Graduate School of Business
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- ItemFactors influencing the adoption of e-marketing as a mode of marketing by SMEs in Zambia : a case of SMEs in the tourism industry.(The University of Zambia, 2024) Chicha, MarkThe digital economy has transformed the way businesses operate worldwide, and SMEs in Zambia are not exempted from this trend. However, many SMEs in Zambia face challenges in accessing markets, which hinders their growth and competitiveness. E-marketing presents an opportunity for SMEs to reach a broader market and overcome these challenges. Hence the quest to study the factors influencing the adoption of e-marketing as a mode of marketing by SMEs in Zambia. The study involved a sample of 286 respondents who were selected using the Taro Yamane formula from the hotel industry in Livingstone. The research is based on Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists commonly known by its abbreviation as SPSS. The five variables under observation are: Performance Expectance, Effort Expectance, Social Influence, facilitating conditions and Behavioral Intentions were used to assess if they are influence the actual usage of e-marketing in the tourism industry. The overall coefficient of correlation of 0.722 in the table below from the SPSS results suggests that there is a strong positive relationship between actual usage and the independent variables which are PE, SI, BI, EE, and FC. The R-Square (coefficient of determination) of 0.522 suggests that the adoption of digital marketing is influenced 52.2% by the independent variables PE, SI, BI, EE, and FC and 47.8% can be associated to other factors that we did not take into consideration. In order to ensure validity of the data analysis Correlation, Regression and ANOVA analysis was also put to use.
- ItemAn assessment of the effect of agriculture automation on employment in selected parts of central province, Zambia.(The University of Zambia, 2023) Sitali, Dorica ChibuyeThere are about 400 Commercial farmers in Zambia and several of them are located in Mkushi and Chisamba Districts, and farmers are increasingly adopting use of automated equipment to increase farm yields. However, use of automated equipment threatens job security of farm employees. Currently, it is not well documented how the adoption of automated farming is affecting employees in Zambia. Hence, the study assessed the effect of automation in the agriculture sector on employment in Chisamba and Mkushi Districts of Central Province by; (a) establishing kinds of automation used; (b) ascertaining levels/types of skills affected by automation; and (c) proposing measures to reduce effects of unemployment in the agriculture sector due to automation. It was a mixed method approach and Survey design involving 138 commercial farmers which were randomly selected using simple random technique. A semi-structured questionnaire was setup on Google platform and a link was generated. The link was sent to all commercial farmers through emails and short messages service (SMS). The data collection tool was semi-structured. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14 and the opened-ended responses were analysed thematically. The study found that, (a) most farmers in Mkushi and Chisamba use automated devices to farm, and these include both heavy and light equipment; (b) the growing use of automation in agriculture made one-third of unskilled employees lose employment, though blending of traditional and automated farming is currently an option; and (c) labour laws threaten employment in agriculture in favour of automated agriculture. Implying automation has a negative effect on employment security of unskilled labour force in the sector, statutory labour obligations that farmer employment must meet is pushing farmers to opt for automated agriculture, though blending manual labour and automation is a growing option. Therefore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) and National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) to find a win-win situation of engaging commercial farmers in meeting statutory obligations for their employees; farm employees must be empowered and provided with skills development, and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP) and Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MCI) should restrict imports of locally produced products to save local employment. Future studies must establish the effects of job losses due to automation on commercial farm employees.
