Annual Research Report 2020

41 Dr Osayuwamen Omoruyi Logistics technology compatibility issues and integration challenges among SMEs in Vanderbijlpark The announcement that Covid-19 had progressed from an epidemic to a pandemic threatened organisations’ continued existence and operations. Like every other organisation and business sector, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must strategise, more than ever before, responsive measures to ad- dress business disruptions and challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to external environmental pressure on SME business operations, this article seeks to assess technological logistics compatibility challenges and integration challenges among SMEs in Vanderbijlpark. However, apart from problems related to policy and business constraints which are external influencing factors, most business challenges for SMEs are still internally based, owing to the lack of logistics technology compat- ibility and integration to aid operations performance. To this end, in the Covid-19 pandemic era, recommendations presented in this research are SME-based solutions. Importantly, SMEs that convincingly and strategically market their products/services through efficient and effective utilisation of logistics information and communication technology can survive and improve sales volume by offering a quick response time to the customer(s). Furthermore, the researcher concludes that information technology compatibility can enhance knowledge management, streamline order management, increase visibility and reduce SME order cycle time. Data was collected from 131 SMEs and participants were quantitatively analysed using SMART-PLS version 3. Organisational identification among academics in a higher education institution in South Africa: Effects of age, work experience and job grade levels Joelle Danielle Ngo Ndjama, Pierre Andre Joubert Organisational identification (OID) is a powerful tool that assists managers to understand their employees’ behaviours and for employees to define themselves in the workplace. This paper assesses employees’ identification with their organisa- tion in a sample of academics working in a higher education institution in South Africa. Additionally, it examines whether there were any statistically significant differences between OID and respondents’ age, work experience and job grade levels. A descriptive cross-sectional research design, applying a quantitative research approach within a postpositivist para­ digm was followed, using a convenience sample of 253 academics. To collect data, a questionnaire was used which included biographical information about the age, work experience and job grade levels of respondents, as well as the or- ganisational identification scale. The descriptive analysis revealed that academics identify with the organisation. Statistically significant differences were found be- tween OID and the job grade levels of respondents, whereas work experience and age did not show any statistically significant difference concerning OID. This study provides additional knowledge on the concept of OID and sheds further light on the effects of age, work experience and job grade levels on employees’ OID.