Faculty of Commerce

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://ir.lsu.ac.zw/handle/123456789/3

Welcome to the Faculty of Commerce community within the Lupane State University Institutional Repository. This community provides access to scholarly works, research articles, dissertations, and datasets produced by staff and students in the fields of accounting, finance, banking, marketing, entrepreneurship, and business management.

Our aim is to promote open access to research that fosters innovation, economic growth, and sustainable business practices in Zimbabwe and beyond.

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  • New Submissions: Final-year students are encouraged to submit dissertations and business case studies for inclusion in the repository.
  • Featured Research: Explore recent publications on entrepreneurship development and financial inclusion in Zimbabwe.

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Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 52
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    Sustainability Drivers and Challenges in the Hospitality Sector in Zimbabwe /
    (2023) Shereni, Ngoni C.; Saarinen, Jarkko; Rogerson, Christian M.
    The hospitality industry is one component of tourism that has adopted sustainable tourism principles. However, limited knowledge exists about what motivates hospitality establishments to adopt sustainable practices and the barriers they face, especially in the Global South. The purpose of this study is to analyze the drivers and challenges of the implementation of sustainability in the hospitality sector. The research investigated 125 hospitality establishments from different tourist locations in Zimbabwe using proportional stratified random sampling. In addition, a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents from each hospitality establishment. The findings revealed that the main drivers of sustainability practices include regulatory compliance, improving the organization’s reputation, new market opportunities and professional ethics. On the other hand, the hospitality sector's significant challenges in adopting sustainability principles include employees, managers, and customers' lack of knowledge and negative attitude. This study adds to the growing body of literature on sustainability in the hospitality sector in the resource-constrained environments of the Global South.
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    An assessment of differential supplier category performance in the agro processing industry:
    (2023) Mukucha, Paul; Charia, Felix; Manzini, Sibongile
    This study sought to determine whether farm categories influence the key agro business supply chain metric of crop yield. The investigated farm categories are the communal farms, A1 farms, A2 farms, and commercial farms that reflect the agricultural structure that emerged from the post-fast-track land reform programme in Zimbabwe. Secondary data for crop yield was collected from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board publications of a five-year period spanning from 2014-2018. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board is the regulatory authority of the Zimbabwean tobacco industry. The study used One-way ANOVA to test the specified hypotheses. A post hoc test was conducted using the Bonferroni procedure. The results indicated that crop yield is a function of the farm category. Communal farms had low crop yield, while A1 farm models proved to be very productive as evidenced by higher crop yield than any other farm category. A2 farms and commercial farms had unexpectedly low crop yield. The study recommended consolidation and transformation of communal areas into small-to-medium plots for the purposes of improving their agricultural viability, while at the same time downsizing the redundant A2 and commercial farms into small scale plots for the purposes of improving their efficiency. The study also recommended entering into resource-providing contract farming with A2 farmers whose current low yield might be due to lack of adequate input resources.
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    Influenceofdigital governmentinnovationon transformationalgovernment inresource-constrained contexts /
    (Emerald Insight, 2022) Ndlovu, N.; Ochara, N.M.; Martin, R.
    The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of digital government innovation on transformational government. Digital government innovation is ordinarily implemented as means for the creation of public value. However, realisation of benefits from the digital government platforms has provedtobeachallenge,andgreatdiscrepancyhasbeenobservedintheextentofpublicvaluegenerated, pointing to lack of innovativeness in resource-constrained environments. This research investigates the influence of digital government ambidexterity as an innovation strategy in enhancing transformational government (T-Gov). The authors develop hypotheses relating to digital government ambidexterity with two factors of innovation for enhancing T-Gov: exploitation incremental digital innovation and exploration radical digital innovation.
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    Enhancing human resource functions through digital information management systems:
    (2023) Sibanda, Lindiwe; Ndlovu, Njabulo; Vakira, Elton
