scholarly journals A Digitally Enabled Strategic Sourcing Process to Mitigate Risk

10.28945/3924 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 08
Author(s):  
Kim Cupido ◽  
Jean-Paul Van Belle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Insurance Cover ◽  
The Status

A South African insurance company is considering how to automate the process of handling home insurance repair claims in order to make the process more efficient and improve the customer experience. Should they stick with the status quo, develop their own system, purchase existing technology or employ a hybrid solution? ABC Insurance was a leading short-term insurer in South Africa. The FSB (Financial Services Board) of South Africa defined short term insurance cover as indemnification secured by the insurance purchaser over their fixed and movable assets (FSB, n.d.). Such insurable assets could be one’s home (the actual building) or motor vehicle (https://www.fsb.co.za). The purchased insurance cover protected the policyholder (customer) against total loss or accidental damage, as a result of insurable events like fires or floods. In exchange, payment for insurance cover (referred to as the “premium”), was collected by the insurance company from its customers. Andrew Cohen, commodity manager for the Non-Automobile Property and Casualty procurement division at ABC Insurance, was faced with the choice of either digitizing the day to day claims fulfillment procedures within his portfolio, or to continue his business unit’s activities “as is.” The main function of Cohen’s business unit was to ensure that home owners (policyholders) who purchased insurance cover over their fixed assets (i.e., buildings insurance) could access and receive the required repair services as per the provisions set out in their insurance policies. In delivering these services to the policyholders, Cohen’s immediate challenges were that he had to increase efficiency within the claims environment, meet customer demand and enhance operational processes while concurrently accelerating daily business operations. In opposition to maintaining the status quo, his options were to either build an in-house solution, or purchase an existing tool and customize it to his organization’s requirements. His preliminary cost benefit analysis showed that choosing to remain “as is” would cost the firm nothing in terms of immediate cash outflows, but in the long term would expose management to the risk of not capitalizing on opportunities to service their customers quickly and efficiently, infuse transparency into the appointment procedure of suppliers on repair claims, and gain line of sight of interactions between the firm, its service providers, and its customers. He furthermore surmised that whatever the solution was it might require the firm to make initial investments of time for the re-organization of internal processes and new information technology competencies to acquire. To select an ideal solution, he would need to weigh the risks of remaining “as is” against the benefits of infusing mobile technology such as a mobile app into his portfolio, and ultimately, into the core day-to-day operations of the firm as well.

scholarly journals A Digitally Enabled Strategic Sourcing Process to Mitigate Risk

10.28945/3912 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 001-022
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Insurance Cover

ABC Insurance was a leading short-term insurer in South Africa. The FSB (Financial Services Board) of South Africa defined short term insurance cover as indemnification secured by the insurance purchaser over their fixed and movable assets (FSB, n.d.). Such insurable assets could be one’s home (the actual building) or motor vehicle (https://www.fsb.co.za). The purchased insurance cover protected the policyholder (customer) against total loss or accidental damage, as a result of insurable events like fires or floods. In exchange, payment for insurance cover (referred to as the “premium”), was collected by the insurance company from its customers. Andrew Cohen, commodity manager for the Non-Automobile Property and Casualty procurement division at ABC Insurance, was faced with the choice of either digitizing the day to day claims fulfillment procedures within his portfolio, or to continue his business unit’s activities “as is.” The main function of Cohen’s business unit was to ensure that home owners (policyholders) who purchased insurance cover over their fixed assets (i.e., buildings insurance) could access and receive the required repair services as per the provisions set out in their insurance policies. In delivering these services to the policyholders, Cohen’s immediate challenges were that he had to increase efficiency within the claims environment, meet customer demand and enhance operational processes while concurrently accelerating daily business operations. In opposition to maintaining the status quo, his options were to either build an in-house solution, or purchase an existing tool and customize it to his organization’s requirements. His preliminary cost benefit analysis showed that choosing to remain “as is” would cost the firm nothing in terms of immediate cash outflows, but in the long term would expose management to the risk of not capitalizing on opportunities to service their customers quickly and efficiently, infuse transparency into the appointment procedure of suppliers on repair claims, and gain line of sight of interactions between the firm, its service providers, and its customers. He furthermore surmised that whatever the solution was it might require the firm to make initial investments of time for the re-organization of internal processes and new information technology competencies to acquire. To select an ideal solution, he would need to weigh the risks of remaining “as is” against the benefits of infusing mobile technology such as a mobile app into his portfolio, and ultimately, into the core day-to-day operations of the firm as well.

