreneurs, creates the conditions where an entrepreneurial culture cannot thrive. Entrepreneurship and education can be South Africa's most significant tools of liberation and unlock exponential growth which can, in turn, address the socio-economic problems that exist. This research aims to understand what the critical educational and support elements are that drive entrepreneurial learning and development. This research aims to discover what is required to create meaningful learning experiences for entrepreneurs and how this learning can be turned to practice and drive entrepreneurial growth. This growth may play a key role in addressing some of the gaps that exist between South Africa's entrepreneurial potential and its current state. Online and virtual education technologies, pedagogies and methodologies are explored as the core proponents of these learning experiences. Different models are explored and analysed in their distinct contexts to discover what it takes to create these learning experiences. New models of entrepreneur education and the supporting technology are examined to help understand how entrepreneur education programmes can create meaningful learning and development that produces and support high potential entrepreneurs. The research primarily explores an innovative model of an online entrepreneurship education offering that attempts to exponentially improve the impact of traditional models. An adapted design thinking methodology is applied; this allowed the study to examine various models and phenomena through a hyper-practical lens. This methodology supported the research process in uncovering what challenges exist for an education model of this nature to develop meaningful learning and development opportunities for entrepreneurs. 5 The impact of this research could be widespread in assisting with the understanding of how entrepreneurs learn and apply knowledge. The literature reviewed aimed to provide a view of what trends exist in social entrepreneurship globally and South Africa, and how these trends link to meaningful entrepreneurial learning and practice. This research is unique in that it takes a nascent concept such as virtual ecosystems in the social entrepreneurial context and explores how a model in which deep learning experiences are present for entrepreneurs, affects meaningful development and entrepreneurial outcomes. This research focuses on building theory through qualitative data sources collected through the research instruments of interviews, questionnaires, observations, discussions and practical prototyping.
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    Student engagement in low-income, high-stress learning environments
    (2020) Sitzer, Bradwin; Hall, Martin
    This study analyses the level of student engagement at youth skills development organisations which are situated in low-income, high-stress communities. It asks the following questions: What motivates youth to be engaged in their learning environments? What are youths reporting on experiencing while in the learning environment? How might we use this data to help us develop the skills of the youth better? Through capturing a day in the life of youth from a cognitive, emotional and contextual point of view, we are better able to understand what drives youth to learn and achieve. Eight themes were identified which influenced the students to be highly engaged according to Flow Theory. An important context to be taken into account in the design of learning environments for youth is the psychological impact of living in a high-stress community. An emergent case for self-managed Flow is presented, where students drive and hold themselves accountable for high levels of engagement around the eight themes.
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    The development of a disruptive innovation response framework within the South African insurance context: adapt, regenerate, transcend (Art)
    (2020) Amos, Shereen; Hall, Martin
    Companies, nations, governments and multilateral organisations are each in their context recognising that 20th-century approaches to innovation and competitiveness are no longer relevant or effective – with whole industries and economies challenged by the fastmoving and disruptive forces of 21st-century technologies that enable unprecedented innovative capability. The rate and scale of change and disruption calls for innovation thinking more suited to a world highly connected and networked and rapidly redefined by global digital architecture and alternative forms of value exchange, value creation and capture enabled through networks, platforms, and innovation ecosystems. For a mature industry to navigate potential disruption on this scale and possibly direct disruptive innovation of its own, will require a dramatic departure from innovation and business as usual. Christensen (1997) posits that disruptive innovation is the only way for incumbents to maintain market leadership and secure future growth. So how should mature firms respond to disruption, and which strategies are effective to become disruptive too? I undertake a grounded theory study into how specifically, the insurance industry (life and health), navigates disruptive influence and plans to become disruptive too. My analysis of the literature and the research findings has led to the development of an Adapt, Regenerate, Transcend response strategy framework, the ART framework, which describes these three broad response strategies and a further set of sub-strategies, that answer the question of how firms respond to disruptive influence and become disruptive too. The ART framework is my contribution to the work on disruptive innovation response strategies. The framework shows how incumbents can apply one or more of these three broad strategies to suit their objectives. The adapt response strategy, a short-term, defensive or opportunistic strategy, aims to extend lifecycles and fend off disruptive challenges. The regenerate response strategy is an expansive, increasingly inclusive, and transformative hybrid strategy that seeks to extend lifecycles and pursue new growth opportunities that might transform the core business over time to become disruptive too. The transcend response strategy is an original and disruptive strategy where the lead firm partners to reframe and reinvent an industry through a collectively directed value proposition that creates an entirely new playing field. Using the ART framework, I also show how disruptive innovation is an inclusive innovation strategy and how the framework applies to and is of use in the context of inclusive and sustainable innovation. In doing so, a new meta-innovation concept of generative innovation emerges, which the framework begins to describe broadly and which I propose as an area of future research.