Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present an intervention strategy for promoting career awareness among IT students in a South African context, followed by a reflection thereof based on qualitative data collected from students. Career awareness during study has shown to be a factor in the work-readiness of IT graduates.

The paper suggests an intervention strategy aimed at promoting IT students' career awareness. It provides context of the exit-level higher education (HE) module used to implement the intervention. Career awareness is achieved by industry talks, projects and events. Interpretive data collection and content analysis are used to understand the impact of the intervention from the students' perspective.

Recommendations are made towards productive interventions for raising career awareness among IT students using industry participation in higher education. The proposed intervention comprises of a combination of industry talks, capstone projects and specific events. Students had largely positive reactions and made suggestions for additional interventions they would find beneficial. A hackathon attended proved the most influential where seven out of eight involved students received job offers from one company. Other students became aware of their own employability, limitations and preferred career paths.

Findings provide confirmation on existing feasible approaches and also introduces new interventions that may be generalised to other fields of study. The paper not only provides an instructional design for a module to raise career awareness but also reflects on the feedback of the students. The reflection provided by students acts as a point of reference to ensure that the process followed for the intervention is practical within a South African context. The paper highlights the perceived benefits of involving industry in higher education to raise career awareness, factors that may prevent career awareness among IT students and valuable suggestions made by students to further enhance the intervention strategy. An implication of the research is a set of guidelines identified towards bridging the IT theory–practice gap. These guidelines can be used by many educators in similar environments to justify their interventions.

Authenticating an individual through voice can prove convenient as nothing needs to be stored and cannot easily be stolen. However, if an individual is authenticating under duress, the coerced attempt must be acknowledged and appropriate warnings issued. Furthermore, as duress may entail multiple combinations of emotions, the current f-score evaluation does not accommodate that multiple selected samples possess similar levels of importance. Thus, this study aims to demonstrate an approach to identifying duress within a voice-based authentication system.

Measuring the value that a classifier presents is often done using an f-score. However, the f-score does not effectively portray the proposed value when multiple classes could be grouped as one. The f-score also does not provide any information when numerous classes are often incorrectly identified as the other. Therefore, the proposed approach uses the confusion matrix, aggregates the select classes into another matrix and calculates a more precise representation of the selected classifier’s value. The utility of the proposed approach is demonstrated through multiple tests and is conducted as follows. The initial tests’ value is presented by an f-score, which does not value the individual emotions. The lack of value is then remedied with further tests, which include a confusion matrix. Final tests are then conducted that aggregate selected emotions within the confusion matrix to present a more precise utility value.

Two tests within the set of experiments achieved an f-score difference of 1%, indicating, Mel frequency cepstral coefficient, emotion detection, confusion matrix, multi-layer perceptron, Ryerson audio-visual database of emotional speech and song (RAVDESS), voice authentication that the two tests provided similar value. The confusion matrix used to calculate the f-score indicated that some emotions are often confused, which could all be considered closely related. Although the f-score can represent an accuracy value, these tests’ value is not accurately portrayed when not considering often confused emotions. Deciding which approach to take based on the f-score did not prove beneficial as it did not address the confused emotions. When aggregating the confusion matrix of these two tests based on selected emotions, the newly calculated utility value demonstrated a difference of 4%, indicating that the two tests may not provide a similar value as previously indicated.

This approach’s performance is dependent on the data presented to it. If the classifier is presented with incomplete or degraded data, the results obtained from the classifier will reflect that. Additionally, the grouping of emotions is not based on psychological evidence, and this was purely done to demonstrate the implementation of an aggregated confusion matrix.

The f-score offers a value that represents the classifiers’ ability to classify a class correctly. This paper demonstrates that aggregating a confusion matrix could provide more value than a single f-score in the context of classifying an emotion that could consist of a combination of emotions. This approach can similarly be applied to different combinations of classifiers for the desired effect of extracting a more accurate performance value that a selected classifier presents.

Effectively functioning audit committees have proven to fulfil a vital role in strengthening the role of internal audit. This article presents the results of a literature review that pinpoints six responsibilities that audit committees should perform in relation to internal audit. These responsibilities were tested as part of an empirical study focusing on the 40 largest companies listed on the JSE to determine the extent to which large listed companies in South Africa fulfil and disclose these responsibilities. The study consisted of an analysis of annual reports and a questionnaire administered to the chairs of audit committees. The study returned significant findings, including sound empirical evidence that the audit committees of the largest listed companies in South Africa are executing their responsibilities for internal audit effectively, but are performing more functions and responsibilities than those actually disclosed and reported on. While this apparent deficiency in disclosure may not affect the effective functioning of audit committees, it may influence perceptions about this effectiveness.

