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Outsourcing manufacturing to a contract manufacturer is a growing practice that has gained global prominence since the turn of the century. This business practice is common in pharmaceutical and electronics industries, and has now also become common practice in consumer product supply chains. This practice has many challenges; in most cases it does not achieve its intended objectives, with a number of contract manufacturing companies (CMCs) in South Africa going out of business. Research and the literature on contract manufacturing is predominantly focused on the aspects of contract manufacturing and its role and impact in the supply chain. However, there are very few, if any, scholarly articles on the factors that make CMCs in the consumer products supply chain in South Africa succeed and become sustainable businesses and strategic partners to their brand owner customers. This study aimed to fill this gap by identifying, through empirical research of experts in contract manufacturing, the factors that are critical for contract manufacturers to succeed and to be sustainable businesses that can contribute to the success of their clients. Several critical success factors were identified using a Delphi survey of experts who had experience working with CMCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study aims to determine factors important in restructuring the education system to meet the skills demand required during the era of the fourth industrial revolution (industry 4.0). The study used a qualitative research method based on a narrative design involving multiple stakeholders (n = 35). Data from the participants were collected and analysed to reveal 12 critical success factors required for restructuring the education system from basic to higher education level. The success factors are based on enabling the basic structure of an effective education system, to develop and strengthen effective work-integrated learning, to overhaul the basic education structure and learning content and to enhance elements of interconnected systems. The study concludes that there is an urgent need for preparedness of the basic and higher education systems to effectively meet the required employment skills at a time of industry 4.0. This will assist the necessary development and competitiveness within developing countries, including South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To survive the 2017/18 water crisis in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and to prepare for a challenging water future, the Western Cape Government developed and implemented plans to ensure water supply to certain of its critical service delivery facilities through the use of localized groundwater supply systems. The case study research of this programme provides both current and future disaster preparedness planners with an improved understanding of the levels of water resilience achievable through this strategy and the methodology to best achieve it. This also enables the critical success factors in pursuing this strategy to be distilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital evolution has disrupted advertising globally, and the outdated business models used by South African advertising agencies are pushing their customers towards their competitors in the digital space. The objective of the study was to provide a framework of Critical Success Factors (CSF) for marketing decision-makers operating in the digital era by investigating the extent and implications of this digital disruption. Triangulation through a mixed-methods approach with the sequential exploratory design was employed. In the qualitative phase, the impact of digital disruption on South African advertising agencies (AA) was explored through interviews. The findings were used to develop a questionnaire for the quantitative phase, in which exploratory factor analysis was employed. As a result, six factors significant for the operations of advertising agencies in the digital age were identified. These are (i) characteristics of modern marketing; (ii) agency sustainability in the digital age; (iii) characteristics of effective advertising in the digital age; (iv) critical skills for advertising agencies to succeed in the digital age; (v) digital capabilities for agencies' success in the digital age; (vi) agency structure and process considerations for the digital age. The resulting CSF Framework provides the marketing decision-makers with a broader perspective on their strongly digitalised business environment and permits a smoother transition of AA towards a new sustainable business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hosting events entails various factors and elements that need to be managed effectively to create and ensure an enjoyable experience for attendees. To ensure that a festival exceed the attendees' expectations and needs, event-specific research should be conducted, as it is imperative that event managers understand the attendees' expectations. This can be achieved by gathering feedback from attendees at a festival focusing on the aspects they regard as important, also known as CSFs. Therefore, this study was conducted at the 2018 AfrikaBurn festival hosted in the Tankwa Karoo, South Africa to determine what attendees consider important when attending this festival. A qualitative approach whereby, non-probability convenience sampling was applied, and a semi-structured interview guide was used to obtain the data. A total of 45 interviews were included in the analysis whereby, Creswell's six steps was used which revealed participants' profiles and main themes for the CSFs; Important factors for AfrikaBurn and Factors for an improved AfrikaBurn. The findings indicate event-specific CSFs unique to AfrikaBurn and contributes to literature regarding CSFs for managing events and also to the events industry. It is recommended to conduct further research at AfrikaBurn to better understand this unique event's attendees and also continue researching other events to determine more event-specific CSFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, small enterprise development is an important strategy for the economic growth, transformation and eradication of poverty and inequality. The government also promotes the development of the aquaculture sector to provide food security, contribute to wealth and job creation, provide livelihood opportunities, and contribute to transformation. South African businesses unfortunately have a low rate of business sustainability. This study investigated the critical success factors enabling aquaculture enterprises in South Africa to become self-sustainable, and the potential reasons for failure including those enterprises that received public funding. The study was conducted on the West Coast of the Western Cape, South Africa. A multiple-case study approach was followed, focusing on the marine mussel farming sub-sector in Saldanha Bay. