The impact of the: mandate type used, real estate agents’ ideological outlook and compromising of principals’ on the ultimate outcomes to buyers and sellers have largely been ignored in the South African real estate industry. This study attempted to bridge that gap by investigating the influence of the dual mandate system, the ideology of real estate agents and the compromising of the interests of one or all the principals on the outcomes of any real estate transaction. Stratified random sampling was used for information gathering. Data were collected using face-to-face filling in of the survey instrument and 150 participants agreed to take part in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to assess the reliability and validity of the results. The results reveal that Dual mandate system and Ideological persuasion of actors in the real estate industry does positively impact on the suboptimal outcomes to consumers. Furthermore, the results also conclusively showed that the principal whose interests are compromised usually gets less than optimal results.

The relationship between equity returns and inflation has been shown to be conflicting and inconsistent as well as time and country dependent. This is an issue in macroeconomics because equities are commonly regarded as a hedge against inflation. One potential explanation for the inconsistencies in the literature is the failure to account for structural breaks. This paper examines the possibility of structural breaks in both the consumer price index and stock market variables using the Zivot-Andrews (1992) and Gregory-Hansen (1996a, 1996b) procedures, which determined that the relationship exhibited evidence of structural breaks in both the individual series and in the relationship. The Fully-Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimation procedures were employed to investigate changes in the nature of the relationship, divided by the structural break. It was concluded that the relationship is subject to temporal variation and structural breaks should be considered, but that equities have acted as a consistent inflationary hedge in South Africa.

This study examined the determination of insurance profitability in Nigeria, employing the causality, co-integration, error correction modeling and impulse response analytical techniques against pooled data from 19 insurance companies listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange for 10 years (2006–2015). The results showed that the variables have long-run equilibrium relationship, being co-integrated, and possible errors in the short-run correct with a speed of 8.89% per annum. It was also indicated that significant long-run joint-causality flowed from the identified correlates to profitability. Strengthening the above point is the revelation that innovations or shocks to the identified variables produced varying effects on profitability. More particularly, in the short-run, significant causality flowed from size, risk (defined in terms of loss or claims\ratio), and growth in written premiums to profitability. These variables were found to causally and significantly relate with profitability. By implication, size, risk, and growth constitute the major determinants of insurance profitability in Nigeria. In contrast, there is no significant causality found flowing from liquidity, leverage, and tangibility to insurance profitability in Nigeria, in the short-run. Thus, they are not revealed to be the major determinants of profitability for the insurance companies studied, in view of their causal inferiority. The implicated recommendation is along the lines of improved premium generation machinery, improved claims’ settlements, and increased use of intangible assets.

The process of risk management is constantly shifting towards a more holistic and comprehensive approach, the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system, which is arguably more efficient than the conventional approach, the Traditional Risks Management (TRM) system. While there have been attempts to evaluate the effects of ERM on a firm’s performance and value, there is limited evidence on the effect of implementing ERM on a firm’s overall risk. This article examines if ERM is successful in mitigating a firm’s risks and if ERM is more effective than TRM. The study commenced its selection process with 29 mining companies that were listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) for at least one year between 2004 and 2015. The study used annual data gathered from Bloomberg Database and McGregor’s BFA Database employed the Fixed Effects Model (FEM) to arrive at its findings. The study found that ERM quality is successful in mitigating firm risks while TRM was found to improve the level of risks faced by companies. The findings obtained by this study suggest that ERM is more effective and efficient in mitigating firm risks than TRM.

