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Scrip dividend schemes provide shareholders with the option to choose shares instead of a cash dividend. Scrip dividends became popular in South Africa after the introduction of Secondary Tax on Companies (STC) in 1993. Thus far, no guidance on the recognition, measurement or disclosure of scrip dividends has been issued by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). This article proposes disclosure regarding scrip dividend schemes that will provide relevant information to the users of financial statements. The proposed disclosure is based on the assumption that entities recognise and measure scrip dividends in accordance with the re‐investment method, as opposed to the capitalisation issue method.

South African motor manufacturers should find ways to improve their performance management systems to ensure survival in the face of strong competition in the market. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the industry’s approach to performance management and to make recommendations about a framework for performance management that can be implemented to obtain a competitive advantage. A well‐known instrument that proves to be highly effective in performance management is the balanced scorecard. This instrument manages performance on four distinct levels, namely from the financial perspective, the customer perspective, internal business processes and learning and growth. It is apparent from the results of this study that performance management is still very much a one‐way process, and that a lack of communication is the primary reason for unsatisfactory workforce performance. Furthermore, the majority of motor manufacturers consider the customer perspective as the most important of the four above‐mentioned perspectives. Motor manufacturers also disagree about the number of performance measures that need to be included in the performance management system, and the majority feel that both controllable and non‐controllable fixed costs must be included in the measurement of management performance. Shareholder value measures are also largely neglected in practice.

In the light of the acceleration in the international and local information and knowledge revolution, the University of Stellenbosch (US) has introduced an e‐learning strategy to gain maximum benefit from the developments in information technology. In support of this strategy, the US has implemented WebCT as an electronic course management system. Subsequent consultations have revealed doubt among accounting lecturers and students about the effectiveness of WebCT assessment of tests in Financial Accounting. The purpose of the study was therefore to investigate this perception on the basis of the available literature, our own experience, categories of student learning and feedback from students. The WebCT assessment function was also contrasted with traditional assessment methods. It was concluded that although WebCT is not a quick fix, it could be implemented successfully in bigger classes, provided that innovative lecturers are responsible for these classes.

Māori and Pacific school leavers, who tend to be clustered in low-decile schools, are less likely than any other ethnic groups in New Zealand to begin degree-level studies, to succeed in their first year, and continue with their studies. This chapter will draw on the research findings from a prospective, longitudinal, qualitative study of student transition from secondary school to university (Madjar, McKinley, Deynzer, & van der Merwe, 2010). The study was an in-depth, longitudinal one with young people in transition, recruited in their last term of high school and followed to the end of their first semester. A sub-sample was followed until the end of their second year of university study. The chapter will discuss the critical importance of engagement, both academic and social, for student success in university environment. We will also explore the significance of connections with the students’ whānau (extended family) and community, and the peer connections and their impact on students’ experience of transition.

This paper aims to discuss the development of a defect classification system that can be used to detect and classify powder bed surface defects from captured layer images without the need for specialised computational hardware. The idea is to develop this system by making use of more traditional machine learning (ML) models instead of using computationally intensive deep learning (DL) models.

The approach that is used by this study is to use traditional image processing and classification techniques that can be applied to captured layer images to detect and classify defects without the need for DL algorithms.

The study proved that a defect classification algorithm could be developed by making use of traditional ML models with a high degree of accuracy and the images could be processed at higher speeds than typically reported in literature when making use of DL models.

This paper addresses a need that has been identified for a high-speed defect classification algorithm that can detect and classify defects without the need for specialised hardware that is typically used when making use of DL technologies. This is because when developing closed-loop feedback systems for these additive manufacturing machines, it is important to detect and classify defects without inducing additional delays to the control system.

The broad objective of the study was to develop assumptions and guide‐lines by which the cost approach to Human Resource Accounting could be implemented. The research was specifically aimed at determining the sensitivity of the cost approach for identifying significant differences in the investments made over two years in two comparable groups (16 subjects to a group) and how these differences could contribute towards more effective decision‐making in evaluating the relevant aspects of company policy. Statistically significant differences were obtained at the 5% level for total investments, academic development investments and orientation investments. The latter could not be regarded as material in absolute terms and the difference in total investments could therefore be ascribed mainly to academic development. The extent of investments in training suggests the necessity to optimize training from a cost/benefit point of view. During the initial months of the study, investments accrued at a proportionally higher rate than in subsequent months, eg 75.1% of the total investments were made during the first three months of service. It can therefore be said that relatively high labour turnover during the early months of service would carry a substantial loss potential, especially where there was no evidence of material investments in the orientation of personnel.