There are many factors that contribute to a person's career choice. The decision of whether or not to join the family business is certainly most influenced by parents. The aim of this research is to determine how much of an impact parents have on their next-generation family members' (NGFMs) decision to join the family business.

Following a positivistic paradigm, a cross-sectional design was followed using a quantitative, self-administered questionnaire through a judgemental sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was distributed to South African respondents who have parents who own a family business. The data were analysed using Statistica.

The results indicate that parental style, culture, self-efficacy and parental identification were found to influence the NGFMs' intention to join the family business significantly. Their decisions can be influenced by several factors, and parents can better manage these aspects by being aware of these influencing factors.

Given the imminent ageing of a large cohort of senior leaders, this research adds to the body of knowledge by highlighting the necessity for committed, willing and ready next-generation family members (NGFMs) to ensure efficient succession in family businesses. Therefore, effective management is required for succession-planning, particularly from the perspective of the successor.

This study, therefore, responds to calls for more in-depth quantitative studies on family businesses in general and on Black-owned family businesses in South Africa in particular. This study will evaluate the significance of parent influence on NGFMs to join Black family-owned businesses in South Africa. This research will assist family business owners and their families in understanding their children's intentions, designing and evolving an appropriate system to instill necessary traits, skills and attitudes in the children, preparing them for upcoming challenges, adding new perspectives to the family business and ensuring its profitability and long-term growth.

There is a need for behavioural research within the smartphone context to better understand users’ behaviour, as it is one of the reasons for the proliferation of mobile threats. This study aims to identify the human factors that affect smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour.

A structured literature review (SLR) was applied to answer the research question. A total of 27 sources were analysed, from which 16 codes emerged. After synthesis, six themes transpired.

Six factors were identified as drivers and/or challenges of smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour, namely, knowledge and awareness, misconceptions and trust, cost and benefit considerations, carelessness, perceived measure effectiveness and the user’s perceived skills and efficacy.

The results can encourage and provide a starting point for further research on human behaviour to improve smartphone user behaviour.

The mobile industry should focus on eradicating common misconceptions and undue trust in mobile security that is prevalent among smartphone users and make cost effective and usable interventions available. Training and awareness programs should be updated to include the factors that were identified in this study to affect smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour. In addition to improving users’ declarative knowledge concerning available smartphone measures and tools, procedural knowledge should also be improved to ensure proper use of available protective measures. Users should realise the importance of staying updated with evolving smartphone technology and associated threats.

This study acknowledges and supports the notion that addressing human behaviour is crucial in the fight against mobile threats. It addresses the need for behavioural research to analyse the factors that drive smartphone user behaviour. Furthermore, it uses and documents the use of a SLR, a research technique often unfamiliar among information security researchers.

Based on identity theory, identity represents a set of meanings individuals hold for themselves based on their role in the society. Hence, they often engage in the process of verifying their role, seeking for the compatibility between these meanings and those perceived in a specific lived situation. If this compatibility is not perceived, this is likely to generate negative emotions. that could compromise their mental health. This paper examines the contribution of a weak verification of role identity in the explanation of managers ‘burnout. It aims at integrating identity theory into occupational stress research by analysing the proposition that a low level of verification of a salient role-identity will be associated with a high level of burnout. Hence, we consider identity salience as a moderating variable.

Cross-sectional data of 314 Canadian managers employed in 56 Quebec firms. Multilevel regression analyses were performed to analyse the data.

Low levels of verification of some standards of managers' role identity, mainly work demands and recognition which encompasses (monetary and non-monetary recognition, career prospects and job security) are significantly associated with managers' burnout. Furthermore, as predicted, results show that identity salience plays a moderating role on the relation between a weak verification of some standards of managers' role identity and burnout, mainly work demands, superior support and recognition.

This study proposes a relatively unexplored approach for the study of managers' burnout. It broadens the scope of research on workplace mental health issues, by the integration of the identity theory.

This paper aims to examine the employment effect of the minimum wage in Mauritius, a country that has recently introduced an economy-wide national minimum wage. As women have low labor force participation rate and higher unemployment rate compared to men, this study sheds light on the impact of the national minimum wage on male and female employment.