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the owners or managers of ten mussel farming enterprises, and with nine representatives of role players with responsibility or experience in aquaculture, agriculture, or enterprise development. The results of the study indicated that aquaculture farmers and role players have a similar understanding of the concept of self-sustainability in aquaculture agribusinesses, especially the need for profitability and independence. The most critical success factors for self-sustainable aquaculture enterprises include environmentally responsible and sustainable farming practices, efficiently addressing economic challenges and opportunities, cultivating good business leadership and management, and a supportive business and enabling environment. The main reasons for failing to become self-sustainable include environmentally unsustainable farming practices, economic challenges, weak business leadership and management, and challenges related to the business and enabling environment. The paper argues that commercially focused aquaculture ventures could achieve social benefits, however, socially-focused ventures are unlikely to achieve commercial benefits. The study recommends interventions that could assist aquaculture enterprises in addressing the critical factors described in this paper, to achieve self-sustainability in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviews the development and conventional qualitative analysis of aquaculture in Africa, specifically by reviewing the aquaculture sector of key players (Egypt, Nigeria and Uganda) as a reference for South Africa; an aspiring key aquaculture player in Africa based on the launch of Operation Phakisa—South African version of the blue economy initiative. The key players were identified based on current annual production output and critical success factors, thus used as a benchmark for South Africa. Qualitative factors reviewed are critical success factors of the aquaculture sector of the selected countries that are widely germane to aquaculture development. These factors include production outputs (tons) and value ($); cultured species; prevalent aquaculture production systems; types of aquaculture, i.e., freshwater and mariculture; aquaculture development challenges related to fish seed, fish feed, land and water availability; aquaculture market and trade and provision of enabling environment through policies and frameworks. These factors were qualitatively reviewed and analyzed in ranking the aquaculture operations of the key players and South Africa to elucidate the critical success factors and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although technology innovation management has been extensively studied, little research has been conducted in nanotechnology-focused innovation management. No model currently exists on nanotechnology innovation management and the related critical success factors. Based on a literature review of nanotechnology characteristics and reported successful nanotechnology research, six essential factors of success were identified. These factors are consumer acceptance of nanotechnology, hybridisation of nanotechnology innovations into existing industries and markets, multidisciplinary project teams, agglomeration and clustering of nanotechnology research projects, research and development (R&D) and commercialisation skills and capabilities, and working within a conducive innovation environment. These six factors were crystallised into the "Nanotechnology Innovation Diamond", a model for successful nanoscience research and development. The proposed model was then validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) from a survey of 167 nanotechnology experts from South Africa. The results indicate that at 95% confidence level, the proposed model satisfied the minimum CFA model fit requirements, and the six proposed critical success factors are significant for successful nanotechnology R&D. The presented model can be used to increase the rate of success of nanotechnology R&D projects, nanotechnology project portfolio selection, and nanotechnology foresight exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Electronic medical record (EMR) systems have been identified as having the potential to improve healthcare and allow the healthcare sector to reap a number of benefits when implemented successfully. However, problems with the data quality of EMRs are often reported as barriers to successful implementation of these systems. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the critical success factors that can improve the data quality of EMRs in public healthcare institutions in the North West province of South Africa. Method: This study utilised data quality framework (DQF) as a lens to collect qualitative data through interviews with seven nurses and one information technology specialist chosen through purposive sampling. The interview guide was developed using the DQF. Results: The data quality of EMRs is influenced by the six data quality dimensions of the DQF, namely, completeness, consistency, conformity, accuracy, integrity and timeliness. Therefore, it is important that healthcare workers understand the five factors identified in this study in order to ensure good-quality data in EMRs. Conclusion: This study recommends that public healthcare institutions should consider using the DQF to improve the quality of patient data, which is documented in EMRs. Implementing the DQF may ensure that the healthcare workers follow the correct standards of documenting patient data, which are accurate, complete, consistent and timely, conforming to the appropriate standards and with integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus pandemic has put extreme pressure on health care services in South Africa. Aim: To describe the design, patients and outcomes of a field hospital during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Setting: The Cape Town International Convention Centre was the first location in Cape Town to be commissioned as a field hospital that would serve as an intermediate care bed facility. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of patients admitted to this facility between 8th June 2020 and 14th August 2020 using deidentified data extracted from patient records. Results: There were 1502 patients admitted, 56.4% female, with a mean age of 58.6 years (standard deviation [s.d.]: 14.2). The majority of patients (82.9%) had at least one comorbidity, whilst 15.4% had three or more. Nearly 80.0% (79.8%) of patients required oxygen and 63.5% received steroids, and only 5.7% of patients were required to be transferred for escalation of care. The mean length of stay was 6 days (s.d.: 4.8) with an overall mortality of 5.7%. Conclusion: This study highlights the role of a field hospital in providing surge capacity. Its use halved the predicted duration of stay at acute care hospitals, allowing them the capacity to manage more unstable and critical patients. Adaptability and responsivity as well as adequate referral platforms proved to be crucial. Daily communication with the whole health care service platform was a critical success factor. This study provides information to assist future health planning and strategy development in the current pandemic and future disease outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors affecting Bharti Airtel's cross‐border postacquisition performance in an African market. This study describes the relationships among various factors such as technical capability, affiliated firm's absorptive capacity, and organizational learning capabilities, which determine the successful operations of the Zain acquisition deal in South Africa. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to identify factors that influence the postacquisition performance. Seven factors are identified based on the literature. Consequently, it has become a necessity to encapsulate these factors in suitable proportions. In this study, we have developed a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) to analyze the postacquisition performance of Bharti Airtel in South Africa. Our research has highlighted six dynamic factors (organizational learning capability, knowledge management, technology capability, technology relatedness, acquirer's absorptive capacity, and national culture difference) that affect the firm's postacquisition performance. The interpretive structural model (ISM) and total interpretive structural model for postacquisition performance are built‐up. The developed TISM will support academics and practitioners to develop their understanding of acquisition performance of parent companies in the context of telecom business in the South African market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The construction organisations in developing countries are lagging in digital technology usage; hence, they are still characterised by poor project delivery and technological backwardness. To checkmate this problem, partnering with other organisations was proposed, while critical factors needed for successful digital partnering of construction organisations were assessed. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Delphi method was used to get experts' opinion on some identified factors necessary for successful digital partnering. The experts for the study were selected using defined criteria, and a combination of interquartile deviation, Kendall's coefficient of concordance and chi-square was used to achieve robust consensus among respondents. Mann–Whitney U test was also used to ascertain the difference in perception of experts. Findings: The findings revealed trust in digital partners, top management support and digital partner selection as the three key success factors for partnering. Other factors that can be considered alongside these main factors are the creation of a common goal, a long-term commitment, effective communication, proper conflict resolution and structured as well as continuous digital training, workshops and meetings. Practical implications: Instead of going through the digitalisation journey alone, construction organisations, particularly in a developing country like South Africa, stand a better chance of surviving the dynamic construction and digital environment by partnering with other organisations within and outside the industry. Carefully selecting the right partner, trusting in their capability and ensuring constant commitment is necessary for the success of the process. Originality/value: The value of this study lies in its ability to showcase the critical success factors needed for effective digital partnering, an aspect that lacks adequate consideration in the digitalisation of construction industry discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the Critical Success Factor Framework to investigate the level to which current tourism business practices reflect the existing responsible tourism policies and regulations in the Drakensberg Mountain Region of South Africa. A survey was carried out among 80 tourism business operators, in conjunction with in-depth interviews with key informants from the local government departments. The findings of the study suggest that, although current policies and regulations amply cover all the important issues related to sustainable mountain route tourism, they are fragmented, left to the discretion of tourism and hospitality operators in the region and have not been sufficiently enforced among these operators. The policies and regulations governing tourism in the region are also not specific enough to guide tourism development in fragile mountain environments. This has left tourism sustainability in destinations within the region at the mercy and creativity of the tourism business operators, resulting in uneven practices. In conclusion, this paper adopts the Critical Success Factors Framework in developing possible steps towards improving the adoption of sustainable tourism in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to