Papers by Krishna Govender
Asian business research journal, 2019
Innovative marketing, Jun 16, 2023
This study examined the impact of social commerce on the purchase intentions of Millennials who u... more This study examined the impact of social commerce on the purchase intentions of Millennials who use Facebook by exploring how social commerce constructs influence consumer trust. A quantitative research approach was used and data were collected via an 'online' survey. The target population was 386 young adults aged 25 to 34 residing in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, referred to as Millennials, and comprises the largest group of users on Facebook. Convenience sampling, namely snowball sampling, was used to target participants. It was found that social commerce constructs significantly influence trust, which positively influences consumer purchasing decisions. The results of the study showed that trust explained 68% of the variance in purchasing intentions. Since trust is an integral and vital component of social commerce, the role of social commerce constructs and social support is to build trust in the 'online' context and consumers' intention to buy. This suggests that businesses should monitor the quality and content of the engagements around their brands on social media, as information sharing in social commerce has a significant impact on consumer decisions, i.e., purchase intentions.
Journal of public value and administrative insight, Nov 2, 2020
This paper presents a conceptual argument for leadership collaboration for understanding organiza... more This paper presents a conceptual argument for leadership collaboration for understanding organizational complexity and the associated challenges, and reports on a qualitative study conducted in a large insurance company in South Africa, to determine if the leadership is capable enough to create a link between collaboration and customer-centricity. The exploratory and interpretive nature of this study, including varying leadership narratives, motivated the use of an inductive, and therefore qualitative, research approach. The target population for this research included all leaders in the retail division of a major insurance company in South Africa, specifically executive members, and their direct reporting line-management. All leaders, as per the company's organizational structure were invited to participate in the research conducted at the company Head Office. Although all 47 potential leaders were invited electronically via email and requested to stipulate a time and place to be interviewed at their convenience, only 15 responded to voluntarily participate in the research study. Semi-structured interviews were selected for data collection. Overall, the findings illustrate positive signs, with leaders within the research organization presenting a firm understanding of the importance of leadership collaboration towards delivering a customer-centric transformative outcome. The opposing collaborative landscape in this context becomes important as this increases the propensity towards heightened competitiveness as consumer dynamics alter constantly. The leadership of the research organization should take note of the findings of this study and strive to implement them in the varying business units in the organization. This will assist the organization in reflection and attending to the gaps to improve the leadership collaboration landscape, heighten the propensity to deliver on its customer-centric objectives, and also embed a framework that will improve cultural dynamics towards delivering general tactical and strategic goals.
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, May 31, 2013
This paper reports on the conceptual development and empirical evaluation of a postgraduate (PG) ... more This paper reports on the conceptual development and empirical evaluation of a postgraduate (PG) research service quality management model, through conducting an electronic survey among a cohort of master's and doctorate graduates at one of the top three research universities in South Africa, using specifically developed and validated research instruments. By fitting the data from a sample of 117 graduates to a conceptual model using structural equation modelling, it became evident that the PG research students' perception of the Organisational Climate for Research (OCR) is associated with their perception of the PG Research Service Quality (PGSQUAL), the PG Service Experience (SERVEXP) and their perception of their Role (RC). However, no association was found between the students' perception of the research climate (OCR) and their satisfaction (SERVSAT) with the research service; the service experience (SERVEXP) and postgraduate research service quality (PGSQUAL); service satisfaction (SERVSAT) and postgraduate service quality (PGSQUAL). The aforementioned findings imply that higher education institutions need to create a research climate which is supportive of service quality, and better manage the research climate, so that the PG students are clear about their role, which will eventually translate to a better PG service experience and improved perception of PG service quality.
SA journal of human resource management, Nov 23, 2017
Orientation: Transformation and managing diversity are organisational imperatives, especially in ... more 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. 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. 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.
Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, Jul 21, 2020
Apart from direct economic contribution, the aviation industry facilitates economic growth by enh... more Apart from direct economic contribution, the aviation industry facilitates economic growth by enhancing links between businesses and economies through increased access to resources and international capital markets (Gill 2016). Amankwah-Amoah (2018) argues that competitiveness Background: Worldwide, the aviation industry facilitates the efficient movement of passengers and goods across borders to support economic access to various local, regional and international markets. As an indirect stimulus for other economies, the aviation industry is known for distinct economic competitiveness, low profit margins and vulnerability to macro-environment fluctuations. Although many studies have focused specifically on scheduled airline's operations, this study of commercial flight operations in South Africa encompasses both airline operations and charter/on-demand operations. The key research objective was to critically review stakeholders' perceptions on the macro-environment's influences on the flight operations subsector of South African aviation industry. Method: As research methodology to explore manifest and latent meaning in dialogue, qualitative content analysis was employed in this study. Data were collected through interviews with the stakeholders of South African aviation industry and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: This study revealed stakeholders' views on the effects of political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal and ecological (PESTLE) framework embedded in the macro-environment of commercial flight operations in South Africa. Although the macro-environment is uncontrollable by the industry, each of the PESTLE framework's dimensions presents challenges as well as growth opportunities. Continuous monitoring and a comprehensive understanding of the probable impacts of the macro-environment are necessary to remain competitive.
South African journal of business management, Sep 30, 1998
The n_eed to ~anage service quality i~ becoming more urgent as links between service quality and ... more The n_eed to ~anage service quality i~ becoming more urgent as links between service quality and business perform-~nce IS becomi_ng apparent. By b_reaktng away from the traditional focus on the service employee, this article sheds ltght on strateg1~s to manage service quality ~y managing the service customer. A survey was conducted among a sam-pl~ of ~ommer~1al bank custom~rs to determine the effects of two types of socialization strategies on their perception of ser~1ce quality. I_t was ascert~med tha~ by means of formal and informal socialization tactics, service firm managers c?~ld mtl_uence their customers pe~cept10n of the overall service quality as well as the employee service quality. Empmcal evtden~e also s~pports the view that an organizational climate which supports service has a positive impact on the customers . perception of the employee service quality. The implications of these findings for service organization managers are discussed, and the opportunities for future research are also identified.
Problems and perspectives in management, Jul 27, 2017
Africa Makasi and Krishna Govender (2017). Sustainable marketing strategies in the context of a g... more Africa Makasi and Krishna Govender (2017). Sustainable marketing strategies in the context of a globalized clothing and textile (C&T) sector in Zimbabwe.
International Journal of Professional Business Review, Jun 1, 2023
The aim of this explanatory study was to critically understand how ethical leadership impacts emp... more The aim of this explanatory study was to critically understand how ethical leadership impacts employee creative behaviour as well as the creative behaviour dimensions, in a South African transport and logistics State Owned Enterprise. Theoretical framework: Leaders set the tone which has a major effect on the organizational climate and the organizational approach and the moral facet of leadership is significant because of the leader's impact on employees and organizational conduct. Thus, this study is underpinned by the style of leadership which is ethical, since the autocratic style is often seen as lacking ethical conduct. The quantitative method was chosen since a deductive approach was needed to interpret the data. The target population comprised middle and executive managers representing the leaders and low-level managers representing followers and referred to as the employees. Although a sample of 348 employees (followers) was generated using the Raosoft ( ) sample size calculator. The data from 160 respondents comprising managers and employees was collected using predeveloped questionnaires. and analysed through structural equation modelling and multiple regression techniques conducted with the Smart PLS statistical software. The reliability of the research instrument was measured using Cronbach tests, and composite reliability. Validity was also confirmed using lower-order and higher-order construct validity tests. It was confirmed that ethical leadership has a significant positive influence on employee creative behaviour, as well as with each of the creative behaviour dimensions namely: idea exploration, idea generation, and idea championing. Originality/value: The influence of ethical leadership on employee creative behaviour in South African SOEs is also not fully understood and large private corporates and government entities have been rocked by corporate governance scandals, resulting in the call for ethical leadership to save companies from collapse and astounding costs from a financial, social and human perspective. No research was conducted on the topic in South African state-owned enterprises and thus the new knowledge generated would contribute to improving leadership and making the enterprises more innovative and thus improve performance.
Journal of sociology and social anthropology, Jul 3, 2017
International Review of Management and Marketing, Sep 11, 2023
Although ISO certification has become compulsory, it is unclear what impact ISO certification has... more Although ISO certification has become compulsory, it is unclear what impact ISO certification has on the South African medical device industry and how the forced ISO certification will affect individual companies and the industry with regard to the quality of products and service delivery. Furthermore, no research to date has been performed specifically on the contribution or impact of ISO certification in the IVD industry in South Africa. Through an in-depth synthesis of published research, and by triangulating the literature on quality in the medical domain, the researchers have conceptualized possible relationships between various quality constructs and ISO quality certification with respect to in-vitro diagnostics. This conceptual study will contribute specifically to the South African IVD market and possibly other IVD markets worldwide to understand how certification issues will impact quality, customer service, operations, and performance.
