Journal of Governance Risk Management Compliance and Sustainability

The Impact of implementing the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act (PECG Act) Chapter 10:31 by State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Zimbabwe.

Admire Mthombeni, Sifile Obert, Mbizi Rangarirai, Malesela Masenya — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Corporate scandals have become widespread, leading to the downfall of major companies globally. Poor corporate governance practices have sparked significant controversies in several State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Zimbabwe. The study sought to determine the impact of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act Chapter 10:31(PECG Act). The Act is the main piece of legislation governing corporate governance practices for State Owned Enterprises in Zimbabwe. In this view, the study adopted a mixed-methods approach in which pragmatism philosophy was applied. A convergent parallel design employed using a structured questionnaire and an interview guide. The target population consisted of top and middle management, board members, board chairpersons, and CEOs of SOEs found in Zimbabwe. A sample size of 351 individuals was determined for quantitative data using stratified random sampling, and 16 interviews by purposive sampling. SPSS version 23 was used to analyze quantitative data, whilst NVivo version 12 was used to analyze qualitative data. The main impact of the PECG Act was that it fosters accountability, transparency, and responsibility and encourages strategic planning for SOEs. The study confirmed that reforms on restrictions on the remuneration of board members (RRORB) have a positive effect on corporate governance practices in SOEs, and reforms on dismissal and resignation (RDRBM) of board members lead to best corporate governance in SOEs. This study recommended that responsible authorities should make strict enforcement to comply with the dictates of the PECG Act.

Democracy as an Elite Tool for Oppressing the Majority: A Case of Selected African Countries

Mohale Ernest Selelo, Magatane Tshwarelo Mashilo — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This paper seeks to establish and investigate the incontrovertible scenarios that the people of Zimbabwe and Uganda experienced during the dawn of democracy. This paper argues that "democracy" is a system beneficial to the elites but unbearable and detrimental to the livelihoods of ordinary people in Zimbabwe and Uganda. The democratic breakthrough in these countries brought hope, confidence, and zest to the proletariats that their dire socio-economic conditions would be transformed for the better. But little did they know that their conditions would be exacerbated than ever before. The high levels of inequalities, poverty and unemployment in these countries continue to haunt the people. Unfortunately, this happens under the ambit of AU, which is tight-lipped to such conditions people are going through. Regrettably, it appears as if the ones who are in positions of leadership are fueling the abuse of democracy, wherein they abuse their power in government to orchestrate their illegitimate shenanigans. Subsequently, human rights are often violated and suppressed when the “mighty” officials want to influence the processes of democracy with a direct autocratic system. Despite the calls from the UN that human rights and democracy should be respected and adhered to, people continue to witness the violence and suppression of such principles under the ambit of democratic governments. This paper uses a qualitative research approach to analyze the scenarios of the abuse of democracy in these countries. This paper finds that the violation of freedom of expression, assembly, and freedom of association is prevalent in these countries. Therefore, the paper recommends that structures such as the AU should enforce their responsibilities to safeguard and protect the rights of the people as per democratic states.

The Commissioner for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Office in South Africa: Serving the Interest of the Powerful or the Powerless?

Mokoko Sebola — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Legislatively, the Office of the Commissioner for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in the South was created to ensure a fast, convenient, and fair labour dispute mechanism within the labour force environment. While some believe that the Office is fair in the adjudication of cases brought to them, this article argues differently from such held viewpoint. This article argues that the Office of the CCMA largely serves the interest of the Powerful (Employers) and largely ignores the Powerless (Employees). There are few if any, scholarly articles which addressed this crucial element of injustice against the working class in South Africa, which emanates from the ineffective operation of this institution. This article is conceptual in approach, and it uses literature to argue that the current ineffective systems used in the CCMA office ensure little security and protection of employees' rights against well-resourced and labour-abusive employers. The article concludes that the unfair balance of consideration of the interests of the employers and employees at the CCMA renders the purpose of the office ineffective, with no valid moral reason to exist in South Africa.

Governance, Ethics and Public Service Delivery: The Ramifications of Corruption

Malesela Jim Masenya, Admire Mthombeni — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the repercussions of corrupt practices in the South African public sector and to recognise the critical need for ethical control to promote good governance. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, there has been a myriad of incidents of corruption involving public servants in South Africa. Corruption is now recognised as one of the South African government's greatest challenges, with numerous consequences for public service delivery in that the resources that are meant to assist the poor are diverted to benefit a few corrupt officials. Corruption undermines democracy and social justice, thus deepening poverty, increasing organised crime and stunting efforts to stimulate human security. The incidents of corruption characterised by colossal theft, embezzlements and rampant bribery are the basis of knowledge around the ability of the government to deal effectively with dishonesty. The paper will use a literature review to argue and demonstrate that despite the devotion of the government to combat unethical conduct of public servants by formulating various pieces of legislation and policies as an attempt to address the problem of unethical behaviour, the tribulations of corruption and problems of immoral conduct by public servants continue to escalate, thus, perpetuating poor provision of public service. The paper concludes that continued unethical practices by public servants cannot go unpunished; ethics must be enforced to enhance public service delivery.

Can R&D Transfer and Market Openness Improve the National Export Rate? A Global Entrepreneur Perspective

Devani Nariratya Putri, Iwan Hermawan, Achmad Zaenuddin — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

R&D Transfer gives birth to an understanding of the importance of the role of the latest applied research in developing entrepreneurs to compete in the global market. The global market that continues to be dynamic allows the emergence of various access restrictions that make it difficult for entrepreneurs, so the existence of market openness is needed as an entry point for entrepreneurs into the global market. This study aims to solve the gap of a significant decrease in world export levels in 2020 by 2.1%. This problem is considered crucial because this is the worst decline in the last decade. The data in this study was taken through secondary data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and the World Bank from various countries on five continents in the 2019-2021 data period. The data is processed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis instruments. This study empirically requires that the existence of R&D Transfer can encourage market openness to increase the export rate with a direct effect of 0.577. Thus, R&D Transfer has proven to be able to create new applied research and technology that encourages the creation of market openness for entrepreneurs so that they can compete in the global market and lead to an increase in the National Export Rate. Therefore, the practical implications of this study show that countries need to encourage the existence of R&D Transfer through the fulfillment of Physical Infrastructure and Government Support to increase market opening for increased exports.

Internal and External Determinants of Bank Syariah Indonesia Capital Gain during the Pandemic

Resi Ariyasa Qadri, Etty Murwaningsari — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This paper seeks to confirm and explain the relationship between internal factors of stock-lagged return and trading volume and external factors of composite price on returns of Bank Syariah Indonesia or BRIS. We collect the daily financial data of BRIS stock, Indonesia composite index, gold price, exchange rate, and Bank of Indonesia's deposit rate from the Refinitiv database. We obtained 1,230 time-series data to be analyzed further by implementing time-series analyses. Our research shows that the autoregressive integrated moving average (1,1,0) is the best model for univariate and multivariate analysis. Our study finds that lagged return has a negative effect on the bank’s daily return while trading volume has a positive impact on daily return. Our research reveals that composite price has the same effect as trading volume on daily return. Investors, especially short-term traders, may use our findings to formulate a different strategy for dealing with the volatility of Bank Syariah Indonesia stock. Our research contributes to the investment field by developing a new measurement for predicting the bank’s return when conducting short-term trading.