Management

Terrance Booysen – CEO Corporate Governance Framework Research Institute and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, discuss how the new Companies Act of 2008 requires that directors need to understand their roles and responsibilities and how it can affect their personal liability.

How should companies and organisations respond to the unpredictable consequences of the recent downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating by two major agencies? Business owners, senior managers and company executives need to prepare themselves for a bumpy second quarter in 2017, with the only certainty being that nobody really knows how much the downgrades by rating agencies and the weaker rand will impact on the economy.

Many African businesses are grappling with the challenges posed by digitalisation as fears mount of the "rise of the machine” and its consequent impact on jobs and growth. However, this myopic view of the future comes with a significant risk as it overlooks the real economic value that digitally driven industry initiatives will bring to growth, development, jobs and society at large.

Recent incidents have highlighted the need for all companies and organisations to review the safety and security of their data and their IT systems, as standard approaches no longer protect against myriad vulnerabilities.

Managing the debtor book is critical to ensuring stable cash flows for any municipality, and has great impact on its ability in delivering services to its constituents.

Executive remuneration has become a symbol of inequality in today’s global economic order. Shareholders are becoming more active in demanding that executive pay is more closely linked to results and stakeholders want a broader focus on the context in which the organisation operates.

Few people realise that the largest source of business funding in South Africa is provided by private companies themselves. Businesses extend credit to their customers and obtain credit from their suppliers, usually in the form of short-term funding which lasts for 30 to 60 days per transaction.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has for the past three years run a survey among small and medium enterprises, both to learn how SAICA members can better serve the sector, and to offer relevant research findings to policymakers in government seeking to stimulate small business development.

Every successful business owner will tell you that ‘cash flow is king’ and effective working capital management is essential for any successful business to survive, as it provides a business with the cash flow to fund its day-to-day operations. Working Capital can be funded by the business itself or by external funders.

According to the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of South Africa: A Strategy for Global Leadership Report, researched and produced by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute...