The objective of the chapter is to illustrate how an interpretive phenomenological research approach can be used to understand the reasons behind the low tax compliance rates among small businesses. A combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques was employed to select participants who were willing to share their experiences and perceptions with the researcher. Semi-structured interviews were employed to interview 25 small business owners, mainly situated in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The results suggest that the participants’ confidence in their ability to undertake the tax compliance functions by themselves is low. Furthermore, the feedback from the participants submit that stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, funders, investors and employees play an important role in the tax compliance decision-making of small business owners. Stakeholders increasingly prefer to deal with tax compliant businesses.
The lack of proximity between economic agents in Africa and the rest of the world is compounded by regional instability, including pandemics and conflicts. Identifying these ever-changing challenges provides the foundational problem when desiring growth in such environments. Hence, the primary research objective of the study is to develop a growth-strategy support model (GSSM) to provide the requisite rigor when developing such growth strategies. This chapter elucidates the research method applied herein. The study embraced a realism framework utilizing SWOT and PESTLE techniques, built on the principles of stakeholder and stewardship theories. The results from the qualitative research, i.e., the semi-structured interviews, were weighted to align with predetermined organizational risk appetite and tolerance levels. Ultimately, taking cognizance of such risk appetite and tolerance, the envisaged model facilitates the analysis and ranking of pertinent risk factors. The conclusive findings confirmed medium risk, which, based on the predetermined risk profile, suggests the organization move to the next phase of its growth-strategy process.
The main objective of this chapter is to demonstrate the application of a mixed methods approach to investigate credit management practices at five selected South African Universities of Technology. The study is nested in a post-positivistic paradigm with empirical data comprising two sources. Firstly, a qualitative archival research document analysis was performed using the universities' student credit management policies and annual audited financial statements, from which five themes were identified. Secondly, a survey was conducted with 1382 senior students completing a questionnaire. The quantitative study revealed that nine factors embrace the students' perceptions of (i) their debt, (ii) their universities' credit management policies, and (iii) their personal financial management. Furthermore, the chapter demonstrates how triangulation was applied to combine and interpret the qualitative and quantitative results. This study faced practical difficulties, such as obtaining ethical clearance and gatekeeping permission from each university, and data were collected just after the #FeesMustFall student-led movement. After completion of the study, a positive outflow was that the principal researcher initiated funding to assist students at two of the investigated universities.
This chapter presents a case study approach to develop a competitive strategy for an automotive distribution company in preparation for Saudi Vision 2030—a policy initiative to introduce significant economic and structural reforms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was nested in a pragmatic paradigm following a sequential mixed methods design. Data about the competitive environment of the case study were collected by utilizing a combination of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, a PESTEL (political, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal) analysis, a balanced scorecard (BSC), and Porter’s generic strategies and linking it with the concept of competitive intelligence. Firstly, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 32 senior managers in the case study company to collect qualitative data. The results of the interviews were used to design an electronic questionnaire. Secondly, this questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 205 case study employees. The actor-network theory (ANT) was used to provide insight into the results. A triangulation process was followed to combine the qualitative and quantitative data results. A new conceptual model, the actor intelligence theory, was formulated based on the triangulated results and insights from the literature review.
The main objective of this chapter is to investigate the perceptions of School Management Teams on the influence of instructional leadership on accounting learner performance in secondary school. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was applied to attain this objective. Instructional leadership is the educational process of managing the curriculum and teaching and learning instructions which are deemed to influence learner performance in schools significantly. This chapter followed the pragmatism paradigm which helps to present a representation of how an explanatory sequential design can be used to explain the perceptions of school management teams in influencing instructional leadership on accounting learner performance in secondary schools. Data were obtained from 61 accounting secondary schools in the North-West Province. A total of 180 school management teams were involved in the quantitative phase of the study, while 25 interviews were conducted among selected school management teams for the qualitative phase of the study. In the quantitative phase, the study found that instructional leadership practices and conditions influence learner performance. In the qualitative approach, the study established the different ways instructional leadership influences learners' performance. Overall, the study concluded that variations in instructional leadership practices explain the observed differences in accounting learner performance across secondary schools.
The primary objective of this chapter is to show how different research methodologies were applied in a design science research paradigm to address a real-world need for electronic safety equipment in high-risk mining environments. A pragmatic research approach was followed by systems engineering and mixed research methods in a case study and experimental research. The need to align acquisition and utilization phases in a safety system’s full life cycle was identified. This shortfall resulted in increased operational risk during system operation. Qualitative archival analysis of available regulatory and technical documentation revealed a need for safety system modeling and evaluation in the preliminary design life cycle phase. Mapping operational processes obtained simulation models to workflow and state space models. These models were used to conduct simulation experiments to generate quantitative data for performance evaluation (empirical data based on real-world scenarios). In addition to the creation of artifacts, a method for reducing risk and aligning acquisition and utilization life cycle phases emerged from this research. This activity-based risk method systematically reduced risk and was validated by producing operationally accepted electronic safety systems in a design science research paradigm.