In order for organisations to benefit from a strong corporate reputation, corporate reputation management as a strategy is often utilised. For many organisations, a demonstration of the attractiveness of an employer becomes a vital corporate reputation tool. This article conceptualises the effective use of employer branding as corporate reputation management tool based on primary data collected from 312 respondents, representing eight different industries from the Top500 company list in South Africa. Exploratory research design was used and a computer-aided, self-administered and web-based survey was utilised as data collection method. The exploratory factor analysis indicates that employer branding consists of three factors: organisational attractiveness, website communication; and recruitment tools. Statistical differences (p<0.05 and p<0.10) levels were established between the various industries and organisational attractiveness and recruitment tools as factors of employer branding. The results of the study indicate that a well-executed employee branding process improves the profile of the organisation internally as well as externally, enhancing the competitive advantage of, and ultimately the corporate brand and reputation of an organisation. The study concludes that employer branding as a variable has a strong influence (0.60) on corporate reputation and should therefore be used as a corporate reputation management strategy. Respondents were drawn only from large, well established organisations which could be seen as a limitation of the study. Outcomes may differ in smaller organisations and other industries.

Although residential crowding has various impacts on household socioeconomic and health circumstances, there has been a dearth of research investigating and predicting spatial patterns of overcrowding in Arab nations. In this work, analytical modeling techniques are applied to investigate the interrelationships between residential overcrowding and other explanatory variables in Alexandria, Egypt. Global (Ordinarily Least Squared) and local (Autoregressive, Error Term and Geographically Weighted regression) models are employed to conduct the analysis. As a global model, OLS assumes homogeneity among spatial predictors and it fails to account for spatial non-stationary. In contrast, the proposed local spatial econometric models can easily model spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Population density and one-room-dwellings were found to be positively and significantly associated with overcrowding, while higher education of residents and five rooms dwelling were negatively related to residential overcrowding across Alexandria districts. Significant implications ranging from governmental subsidy to planning public housing are discussed.

Despite the prominence of business social responsibility (BSR) studies in advanced economies and their gradual maturation in emerging economies, no systematic attempt has been made to reconcile BSR goals, activities and entrenched practices that support them. In emerging economies where BSR is gaining currency but remains vaguely understood, the pernicious effect of small, micro and medium enterprises’ (SMMEs) casual approach to BSR is sheer reductionism that narrows down BSR goals, activities and practices exclusively to philanthropy. This ideological illusion often precludes SMMEs from leveraging their competitive advantage due to their negation of paramount ethical, legal, and economic considerations. Drawing on quantitative approach, a survey was conducted on 92 owner/managers of hospitality SMMEs in the Free State province, South Africa to explore the relationship between BSR goals, activities and practices. Evidence suggests that hospitality SMMEs’ goals are crystallised in conformity to laws and regulations and in what society conceives as legitimate norms. While their BSR activities are concentrated predominantly in philanthropy, they also extend to other economic and social concerns like giving discounts to long term customers, combating crime in local communities, maintaining employee satisfaction and conducting business ethically. When BSR goals and activities are reconciled, BSR economic activities and BSR-based economic growth will be positively affected as these variables are significantly correlated to the latter. The other BSR goals and activities are not significantly correlated with the BSR practices. Recommendations for leveraging economic dimensions of BSR should be considered to improve SMME competitiveness.

The development of shopping malls is a major social and global phenomenon that has unearthed a novel facet for customer satisfaction and their consequent or relative buying behaviour; shopping malls have become one of the most popular places for leisure-enhancing consumption levels and the lifestyle of the concerned population. With the advent of shopping centers, usually known as malls, the South African market has rigorously developed and has witnessed a sharp growth over the last ten years. With its multiple consumer satisfaction influencing factors, shopping malls have developed at a rapid rate across the metropolitan area of Durban and have initiated a “shopping mall” culture. In congruence with this development, the current research intends to highlight the factors that influence consumer buying behaviour in seven selected malls situated in Durban. Primary data was collected to analyze the factors influencing consumers’ buying behaviour by gathering responses generated from 700 respondents, 100 customers from each selected mall. The findings from the research indicate that there is a significant influence of factors such as services, accessibility, and sales dynamics on consumer buying behaviour. The findings of the research will help in the formulation of new strategies that can retain the consumer base and enhance the service quality of the retailers in the shopping malls of Durban.