What is the future of financial inclusion?
- Authors: Mago, Stephen
- Subjects: Financial services industry -- Africa , Banks and banking -- Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56481 , vital:56688
- Description: The purpose of this lecture is to explicate the future of financial inclusion with a focus on Africa. Understanding financial inclusion, its advantages, and its trajectory into the future sets a scene for future research and debates. Materials and methods: In preparing this lecture, I used systematic literature and bibliometric analysis complemented with field research done in two selected areas (Masvingo district in Zimbabwe and the Kirkwood area in the Eastern Cape, South Africa). Results/Findings: Results show that financial inclusion benefits poverty alleviation, job/employment creation, small business growth (through innovation and creativity), sustainability, closing inequality gaps, inclusive economic growth and development (local, national, regional, and global), closing gender gaps, and the promotion of digital finance. In other words, it creates opportunities for individuals, businesses, and economies in various ways. It also contributes to the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Globally, stakeholders such as governments, supranational organisations (the UN, the WB, the IMF, the G20) and development banks are working together to achieve financial inclusion. Alleviation or elimination of financial exclusion (FE) is the ultimate. Social implications: Financial inclusion promotes socio-economic transformation and livelihood enhancement. The unbanked, or the financially excluded, and the underbanked benefit from financial inclusion, thus allowing them access to financial services. Conclusions and recommendations: Extant literature and empirical research demonstrate the immense contribution of financial inclusion. It helps to defy the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. This lecture therefore recommends deliberate policy intentions by governments in developing countries to support financial inclusion to benefit the marginalised and promote the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). There is a need to digitise the financial systems for inclusivity. I argue that the future of financial inclusion is achieved not only by technology, but also by acceptance, behaviour, and collaboration/synergy, built around strong ecosystems. An underlying thesis is that financial inclusion benefits economies in many ways.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mago, Stephen
- Subjects: Financial services industry -- Africa , Banks and banking -- Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56481 , vital:56688
- Description: The purpose of this lecture is to explicate the future of financial inclusion with a focus on Africa. Understanding financial inclusion, its advantages, and its trajectory into the future sets a scene for future research and debates. Materials and methods: In preparing this lecture, I used systematic literature and bibliometric analysis complemented with field research done in two selected areas (Masvingo district in Zimbabwe and the Kirkwood area in the Eastern Cape, South Africa). Results/Findings: Results show that financial inclusion benefits poverty alleviation, job/employment creation, small business growth (through innovation and creativity), sustainability, closing inequality gaps, inclusive economic growth and development (local, national, regional, and global), closing gender gaps, and the promotion of digital finance. In other words, it creates opportunities for individuals, businesses, and economies in various ways. It also contributes to the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Globally, stakeholders such as governments, supranational organisations (the UN, the WB, the IMF, the G20) and development banks are working together to achieve financial inclusion. Alleviation or elimination of financial exclusion (FE) is the ultimate. Social implications: Financial inclusion promotes socio-economic transformation and livelihood enhancement. The unbanked, or the financially excluded, and the underbanked benefit from financial inclusion, thus allowing them access to financial services. Conclusions and recommendations: Extant literature and empirical research demonstrate the immense contribution of financial inclusion. It helps to defy the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. This lecture therefore recommends deliberate policy intentions by governments in developing countries to support financial inclusion to benefit the marginalised and promote the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). There is a need to digitise the financial systems for inclusivity. I argue that the future of financial inclusion is achieved not only by technology, but also by acceptance, behaviour, and collaboration/synergy, built around strong ecosystems. An underlying thesis is that financial inclusion benefits economies in many ways.
- Full Text:
Is e-business the saving grace for retailers during Covid-19?
