Krishna Govender

Empowering Leadership and Municipal Service Delivery: A Case Study of a Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa

ABSTRACT Since municipal service delivery is a challenge facing many municipalities in South Africa, this paper reports on a study conducted among a convenience sample of managers and employees from the Revenue and Customer Relations Management department of a major metropolitan municipality in South Africa, to address the aforementioned problem. The findings reveal that empowering leadership is strongly correlated with employee work effort, performance and improved service delivery. On the practitioners’ side, the important mediating role of employee work effort and employee performance in the “empowering leadership–improved service delivery” relationship in South Africa’s public sector is also highlighted.

Exploring the e-CRM – e-customer- e-loyalty nexus: a Kenyan commercial bank case study

Abstract This article scaffolds on customer relationship management (CRM) theory and explores the association between electronic CRM (e-CRM) and electronic customer’s (e-customer) electronic loyalty (e-loyalty) in the banking sector. By using a survey design, data was collected from a convenience sample of customers of a major Kenyan commercial bank, and analysed using structural equation and multiple regression modelling. The findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between e-CRM and e-customers’ loyalty. The e-CRM features at all three stages of an electronic transaction cycle namely, pre-service, during-service and after-service, significantly influence the e-customers’ loyalty in the banking sector. Thus, to capitalize on the range of benefits that emanate from the use of e-CRM, continued review and enhancement of marketing strategies is needed, so as to achieve e-customers’ loyalty particularly, at the post-service stage. Kenyan commercial bank managers should focus on customer satisfaction specifically at post-service stage, to increase their ecustomers’ loyalty.

Exploring workplace diversity and organisational effectiveness: A South African exploratory case study

Orientation: Transformation and managing diversity are organisational imperatives, especially in South Africa. Thus, it is important for international companies with major operations in South Africa (SA) to embrace the benefits of managing a divergent workforce and translate this for organisational benefits. Research purpose: The article explores the perceptions of management and staff on diversity and its value to the organisation, by empirically evaluating the relationship with organisational effectiveness and performance through the development and testing of five hypotheses. Motivation for the study: Legislation has made it mandatory for transformation of the South African workplace and ensuring that diversity is embraced. However, not all companies have fully understood the benefits of recruiting and managing diverse teams for the benefit of the organisation. Research approach, design and method: Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used, whereby a survey was conducted among 227 employees using the Towers Watson Employment Employee Insight Survey (EIS). Inferential statistical techniques were used to test relationships among related variables postulated through five hypotheses. Main findings: It was ascertained that understanding and managing diversity has played a pivotal role in the (research) organisation’s performance and effectiveness over the past 5 years. More specifically, diversity management created room for appreciation, innovation and creativity that gave the organisations an edge to tackle diverse markets. Practical/managerial applications: South Africa has a diverse population, and when individuals join an organisation, they bring a unique set of characteristics referred to as personalities, which, through the socialisation process, get assimilated into teams’ norms and values, and the culture of the organisation. Managing diversity in the workplace is part of employee retention and attraction, with the intention to energise workplace productivity, thus increasing the organisation’s competitive edge. Contributions or value add: The positive impact engendered by diverse recruitment and retention is also supported by employee engagement, which presupposes employee ownership of change, by making it happen, and it is driven by employees that offer solutions to problems, by helping one another and who are proud of being part of the organisation. Its impact in the bigger scheme of events is to drive business performance, growth, cost management, and ability to attract, retain and engage top talent by establishing a winning and inclusive culture.

Identifying Common Reputation Drivers for South African Banks Using Media Reports

Abstract The banks have, since the 2008 global financial crisis, been increasingly concerned about how they are perceived, which resulted in corporate reputation emerging as a key feature of their strategic management processes, and reputation management becoming even more pivotal in managing stakeholder perceptions. From a study conducted among four leading (top four) banks in South Africa, using media data to understand how media content contributes to perceiving corporate reputation, it became apparent that the following reputation pillars impact the corporate reputation of the banks: vision and leadership, emotional appeal, workplace, social responsibility, financial performance and products and service. Practitioners from the strategic communications and public relation divisions stand to benefit from the insights that may be derived from this study. Strategic managers can better shape their organization’s reputation if they understand how reputation is shaped in the public sphere.

Alleviating Poverty in South Africa – A Theoretical Overview of the Expanded Public Works Program

Abstract Poverty alleviation is a challenge facing most developing countries. This paper reports on one national government strategy, namely the Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) which was implemented in South Africa (SA) to primarily address poverty and unemployment in rural areas. The paper sketches the journey from the projects of the national Department of Public Works (DPW) aimed at poverty alleviation, to general community-based public works programs, and finally to the EPWP. After providing the background to the SA government’s poverty alleviation strategy, the discussion hones in on the EPWP, its organization, focus, operational plan and training framework. The discussion culminates in a brief explanation of the monitoring and evaluation framework for the EPWP.