- ItemAssessing the uptake of digital financial service (DFS) by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in cross border trading in Zambia.(The University of Zambia, 2024) Imwiko, NawinaThe purpose of the study was to investigate the uptake levels of Digital Financial Service (DFS) and its enhancement on operations of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia. The study’s presentation, analysis, and conclusion were based on three hundred (300) respondents which included two hundred and ninety one (291) registered MSMEs found in Lusaka that carry out cross-border trading, 1 (one) response from Financial Regulator (Bank of Zambia), six (6) responses from registered Commercial Banks and two (02) responses from Mobile Network Operators (Airtel and MTN Zambia) in Zambia. The data was analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study revealed that 71.3% MSMEs interviewed acknowledged that Digital Financial Service (DFS) is important and facilitates effectiveness in conducting business and those that had access to DFS have had a good experience with the digital platforms. However, only 35% of the interviewed MSMEs were utilizing DFS in conducting their business across borders. Majority of the MSMEs are lagging in adopting digital financial services (DFS) due to lack of awareness of the innovative lending options and digital financial platforms that may enhance the operations of their businesses and improve their business performances. The study further revealed that there are barriers/challenges that limit the MSMEs in utilizing digital financial Services (DFS). These include, lack of knowledge of the many advancements that have been in the Digital Financial Service (DFS) sector, high transaction costs, deliberate government policy targeting MSMEs in cross border trading and security concerns, Despite the sensitization that the Service providers of DFS are advancing, the channels of communication being used on product information which is mostly institution website is not accessed by the MSMSEs in cross border trading. The study recommends enhanced information dissemination to cross border traders by DFS would enhance the uptake of DFS by MSMEs. The study also revealed that most of the service providers do not have targeted policies for MSMEs, as most of their policies are blanket type that cover a wide base of clients despite their different needs. This observation was also extended to the DFS regulator (Bank of Zambia) which lacked targeted policies on MSMEs. Deliberate capacity building in digital skills and digital entrepreneurship for MSMEs to be done by DFS providers and other relevant stakeholders. In conclusion, the study revealed the there is low uptake of DFS by MSMEs resulting in inefficiencies in the operation(s) of MSMEs in cross boarder trading.
- ItemSME strategic management practices during the covid-19 pandemic in Zambia : an empirical test of the threat rigidity hypothesis.(The University of Zambia, 2024) Muyuni, Belinda MiyandaThe study undertook to establish the strategic management practices adopted by Zambian SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic and how they affected their performance. The study was anchored on Threat Rigidity and Failure-Induced Change theories. To help with meeting the foregoing objective, a pragmatic research approach which permits the use of mixed methods research design was adopted. With quantitative data being of primary focus, it successfully collected data from 333 SMEs who had been in operation for at least 4 years at the time of the survey. With data on strategic management practices and business performance collected using a Likert scale questionnaire, they were initially subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). EFA enabled the computation of factor scores, which are composite indices that represented the concepts of interest in as far as variable operationalization was concerned. The results show that surveyed SMEs adopted defensive strategic management practices in their attempt to navigate through the challenges that were presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. The extent to which surveyed SMEs were defensive was, however, moderate. On further investigating whether SMEs were justified in their preferences for execution of defensive strategic management actions as far as performance was concerned, the study found mixed results. Particularly, those who chose to scale down their operations were found to have performed better than their counterparts who did not. On the contrary, those that decided to restrict their scope of information search and processing had poorer performance outcomes than those that opted to do the opposite. On the basis of the foregoing, the study recommends a mix of offensive and defensive strategic managements practices when SMEs are facing a crisis environment for purposes of building resilience. In addition to only applying to the SMEs who participated in the study, the findings may not necessarily be time invariant.
- ItemImpact of quality service delivery challenges on customer satisfaction in the banking industry : a case of Stanbic bank, Zambia.(The University of Zambia, 2024) Mukelabai, NamakauSince Zambia's 1991 economic liberalization, there has been notable growth in the retail banking sector. The search for quality is perhaps the most important consumer trend in recent years because consumers are now more demanding than ever. In an era of rapid global change, customers have diverse options, often relying on brand names for complex financial services. Hence it becomes imperative to delve into the challenges surrounding quality service delivery on customer satisfaction, with a specific case of Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited. Hence, the study explored the impact of the service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction. The five dimensions of service quality that the researcher concentrated on include; tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance. A mixed method approach was adopted, combining both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The study involved 340 bank customers that attended a questionnaire and 20 customers and bank staff (Key Informants - KI) who attended in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed using SPSS particularly running the coefficient correlation, regression analysis and ANOVA while using thematic analysis for qualitative data. The study found that the majority (43.8%) of customers were generally satisfied with the services at the bank. However, an aggregate of 171 respondents were either neutral or disagreed with being happy with services provided by the bank. The study also found that tangibility and assurance were the service quality dimensions that highly influenced customer satisfaction perception at Stanbic Bank. Tangibility had a positive influence on customer satisfaction (β=0.153) and a p-value (0.028) less than the selected level of significance (0.05) an indication that the influence of tangibility on customer satisfaction is significant while empathy, reliability, and responsiveness were less influential thus requiring improvement for the bank to effectively achieve greater customer satisfaction. The study concluded that customer satisfaction and loyalty were dependent on the quality of services the bank provided. The service quality dimensions requiring attention included Reliability, Responsiveness, and Empathy for the bank to improve customer satisfaction. The researcher recommends widening the scope to include more districts and banks in future studies.