- Authors: Kruger, Janine
- Subjects: Electronic commerce , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- -- Economic aspects , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56470 , vital:56687
- Description: The question can be asked whether e-business is the saving grace for retailers during Covid-19. Without pondering on the question, we will immediately say yes due to the lived experiences we all have as final consumers of retailers. However, before answering the question, it is important to consider what transpired within the retail business environment. The world has turned upside down towards the end of 2019 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 while South Africa felt the effect of Covid-19 as from March 2020. As cited by Verhoef, Noordhoff and Sloot (2022), the retail industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic. Not only has the retail industry been affected, the life of consumers also changed as consumers did not have direct access to their favourite traditional brick-and mortar-retailers. As the customers of these retailers, we have the lived experiences of not being able to patronise these retailers for an extended period of time. Due to the hard lockdown restrictions imposed within the business environment on brick-and-mortar retailers, the retailers had to find different ways to reach and provide need satisfying products to their customers. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (2020) and Rindita et al (2021, p.108), the pandemic provided retailers with a good opportunity to develop and adopt an e-commerce strategy that can act as an economic driver. In addition, Gramling, Orschell and Chernoff (2021) state that e-commerce is essential for future existence of businesses. This is evident when considering that the South African e-commerce sector grew by 66% in 2020 when 2 compared to 2019 while in-store shopping has declined by 30% (Kibuacha 2021). These results are expected if we take into account the trading restrictions imposed on brick-and-mortar retailers during the Covid-19 lockdown. In addition, a study by Deloitte in 2021 showed that more than 70% of South African consumers are shopping online at least once a month while citing convenience and saving time for doing so (Kibuacha 2021). However, whether businesses are implementing a new strategy or expand an existing strategy, the brick-and-mortar retailers were required to adapt their strategies with the focus on business survival.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kruger, Janine
- Subjects: Electronic commerce , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- -- Economic aspects , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56470 , vital:56687
- Description: The question can be asked whether e-business is the saving grace for retailers during Covid-19. Without pondering on the question, we will immediately say yes due to the lived experiences we all have as final consumers of retailers. However, before answering the question, it is important to consider what transpired within the retail business environment. The world has turned upside down towards the end of 2019 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 while South Africa felt the effect of Covid-19 as from March 2020. As cited by Verhoef, Noordhoff and Sloot (2022), the retail industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic. Not only has the retail industry been affected, the life of consumers also changed as consumers did not have direct access to their favourite traditional brick-and mortar-retailers. As the customers of these retailers, we have the lived experiences of not being able to patronise these retailers for an extended period of time. Due to the hard lockdown restrictions imposed within the business environment on brick-and-mortar retailers, the retailers had to find different ways to reach and provide need satisfying products to their customers. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (2020) and Rindita et al (2021, p.108), the pandemic provided retailers with a good opportunity to develop and adopt an e-commerce strategy that can act as an economic driver. In addition, Gramling, Orschell and Chernoff (2021) state that e-commerce is essential for future existence of businesses. This is evident when considering that the South African e-commerce sector grew by 66% in 2020 when 2 compared to 2019 while in-store shopping has declined by 30% (Kibuacha 2021). These results are expected if we take into account the trading restrictions imposed on brick-and-mortar retailers during the Covid-19 lockdown. In addition, a study by Deloitte in 2021 showed that more than 70% of South African consumers are shopping online at least once a month while citing convenience and saving time for doing so (Kibuacha 2021). However, whether businesses are implementing a new strategy or expand an existing strategy, the brick-and-mortar retailers were required to adapt their strategies with the focus on business survival.
- Full Text:
Resource nationalism: a threat or a panacea to economic development
- Authors: Ocran, Matthew
- Subjects: Natural resources , Nationalism , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20901 , vital:29412
- Description: I seek to achieve three objectives in my lecture: first I attempt an outline of the evolution of economic thought regarding progress from the medieval period to contemporary times. Following the discussion of the mainstream theories of economic growth I then review the associated empirical literature. I also consider a brief case study on two successful countries before addressing the question whether resource nationalism matter in determining economic development. Lastly, I provide some policy recommendations for economic development in South Africa and other resource rich countries on the continent.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ocran, Matthew
- Subjects: Natural resources , Nationalism , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20901 , vital:29412
- Description: I seek to achieve three objectives in my lecture: first I attempt an outline of the evolution of economic thought regarding progress from the medieval period to contemporary times. Following the discussion of the mainstream theories of economic growth I then review the associated empirical literature. I also consider a brief case study on two successful countries before addressing the question whether resource nationalism matter in determining economic development. Lastly, I provide some policy recommendations for economic development in South Africa and other resource rich countries on the continent.