    : The adoption and implementation of digital information management systems is largely viewed as a means for promoting efficiency in organisations. Conversely, the realisation of the benefits derived from full utilisation of integrated digital information management systems still remain distant, pointing to lack of efficiency for some universities, particularly in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. This lack of efficiency on the part of some universities suggests the need for accelerated incremental or adaptive digital innovations which are regarded as antecedents for the full utilisation of digital information management systems. Owing to this, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of digital information management systems as an antecedent for human resource functions in promoting efficiency. The hypotheses are tested using a sample size of 202 comprising senior managers, heads of sections and human resource personnel. The authors identify enterprise resource planning and human resource information systems as factors that bring efficiency to human resource functions. Organisational efficiency is associated with sound human resource functions driven by full utilisation of digital information management systems. Furthermore, the realisation of efficiency requires commitment of resources by the organisation. The empirical outcomes suggest that the digital information management system in place is predominantly used for recruitment, training and development processes while performance management processes are largely done manually. This paper contributes to the research literature on the significance of digital information management systems utilisation particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, the study provides a new empirical test using a data set of 202 decision makers such as senior managers and heads of sections.
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    The end of covid-19 and implementation of the sustainable development goals by the hospitality sector in sub-saharan africa /
    (2023) Shereni, Ngoni C.; Rogerson, Christian M.
    The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health emergency in 2023. This study aims to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality sector in Africa in terms of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is based on a review of documentary sources on the nexus between COVID-19, SDGs and the hospitality sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings highlight that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of hospitality facilities, significant job losses, decline in GDP contribution, financial losses and an increase in poverty which negatively impacted the achievement of various SDGs. This said, the pandemic also brought certain positive impacts including a reduction in carbon emissions and a greater appreciation of domestic tourism. Arguably, in the post COVID19 period, the hospitality sector in sub-Saharan Africa needs a reset with expanded measures towards the achievement of the SDGs. Correspondingly, African hospitality scholarship must pivot to address relevant research issues around the SDGs.
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    Gender equality and sustainability in the tourism industry:
    (Taylor and Francis, 2024) Kaunda, Bliss E. L.; Shereni, Ngoni C.
    This study sought to ascertain the relationship between gender equality and sustainable tourism by interrogating various challenges that hinder women from progressing to senior management roles. A feminist epistemological approach was adopted in this study. Twenty women employed in the tourism industry in Zimbabwe were purposively sampled and semi-structured interviews were done with the respondents. Thematic content analysis method was used to analyze data collected from the interviewees. Several challenges hindering women from progressing to senior management levels were identified in this study. Also, recommendations that can help the tourism industry achieve gender equality and contribute to sustainable tourism were highlighted.
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    Detecting probable manipulation of financial statements. Evidence from a selected Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-Listed bank /
    (2023) Mavengere, Kudakwashe; Dlamini, Banele
    Purpose: The study used the Beneish M Score to discover probable financial statement manipulation by a selected Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed bank. Research methodology: The Beneish M Score eight variable statistical model was applied to secondary data of the selected bank from 2011 to 2018. The model utilizes ratios in distinguishing between manipulators and non-manipulators, with a yardstick measure of -2.22. Results greater than -2.22, classify the organization as a financial statements manipulator with less than -2.22 classify it as a non-manipulator. Results: The M score model detected manipulation for the years 2011 (-0.74), 2013 (-1.84), and 2015 (-2.19), which are greater than the benchmark of -2.22. The years 2012 (-3.17), 2014 (-2.46), 2016 (-3.07), 2017 (-2.80) and 2018 (-2.42) reveal the bank as a non-manipulator as these values are less than -2.22. Limitations: The Beneish M score statistical model was modeled for manufacturing companies. The study sought to test the M Score’s applicability in the banking sector and it was restricted to the selected bank for the years 2011 to 2018. Contribution: The Beneish M score is a valuable model for users of issued annual financial statements to guard against earnings manipulation. Stakeholders rely on audited financial statements, believed to be free from manipulation, yet companies fold up with unqualified audit opinions contained in published financial statements. The study validates the Beneish M score statistical model for detecting manipulation in published annual financial statements in Zimbabwe, where there is limited research on earnings manipulation.
