Non‐governmental organisations and financial sustainability

Non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) have an important role to play in addressing the serious developmental challenges South Africa is facing today. Financial sustainability is critical for NGOs to be able to sustain their organisations and programmes. In this article key concepts and definitions related to the theme are referred to first. The second part emphasises the importance and role of sound management in building and operating financially‐ sustainable organisations (and programmes). The article also focuses on funding: minimum requirements and criteria for funding; sources of funding/income for NGOs; and funding proposals and obtaining funds. Reference is made to the importance of organisations’ long‐term sustainability plans, which should not only include relations with funders but also comprehensive strategies for earning ongoing income. In conclusion, the article calls for the establishment of a common understanding of ‘financial sustainability of NGOs’ by all concerned parties in order to maximise the impact of development on communities.     

Young adults’ consideration of their food choices a propos consequences for their future health

Many researchers have devoted much time and effort to explain the undesirable health outcomes associated with an excessive intake of certain types of fast foods. Particularly vulnerable, are young adults who move out of their parents' homes to live on their own, and then begin to rely on the multitude of so‐called “food away from home” options which are convenient, available and even desirable in their social circles. This study investigated young adults' consideration of the consequences of their consumption of food eaten away from home due to concern about unacceptable habitual behaviour that might negatively affect their future households. The survey involved 395 young adults up to 25 years of age who completed a structured questionnaire which relied on an established Consideration of Future Consequences scale. Data analysis involved exploratory factor analysis, t‐tests and Anova. Findings revealed some concern about the immediate consequences of respondents' fast food consumption, but concern about the future consequences seemed rather distant in their minds. Although significant differences were confirmed within gender and among population groups with regard to immediate concern about their fast food consumption, the means were nevertheless low throughout indicating that much needs to be done to sensitize young people about every day food consumption that might have dire consequences for their future health.     

Returns on Investments in Energy-saving Technologies Under Energy Price Uncertainty in Dutch Greenhouse Horticulture

Conventional net presentvalue calculations evaluating the profitabilityof investments in energy-saving technologies inDutch horticultural outlays predict a muchhigher rate of adoption of these technologiesthan is actually observed. This paper tries toexplain this gap by applying a real optionsframework. Hurdle rates for investments in twotypes of energy-saving technology are estimatedusing simulated future revenue streams, givenuncertainty regarding energy prices and energytax policies. Hurdle rates found in this wayare on average about 1.76 times the hurdlerates that result from net present valuecalculations. Furthermore, this paper tests thepredictive value of the theory by estimating alogit model. This model relates the incidenceof having invested in an energy-savingtechnology to the difference between the returnon investment and the hurdle rate. Thepredictive power turns out to be encouraging,as the statistical tests indicate that higherhurdle rates tend to reduce rates of technologyadoption.     

Financial Distress with Family Farm Transfer in Six European Countries

Financial Distress with Family Farm Transfer in Six European Countries Many potential young farmers face the difficult choice between farming or a city career. An important criterion in this decision is the financial distress that goes with farming. We compared the financial distress after take-over of family farms by the next generation, in six European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The principles of inheritance and succession and the fiscally appraised value of the farm have a large impact on the transfer price, and therefore on the installation costs. A transfer price below the fiscally appraised value results in gift taxes. The financial distress ratio is a ratio of the yearly interest and rent burden of the installation costs to agricultural income. Besides the installation costs, rent prices and the average interest rate determine the differences in the ratio among countries. The combination of high transfer prices with a high interest rate, together with the lowest agricultural income of the six countries, resulted in the hardest situation for Danish successors. A policy to reduce the fiscally appraised value of the farm would most aid successors. Such a policy would reduce transfer prices and reduce or avoid gift taxes and thereby cut installation costs for successors. La pression financeère sur les exploitations familiales dans six pays de la communauté européenne La plgpart des jeunes agriculteurs potentiels se trouvent confrpntés entre l'agriculture et une carrière urbaine. Au moment de prendre cette décision, un critère de choix important est la pression financeère qui est associée à l'agriculture. Nous avons compareé la pression financeère consécutive à un changement de génération dans des exploitations familiales de six pays européens:Danemark, France, Allemagne, Espagne, Pays-Bas et Grande Bretagne. Les régimes successoraux auxquels sont soumis les héritages et l'accroissement de la valeur fiscale de la terre ont un impact important sur les droits de mutation, ainsi que, par conséquent, sur les coûts d'installation. Un transfert pour une valeur infèrieure à la valeur fiscale conduit à payer un impôt sur les donations. Le coefficient de pression financeère mesure le rapport entre le revenu agricole et les charges financeères liées à l'installation, intérêt et annuityés de remboursement confondus. Les variations de ce coefficient d'un pays à l'autre dépendent du prix du fermage et du taux d'intérêt, en plus évidemment des frais d'installation. La conjonction entre d'un côté des frais de mutation et d'intérêt élevés, de l'autre les revenus agricoles les plus bas des six pays place les jeunes successeurs danois dans la situation la moins favorable. Une politique qui consisterait à réduire la valeur fiscale des exploitations serait de nature a favoriser les successions. Elle réduirait les coûts de transfert, et éviterait ou allegèrait les impôts sur les donations, diminuant par là les charges liées aux mutations. Finanzielle Notlage bei der Hofübergabe von Familienbetrieben in sechs europäischen Ländern iele designierte Hofnachfolger sehen ich in der schwierigen Lage, sich der Landwirtschaft und einer außerlandwirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit entscheiden zu müssen. Ein bedeutendes Kriterium bei der Entscheidungsfindung ist die finanzielle Notlage, welche die Landwirtschaft mit sich bringt. Wir verglichen die finanzielle Notlage nach Übernahme des Familienbetriebs von der nachfolgenden Generation in den folgenden sechs europäischen Ländern: Dänemark, Frankreich, Deutschland, Spanien, die Niederlande und Großbritannien. Die Grundsätze der Erbfolge und die steuerliche Bewertung des landwirtschaftlichen Betriebes haben großen Einfluss auf den Übernahmepreis und somit auf die Betriebseinrichtungskosten, Bei einem Übernahmepreis unterhalb der steuerlichen Bewertung fallen Schenkungssteuern an. Die Verhältniszahl der finanziellen Notlage sei definiert als das Verhältnis der jährlichen Zinsen der Betriebseinrichtungskosten und der Pachten zum landwirtschaftlichen Einkommen. Außer den Betriebseinrich tungskosten bestimmen Pachtpreise und durchschnittlicher Zinssatz die Unterschiede in dieser Verhältniszahl zwischen den einzelnen Ländern. Die Kombination aus hohen Übernahmepreisen und einem hohen Zinssatz in Verbindung mit dem geringsten landwirtschaftlichen Einkommen aller sechs Länder führte dazu, dass sich für dänische Hoferben die schwierigste Situation ergab. Eine Politik, welche die steuerliche Bewertung der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe verringert, käme den meisten Hoferben zu Gute. Eine solche Politik würde die Übernahmepreise senken und die Schenkungssteuern verringern odergar vermeiden und somit die Betriebseinrichtun gskosten für Hoferben verringern.     