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Towards mineral beneficiation: from basic chemistry to applications
- Authors: Tshentu, Zenixole
- Subjects: Metallurgy , Ore-dressing , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55783 , vital:53876
- Description: The role of mineral beneficiation in the survival, growth, development and sustainability of a developing economy cannot be overstated. Our development as a human species has always been involvedly linked with the use of mineral resources from the stone, bronze and iron ages through the early modern eras to the present. In the current modern era, characterized by highly technological equipment, fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and new energy technologies, the role of mineral beneficiation has been elevated. Precious metals find use in the fine chemicals and petrochemicals industry, fuel cells, electrical and electronic products, medical and dentistry applications, jewellery, autocatalysts, and glass and ceramics. The markets for precious metals keep growing and the supply does not meet demand. The development of methods for recovery of metal value from feeds of mineral ore solutions, solutions of spent secondary resources and from mining wastewaters remains of great importance. Further beneficiation strategies for utilization of mineral products in other “value-added” applications are also important for the growth of the mineral markets. The usage of platinum, palladium and rhodium in the autocatalyst industry has grown significantly and this has further elevated the importance of platinum group metals (PGMs), but other areas of application of the strategic metals need to be harnessed. The four stages of beneficiation, namely, primary, secondary, tertiary and final stage, provide an opportunity to beneficiate to greater value for domestic or export use. Our own research work is engaged in several of these stages, from hydrometallurgical recovery of base metals and platinum group metals from feeds of primary mining and solutions of waste secondary resources such as spent catalytic converters and e-waste to the use of metals in “value added” products such as metalbased catalysts for the fuel industry and in metallodrugs. Examples of “value added” products include rhodium as a promoter in molybdenum sulfide as a catalyst for hydrodesulfurization of fuel oil, vanadium as a catalyst in oxidative desulfurization of fuel oil, vanadium and palladium as therapeutic agents for diabetes and cancer, respectively. Current and future work involves (i) the development of metal-selective scavengers to recover lost metal value in mining wastewaters, and (ii) the design of metal-based catalytic materials for refinement of bio-based oils to biofuel as well as for production of green LPG through hydroprocessing. Our work centres around both basic and applied chemistry towards mineral beneficiation and with a bias towards greener production.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tshentu, Zenixole
- Subjects: Metallurgy , Ore-dressing , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55783 , vital:53876
- Description: The role of mineral beneficiation in the survival, growth, development and sustainability of a developing economy cannot be overstated. Our development as a human species has always been involvedly linked with the use of mineral resources from the stone, bronze and iron ages through the early modern eras to the present. In the current modern era, characterized by highly technological equipment, fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and new energy technologies, the role of mineral beneficiation has been elevated. Precious metals find use in the fine chemicals and petrochemicals industry, fuel cells, electrical and electronic products, medical and dentistry applications, jewellery, autocatalysts, and glass and ceramics. The markets for precious metals keep growing and the supply does not meet demand. The development of methods for recovery of metal value from feeds of mineral ore solutions, solutions of spent secondary resources and from mining wastewaters remains of great importance. Further beneficiation strategies for utilization of mineral products in other “value-added” applications are also important for the growth of the mineral markets. The usage of platinum, palladium and rhodium in the autocatalyst industry has grown significantly and this has further elevated the importance of platinum group metals (PGMs), but other areas of application of the strategic metals need to be harnessed. The four stages of beneficiation, namely, primary, secondary, tertiary and final stage, provide an opportunity to beneficiate to greater value for domestic or export use. Our own research work is engaged in several of these stages, from hydrometallurgical recovery of base metals and platinum group metals from feeds of primary mining and solutions of waste secondary resources such as spent catalytic converters and e-waste to the use of metals in “value added” products such as metalbased catalysts for the fuel industry and in metallodrugs. Examples of “value added” products include rhodium as a promoter in molybdenum sulfide as a catalyst for hydrodesulfurization of fuel oil, vanadium as a catalyst in oxidative desulfurization of fuel oil, vanadium and palladium as therapeutic agents for diabetes and cancer, respectively. Current and future work involves (i) the development of metal-selective scavengers to recover lost metal value in mining wastewaters, and (ii) the design of metal-based catalytic materials for refinement of bio-based oils to biofuel as well as for production of green LPG through hydroprocessing. Our work centres around both basic and applied chemistry towards mineral beneficiation and with a bias towards greener production.