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    Climate Change Disclosures by Hotels in the Global South /
    (2023) Shereni, Ngoni C.
    The tourism industry contributes significantly to carbon emissions and ultimately global warming. As tourism demand starts to increase in the post-COVID-19 era, carbon emissions by the hospitality sector are also set to continue increasing. This calls for the need to focus on mitigation strategies in the hospitality sector as climate change is now regarded as an imminent crisis. There is, however, a dearth of literature on climate change disclosures by hotels in general. This study, therefore examines the state of carbon disclosures by Global South hotels, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa. A desktop review of literature sources ranging from peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters and reports was utilized in this study The results of the study provide a preliminary presentation on the state of climate change reporting by hotels and contribute to the growing sustainability reporting discourse in the hotel sector of the Global South which is seen as largely voluntary and in its infancy. The findings generally reveal that carbon disclosures are minimally practised by hotels in the Global South as compared to the Global North environments.
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    Fostering healthy workplace practices through inclusive leadership mediated by perceived organizational support in the mining industry in Zimbabwe /
    (2023) Vakira, Elton; Nemashakwe, Paul; Ncube, Chantelle M.
    The mining industry is facing a plethora of challenges which are militating against its potential performance despite being regarded as a leading pillar in an extractiveoriented economy. One major issue of concern is unhealthy workplace practices resulting in avoidable accidents taking place. This paper argues that inclusive leadership fosters healthy workplace practices in Zimbabwe’s mining industry. The study was predicated on the belief that inclusive leadership plays an important role in reducing accidents and fostering healthy workplace practices which will enable the mining industry to achieve enormous advantages. Guided by the positivism philosophy and the deductive approach, the study adopted a quantitative research design where a cross-sectional survey was used to collect primary data from 257 participants in the mining industry. The study found that inclusive leadership had a strong positive relationship with healthy workplace practices. The study concluded that inclusive leadership has a strong and direct effect on healthy workplace practices. Leaders who use inclusive leadership impact strongly on the healthy workplace behaviour of employees. It is recommended that leaders should be open, available and accessible to their employees so that employees are free to convey their concerns and share ideas with their leaders that may assist in reducing the rate of accidents and fostering healthy workplace practices.
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    Leveraging small business development through employment contracts:
    (2023) Ndlovu, Njabulo; Vakira, Elton; Mutanda, Bronson
    Following enormous de-industrialisation and a series of industrial offshoring of big corporate entities over the past decade, Small Medium and Micro Enterprises have risen into prominence by their inert abilities of employment creation and poverty mitigation, particularly in the context of developing countries such as Zimbabwe. However, their continued failure has left the nation’s economy tottering at the brink of collapse, hence paling the vision 2030 of engineering the country’s economy towards attaining upper-middle income status beyond visibility and feasibility. High labour turnover is attributed as the chief cause of this phenomenon. In view of that, the current study sought to assess the moderating role of job insecurity on the nature of employment contracts and SMME development. The nature of the employment contract is deemed instrumental in promoting work commitment towards SMME development. This work commitment is anchored on an individual’s perceptions of job security. As such, for some, the nature of the employment contract becomes the sole driver to display extra effort at work in fear of losing a job. At times, such job loss fears are largely determined by one’s family needs and responsibilities. The hypotheses are tested using a sample size of 256 individuals working and owning SMMEs. The Raosoft sample size calculator was used for the sample size determination. SPSS Process was used to test if job insecurity mediates employment contracts and small business development. The empirical outcome suggests that employment contracts have a predictive effect on SMME development and that the turnover intention had a full mediation effect between employment contracts and small business development.