http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2718 2013-05-22T15:23:25Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6406 A survey of capital budgeting techniques used by listed mining companies in South Africa Maroyi, Vongai; van der Poll, Huibrecht M Capital budgeting is crucial in the maximisation of shareholder value as it depends on the capital budgeting decisions made by the managers. The capital budgeting techniques used by South African mines listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) and the reasons behind their use were investigated. Questionnaires were conducted during the period of March to May 2011 to gather data. The results also indicated that the net present value (NPV) (69%), the internal rate of return (IRR) (46%) and the payback period (PB) (23%) are the most common techniques used to evaluate major projects. The main reason for the use of the NPV was its superiority as it accurately takes into account the time value of money. The IRR method is used owing to its ability to rank projects and to indicate the actual return of each project, thereby informing managers whether an investment will increase the company’s value. The results indicated that the continual use of PB was based on the simplicity of the technique. Financial officers (FOs) should also make use of other techniques for example, discounted payback period (DPB), profitability index (PI) and the real options which are of valuable in determining the feasibility of projects. 2012-08-15T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6405 An Overview on the Implementation of Economic Value Added (EVA™) Performance Measures in South Africa van der Poll, Huibrecht M; Booyse, Nicholaas J; Pienaar, A J; Büchner, Suz; Foot, Judith Although Economic Value Added (EVA™) might improve the measurement of organisations’ performance, it seems not to be used widely in South Africa. The need to measure financial performance and the different metrics that can be used should be investigated to establish the best measure for each sector. The purpose of the reported study was to determine the extent to which EVA™ is used by South African organisations. Furthermore, this investigation focused on methods used by these organisations to calculate EVA™ and aimed to determine the South African business sectors in which it is most likely to be implemented. A focus group discussion was conducted with financial experts, which included consultants, analysts and statisticians, to discuss EVA™ and challenges relating to its implementation. It was established that South African companies will benefit from using EVA™ in conjunction with other metrics. Management needs to understand its own organisation to be able to implement the most appropriate performance metric applicable to the organisation. It is recommended that companies do a thorough internal analysis of their organisations to assist them in making an informed decision regarding the appropriate performance metric, which includes EVA™. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6404 Management accounting: An instrument for implementing effective corporate governance Mayanja, M K; van der Poll, Huibrecht M 2011-11-11T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6322 Students’ Perceived Ability in the Use of a Computer Application in a Community Outreach Project van der Poll, Huibrecht M; McGee, Aletta; Booyse, Nico J Students from a disadvantaged background in a community outreach project often do not have the opportunity to gain knowledge on computer applications (for instance, word processing and spreadsheets) at school level. In the project being reported on here, the students’ perception of their ability in the use of a spreadsheet program was measured with the use of a pre- and post training questionnaire. A further comparison was drawn between the students’ perception of their ability and the mark achieved in the summative assessment at the end of the training. The aims of the project were to establish whether: 1) training in the use of a spreadsheet program affected the students’ perception of their own ability; 2) the perceived ability of students differed from their actual ability; and 3) the assumption that students from a privileged community may overestimate their ability and that students from underprivileged communities may underestimate their ability in the use of computer applications, is valid. The findings indicate that the students’ perceptions did change after training and that their perceived and actual ability do differ. However, the disadvantaged students from this study also overestimated their ability in the use of a computer program. To improve the ability of students, they should gain basic mathematical, accounting and language skills before they are introduced to a spreadsheet program. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z