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Confinement and labouring women: a persistent struggle against nature
- Authors: James, Sindiwe
- Subjects: Childbirth , Labor (Obstetrics) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40028 , vital:35730
- Description: Nature in its essence is frequently viewed as a thing of beauty and the ultimate truth of perfection. Unfortunately, this view of nature is often undermined when it comes to the concept of women in confinement and labour. Women, naturally by virtue of being females, have the capacity to become pregnant and thus to bear children. However, in many instances this capacity becomes limited, or misunderstood. In such cases, humans start viewing or considering confinement and labour in terms of ‘being wrong and incorrect’. They only see issues around age and marital status while losing sight of the fact that nature has ordained that all women have a uterus, which has a potential to conceive, but under ‘suitable’ conditions. Yes, the uterus does not know about age and health restrictions, but will expel its contents when the time comes, and suitability around that expulsion unfortunately becomes the concern of humans (midwives or family members). Very often young girls who are in confinement are received and treated differently by these two categories of humans because they are deemed not to be at the correct age for falling pregnant and to be in labour, or they are regarded as having been ‘naughty’.
- Full Text:
- Authors: James, Sindiwe
- Subjects: Childbirth , Labor (Obstetrics) , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40028 , vital:35730
- Description: Nature in its essence is frequently viewed as a thing of beauty and the ultimate truth of perfection. Unfortunately, this view of nature is often undermined when it comes to the concept of women in confinement and labour. Women, naturally by virtue of being females, have the capacity to become pregnant and thus to bear children. However, in many instances this capacity becomes limited, or misunderstood. In such cases, humans start viewing or considering confinement and labour in terms of ‘being wrong and incorrect’. They only see issues around age and marital status while losing sight of the fact that nature has ordained that all women have a uterus, which has a potential to conceive, but under ‘suitable’ conditions. Yes, the uterus does not know about age and health restrictions, but will expel its contents when the time comes, and suitability around that expulsion unfortunately becomes the concern of humans (midwives or family members). Very often young girls who are in confinement are received and treated differently by these two categories of humans because they are deemed not to be at the correct age for falling pregnant and to be in labour, or they are regarded as having been ‘naughty’.
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Corruption, state capture and the betrayal of South Africa’s vulnerable
- Authors: Erasmus, Deon
- Subjects: Political corruption -- South Africa , Business enterprises -- Corrupt practices -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53199 , vital:45037
- Description: The term state capture was first defined in a World Bank report on corruption in eastern Europe and central Asia in 2003. Hellman, Jones and Kaufmann (2000) point out in the report that some firms in transition economies were able to shape the rules of the game to their own advantage at a considerable social cost by creating a “capture economy.”
- Full Text:
- Authors: Erasmus, Deon
- Subjects: Political corruption -- South Africa , Business enterprises -- Corrupt practices -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53199 , vital:45037
- Description: The term state capture was first defined in a World Bank report on corruption in eastern Europe and central Asia in 2003. Hellman, Jones and Kaufmann (2000) point out in the report that some firms in transition economies were able to shape the rules of the game to their own advantage at a considerable social cost by creating a “capture economy.”
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Research & innovation report 2019/2020
- Subjects: Universities and colleges - Research , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53066 , vital:44937
- Description: Annual report highlighting research and innovation undertaken at the Nelson Mandela University.
- Full Text:
- Subjects: Universities and colleges - Research , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/53066 , vital:44937
- Description: Annual report highlighting research and innovation undertaken at the Nelson Mandela University.
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Physical activity and health: building health-promoting schools in Gqeberha and beyond
- Authors: Walter, Cheryl
- Subjects: Exercise for children -- Physiological aspects , Exercise for children -- Psychological aspects , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56070 , vital:55194
- Description: For this address, I thought it would be appropriate to share information on the research into the physical activity, health and wellbeing of primary school children living in the Northern Areas and townships of Gqeberha – which formed part of the 10-year collaboration between the Department of Human Movement Science at Nelson Mandela University, the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, in Basel, Switzerland. Three large studies formed the core of the 10-year collaboration: the Disease, Activity and Schoolchildren’s Health (DASH) study, the KaziBantu Project and the KaziAfya study.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Walter, Cheryl
- Subjects: Exercise for children -- Physiological aspects , Exercise for children -- Psychological aspects , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56070 , vital:55194
- Description: For this address, I thought it would be appropriate to share information on the research into the physical activity, health and wellbeing of primary school children living in the Northern Areas and townships of Gqeberha – which formed part of the 10-year collaboration between the Department of Human Movement Science at Nelson Mandela University, the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, in Basel, Switzerland. Three large studies formed the core of the 10-year collaboration: the Disease, Activity and Schoolchildren’s Health (DASH) study, the KaziBantu Project and the KaziAfya study.
