HBMN333-2 Business Management 3 Summative Assessment 2 | BCC

Instructions

Summative Assessment 2 (SA2) must be uploaded in PDF format onto ColCampus by no later than 23h59 on 06 June 2025.

The research essay must be a minimum of 700 (seven hundred) words and should not exceed 850 (eight hundred and fifty) words.

The research essay structure must be as follows: 

Cover Page:

• Name
• Surname
• Student Number
• Name of your Support Centre (i.e. Boston, Braamfontein)

Introduction: Tells the reader what the essay is about.

Body / Main Content: Is based on research and relates to the research essay question or topic that has been set.

Conclusion: A summary of what has been covered in the essay, it may also include suggestions/recommendations.

Reference list: (not included in the word count): The Boston Harvard Referencing Method must be adhered to with regards to in-text citations and the reference list. Please make sure you read and adhere to Boston's Harvard Method of Referencing: A Beginner's Guide when referencing, as well as The Beginner's Guide to Plagiarism, both are available in the HE Library module on ColCampus.

The essay must be typed, using the following format settings only:

Font: Arial
Font Size: 12
Line Spacing: 1.5

For this assessment, the following must be adhered to:

You have been provided with three (3) academic sources (see below); these sources are compulsory and must be consulted and referenced when answering the research question.

The compulsory sources must be accessed using the HE Library module on ColCampus unless otherwise stated, e.g. through a hyperlink.

Compulsory sources to be used:

Journal Article 1: Sabinet:

Van Vuuren, G. & Hargarter, A. 2018. Conduct risk in South African banks: aligning regulatory compliance with business sustainability. Southern African Business Review, 22(1):1-27.

Journal Article 2: Sabinet:

Ezeanyika, S. 2018. Globalisation, Democratisation Process and Challenges of
National Security in Africa.African Journal of Public Affairs,10(4): 119-137.

Journal Article 3: Sabinet:

Mashilo, E.N., Agigi, A.F.A., Mooke, K & Jaqueta, S.D.J. 2020. Physical distribution challenges and adaptations: a qualitative study of South Africa- based organisations operating in emerging African markets. Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, 14(1):1-16.

Academic sources and accessing credible e-Resources:

Not all sources/texts can be classified as academic sources. Wikipedia, for example, is not a credible academic source since authors are not identifiable and editing an article on this site is very easy. Also, blog posts often provide valuable information but are not academically sound. To judge whether a source is credible, consider the following criteria:

• The author should be identifiable through author information, affiliations, and/or qualifications.
• An academic source has usually been peer-reviewed.
• Academic textbooks or academic journals should be published by a recognised authority/publisher like a university, an academic publishing house, a research organisation etc.
• A list of references should be present, that is, full citations for sources used. Thorough reference to research is a crucial characteristic of legitimate academic work

You must make use of the Harvard Method of Referencing. Refer to the examples of referencing below:

Book, single author:
Holt, D.H. 2017. Management principles and practices. Sydney: Prentice-Hall.

Book, 2 or 3 authors:
McCarthey, E.J., William, D.P. & Pascale, G.Q. 2017. Basic marketing. Cape Town: Juta.

Book, more than 3 authors:
Bond, W.R., Smith, J.T., Brown, K.L. & George, M. 2016. Management of small firms. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Boston expects you to approach your work with honesty and integrity. Honesty is the basis of respectable academic work. Whether you are working on a formative assessment, a project, a paper (read at a conference), an article (published by a journal), or a summative assessment essay, you should never engage in plagiarism, unauthorised collaboration (collusion), cheating, or academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer's language or ideas and then calls the work their own. Simply put, plagiarism is academic fraud. This includes the 'copy and paste' of work from textbooks, study guides, journal articles, etc.

To obtain maximum results, please consult the rubric included in this brief to ensure that you adhere to and meet all the given criteria.

 A Copyleaks Report will be issued via ColCampus once the assignment is submitted. Please ensure that you follow the correct steps when uploading your assignment to ensure that the verification report is correctly issued. If the incorrect document is uploaded, or if the verification report is issued for the incorrect document, or the verification report indicates that a 30% similarity rating has been exceeded, a mark of zero (0) will be awarded.

The following Learning Outcomes are assessed in this assessment: 

Principles of Global Business Management:

Unit 4 - Chapter 4:

• Explain the link between international business, government and society.

Unit 7 - Chapter 7:

• Explain the evolution of the global capital market.
• Understand the dynamics of the African capital market.
• Discuss the challenges that hinder capital market development in Africa.
• Describe the new thinking on capital market development.

Unit 11 - Chapter 11:

• Discuss the intricacies of regional economic integrations in Africa and evaluate their prospects and possible challenges that confronts them.

Question 1:

Read the case study below and answer the question that follows:

Absa feels the pinch

Absa expects stronger earnings, but this comes off a notably low base.

In a trading update for the first ten months of 2024, Absa said that the operating environment in South Africa and its Africa regions countries has been largely as expected year-to-date.

That said, conditions in Kenya, Zambia and Mozambique have been more challenging than expected. The group added that weaker average exchange rates versus the rand remained a drag on group revenue and headline eamings for the period, which are expected to reduce by roughly 3%.

Against this backdrop, the group provided shareholders with the following guidance for its financial performance in 2024:

"In line with previous guidance, we expect materially stronger earnings growth in the second half of 2024, off a relatively low base. Our 2024 guidance is unchanged besides that, we expect a slightly better credit loss ratio now than we did previously."

"Conversely, the impact of applying hyperinflation accounting in Ghana is slightly more than we expected. We continue to expect mid-single digit revenue growth, with broadly similar growth in net interest income and non-interest income."

Non-interest income is also set to grow and should improve substantially in the second half of 2024, which, in part, reflects the non-recurrence of Nigerian Naira losses in the second half of 2023, as well as better growth in fee and commission income and insurance revenue.

It added that it expects its credit loss ratio in the second half of 2024 to drop noticeably, to within the upper half of its through-the-cycle range.

“Africa regions' charge is expected to increase off a low 2023 base."

From a geographic perspective, South Africa is expected to drive group earnings growth in 2024, mostly on lower credit impairments in retail lending and relationship banking.

Africa region earnings will likely decrease slightly due to the stronger Rand, increased cash reserve requirements in certain countries, higher credit impairments off a low base, and a challenging operating environment in several markets.

"In addition, we are providing high-level guidance on the expected shape of our results in 2025. Revenue growth is expected to moderate in 2025, meaning our operating JAWS is likely to be slightly negative. We expect the stronger Rand to remain a drag on revenue next year".

"The normal seasonality is likely to be evident in our 2025 credit loss ratio again next year, with our credit loss ratio in the first half of 2025 above the second half of 2025. Ghana's hyperinflation accounting is currently expected to end in the middle of 2025. These factors should improve our RoE in 2025."

"Firstly, we expect a further recovery in our credit impairments, particularly in our South African retail books. Secondly, we have launched a productivity programme that should improve our cost-to-income ratio in the medium term".

You are the Chief Executive Officer of the Absa Group. You are required to deliver a written presentation to the Absa group's Board of Directors at their quarterly meeting to be held on 11 April 2025. Your presentation is required to address the following topic:

Debate the challenges that globalisation poses for Absa on the African continent and recommend ways in whereby these challenges may be overcome.

Note:

Refer to the grading rubric provided for guidance when researching and writing your essay.
You have been provided with three (3) academic sources (see below), these sources are compulsory and must be consulted and referenced when answering the research essay.