Pandora's Box: Reviewing the Composition of the UN Security Council in the Light of British and French Experience 1945–1963

1997 ◽  
Vol 66 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 273-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Short Term ◽  
French Experience ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Foreign Ministries

AbstractThis article aims to throw a light on the problems relating to the proposed enlargement of the composition of the UN Security Council at present by studying the creation of four non-permanent seats in the Security Council in 1963 from the British and the French perspectives. The examination is based on the author's research of original documents in the archives of the British and French foreign ministries and upon information provided to the author by British, French and Finnish diplomats. The author concludes that, as between 1946 and 1963, British and French short term interests are still best served by maintaining the status quo in the Security Council. However, in a long term perspective it is not clear where the interests of these two States lie.

scholarly journals Think Piece: Learning, Living and Leading into Transgression – A reflection on decolonial praxis in a neoliberal world

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Injairu Kulundu ◽  
Dylan Kenneth McGarry ◽  
Heila Lotz-Sisitka
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainability Education ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
To Come ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Embodied Practice

Three scholar activists from South Africa reflect on what it means to transgress the limits of a neoliberal world and its crisis times, particularly considering transgressions in the service of a decolonial future. The authors explore three questions: i) What kind of learning can help us transgress the status quo? ii) How do we extend this learning into a commitment to actively living in transgressive ways? iii) What does it mean to lead in ways that re-generate a transgressive ethic in a neoliberal world? In a dialogical conversation format, the authors outline nine different but interconnected perspectives on learning, living and leading into transgression, with the aim of concurrently revealing the multiple layers of work that a decolonial future depends on, while demonstrating the ambitions of a pluriversal decolonial future through their writing. The intertwined narrative is not conclusive, as the processes marked out in brief are experiences that still need to be fully practised in new relations in times to come within academia-in-society-and-the-world with human and more-than-human actors. However, they do offer a generative set of questions, concepts and metaphors to give courage to boundary-dwelling scholar activists attempting transgressive research. These reflections seek to regenerate the transgressive ‘decolonial gestures’ (decolonialfutures.net) that we can undertake in a neo-liberal world, as an important part of environment and sustainability education practices. It draws out what an embodied practice of transgressive learning can entail when we become discerning of hegemonic discourses that reproduce the status quo. We pay homage to those decolonial scholars in the field of environment and sustainability education as we traverse this terrain, recognising their imagination and the transgressive movement that has come before us, but importantly we seek to also open pathways for those yet to come.

Time to agree on a conservation benchmark for Australia.

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt W Hayward
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Inadequate Knowledge ◽  
Sydney Harbour ◽  
The Status

WELL defined goals are critical to successfully achieve outcomes and monitor the success of achieving them, yet conservation agencies rarely explicitly state the goals of their management activities with appropriate metrics. Here I use case studies on the conflicting conservation management focus of the Sydney Harbour National Park at North Head, the legislative impediments of bridled nailtail wallaby conservation management, the planning for broadscale habitat connectivity programmes such as Habitat 141, fire management for the conservation of the quokka and the broader Kimberley landscape, and mesopredator suppression using dingoes to highlight the problems with inappropriate conservation benchmarks. I compare these issues with activities from South Africa, India, New Zealand and Poland to illustrate the benchmarks other nations have. I conclude that Australia urgently needs an explicit conservation benchmark upon which to aim our conservation efforts and excuses of inadequate knowledge can no longer be accepted for maintaining the status quo.