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The four P's of Pharmacy: potions, products, profits and people
- Authors: Truter, Ilse
- Subjects: Pharmacy , Pharmacy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21626 , vital:29721
- Description: A short overview of my academic journey by focusing on the three pillars of academia, followed by what I consider to be the four "P's" of Pharmacy, a question about a further "P", and in conclusion what I consider to be the way forward for Pharmacy.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Truter, Ilse
- Subjects: Pharmacy , Pharmacy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21626 , vital:29721
- Description: A short overview of my academic journey by focusing on the three pillars of academia, followed by what I consider to be the four "P's" of Pharmacy, a question about a further "P", and in conclusion what I consider to be the way forward for Pharmacy.
- Full Text: false
Consumer health informatics in the information age and beyond
- Authors: Pottas, Dalenca
- Subjects: Medical informatics , Information technology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20757 , vital:29386
- Description: This paper reviews current and future trends and challenges in the field of consumer health informatics. Emergent innovations driving consumer health informatics in the information age include devices, tools and applications supporting personalised healthcare, electronic personal health record (PHR) systems and a plethora of tools in the health social media domain. Within this domain, a new kind of social media citizen, the consumer specialist or patient opinion leader, is taking the lead in online communities of patients. A new generation of personal health records combining PHRs and social media is emerging, even though pervasive adoption and use of PHRs remains elusive. The accuracy of information, security and privacy of personal health information, legislative matters and the digital divide remain recurring challenges of consumer health informatics. In future, PHR vendors will have to address the lack of espousal of PHRs in innovative ways to provide a compelling case for adoption. The continued uptake of health social media necessitates efforts to understand, through longitudinal studies, precisely who the users are, what they use it for and how it contributes to the achievement of both personal and public health outcomes. Health information consumers, of varying levels of techno-literacy, needs and preferences, must be assisted to move from simply accessing information to distilling relevant and credible information and making informed decisions. Further research is required to understand the changing relationships between patients and healthcare providers and how consumer health information technologies can best support these. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of consumer health information technologies to inform both public policy and the next generation of tools, technologies and artefacts that could better facilitate improved health outcomes. Lastly, more effort is required to erode digital inequalities. As we move into a future emphasising both the global and the individual, accelerated connectedness and speed of change, consumer health informatics must respond such that it remains germane and amplifies the value that can be gained by all stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Pottas, Dalenca
- Subjects: Medical informatics , Information technology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20757 , vital:29386
- Description: This paper reviews current and future trends and challenges in the field of consumer health informatics. Emergent innovations driving consumer health informatics in the information age include devices, tools and applications supporting personalised healthcare, electronic personal health record (PHR) systems and a plethora of tools in the health social media domain. Within this domain, a new kind of social media citizen, the consumer specialist or patient opinion leader, is taking the lead in online communities of patients. A new generation of personal health records combining PHRs and social media is emerging, even though pervasive adoption and use of PHRs remains elusive. The accuracy of information, security and privacy of personal health information, legislative matters and the digital divide remain recurring challenges of consumer health informatics. In future, PHR vendors will have to address the lack of espousal of PHRs in innovative ways to provide a compelling case for adoption. The continued uptake of health social media necessitates efforts to understand, through longitudinal studies, precisely who the users are, what they use it for and how it contributes to the achievement of both personal and public health outcomes. Health information consumers, of varying levels of techno-literacy, needs and preferences, must be assisted to move from simply accessing information to distilling relevant and credible information and making informed decisions. Further research is required to understand the changing relationships between patients and healthcare providers and how consumer health information technologies can best support these. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of consumer health information technologies to inform both public policy and the next generation of tools, technologies and artefacts that could better facilitate improved health outcomes. Lastly, more effort is required to erode digital inequalities. As we move into a future emphasising both the global and the individual, accelerated connectedness and speed of change, consumer health informatics must respond such that it remains germane and amplifies the value that can be gained by all stakeholders.