Significant advances in digital technologies impact both organisations and knowledge workers alike. Organisations are now able to effectively analyse significant amounts of data, while accomplishing actionable insight and data-driven decision-making through knowledge workers that understand and manage greater complexity. For decision-makers to be in a position where sufficient information and data-driven insights enable them to make informed decisions, they need to better understand fundamental constructs that lead to the understanding of deep knowledge and wisdom. In an attempt to guide organisations in such a process of understanding, this research study focuses on the design of an organisational transformation framework for data-driven decision-making (OTxDD) based on the collaboration of human and machine for knowledge work. The OTxDD framework was designed through a design science research approach and consists of 4 major enablers (data analytics, data management, data platform, data-driven organisation ethos) and 12 sub-enablers. The OTxDD framework was evaluated in a real-world scenario, where after, based on the evaluation feedback, the OTxDD framework was improved and an organisational measurement tool developed. By considering such an OTxDD framework and measurement tool, organisations will be able to create a clear transformation path to data-driven decision-making, while applying the insight from both knowledge workers and intelligent machines.

This study investigates the relationship between lean manufacturing practices, management accounting and performance measurement (MAC & PM) practices, organizational strategy, structure, and culture, and facility performance. We extended past research by examining the relationships between lean manufacturing, MAC & PM practices and performance in a broader organizational context. Our study was performed using survey data provided by managers and executives at 368 facilities that had contacted the Shingo Institute for information or that had entered a Shingo Prize competition. Consistent with past research we found a significant positive association between lean manufacturing practices and lean MAC & PM practices. We found that greater employee empowerment, use of process performance measures, and use of lean accounting practices were driven primarily by lean strategy and secondarily by the extent of lean manufacturing practices. We also found that changes in organization structure to support lean are driven primarily by lean strategy and secondarily by lean manufacturing practices. Change toward lean culture, on the other hand, is driven by the extent of lean manufacturing practices. Further, we found that emphasizing process performance measures does not reduce emphasis on results performance measures and emphasizing results performance measures leads to improved financial performance. Process and results measures are being used in tandem and value stream costing has not replaced traditional accounting. The results of our study provide important insights for managers of companies engaged in lean transformation and for academics who teach or research lean accounting.

Persistent change has placed considerable pressure on organizations to keep up or fade into obscurity. Firms that remain viable, or even thrive, are staffed with decision-makers who capably steer organizations toward opportunities and away from threats. Accordingly, leadership development has never been more critical. In this chapter, the authors propose that leader development is an inherently dyadic process initiated to communicate formal and informal expectations. The authors focus on the informal component, in the form of organizational politics, as an element of leadership that is critical to employee and company success. The authors advocate that superiors represent the most salient information source for leader development, especially as it relates to political dynamics embedded in work systems. The authors discuss research associated with our conceptualization of dyadic political leader development (DPLD). Specifically, the authors develop DPLD by exploring its conceptual underpinnings as they relate to sensemaking, identity, and social learning theories. Once established, the authors provide a refined discussion of the construct, illustrating its scholarly mechanisms that better explain leader development processes and outcomes. The authors then expand research in the areas of political skill, political will, political knowledge, and political phronesis by embedding our conceptualization of DPLD into a political leadership model. The authors conclude by discussing methodological issues and avenues of future research stemming from the development of DPLD.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a process chain for design and manufacture of endplates of intervertebral disc implants, with specific emphasis on designing footprint profiles and matching endplate geometry.

Existing techniques for acquiring patient‐specific information from CT scan data was and a user‐friendly software solution was developed to facilitate pre‐surgical planning and semi‐automated design. The steps in the process chain were validated experimentally by manufacturing Ti6Al4 V endplates by means of Direct Metal Laser Sintering to match vertebrae of a cadaver and were tested for accuracy of the implant‐to‐bone fitment.

Intervertebral disc endplates were successfully designed and rapid manufactured using a biocompatible material. Accuracy within 0.37 mm was achieved. User‐friendly, semi‐automated design software offers an opportunity for surgeons to become more easily involved in the design process and speeds up the process to more accurately develop a custom‐made implant.

This research is limited to the design and manufacture of the bone‐implant contacting interface. Other design features, such as keels which are commonly used for implant fixation as well as the functionality of the implant joint mechanics were not considered as there may be several feasible design alternatives.

This research may change the way that current intervertebral disc implants are designed and manufactured.

Apart from other areas of application (cranial, maxillofacial, hip, knee, foot) and recent research on customized disc nucleus replacement, very little work has been done to develop patient‐specific implants for the spine. This research was conducted to contribute and provide much needed progress in this area of application.