Browsing by Author "Bamata, Nkombe Herman."

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Adoption of smartphone etiquette in the workplace in service-based business: the case of National Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
(2021) Zondi, Mbusowakhe Philington.; Phiri, Maxwell Agabu.; Bamata, Nkombe Herman.
In recent decades, smartphones have grown in popularity. Their growth has left the trail of indisputable proof of both improving and disrupting the workplace. Studies also suggest that users may develop addictions at work, which is caused by smartphone applications and the way they constantly increase user engagement. While good smartphone usage has beneficial impacts, bad usage has a negative impact on job efficiency in a business. The selected service-based business has implemented the usage of smartphones in the workplace to facilitate communication and access to current business platforms to improve service delivery. However, it is unclear how smartphones are managed at the workplace to ensure that they fulfil their primary function. It is a management responsibility to figure out how much time is wasted, owing to a lack of mechanisms to track smartphone usage. Smartphones have made corporate management much more complicated because managers have to manage, not only production but also the additional distractions that might stymie production if not properly controlled. It is unclear whether implementing smartphone etiquette in service-based businesses could serve as a guide for managing smartphones in the workplace. The smartphone conundrum in the workplace, warrants to be investigated to ascertain the extent of use, the impact on productivity and profitability. And finally, to address approaches to manage the smartphones in the workplace. As a result, this study aimed to investigate if the adoption of specific smartphone etiquette approaches that can be used to improve productivity and profitability in service-based business. The case of the National Botanical Garden in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. This study adopted the interpretivism paradigm as a philosophical guide to understand the views of the participants. The study employed the qualitative research approach to deeply understand the phenomenon of the smartphones in service-based businesses. A case study research design was used as the architectural backbone of the research to enhance the correctness of the findings. The target population of the study was the customer service employees of the selected service-based business. A sample of 267 was drawn from the 1,000 in the study population through purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to collect data from 199 customer services respondents. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings of the study revealed that smartphones have a high negative impact towards productivity and profitability in service-based business. This signified the importance of adopting the ‘smartphone etiquette approaches’ to manage the smartphones in the workplace. The findings of this study are valuable to service-based business managers as a basis for improving employees and business performance. The company's main goal is to increase its profit margins. Management can improve its performance by focusing on some elements that have a beneficial impact on a company's profitability, such as productivity through proper management of smartphone use in the workplace and reducing time used on non-work-related activities. This research is a significant step forward in comprehending the difficulties surrounding the influence of smartphones on business productivity and profitability in South Africa.
A framework to improve access to external finance by Small and Medium Enterprise start-ups.
(2018) Bamata, Nkombe Herman.; Fields, Ziska.; Govender, Krishna Kistan.
Despite the efforts of the South African government to develop the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, start-up businesses not only face restricted access to but also challenges in accessing external finance, which acts as the main barrier to their growth and development. In light of the aforementioned, this study aims to propose a framework to improve access to external financing by SME start-ups. The formulation of the framework is based on a review and critique of the literature on the key determinants of the success of SME start-ups, namely, start-up awareness, management skills, and the requirements of finance providers. SME start-ups may be considered as a special case of resource-based theory due to limited resources of the firm. Start-up awareness and management skills are considered as necessary resources that will help the SME to acquire and develop other resources that will lead to a competitive advantage and superior performance. This study has adopted a quantitative approach to collect and analyse data since this is the only way to test the various hypotheses postulated based on the resource-based theory. A sample of 252 SME start-ups was randomly selected from among SMEs located in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Researchers may extent and roll out the research at the national level or other regions of the world. The data was used to conduct descriptive and inferential statistical analyses and structural equation modelling, using the Smart PLS statistical software. Seven hypothesised relationships were tested, and it was found that start-up awareness and management skills positively influence access by SME start-ups to government, corporate and personal/social sources of finance. This study provides the necessary tools to start-up entrepreneurs to improve their access to external finance in South Africa. This study specifically highlights the different determinants of start-up awareness and management skills, and explains how the SME start-ups’ applicability of these determinants would influence their external financing accessibility. Also, this study highlights how finance providers could be able to develop matured relationships with SME start-ups, assess their finance applications based on the determinants of start-up awareness and management skills. The proposed framework maps the start-up entrepreneur’s business awareness and the requisite management skills with the finance providers’ requirements for granting finance and provides the entrepreneur with a clear idea of the type of finance to apply for and the optimal financing options for their businesses.
The role of situational leadership in small business management among Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business members.
(2013) Bamata, Nkombe Herman.; Smorfitt, Robert William.
Leaders within South African organisations and corporations are faced with challenges such as over-management and under-leadership. While management is about coping with complexity, leadership is about coping with change. In the actual business environment, foremost changes are progressively necessary for business survival and effective competition. In fact, the effective leadership is measured by organisational effectiveness. However, by displaying an effective leadership, leaders are called not only to influence subordinates but also enable them to achieve the organisational goals. Therefore, the effective leadership will not be focused on supremacy but on the organisational achievement. This requires an important and permanent participation and consultation of all team members. The present research study is focused on the analysis of the role of situational leadership in the context of small business management. The main purpose of this research is to examine and to critically evaluate the use of different situational leadership styles in the management of small businesses. This study has sought to review leader obligations and the evolution of these leadership styles in small business management. The study has intended to provide the fundamental empirical evaluation of the role played by situational leadership in small business management. The sample for the present research has been identified from within the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business (PCB). A random sample has been drawn from the SMEs within the membership, using standard sampling techniques and methodologies. The population was consisting of small businesses that are members of the PCB. The findings of this research have shown the positive impact that a situational leadership model has in small business management. In fact, small business owners and leaders will be inspired to understand the managerial role of the appropriateness behavioural style in the contextual business situations. Also, the study recommended that owners and leaders of small business should ameliorate leader sovereignty and follower skills, as these often interact in predicting poor follower performance and attitudinal responses. In addition, the present study has provided the tools necessary for small business owners, to guide the improvement and effectiveness of personal leadership.