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Local economic development: disseminating global best practices to affect futuristic thinking in SA
- Authors: Perks, Sandra
- Subjects: Economic development , Economic development -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20966 , vital:29423
- Description: The aim of Local Economic Development (LED) is to ensure that the economy of a community, region or country grows faster than the population, so that there can be surplus resources for future expansion (Rucker, Kinnett & Barbash 2012). This suggests that LED is more than economic development at local level. LED is often not viewed from an economic perspective but from a political perspective. Birkhölzer (2005:3) outlines four possible political LED viewpoints. The first perspective is “development from above” with an authoritarian state dictating to regional government and local authorities. This perspective has been proven flawed when political or economic turbulences occur. The second perspective is “development from outside” with reliance on outside investors to bring into the country the necessary resources, mostly funding. This perspective is risky from a sustainability point of view. The third perspective is the “wait and see” where migration occurs if there are problems. This perspective is equally flawed as it is becoming increasingly difficult to migrate because it is so costly, and also finding the right place to go can prove to be problematic. The last perspective is the “development from within” where people play a key role, and do not rely on government or the economy to serve their needs or solve their problems; this points to self-sufficiency.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Perks, Sandra
- Subjects: Economic development , Economic development -- South Africa , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20966 , vital:29423
- Description: The aim of Local Economic Development (LED) is to ensure that the economy of a community, region or country grows faster than the population, so that there can be surplus resources for future expansion (Rucker, Kinnett & Barbash 2012). This suggests that LED is more than economic development at local level. LED is often not viewed from an economic perspective but from a political perspective. Birkhölzer (2005:3) outlines four possible political LED viewpoints. The first perspective is “development from above” with an authoritarian state dictating to regional government and local authorities. This perspective has been proven flawed when political or economic turbulences occur. The second perspective is “development from outside” with reliance on outside investors to bring into the country the necessary resources, mostly funding. This perspective is risky from a sustainability point of view. The third perspective is the “wait and see” where migration occurs if there are problems. This perspective is equally flawed as it is becoming increasingly difficult to migrate because it is so costly, and also finding the right place to go can prove to be problematic. The last perspective is the “development from within” where people play a key role, and do not rely on government or the economy to serve their needs or solve their problems; this points to self-sufficiency.
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Philosophy as laughter
- Authors: Hurst, Andrea
- Subjects: Laughter -- Philosophy , Philosophy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/37103 , vital:34106
- Description: Contextualising my current philosophical preoccupations within the framework of my understanding of my task as a philosopher, I engage with the proposition that philosophers have a double task: firstly learning (and teaching) how to think, and relatedly, unexpectedly, learning/teaching how to laugh.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Hurst, Andrea
- Subjects: Laughter -- Philosophy , Philosophy -- Study and teaching , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/37103 , vital:34106
- Description: Contextualising my current philosophical preoccupations within the framework of my understanding of my task as a philosopher, I engage with the proposition that philosophers have a double task: firstly learning (and teaching) how to think, and relatedly, unexpectedly, learning/teaching how to laugh.
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Drugs: cures or curse?
- McCarthy, T J (Terence John)
- Authors: McCarthy, T J (Terence John)
- Subjects: Drugs , Pharmacy , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21887 , vital:29798
- Description: With Pharmacy established in our midst at UPE it seems fitting to speak about drugs, since the name pharmacy is derived from pharmakon, the Greek word for drug. The derivation of apteker from the English word apothecary and the German Apotheker is also relevant. Interestingly the Greek root for apothecary means storekeeper, so perhaps things have not changed much in the last few centuries. However, the use of drugs precedes the Greeks, English or Germans by many centuries, and both the Chinese (over 2000 years BC) and the Babylonians (over 4000 years BC) had drug lists or pharmacopoeias. In fact the Babylonians also had a strict medical code and I recall reading that "if the surgeons's knife should slip, the surgeon's hand will be cut off" which seems far better than the modern idea of trying to sue the surgeon after the event, but must have seriously hampered the recruitment of surgeons in those days.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: McCarthy, T J (Terence John)
- Subjects: Drugs , Pharmacy , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21887 , vital:29798
- Description: With Pharmacy established in our midst at UPE it seems fitting to speak about drugs, since the name pharmacy is derived from pharmakon, the Greek word for drug. The derivation of apteker from the English word apothecary and the German Apotheker is also relevant. Interestingly the Greek root for apothecary means storekeeper, so perhaps things have not changed much in the last few centuries. However, the use of drugs precedes the Greeks, English or Germans by many centuries, and both the Chinese (over 2000 years BC) and the Babylonians (over 4000 years BC) had drug lists or pharmacopoeias. In fact the Babylonians also had a strict medical code and I recall reading that "if the surgeons's knife should slip, the surgeon's hand will be cut off" which seems far better than the modern idea of trying to sue the surgeon after the event, but must have seriously hampered the recruitment of surgeons in those days.
