Brand Service Quality, Satisfaction, Trust and Preference as Predictors of Consumer Brand Loyalty in the Retailing Industry

Orientation: There appears to be a dearth of literature that addresses the relationship between employee satisfaction and organisational performance in South African public organisations. Motivation for the study: This study attempted to contribute to the discourse on the influence of human resources to organisational performance.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between employee satisfaction and organisational performance in a public sector organisation.Research design: A three-section survey questionnaire was used to collect data from a conveniently recruited sample of 272 members of a South African government department. Pearson’s correlation test as well as a regression analysis were employed to test the existence of a relationship between employee satisfaction and organisational performance. The mean score ranking technique was used to compare the impact of the individual employee satisfaction factors on organisational performance.Main findings: Positive correlations were observed between organisational performance and all five employee satisfaction factors, namely working conditions, ability utilisation, creativity, teamwork and autonomy. Amongst the five factors, teamwork had the greatest impact on organisational performance, followed by ability utilisation, creativity, autonomy, with working conditions exerting the least influence.Practical and/or managerial implications: Strategic interventions involving positive adjustments on the five employee satisfaction dimensions examined in this study may be initiated and applied to improve overall organisational performance in public organisations.Contributions and/or value add: The study endorses the notion that a satisfied workforce could be the key to enhanced organisational performance.

Strategic planning is a business tool that small and medium businesses need in todays dynamic and highly competitive business environment. It has a potential to cushion these enterprises from such unpredictable harsh business conditions. The purpose of this paper was to establish the relationship between strategic planning practices and business performance among SMEs in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Data were analysed from 200 useable questionnaires that were distributed to SME owners/managers. Factor analysis, correlations, and regression techniques were used in order to extract the dimensions of strategic planning and their relationships with business performance. Environmental scanning, business mission and vision, formality of strategic plans, evaluation and control, informing sourcing, strategy implementation incentives, employee participation, and time horizons emerged as strategic planning dimensions. The results confirm that strategic planning has a positive association and predictive relationship with the performance of SMEs. The results of this study can serve as a guide to SME owners and managers to properly implement strategic planning practices which will enable them to propel and sustain their businesses in turbulent and uncertain business environments.

Orientation: Corporate governance adoption and compliance are an issue augmenting in importance recently and have been extended to business enterprises of any size including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Research purpose: This study seeks to examine the impact of corporate governance adoption on the firm competitiveness and performance of SMEs in Vanderbijlpark.Research design, approach and method: The study employs a cross-sectional research design, which employed quantitative methods. One hundred fifty-two SME owners or managers were selected from Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng, South Africa. The collected data were analysed using a structural equation modelling system by using Smart PLS software.Main findings: The principal findings of this study revealed that the implementation of corporate governance by SMEs significantly and positively affected their competitiveness and performance.Practical and managerial implications: The paper provided practical implications and made some recommendations.Contribution or value-added: This article bridges the gap between theory and practice because it has both an economic and commercial impact in practice. It can be used in influencing public policy, teaching and research (because it contributes to the body of knowledge, particularly regarding SME corporate governance in emerging markets). An important aspect of this article is that it gives a framework for additional similar studies in other locations within emerging markets to test the generalisability of the findings. For teaching purposes, it provides a template for how to assess the link that exists between corporate governance and SME performance. Lastly, the article gives a unique empirical analysis of the relationship that exists between corporate governance compliance and performance of firms in South Africa, and thereby giving a valid contribution to corporate governance literature.

Background: The recognised relationship between company performance and supply chain performance has prompted managers, practitioners and researchers alike to seek a better understanding of the performance of supply chains. To this end, many firms have adopted and implemented various supply chain practices and enhanced collaboration and more recently e-collaboration within supply chains.Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate how firms can enhance their supply chain performance through supply chain practices and supply chain e-collaboration.Method: A quantitative design was adopted in which a survey questionnaire was administered to a sample of 500 senior managers representing some 350 firms. A non-probability sampling employing convenience and purposive methods was used. A confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling technique were undertaken to assess the psychometric properties of the measurement scale and to test hypotheses using the path modelling technique.Results: The key findings of this study were as follows: Supply chain practice was found to have a strong positive and significant relationship with supply chain e-collaboration, while supply chain e-collaboration has a strong positive and significant influence on strategic information sharing. Strategic information sharing has a positive and significant influence on supply chain competence and supply chain performance. Supply chain e-collaboration has a positive and significant influence on supply chain competence, while supply chain competence was found to have a negative and insignificant influence on supply chain performance.Conclusion: This study concludes that firms can use supply chain practices to enhance their supply chain e-collaboration and supply chain performance. The study also provides a useful framework for analysing the relationship between supply chain practices, supply chain e-collaboration, strategic information sharing, supply chain competence and supply chain performance.