Abstract: Recently, the worsening state of the natural environment has caused researchers and practitioners to rethink the way in which this issue should be solved. It has been argued that the solution should not simply be one of regulation but rather of innovation. As such entrepreneurship, or more specifically ecopreneurship, has been identified as a possible avenue to bring about pro-environmental transformation within the business sector. To date however, research within the field of ecopreneurship is still lacking, especially within a developing country context, such as South Africa. In addition, most of the ecopreneurship data available do not report on gender differences. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine Generation Y students’ intentions towards becoming ecopreneurship within the context of South Africa, more specifically the Gauteng province, and to determine if any differences exist between male and female students. The study made use of primary data obtained through self-administered questionnaires that were distributed to 600 students across three (3) universities in South Africa. The variables used to determine student’s intentions to become ecopreneurs included environmental concern, environmental behaviour, perceived environmental knowledge, attitude towards ecopreneurship, perceived behavioural control, subjective norm and intention towards ecopreneurship. A combination of the judgement and convenience sampling techniques were used to identify the study sample. The statistical analysis used to analyse the collected data included, descriptive and reliability analysis and an independent sample t-test. The study found that students generally displayed positive intentions towards becoming ecopreneurs and that no significant difference was noted between male and female students regarding most of the previously mentioned variables. Female students did, however, record higher statistical means for environmental concern than male students.

Abstract: At this time of COVID-19, the world is at the dawn of a new era characterised by a fundamental shift in the way people live, work and conduct relationships. It seems that South Africa, battling with an unemployment rate of 30.1% and economic contraction of 2% in the first quarter of 2020, is not preparing its people with skills for a shift to the new era. Entrepreneurship has been suggested as a viable means to reduce unemployment, and education has been shown to improve entrepreneurial outcomes. South African entrepreneurship education is highly theoretical, borrowing heavily from management courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Shifting Hope, Activating Potential Entrepreneurship (SHAPE) social-technology programme developed studentpreneurs to take entrepreneurial action after the thirteen-week systemic action learning and action research initiative (SALAR). The study used a longitudinal research design, where a questionnaire was used to evaluate Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE) before, during and after the training programme. A statistically significant improvement in attitudes towards embarking on entrepreneurial action was observed. Based on this result, participants experienced developmental transformation. Grounded in the developmental transformation that occurred amongst the participants, a Transformative Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (TESE) model was created. Developmental transformation; drastic transformation; ESE; entrevolutionising; SHAPE; social-technology; transformative learning and transformative self-efficacy model

Abstract: Organisations are interested in implementing cloud computing (CC) services, as these services are purported to enable Information Technology (IT) to become efficient and effective. However, CC brings new complexities, risks and implications into IT projects. The objective of this study is two-fold: to determine whether CC projects are significantly different from traditional IT projects and to develop a conceptual framework to effectively manage the implementation of CC projects. More specifically, the study evaluated project complexities brought about by CC, and explored the project management knowledge area and approaches required to implement CC. The literature review revealed that CC contributes to the complexity of projects and there are 18 core CC project complexity factors which are key to the successful implementation of CC projects. Apart from these 18 factors, there are 78 other factors which are important for both cloud and traditional IT projects which need to be looked at. Secondly, it is vital to understand which project management knowledge subjects are key to successfully implement cloud projects. Five (5) key knowledge areas have been identified that are linked to the complexity factors. Finally, it is suggested that an agile approach be used when implementing CC projects.

Abstract: Over the past few decades, governments have increasingly used bonds to acquire revenue to finance development and infrastructure projects. Several internal and even external factors influence the bond price as well as the bond yield rate. Developing countries use government bonds to finance developmental projects, but their bond yield rates are relatively high compared to developed countries, resulting in high levels of debt repayments. This study has the primary aim to analyse the relationship between the government bond yield and several macro-economic variables, including the exchange rate, repurchase rate, inflation and government debt. The study used South Africa as a proxy for developing countries. A quantitative methodology was used through the estimation of an econometric model using monthly time series data from 1994 to 2020. Government bond yield was selected as the dependent variable with independent variables including the exchange rate, the repo rate, inflation and government debt. Both long- and short-run relationships were found between the variables using the Johansen co-integration and vector error correction model (VECM) methods. These long-run results are important as they indicate that a depreciating exchange rate, rising interest rates and inflation, as well as rising debt levels, lead to increasing bond yields, which lead to increasing debt repayments. In conclusion, the results of the study indicated that a stable macro-economic environment is required for economic growth, while volatile exchange rates and yields do negatively affect growth; rising inflation does lead to rising repo rates, depreciating exchange rates; inflation should be contained within the inflation targets; and lastly, policy certainty is important to keep rates and yields stable, which could lead to investor confidence.

Abstract: The textile manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe has faced many challenges, which caused contraction of the industry. The main aim of this study was to establish how industrial upgrading could help to control market failures, improve competitiveness and sustainability to stimulate and enhance sustainable economic growth through the development of a structural model. The causal research strategy was used and the data collection tools used was focus group discussions (FGDs), questionnaires and personal interviews. Stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample size of 325 respondents in Kadoma, Glendale and Harare. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed and implemented through confirmatory factor analysis and estimation of the model. The results showed that the measurement model fits the data satisfactorily, and the proposed model fits well to the observed data as demonstrated by the goodness of fit indices CFI 0.86, TFI 0.84 and RMSEA 0.07. The study provided evidence that industrial upgrading could redress market failures in the textile manufacturing industry and that there is a positive correlation between industrial upgrading, competitiveness and sustainability. The study revealed that industrial upgrading could restore competitiveness in the textile manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe. On the way forward, the article is valuable to the policymakers, academics and other researchers, among others. The stakeholders will be able to apply the model to determine which specific influences are the most important for their respective business.

Abstract: Community-based entrepreneurship (CBE) is considered a viable approach for bridging the gap between people living in the mainstream economy and the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP), especially in rural communities of developing nations such as South Africa. Previous research studies focused on the impact of CBE on employment creation and poverty reduction. This study investigated the role of sense of belonging on the success of community-based agricultural enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study adopted a positivism research paradigm using a quantitative research approach for data collection. A census sampling strategy was employed to gather data from all 209 members of three (3) agricultural cooperatives in Nkandla rural communities using structured questionnaires. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse data using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to establish the relationship between the psychological factors and the success and sustainability of community-based enterprises. Findings revealed that sense of community is an enabling factor for the success and sustainability of community-based enterprises. This study concluded that to ensure the success and sustainability of CBE, policy makers should consider the assessment of psychological factors during the design and implementation of community-based initiatives.