- Full Text: false
Relationship marketing in retail banks: superannuated concept?
- Authors: Tait, Madele
- Subjects: Relationship marketing , Banks and banking , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20923 , vital:29418
- Description: All business is based on relationships. The firm only has to make them meaningful for its customers – provided that the customers want this (Grönroos 1994). Relationship marketing concerns the facilitation and managing of the relationships between the business and its customers and was developed as a response to the realisation that businesses were spending vast resources in time and money to attract new customers but very little on retaining existing ones. Relationship marketing is particularly relevant when a customer has alternative service providers to choose from, when the customer makes the selection decision and when there is an ongoing desire or need for a product or service, such as in the banking industry (Morgan & Hunt 1999).
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- Authors: Tait, Madele
- Subjects: Relationship marketing , Banks and banking , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20923 , vital:29418
- Description: All business is based on relationships. The firm only has to make them meaningful for its customers – provided that the customers want this (Grönroos 1994). Relationship marketing concerns the facilitation and managing of the relationships between the business and its customers and was developed as a response to the realisation that businesses were spending vast resources in time and money to attract new customers but very little on retaining existing ones. Relationship marketing is particularly relevant when a customer has alternative service providers to choose from, when the customer makes the selection decision and when there is an ongoing desire or need for a product or service, such as in the banking industry (Morgan & Hunt 1999).
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Key drivers of change and their implications for Construction Management in the next decade: an eclectic approach
- Authors: Shakantu, Winston
- Subjects: Change , Construction industry , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20912 , vital:29416
- Description: I chose to look at ‘key drivers of change’ as change is the only constant in our lives; its winds keep blowing in perpetuity. Drivers of change are factors that induce or compel organisations to modify their actions in response to change. The drivers of change originate mainly in the macro-environment and in most cases in the micro-environment. As for why ‘implications for construction management research’ it is because of the four areas of responsibility for an academic, that is, Teaching, Research, Engagement and Administration, research informs all the four. Therefore, it seems to be the logical departure point for a professorial exposition.
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- Authors: Shakantu, Winston
- Subjects: Change , Construction industry , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20912 , vital:29416
- Description: I chose to look at ‘key drivers of change’ as change is the only constant in our lives; its winds keep blowing in perpetuity. Drivers of change are factors that induce or compel organisations to modify their actions in response to change. The drivers of change originate mainly in the macro-environment and in most cases in the micro-environment. As for why ‘implications for construction management research’ it is because of the four areas of responsibility for an academic, that is, Teaching, Research, Engagement and Administration, research informs all the four. Therefore, it seems to be the logical departure point for a professorial exposition.
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Happiness: a business model
- Authors: Cullen, Margaret
- Subjects: Happiness , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20956 , vital:29422
- Description: The concept of happiness might appear elusive. It has been extensively analysed by philosophers and historians, who agree that the concept of happiness in antiquity centered on good luck and fortune. Something beyond human agency and therefore controlled by the Gods (McMahon, 2006).Today, happiness is viewed as something over which you can have control and something that can be pursued (Oishi, 2012).
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- Authors: Cullen, Margaret
- Subjects: Happiness , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20956 , vital:29422
- Description: The concept of happiness might appear elusive. It has been extensively analysed by philosophers and historians, who agree that the concept of happiness in antiquity centered on good luck and fortune. Something beyond human agency and therefore controlled by the Gods (McMahon, 2006).Today, happiness is viewed as something over which you can have control and something that can be pursued (Oishi, 2012).