International Journal of Financial, Accounting, and Management, Aug 1, 2019
This research examines the importance of an uplift marketing model compared to traditional respon... more This research examines the importance of an uplift marketing model compared to traditional response models, used in direct marketing. Research Methodology: A multi-method research approach was used which included a survey using an electronic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. Results: The research findings reveal that the value of employing uplift models in direct marketing. is that it factors change in behaviour from the action, which traditional response models do not. Limitation: The study was conducted in a single institution and focused only on scustomers with banking needs. Contribution: By employing an uplift model in direct marketing it is possible to increase marketing return-on-investment and positively impact brand loyalty and brand perception. Thus, marketers need to be cognizant of these findings and strategize accordingly.
Knowledge is a crucial resource for organizational functioning, innovativeness, performance, and ... more Knowledge is a crucial resource for organizational functioning, innovativeness, performance, and competitiveness, and it is believed to be the last competitive advantage that organizations have, be it academic or corporate, small to medium enterprises, and non-government and government organizations. Thus, an understanding of the knowledge creation, conversion, and transfer process is important not only for the development of society, but for the growth and development of organizations. This paper reports the conceptual understanding of the general knowledge creation and transfer process, which understanding if appropriately applied, could hold organizations in good stead, place them at the forefront of innovation and, help them gain a competitive advantage. What seems lacking in the literature is the application of the knowledge creation, conversion, and transfer process, for example, in a postgraduate research environment, where knowledge co-creation takes place.
This paper presents the results of an exploratory study examining the relationship between the po... more This paper presents the results of an exploratory study examining the relationship between the postgraduate (PG) students' perception of PG service quality, their service experience and satisfaction with the PG service, by surveying the 2011 cohort (816) of graduating master's and doctorate postgraduates of one of the top five research universities in South Africa using specially developed and validated PG service quality (PGSQUAL), PG service experience (SERVEXP), and a single item PG service satisfaction (SERVSAT) measuring instruments. By drawing heavily on the services marketing/quality literature, relationships were proposed among the aforementioned variables, which relationships were assessed using both correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. It became evident that there is a significant association between the students' perception of the overall SERVEXP and overall PGSQUAL, as well as between their perception of their overall SERVEXP and overall SERVSAT.
Mediterranean journal of social sciences, Sep 1, 2014
The study examined the impact of advertising on building brand equity in Zimbabwe's Tobacco Aucti... more The study examined the impact of advertising on building brand equity in Zimbabwe's Tobacco Auction floors. In this study, 100 farmers were selected from 88 244 farmers registered in the four tobacco growing regions of country. A structured questionnaire was used as a tool to collect primary data. A pilot survey with 20 participants was initially conducted to test the reliability of the questionnaire. Results of the pilot study were analysed to test for reliability using SPSS.Results of the study found that advertising affects brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand association and perceived quality. 55% of the respondents agreed that advertising changed their perceived quality on auction floors. A linear regression analysis was performed to predict brand quality as a function of the type of farmer, source of information, competitive average pricing, loyalty, input assistance, service delivery, number of floors, advert mode, customer service, floor reputation and attitude. There was a strong relationship between brand quality and the independent variables as depicted by the regression coefficient of 0.885 and the model fit is perfect at 78.3%. From the ANOVA tables, a good fit was established between advertising and brand equity with p=0.001 which is less than the significance level of 0.05. While previous researches concentrated on the elements of brand equity as suggested by Keller's brand equity model, this research has managed to extend the body of knowledge on brand equity by exploring the role of advertising. Future research should assess the relationship between advertising and a brand association.