Service Performance and Service Quality: Exploring the Post-graduate Research Students' Perceptions of the Service Encounter

Abstract By developing and testing a conceptual model which was stated as: the PG research students’ perception of the PG research service quality is associated with their perception of the PG research supervisors’ service performance, the model was fitted to the data obtained from a sample of post graduates at a large research university in South Africa, using AMOS. The chi-square test statistic was reported as 8.951 with a p-value = 0.111, and the RMSEA was 0.004, both statistics indicating a good fit of the model to the data. It was thus concluded that the PG research students’ perception of the PG research supervisors’ service performance is associated with the perception of the PG research service quality.

Relationship between the postgraduate research students' perception of their role, research climate and service quality

This paper reports the results of the empirical evaluation of a theoretical model developed through an in-depth review of relevant literature which culminated in postulating that if postgraduate (PG) students are clear about their role as co-creators of the PG service and, if the research climate (OC) is supportive of research, then this will impact on their perception of PG service quality delivered by the PG research supervisor (EQUAL). The implications of the model for management of quality in postgraduate education through managing the PG service encounter, becomes apparent.

Bank customer loyalty and satisfaction: the influence of virtual e-CRM

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of customer satisfaction (CS) in the electronic-customer relationship management (e-CRM) and customer’s loyalty (CL) relationship, using data from the customers of one of the largest retail banks in Kenya.,Using survey mode, the study was administered to 90 samples (of which 78 were returned and usable), with data analysed using exploratory factor analysis to determine scale validity, and path analysis and multiple regression modelling to test hypotheses.,This study revealed that the interaction between e-CRM transaction features and CS was statistically significant and predicted CL, however, the interaction did not significantly account for more variance than just e-CRM features and CS. The path analysis revealed a lack of potential significant mediation effects of CS on the relationship between e-CRM and CL.,Although this research may have sampling limitations and also that the model fit is confined in a single bank/service industry, the estimated model was reasonable enough and has the potential of being repeated in future studies.,The principle contribution of the present research is it supplies unique learning to bank managers and scholars alike through conceptualising and subsequently empirically verifying the path e-CRM and e-loyalty via CS, and that CS does not mediate the relationship between the aforementioned constructs. By investigating the e-CRM practices of an existing case study, it provides insights of the issue and compare to literature, therefore supplying a thorough and detailed analysis to understand the phenomenon under investigation valuable for banking sector.

Mass Adoption of a Medical Emergency Identification System (MEIS) – The Case of Chinese Consumers

ABSTRACT An online survey was conducted among a snowball sample of 526 Chinese consumers to explore their knowledge of and attitude towards a Medical Emergency Identification System (MEIS). The respondents’ knowledge, perceived importance and design preference of a MEIS was explored. Although their knowledge of MEISs was extremely low, perceived importance was very high, and they were more likely to use a MEIS for their parents who were older than 55 years, than for their children under 18, or even for themselves. An electronic MEIS like a wristband was preferred over static information designs. A strategy to promote the mass adoption of a MEIS in China should focus on creating wide-spread awareness and knowledge about the purpose of a MEIS. Key areas to highlight would be the vulnerability of elderly parents; the protection of young children; the consequences of the hospital “pay-or-die” policy; and the facilitation of treatment of medical emergencies.

Exploring customer loyalty in the South African mobile telecommunications sector

Abstract The South African mobile telecommunications environment has become increasingly competitive, thus there is increased focus on acquiring and retaining loyal customers in order to facilitate repeat purchases, guarantee future revenues and shield the customer base from competitive activity. In the light of the aforementioned, an online survey which comprised questions on loyalty, customer satisfaction, brand image, perceived quality and perceived value, was conducted among 110 customers of the South African (SA) mobile telecommunications industry. A number of hypotheses were formulated proposing relationships among the above-mentioned variables. The findings which resulted from structural equation and multiple regression modelling, revealed that customer satisfaction has the most significant positive effect on customer loyalty. Customer brand image and perceived value have a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, but not customer loyalty. By implication, brand image and perceived value indirectly influence customer loyalty, through influencing customer satisfaction. The findings imply that the management of mobile telecommunications businesses in SA should focus on customer satisfaction and its antecedents, if they wish to develop a cadre of loyal customers.