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Innovation through education: rediscovering the lost generation
- Authors: Pieterse, Koot
- Subjects: Business incubators , Entrepreneurship , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20889 , vital:29411
- Description: Innovation implies the generation as well as the practical implementation of new ideas. These ideas could appear as new product opportunities, new markets or new management systems and business schools are ideally situated to promote their exploitation and implementation. This study emphasises the need for business schools to elevate innovation to one of the core values in their mission. The need for innovation in the local business environment is explored along with reasons why these opportunities have not always been pursued with the required vigour. The results of a literature study are represented, that demonstrate what initiatives on the incorporation of innovation into their activities have been taken by a selection of business schools around the world and the study is concluded by exploring similar opportunities open to the Business School of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
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- Authors: Pieterse, Koot
- Subjects: Business incubators , Entrepreneurship , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20889 , vital:29411
- Description: Innovation implies the generation as well as the practical implementation of new ideas. These ideas could appear as new product opportunities, new markets or new management systems and business schools are ideally situated to promote their exploitation and implementation. This study emphasises the need for business schools to elevate innovation to one of the core values in their mission. The need for innovation in the local business environment is explored along with reasons why these opportunities have not always been pursued with the required vigour. The results of a literature study are represented, that demonstrate what initiatives on the incorporation of innovation into their activities have been taken by a selection of business schools around the world and the study is concluded by exploring similar opportunities open to the Business School of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
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Structure and agency in the age of climate change
- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
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- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
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SEK Mqhayi in the 21st Century: Mzantsi youth ideologies within the African renaissance paradigm for sustainable economic and political development
- Authors: Saule, Ncedile
- Subjects: Pan-Africanism , Mqhayi, S E K , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21011 , vital:29427
- Description: I am advancing a celebratory synopsis of Mqhayi, uMzima, uBhomoyi kaCedume at a time when the South African contemporary society is attempting to restructure itself in order to regain lost values before it can successfully and rationally embrace values of other people. In my presentation, I have mindfully taken cognisance of the plight of the so called lost generation, especially among our youth, those who have become strangers in their own land – no language, only misguided and distorted cultural values, no self, distorted history - this of course because of indoctrinations of some psycho-socio-histori-cultural and political imperatives. Strangely enough these are some of the issues that SEK Mqhayi warns us about in his creative works and has made efforts for us to see, but unfortunately no one listened or saw anything. Now that we “have the truth but denied the truth and now that we have the light, but we sit in darkness, Shivering, benighted in the bright noon-day sun,” and now that we are all blind, I think, this evening is the right time to see.
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- Authors: Saule, Ncedile
- Subjects: Pan-Africanism , Mqhayi, S E K , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21011 , vital:29427
- Description: I am advancing a celebratory synopsis of Mqhayi, uMzima, uBhomoyi kaCedume at a time when the South African contemporary society is attempting to restructure itself in order to regain lost values before it can successfully and rationally embrace values of other people. In my presentation, I have mindfully taken cognisance of the plight of the so called lost generation, especially among our youth, those who have become strangers in their own land – no language, only misguided and distorted cultural values, no self, distorted history - this of course because of indoctrinations of some psycho-socio-histori-cultural and political imperatives. Strangely enough these are some of the issues that SEK Mqhayi warns us about in his creative works and has made efforts for us to see, but unfortunately no one listened or saw anything. Now that we “have the truth but denied the truth and now that we have the light, but we sit in darkness, Shivering, benighted in the bright noon-day sun,” and now that we are all blind, I think, this evening is the right time to see.
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Discourse, cinema and desubjectification: from Foucault to Deleuze and beyond.
- Authors: Konik, Adrian
- Subjects: Philosophy , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , article , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/31594 , vital:31617
- Description: To be clear, this was not philosophy as a discipline, which like all canonical edifices can come across as weighty, dusty and extremely boring; especially when it rather arrogantly assumes the position of arbiter of truth, and tries to determine what everybody else can or cannot think, or what they should or should not say. Rather, what I encountered again in that Honors-level philosophy module was something that I had glimpsed during my undergraduate studies, but which I had yet to fully appreciate, namely an approach to thinking that was also an approach to life, on the part of certain people who, in their time, had to a large extent philosophized privately as they carried out their many other duties, or philosophized outside of the academy, or remained on the margins of academic philosophy – men like Marcus Aurelius, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Benedictus Spinoza.
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- Authors: Konik, Adrian
- Subjects: Philosophy , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , article , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/31594 , vital:31617
- Description: To be clear, this was not philosophy as a discipline, which like all canonical edifices can come across as weighty, dusty and extremely boring; especially when it rather arrogantly assumes the position of arbiter of truth, and tries to determine what everybody else can or cannot think, or what they should or should not say. Rather, what I encountered again in that Honors-level philosophy module was something that I had glimpsed during my undergraduate studies, but which I had yet to fully appreciate, namely an approach to thinking that was also an approach to life, on the part of certain people who, in their time, had to a large extent philosophized privately as they carried out their many other duties, or philosophized outside of the academy, or remained on the margins of academic philosophy – men like Marcus Aurelius, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Benedictus Spinoza.
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