Purpose
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local ...governments in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.
Findings
Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.
Practical implications
This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.
Social implications
Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.
This study discusses access to information and communication technology (ICT) in the context of food security in Soshanguve, a slum area of The City of Tshwane, the administrative Capital of South ...Africa. City dwellers access food from retail outlets in a country where dispatching food is a lucrative business. Hence, food price increases pose challenges to urban households. The public broadcaster (i.e., South African Broadcasting Corporation, other private television stations (eTV, eNCA, and radio stations broadcast food marketing information through eleven official languages. Digital food marketing through cellular phone networks is also on the rise. ICT is a potential tool in the fight against food insecurity and hunger, since its use and range of application continue to grow at astonishing rates. Using questions contained in the USAID developed Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), questionnaires were administered to 300 randomly selected households in Soshanguve. Respondents were asked of their experiences of food insecurity (access) with a recall period of four weeks (30 days). Food secure households can utilise ICT tools in any manner to meet their food security needs. Our study finds that ICT access is positively associated with household food security. Transactional purchases of items on credit using cellular or landline telephony are, in particular, important in enhancing food security. Otherwise, households could beg for or borrow food from neighbours. Only the educated in Soshanguve purchase food items online by using computer access. Younger, single, educated, employed individuals mostly use ICT to advance the course of their food security.
Purpose:- This study examined information overload experiences of a group of individuals who are in the social media contact list of the researchers. This covers their perceptions, experiences and ...impact on their health. Design:- A survey of randomly selected individuals in the social media contact network of the researchers has been made. This has been done by administering a closed structured questionnaire which cover information ranging from demographic characteristics, time spent on ICT usage, to their experiences of information overload and the health effects of such experience. Findings:- Male respondents, who are largely unemployed are active ICT users, but are unable to use the irrelevant information received. Aged 31-35 and above, half of men and all women participants spend more than 5 hours per day on the internet. Male respondents suffer head ache, have eye-strains or are addicted to the internet and more significantly overloaded than women. They also suffer from unspecified ailments. Half of female participants are also active ICT users, and suffering from back pain. Other women suffer from multiple effects of eye-strain, internet addiction, and upper limb pain. Educated respondents with Honours qualifications all suffer from eye strain. Social implications:- Race is significant in explaining composite stress among blacks. This could be due to the demands placed on South African blacks to meet social commitments. Education also contributes to stress. Originality/value:- There are very few studies that have examined information overload in South Africa using the approach adopted in this study.
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