A conceptual framework based on the labor–leisure model of Blundell et al. (2007) incorporating the minimum wage as an important variable influencing the employment decision of the individual serves as the methodological backdrop of this paper. It applies the difference-in-difference estimation technique and uses micro data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Survey for the period 2017–2019.

The results show that minimum wage has a significant negative impact on overall employment. With the imposition of the national minimum wage, the probability that an individual, currently earning less than the minimum wage, remains employed is 0.525 lower than that of a worker earning above the minimum wage level. Moreover, using sex-disaggregated data, the analysis demonstrates the negative employment effects of the minimum wage adversely impact women more than men.

This is a first attempt to estimate the effect of the newly introduced national minimum wage on employment in Mauritius. While the effects of a minimum wage vary across different segments of the economy, this study adopts a gender perspective by comparing the impact of the minimum wage on male and female employment.

The purpose of this study was to determine if Systems Development Methodologies (SDMs) are being utilised effectively in the development of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) in South Africa. With e-learning being a critical component of modern educational systems, it has become essential to ensure that LMSs of a high standard are being developed. In the field of SDMs, much research has been done and the value of SDMs is proven and documented. To enhance the chances of developing LMSs of outstanding quality, it is crucial that SDMs are applied efficiently, as they can have a significant impact on the development process.

A positivistic research approach was followed. By utilising a survey as the main research method, quantitative data were generated. By statistically analysing the dataset, meaningful results were obtained.

This study shed some light on how LMS procurement and development is being done in South Africa and revealed that the use of open-source systems currently exceeds the use of proprietary systems. The results of the research showed that SDMs (e.g. Rapid Application Development) are being used effectively in the development of e-learning systems. Strong relationships exist between many of the SDM factors identified (e.g. performance expectancy and the perceived support of the methodology) and the quality and productivity of the development process. This, in turn, has a strong influence on the impact SDMs have on the quality of LMSs.

The study made a contribution to the discipline of information systems and, more specifically, LMSs, by providing insights with regard to the factors affecting the use and effectiveness of SDMs in developing LMSs. As far as could be ascertained, this study generated the first empirical data on the procurement and development of LMSs in South Africa.

This paper aims to explore the individual and social learning experiences of first-year accounting students studying in English as an additional language. The challenges of these students relating to listening, reading, speaking and writing in English, and the impact of these on their academic outcomes, are examined.

A qualitative case study design was used. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 students, both academically successful and unsuccessful, who had completed the first year. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted and a hybrid approach of deductive and inductive coding was used to interpret the data. This entailed the application of a language skills-based framework of teaching and learning to the first-order process of coding. An iterative and reflective process allowed themes to emerge from the data. These themes, in turn, triggered second-order codes that resonated with aspects of the interactionist approach to second language acquisition (SLA).

The themes that emerged indicated that students’ ability to interact with their study material, and their exposure to positive verbal interaction opportunities in both formal and informal contexts, may have contributed to their academic success.

It is recommended that an interactionist perspective be considered when designing curriculum resources and accounting language learning activities for first-year accounting students.

It is anticipated that the results will contribute towards building a bridge between accounting education and SLA research and provide a more informed linguistic foundation for incorporating language skills into the accounting curriculum.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on service quality and value co-creation and co-destruction by unpacking the phenomenon described as “difficult customers”, which has many associated costs for service organizations. The paper examines how frontline service employees make sense of and react to client behaviors that disrupt service processes.

This is a qualitative study with 128 frontline workers, who were interviewed about their perceptions, explanations and reactions to problem-related customers, using a sensemaking perspective.

Content analysis revealed 17 themes related to workers' perceptions, explanations and reactions to problem-related customers. Workers classify behaviors of problem-related customers in terms exceeding the single notion of intentionality that dominates the literature, instead referring to the degree of both controllability and malevolence of customers. Service workers choose a wide range of behavioral reactions that have not been studied before.

A convenience sample, although large, limits generalizability. Suggestions for future quantitative research are proposed.

Based on the findings, the authors suggest specific directions related to managerial policy and organizational practices related to training and employee empowerment and service recovery routines.

The study introduces a new theoretical notion of “problem-related customers”, set within a value co-creation context. It presents findings that enable deeper understanding of the emotional and behavioral reactions of frontline workers to service disruptions and offers multiple scholarly contributions, new research directions and managerial insights that can help to improve service recovery and service quality