South Africa in 1998: Trends and Developments During the Next Twenty-Five Years

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-42
Author(s):  
A. M. Keppel-Jones
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Insurance Policy ◽  
The Status

Prophecy is one of the simplest ways for an historian to destroy his credit and reputation. Having been persuaded to take this risk, I shall partly cover it with one small insurance policy: I shall set forth what seem to me to be the relevant facts, but not be too dogmatic about the conclusions to be drawn from them.Where will South Africa stand twenty-five years from now? What will have happened during those years? In theory there are, I think, only four possibilities: (i) that the status quo will remain essentially unchanged; (ii) that radical changes, involving or at least leading to the abolition of all racial discrimination, will come about peacefully, by constitutional means; (iii) that the regime will be overthrown by invading foreign forces; and (iv) that it will be overthrown by revolution within the country, with or without foreign support. As there are strong reasons for believing that none of these alternatives is really possible, some factor seems to have been overlooked. Perhaps it will appear as the four alternatives are examined.

scholarly journals Fledgling South African Anglicanism and the Roots of Ritualism

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew-John Bethke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Early Generation ◽  
The Status ◽  
High Church

The early years of Anglican ministry in South Africa were primarily among English settlers. Their worship patterns, for the most part, reflected the general trends of English Anglicanism at the time, which itself was influenced theologically and materially by a moderate form of Calvinism. This article examines the ethos of the early generation of Anglicans, and highlights some of the possible reasons why a moderate Calvinistic stance seemed to suit the ordinary settler classes. However, the status quo was challenged by the arrival of Bishop Robert Gray in 1848. Thus, the article continues by exploring some of the reasons why Gray aroused such strong feelings in certain congregations. Among the most important reasons for the opposition against Gray were his Tractarian sympathies. While many historians have agreed that Gray was a high church cleric, most stop short of labelling him a Tractarian. This article critically examines Gray’s sympathies and posits that while he started out firmly within the high church party of Anglicanism, he slowly moved closer and closer to Tractarianism. Finally, the article considers aspects of Gray’s leadership which encouraged a gradual move from moderate Calvinism towards a more definite Tractarian and ritualist stance as the nineteenth century drew to a close.

scholarly journals EDITORS’ NOTE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Allison
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Law Students ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Status ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Ninth Edition ◽  
Sense Of Satisfaction

Words fail to describe what an honour it has been to have been part of the ninth edition of the Pretoria Student Law Review. The sense of satisfaction is overwhelming in this being the third edition I have had the privilege to be a part of. Having spent three years as part of this publication I cannot begin to describe and expand upon all that I have learnt in this time, but one thing which I guarantee is the bright and prosperous future of the legal profession of South Africa. With each successive edition I see a thirst and hunger for knowledge from law students, each year those yearnings becoming more intense and providing us with the most thought provoking and well-founded articles. The desire to challenge the status quo, to reject the notions of complacency and outright refusal of facile thought is truly something all these writers should be proud of and us along with them. To read and to write is the essence of not only thought, but of life itself.

scholarly journals “The message to the people of South Africa” in contemporary context

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Braverman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Church Renewal ◽  
Church History ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The People ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Status ◽  
Contemporary Context

In September 2018 John de Gruchy presented a paper at the Volmoed Colloquium entitled “Revisiting the Message to the people of South Africa,” in which he asks, “what is the significance of the document for our time?” In this expanded version of the author’s response to de Gruchy, two further questions are pursued: First: how can the churches today meet the challenge of today’s global system of economically and politically-driven inequality driven by a constellation of individuals, corporations, and governments? Second: in his review of church history, de Gruchy focused on the issue of church theology described in the 1985 Kairos South Africa document, in which churches use words that purport to support justice but actually serve to shore up the status quo of discrimination, inequality and racism. How does church theology manifest in the contemporary global context, and what is the remedy? The author proposes that ecumenism can serve as a mobilizing and organizing model for church action, and that active engagement in the issue of Palestine is an entry point for church renewal and for a necessary and fruitful exploration of critical issues in theology and ecclesiology.

In or Out: The Choice for Britain

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Rollo
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
British Government ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Timing Of Entry ◽  
Maastricht Criteria

The choice facing British government about maintaining the status quo for sterling or joining the euro is a choice between long-term policy regimes. Short-term considerations such as the relative position of business cycles or the current level of the sterling-euro exchange rate have a bearing on the adjustment costs and the timing of entry. The article therefore examines the EMU framework versus the British framework for monetary policy; the performance of economic policy in Britain and in Euroland, and especially Germany as Euroland's main precursor; the relevance to the adjustment costs of membership to the Maastricht criteria and the Chancellor of the Exchequer's five economic tests for joining the euro; and whether or not Britain can qualify for joining EMU. The analysis is broadened to include supporting policies for monetary policy, especially fiscal, labour market and other structural policies where relevant.

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