International Review of Management and Marketing, Nov 23, 2022
This study aimed to investigate the impact of "purpose" as a principal leadership skill on the pe... more This study aimed to investigate the impact of "purpose" as a principal leadership skill on the performance of two township schools using a quantitative research design and collecting data from the school principals, teachers and matric learners, using the 28-scale Servant Leadership Test as well as Gallup's Q12 Employee Engagement survey. The questionnaires addressed the key objectives, namely, the extent to which the principals of the participating schools exhibited servant leadership and their understanding of "purpose" as one word in leadership and how teachers and learners perceived the impact of a "one-word" purpose-driven leader on the performance of the selected schools. Although no relationship could be demonstrated between "purpose" and the performance of the two township schools, it became evident that a significant increase in Servant Leadership leads to a significant increase in engagement and performance, as measured by the matric pass rate. It is recommended that workshops be facilitated with principals and teachers in order to entrench "purpose" deeper throughout the schools. In addition, Servant Leadership training has to conduced to increase the leadership ability of the school principals. Future research in the area of "purpose as one word," as well as Servant Leadership as a principal skillset within the South Africa's public school's leadership is recommended.
International Review of Management and Marketing, Nov 23, 2022
Although the relationship between organizational culture, organizational commitment and organizat... more Although the relationship between organizational culture, organizational commitment and organizational performance has been thoroughly researched in most developed countries, not much research has been conducted in developing countries, especially in Africa. Thus, being sparked by the erratic performance, an on-line survey was conducted among to reflect the above relationships. With respect to organizational employees from a commercial bank in two African countries, to test 12 (twelve) hypotheses which were postulated commitment, the study focused on the three antecedents, namely, normative, affective and continuance commitment, rather than the composite concept. Upon analysis of the data from a non-probability sample of 265 respondents using structural equation modelling, it was ascertained that there is no relationship between the three antecedents of organizational commitment and the performance of employees in both the combined, as well as in the individual bank samples. However, although no relationship existed between organizational culture and employee performance, a strong positive relationship was ascertained between organizational culture and organizational performance. Considering that the findings do not necessarily concur with much of what has been reported in the literature, the implications of the findings on the performance of the sampled banks as well as for future research, are discussed.
Employees' service quality perceptions of Kenyan private universities
Journal of Contemporary Management, 2015
This paper reports on an empirical study conducted among a sample 133 employees of private higher... more This paper reports on an empirical study conducted among a sample 133 employees of private higher education institutions in Kenya, to examine the relationship between perceived service quality (SQ) and customer satisfaction (CS), using the HEdPERF instrument. Although service quality was measured using six dimensions namely: academic, non-academic, reputation, access, programmes and understanding, by using structural equation modelling, the six SQ dimensions needed to be collapsed into four, since these were significant to the employees' of private universities. The results partially support the proposed conceptual model that non-academic, access, academic and reputation dimensions have a positive and significant influence on the employees' SQ perceptions, and in turn influences their satisfaction. It can be inferred from the findings that university quality should not only be looked at in terms of academic activities alone, as non-academic aspects also need to be considered...
Since the mini-bus taxi industry contributes to approximately 65% of all public transport in Sout... more Since the mini-bus taxi industry contributes to approximately 65% of all public transport in South Africa, this study explored its effectiveness and importance to the Gauteng Province in South Africa. An exploratory study conducted among a sample of 73 mini-bus taxis commuters and taxi operators revealed that the mini-bus taxis are assumed to be convenient, not time bound, accessible and affordable to the poor majority, and that it addresses the transport needs in areas where regulated and formalised public transportation is out of reach. Nevertheless, challenges pertaining to regulation, infrastructure, safety, customer care, and the environment in which the mini-bus taxi industry operates do present themselves. The researchers recommend an inclusive and integrated infrastructure system/strategy, which would hopefully address the challenges.
Journal of economics, Dec 1, 2014
The purpose of the present paper is to critique the concept 'placebo effect' as applied in market... more The purpose of the present paper is to critique the concept 'placebo effect' as applied in marketing. Most of the researches explain this concept largely by drawing on the expectancy and classical conditioning theories, which theories, together with the consideration of extrinsic and intrinsic product attributes, have largely shaped the price-quality relationship, hence the concept of placebo effect. A variety of literature, albeit not most recent, is reviewed from both the medical and marketing perspectives in order to create a rich expose. It is concluded that despite the ubiquity of price and consumers' substantial experience with this attribute, a strong convergent support for the prediction that utility judgments are more precise and preferences are more stable, when price is considered as a proxy of quality. Future researches should transgress from expectations, beliefs and theories of conditioning to assessing how demand-related factors such as income, influence this phenomenon within the marketing field.
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Papers by Krishna Govender