study the critical success factors contributing to high insurance penetration levels in four countries viz. Taiwan, South Korea, South Africa and UK. In January 2019 issue, discussion on Taiwan and South Korea and the major players in these two markets namely Fubon Life and Samsung Life were covered. Part II of this article will include detailed analysis of the remaining two countries and its major firms -- South Africa (Old Mutual Life Ass urance Society) and UK (Aviva PLC). The last section of the article brings out the lessons that may be learnt in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile devices and social media tools are two emerging technologies that have positively influenced teaching and learning practices at traditional universities. Regardless of the popularity of social media, few lecturers make use of these tools for educational purposes. The objective of this paper was to identify critical success factors to improve the adoption of social media among lecturers at a traditional university in South Africa. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) was chosen as the theoretical foundation for this study. A quantitative, survey data collection method was used to collect data. A questionnaire was distributed to all academics at the university, with a response rate of 39 %. From these, descriptive statistics were used to analyse data and the Pearson chi-square test was used to establish the association amongst different variables. The following CSFs were identified to enhance emerging technologies at traditional universities: management support,provide adequate ICT infrastructure and resources,provide sufficient training for lecturers, and introduce a champion to promote social media. The study, therefore, recommends that these four critical success factors must be considered by universities to adopt social media in teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based tourism (CBT) has been promoted as a way of development whereby the socio-cultural, environmental and economic needs of local communities are met through tourism product offerings. CBT is concerned with ensuring that the local community benefits directly from the tourism industry. CBT is known to contribute to social and economic survival of the marginalised communities in developing countries and the preservation of natural resources in the affected areas. In developing countries, tourism has often been observed as the spin around for small-scale enterprises and job creation, and therefore the uplifting of local communities' standard of living. Where CBT is practiced well, there is a potential to provide some exceptional opportunities for communities by offering not only better benefits, but also enhancing their contribution in planning and management of tourism in their communities. The primary goal of the study was to investigate the sustainability of financial investment in community-based tourism projects in the Thabo Mofutsanyana Municipality. Secondary objectives were set, namely: to determine if the projects can sustain themselves after funding support has been terminated, to determine the oversight role played by government on how funding has been utilised, and to formulate guidelines on how to increase the sustainability of CBT projects. CBT projects have the potential of opening up avenues for locals and economically deprived communities to have a meaningful contribution in tourism. The qualitative study sought to investigate the sustainability of financial investments in CBT within the Thabo Mofutsanyane area. The results indicated that financial investments are important for CBT. Financial investments are not an end, as marketing planning and skills development can ensure the success of CBT. This article offers developing destinations will critical success factors for CBT projects that are used to create a tourism supply chain for residents and citizens of a tourism destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-economic development and economic growth is connected with the intensive use of energy resources, which poses also risks to long-term viability of the biosphere by causing natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. One of the options to reduce Human and environmental risks from extensive energy generation are renewable energy sources. However, there are several barriers for transformation of energy sector towards a greater share of renewable energies. Human factors such as social support or opposition are crucial drivers for this transition. This paper examines the state of infrastructure projects in South Africa and assesses how lessons from these projects can contribute to improve development of energy transformation in the country. It analyses the challenges of applying participatory governance in the energy transition in South Africa, as a critical component of successful infrastructure project implementation, and of insights into fostering environmental leadership. The paper is based on the case studies analysis of ten large infrastructure projects in South Africa and focuses on public participation in these projects, its effects and challenges by applying the ladder of public participation methodology. Findings from the study support the scientific arguments that public participation in decision-making regarding deployment infrastructure projects creates an enabling environment for successful implementation. In conclusion public participation was only in the context of environmental impact assessment which is a mandatory requirement for infrastructure projects in South Africa. Currently public participation is manly regarded as a reactive measure to conflict resolution. It is organized to provide feedback on the results of environmental impact assessment, mainly as a way to address conflict, which has already emerged. Our results show that provision of information and consultation are the two most frequent levels of public participation. Land use issues and questions about benefits and impacts from infrastructure projects on local communities are the most frequent concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The continued in failure of agile and traditional software development projects have led to the consideration, attention and dispute to critical success factors that are the aspects which are most vital to make a software engineering methodology fruitful. Although there is an increasing variety of critical success factors and methodologies, the conceptual frameworks which have causal relationship are limited. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify and provide insights into the critical success factors that influence the success of software development projects using agile methodologies in South Africa. Method: Quantitative method of collecting data was used. Data were collected in South Africa through a Web-based survey using structured questionnaires. Results: These results show that organisational factors have a great influence on performance expectancy characteristics. Conclusion: The results of this study discovered a comprehensive model that could provide guidelines to the agile community and to the agile professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponsorship is now a commonly used component of the integrated marketing communications of many organisations. Despite the importance of sponsorship in the events marketing, this topic has not been investigated sufficiently. The aim of this paper is to explore and identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that determine sponsorship as a business partnership between an event organisation and its sponsor/s. This study proposes a framework of CSFs for events sponsorship as partnership, based on the model suggested by Tuten and Urban (2001). This framework provides (i) a foundation from which sponsorships could be evaluated in a more systematic and strategic manner; and (ii) a guidance for partners' programs and plans in undertaking sponsorship ventures. It then empirically investigates this issue by a qualitative research method, a case study on Comrades Marathon, South Africa, in order to test and validate the suggested framework by means of practitioners' perceptions and opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to determine whether visitors who attend the same live music performance at four different destinations/locations vary and whether their needs were the same for a memorable visitor experience. Two-way frequency tables and Chi-square tests, as well as ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparisons were used to investigate any significant differences between the four locations of the shows. The results indicate significant statistical differences between the various locations based on visitor profile, economic impact and what factors visitors regarded as important for a memorable visitor experience. Determining these differences not only equips major music event managers with the improved knowledge to develop and manage future concerts at various destinations (cities) and locations (venues), but this research also helps management to ensure the creation of a memorable visitor experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the management, economics and political economy aspects of the Zimbabwe music industry. It compares management and policy practices in South Africa with those in Zimbabwe and identifies gaps that need to be filled in developing an epistemology of management and economics in the Zimbabwe music industry. Some of the issues identified include the importance of strategy - especially an industry strategy - in developing music business, the interaction between majors and indies, the significance of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for this industry, the role of government policy in nurturing a vibrant music industry and the role of stardom in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for musicians. A number of weaknesses in the Zimbabwe music industry were identified such as lack of an industry strategy, lack of coherent statistics on the music industry and a need to develop the organizational infrastructure of industry associations. The article concludes by urging researchers to complement the basic business disciplines with critical political economy, sociology of creative labour industries and cultural studies in order to produce work that focuses on the musicians as primary producers and attempts to improve their position in society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research identified and ranked the importance of visitors’ critical management aspects or critical success factors for a memorable and satisfactory visitor experience at a major music event in South Africa. The research specifically focussed on the Neil Diamond concerts held in South Africa during 2011. Six CSFs were identified namely (in order of importance) General Management; Venue and Technical Aspects; Marketing; Accessibility and Parking; Amenities and Catering; and Souvenirs. Successful management of these CSFs will ensure that major music events retain satisfied visitors and remain competitive over the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of rural information communication and technology (ICT) case studies suggests that there are a number of constraints which threaten the sustainability of rural ICT projects. Sustainability is key to the effectiveness of a rural ICT project. The categories of sustainability reveal critical success factors (CSFs) that need to be considered in the implementation and the management of rural ICT projects. The project management discipline recognizes the complexity of a project's environment and therefore suggests that projects be undertaken in phases comprising the project life cycle. Project management practice for rural ICT project sustainability is examined with the intent of adapting the traditional project life cycle to propose a rural ICT project life cycle (RICT-PLC) that is sensitive to the CSFs of sustainability. In order to further investigate the phases and the related practices throughout the life cycle of a rural ICT project, two case study investigations are explored in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: the Dwesa ICT project and the Rhodes University Mathematics Education Project. Finally, an initially enhanced RICT-PLC model is developed, that sets sustainability guidelines for ICT project management in rural areas and identifies the people, environments, technologies, systems, and requirements for ICTs to support rural development activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]