A synthesis of homelessness in South Africa: A rapid critical appraisal

Homelessness in South Africa requires collaborative research. Social, political, cultural and economic factors that cause homelessness must be considered to develop a common definition and understanding of homelessness. South Africa’s social complexity and diversity make it challenging to construct available results into one conceptual framework, and this in turn complicates national policy implementation and role allocation. By means of a rapid critical appraisal of literature on homelessness in South Africa, researchers provide evidence to direct and structure contextual research pertaining to homelessness. Four themes transpire: conceptualisation; demography; roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders; and strategic policy and research issues. Researchers caution that the findings are not generalisable, because of the rapid nature of the appraisal and possible selection bias of the literature. Measures of validity were used to ensure that the study accomplished its purpose through the key results and to ensure that the results are a true reflection of available evidence.     

Pearl River Piano Enjoys A Fame in the World Music

Tong Zhicheng＇s Working Performance： Since Mr. Tong Zhicheng held the post of General Manager of Guangzhou Pearl River Piano （Group） Co., Ltd in 1992, with a strong sense of responsibility, he united with other members of leadership as well as ordinary staff members, solving difficulties and problems by means of reform and development. In the process of establishment of modern enterprise system, he adhered to the principle of “innovation by system” and “innovation by technology”, implementing the managing concept of “consciousness first, responsibility first, action first and management first”, to regulate the daily work of the enterprise. In 1998, in order to integrate the resources of musical instrument manufacturers in Guangzhou City, the Group Company presided by Mr. Tong Zhicheng, successfully merged 11 enterprises running in the red deficit, thus solved unemployment problem for several thousand workers, and efficiently utilized limited resources. As a result, Guangzhou＇s musical instrument industry turned losses into gains in a short period.     

Impact of mood and gender on individual investors’ reactions to retractions and corrections of earnings forecasts

Whilst individual investors’ reactions to earnings forecasts have been widely documented, the impact that retractions and/or corrections have on investors’ decisions has received little attention. Further, the role that either/both mood and gender of investors play has not been investigated within this context. This is especially important as failure by individual investors to adjust correctly to retractions/corrections of earnings may have adverse investment outcomes. Our study thus investigates whether mood and gender differences influence the way in which individual investors react to retractions and corrections of management earnings forecasts. In this paper, we show that individual investors do not adjust correctly to retractions and corrections of previously disclosed information. We also find that both mood and gender play a significant role in individual investors’ reactions to such announcements. Awareness of the differences in investors’ reactions to retractions and corrections of earnings according to their mood and/or gender can provide further insights on whether their investment decisions are rational and are hence consistent with traditional models of assumed rational investment behaviour.     

Consumers’ subjective and objective consumerism knowledge and subsequent complaint behaviour concerning consumer electronics: a South African perspective

Although there is immense international support for consumer protection, the notion exists that consumer protection can only exist in developed countries with ample fiscal resources and expertise to properly act in the interest of consumers. This conception leaves consumers in emerging and transitional economies in a difficult position as these economies indeed generally lack sufficient funding and the required capacity to educate consumers on their rights. With the South African Consumer Protection Act that came into effect in 2011, South African consumers can now claim to be among the best protected consumers in the world. However, many consumers are still not aware of their consumer rights, and do not have the necessary knowledge to pursue redress when they are dissatisfied. The objective of this research was therefore to explore and describe the relationship between consumers’ knowledge of consumerism (consumer protection) and their consumer complaint behaviour (CCB) concerning their dissatisfaction with a technologically advanced product, in this case, a consumer electronic product. This study attempts to differentiate between subjective consumerism knowledge and objective consumerism knowledge and by extension the measures used. In addition, we explored and described the relationship between demographic variables and levels of subjective and objective consumerism knowledge as well as the combined effect of the two types of knowledge on CCB. The findings revealed that the respondents had a reasonable level of subjective consumerism knowledge relative to a low level of objective consumerism knowledge. No significant relationship was found between subjective consumerism knowledge and demographic variables. However, the factors of race, gender and level of income were related to objective knowledge. A higher level of subjective knowledge could be associated with public action. Respondents with reasonable levels of objective knowledge were also better equipped to take private and public action. CHAID (Chi‐Square Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis highlighted that a combination of subjective and objective knowledge was the best predictor of taking public action only and of taking both private and public complaint action. The study has implications for policy makers, consumer protection organisations, retailers and the individual consumer. Our approach to measuring knowledge of consumerism could possibly be applied in other emerging contexts where consumers generally lack awareness of consumer protection.     

Why Women Have Lower Retirement Savings: The Australian Case

This study provides empirical evidence of the gender gap in retirement savings trajectories using a large longitudinal Australian database. The persistent trend of retirement income policy over recent decades has been to place responsibility for retirement savings accumulation with the individual employee. These plans are fundamentally linked to employment conditions and individual choices, which shape retirement savings trajectories and outcomes. Australia has a mature compulsory system and thus provides insight for countries embarking on similar paths. This study shows that the gender gap in retirement savings is observable from early on in an individual’s paid working life and persists over time, providing evidence that women are disadvantaged early in their careers, with few signs of improvement. Men, in contrast, are overrepresented in the upper quartile of growth in retirement savings. This study provides important empirical evidence for policymakers concerned with gender differences in retirement outcomes.     

“Celestial Beauty” Leads The Hainan Airlines

Based on the corporate culture of “intemally cultivating the spirit with the essence of the traditional Chinese culture,and externally combining the advanced western management and technology”,Hainan Airlines Company Limited （hereinafter called HNA） has turned from a new soaring airlines to the fourth biggest airlines in China.     

Differences between Black and White South Africans in product failure attributions,anger and complaint behaviour

The purpose of this research is to extend an understanding of how Black and White South African consumers’ causal attributions for major household appliance performance failures impact on their anger and subsequent complaint behaviour. A survey was administered to Black and White South African consumers who were dissatisfied with the performance of a major household appliance item. Respondents resided in a major metropolitan area. The findings showed that, compared to Whites, the Black South Africans felt a low but significantly higher external locus of causality and lower control, and experienced a higher level of anger regarding product failure. The level of anger determined the decision to take complaint action, but racial group determined the type of action taken. Blacks complained more actively to retailers and engaged more in private complaint action than Whites. These findings may show that Black South Africans are developing a more individualistic orientation as consumers. Therefore, researchers should consider the effect of cultural swapping when researching consumer behaviour in multicultural countries. Implications for retailers in terms of complaint handling are indicated.