A Purposeful Approach to the Constant Comparative Method in the Analysis of Qualitative Interviews

The constant comparative method (CCM) together with theoretical sampling constitutethe core of qualitative analysis in the grounded theory approach and in other types ofqualitative research. Since the application of the method remains rather unclear, researchers do not know how to `go about' the CCM in their research practice. This study contributes to a purposeful approach of the CCM in order to systematize the analysis process and to increase the traceability and verification of the analyses. The step by step approach is derived from and illustrated with an empirical study into the experience of multiple sclerosis (MS) by patients and their spousal care providers. In this study five different steps were distinguished on the basis of four criteria: (1) the data involved and the overall analysis activities, (2) the aim, (3) the results and (4) the questions asked. It is concluded that systematization of qualitative analysis results from the researcher using a sound plan for conducting CCM regarding these four aspects.     

Project selection based on intellectual capital scorecards

In this paper we present a tool for the selection of a project portfolio in knowledge intensive organizations. Standard methods mostly focus on project selection on the basis of expected returns. In many cases other strategic factors are important such as customer satisfaction, innovation capacity, and development of best practices. These factors should be considered in their interdependence during the process of project selection. Here the point of departure is the intellectual capital scorecard in which the indicators are periodically measured against a target. The scores constitute the input of a programming model. From the optimal portfolio computed, clear objectives for management can be derived. The method is illustrated in an industrial case study. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of hypotheses for analysis of variance models: challenging the current practice

In social science research, hypotheses about group means are commonly tested using analysis of variance. While deemed to be formulated as specifically as possible to test social science theory, they are often defined in general terms. In this article we use two studies to explore the current practice concerning group mean hypotheses. The first study consists of a content analysis of published articles where the reconstructed reality of hypotheses use is explored. The second study is a qualitative interview study with researchers, adding information about daily practice. We argue that, at present, hypotheses are not used to their utmost potential and that progress can be made by using informative hypotheses instead of the current non-informative hypotheses. Informative hypotheses capitalize on knowledge that researchers already possess and enable them to focus in their proceeding projects. The substantive focus of our work is the case of applied psychology.     

How Entrepreneurs Deal with Ethical Challenges – An Application of the Business Ethics Synergy Star Technique

Entrepreneurs typically live with the ever-present threat of business failure arising from limited financial resources and aggressive competition in the marketplace. Under these circumstances, conflicting priorities arise and the entrepreneur is thus faced with certain dilemmas. In seeking to resolve these, entrepreneurs must often rely on their own judgment to determine “what is right”. There is thus a need for a technique to assist them decide on a course of action when no precedent or obvious solution exists. This research paper examines how entrepreneurs experience and deal with these dilemmas. The research is based on interviews with seven entrepreneurs in established service-oriented ventures, which gave rise to 26 dilemmas. These dilemmas were analyzed by making use of the Synergy Star technique, which is introduced here as a tool that is useful in defining any dilemma, isolating the ethical component, and resolving the dilemma in a way that is congruent with the entrepreneur’s personal world-view. Dr. David Robinson lectures in Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics at Queensland University of Technology and Bond University in Australia and is Visiting Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. Himself an entrepreneur and director of companies with varied business interests, he holds a Master of Science from Brunel University, London, an MBA from Newport University, California and a Ph.D. from Rhodes University, South Africa. Dave is a past surfing and lifesaving champion and is known around the world as ‘Dr. Dave - the Surfing Professor’. Per Davidsson is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of Research at Queensland University of Technology, Australia and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden. Hennie van der Mescht is Associate Professor and Head of the Education Department at Rhodes University, South Africa. Philip Court is Associate Professor and Head of the Management Department at Rhodes University, South Africa.     

Modelling non-linearity in economic classification with neural networks

In this paper results are presented of a study on economic classification with neural networks. Comparison is made between neural networks and linear modelling techniques and, in particular, comments are made on the problem of overfitting and the estimation of prediction errors in cases where the available data sets are relatively small. It is shown that selecting network parameters by k-fold cross-validation and weight decay training are effective remedies for these phenomena. The conclusions are illustrated in two cases: predicting the volume of the mortgage market in the Netherlands and the classification of bond ratings. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.