It is well known that the forward exchange rate and the realised future spot exchange rate differ. This phenomenon is better known as the exchange rate puzzle. Two approaches were followed to ascertain whether this difference is due to the weak explanatory ability of current economic fundamentals or whether the use of an ineffective econometric approach to model exchange rate theories is to blame. The first approach makes use of stationary economic time series data to model the ZAR/USD realised future spot exchange rate, while the second uses non-stationary level economic data to model the ZAR/USD realised future spot exchange rate. While the first approach reported weak results, the second approach illustrated that economic fundamentals are able to explain the ZAR/USD realised future spot exchange rate. These results also confirm that the exchange rate puzzle is a pseudoproblem.
This chapter seeks to constitute a roadmap or framework to guide business researchers in contextualizing and planning their research efforts. A literature study was conducted to investigate the research concept, the boundary of research, and the research process’ conceptual framework. This chapter summarized research as a systematic investigation to reveal new knowledge. In guiding industry-orientated business research, it is acknowledged that management action may solve some business problems. In contrast, higher levels of organizational issues and critical reflection of business issues may require actual research. The framework for business research is divided into four parts: the research problem, research design, empirical evidence, and conclusion. The central part of the map is the design section that organizes the philosophic approach (theoretical foundation, research philosophy, and assumptions) on the one side and the applied research methods and techniques on the other side, with the research methodology acting as a bridge between the sides. The framework constitutes a guide when embarking on the journey to solve industry-orientated business research.
This chapter aims to demonstrate how an experimental research strategy was followed to prove that the differencing technique that econometricians and financial data analysts use to render data stationary does matter. The first difference approach has become popular mainly because of the work of (Nelson and Plosser, Journal of Monetary Economics 10:139–162, 1982), who argued that many macroeconomic time series are difference stationary and not trend stationary. However, since most time series data are in fact non-stationary in its level form (considerable amount of time series data are actually fractionally integrated), the econometrician and data analyst are required to make the data stationary before embarking on any econometric analysis in order to avoid spurious results. Although there are several different ways to render a non-stationary time series stationary, few econometricians and data analysts look past the first differencing and log-differencing methods when rendering data stationary through a data transformation process. The end result of this careless approach is that they often over difference the data. When over-differenced, the data is stripped of its original underlying statistical properties resulting in a loss of important information. In doing so, many research studies do in fact arrive at inferior results because of over-differencing the data. To investigate the implications of this practice, this research had to test existing methodologies for their ability to properly render time series data stationary. The research approach was therefore deductive in nature, following a positivist research philosophy.
University students' mental health is considered among the most pressing public health issues in South Africa. Therefore, an in-depth qualitative approach to understanding how first-year students' demands and resources impact their well-being and study outcomes in a non-Western context, such as South Africa, is critical. When designing an in-depth qualitative study to investigate student experiences through appropriate methods, it is essential to consider criteria for conducting high-quality qualitative research. This chapter outlines practical strategies to conduct such an in-depth qualitative study in a non-Western context, including considerations in preparing, executing, conducting and disseminating the research suitably. The strategies in the chapter are explained and illustrated using a completed, published, in-depth qualitative study. The study explored the insights and perspectives of staff members and service providers (i.e., support structures) working with first-year students studying at a peri-urban university in South Africa. Applying qualitative research using practical examples from an in-depth qualitative study can support emerging researchers to bridge the gap between theoretical principles and practical research. It can also increase their understanding of qualitative research conducted in non-Western settings using appropriate indigenous methods.
This chapter focuses on the research methodology of an integrative perspective in developing and testing a water disclosure index. The problem that motivated this study is that various water accounting (reporting) frameworks may lead to disclosure inconsistencies and incomparability. Furthermore, integrated reporting (IR) is central to this study by incorporating its principles into the new index. However, its value is still questionable. Against this background, the study's main objective was to evaluate whether the concept of IR and an integrative approach are associated with improved water disclosure in the food, beverage, and tobacco industry. The secondary objectives were firstly to develop a new water disclosure index, and secondly, to test whether there were differences in the water disclosure quality of selected companies between IR-adopted companies versus those still using traditional stand-alone sustainable reporting (non-IR). A post-positivistic research paradigm was selected to reach the objective, which embraces the mixed-method data handling approach. Data were collected and analyzed from reports of 49 selected food, beverage, and tobacco companies listed in Australia, South Africa, and globally. Within the context of the stakeholder and legitimacy theories, this study confirmed that an integrative approach is associated with improved water reporting practices.
In this chapter, the design of a new framework for developing airborne electronic equipment is presented. Classical development standards and methods in the avionics space were reviewed and improved using principles obtained from modern development methods. Airworthiness and procurement considerations were considered in the new framework. A Design Science Research paradigm was used pragmatically to develop a new framework for platform-specific airborne electronic equipment. Quality Research Management was applied to align real-world requirements with research objectives, while Action Design Research was applied to ensure the practice-inspired research effort improved the theoretical knowledge base. Prior cases in the avionics development environment were used to inform a real-world case study. A qualitative meta-analysis of standards and academic literature, combined with an evolutionary (longitudinal) approach, produced a theoretical process model that was used to underpin detailed development processes at different levels in the hierarchy. The development of prototype constructs, in the form of evolutionary (emergent) models, allowed the incremental and iterative design of the new framework. Final validation of the new framework was achieved when a review committee evaluated and accepted the new framework as a valid procurement process to be implemented in practice.
The adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are anticipated to enhance the quality and credibility of financial statement in terms of reliability, transparency and comparability. Consequently, it presupposes improving the functioning of the capital market and influence foreign investments to flow into adopting countries. This study examines the effect of the adoption of IFRS on foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Africa. Annual FPI data from the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position from 1994 to 2015 were employed. The panel data regression considered fixed-effects and random-effects models. Besides, the system generalised method of moments estimator is employed for the robustness of the model and to address the problem of endogeneity. In correspondence with the decision-usefulness theory, our findings indicate that FPI is promoted in the African countries that apply IFRS-based financial statement. The adoption of IFRS is assumed to be an informational change that would eliminate information barriers facing the users of financial statements. Therefore, the development of IFRS is aimed at improving the usefulness of financial reporting by facilitating the comparability and reliability of financial information in African countries. This will influence foreign investors to shift their capital to such an economy, consequently increasing the inflow of FPI.
新形势下要进一步规范房地产市场秩序,优化房地产业结构,有效引导房地产业健康发展,加强房地产行业管理.抓大做强,优化房地产企业架构;强化监管,进一步规范、完善房地产市场发展秩序;加强监督和舆论引导,力促房地产业健康发展.建议成立由城建线领导任组长,市发改、国土、住建、财政、规划、城管执法、投资促进、税务、市场监管、物价、审计、金融办、公积金中心、人民银行等相关部门组成的市房地产行业管理领导小组.
This study provides an additional measure to market beta to construct a more efficient portfolio. The additional measure analyses the volatility spillover effects between stocks within the same portfolio. Using intraday stock returns from five top-40 listed stocks on the JSE between July 2008 and April 2010, volatility spillover effects were estimated within a residual-based test (aggregate shock [AS] model) framework. It was shown that when a particular stock attracts fewer spillover effects from the other stocks in the portfolio, then the overall portfolio volatility decreased as well. In most cases, market beta showcased similar results. Therefore, to construct a more efficient portfolio, one requires both a portfolio that has a unit correlation with the market (beta-based), but also includes stocks with the least amount of volatility spillover effects among each other. To test the impact of volatility spillover effects among stocks in a portfolio on the overall portfolio volatility, this research had to follow an experimental approach—constructing a proxy portfolio by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. Since the spillover effects between the simulated stocks and the portfolio could be measured in absolute terms, the research best suited to this investigation was a deductive approach, following from a positivist research philosophy.
"所有的日子,所有的日子都来吧!让我编织你们!……"每当新年的钟声响起,总会情不自禁地以这句火一样热情奔放的诗,来迎接新年的第一缕曙光!每当新年的钟声响起,只感觉新的日子带着迷离的光带着微醺的暖扑面而来!心里依然会有一股热流涌过!所有过往,皆为序章。去日良多,来日方长。所有的日子,所有的日子我们都爱!
自闭症（Autism）是一种发育障碍类疾病,往往在儿童成长早期出现并持续终生。1943年,美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学医学研究员莱奥·坎纳首次提出"自闭症"的概念,其医学名称为"自闭症谱系障碍"（Autism Spectrum Disorder,ASD）。近年来,世界各国的自闭症患病率均显著上升,现状不容乐观。根据美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）在2020年3月公布的调研数据,美国每54名儿童中就有1名在8岁前确诊为ASD,
