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Simplified mechanical organs in aquatic plants are associated with the loss of expansin genes
Zhang, Yue; Van de Peer, Yves; Li, Zhen; Marchal, Kathleen; Chen, Jinming (Oxford University Press, 2026-03)
No abstract available.
Understanding the influence of entrepreneurial failure on the relationship between the serial entrepreneur and the church as a community of interest
Zulch, Hermanus Barend (University of Pretoria, 2025)
The extant literature on entrepreneurial failure indicates that such failure is far more widespread than reported and affects the relationship with the community of interest. It is therefore crucial to understand how entrepreneurial failure influences the relationship to assist the entrepreneur in recovering and assess the role the community of interest plays in the process. However, the literature on entrepreneurial failure is unclear about how the relationship will be affected. Therefore, this research was designed to expand the theory on entrepreneurial failure by understanding how the relationship is influenced. The study used the entrepreneurial failure literature to formulate the research question, “How does entrepreneurial failure influence the relationship between the serial entrepreneur and the church as a community of interest?” Prior research had identified the Christian church as a community of interest. Through the affiliation of its members, the Christian church represents a significant part of the South African economic community; thus, its effect on the economic community is substantial. For this research, nine churches were selected as cases. In total, 35 interviews were conducted with church representatives and entrepreneurs, yielding seven identified themes. The study determined that the relationship between the failed entrepreneurs and the church was influenced, but the level of influence depended on several factors. The most significant factor was that the relationship between the church and the entrepreneur before the business failure directly affected the entrepreneurs’ actions, and how they managed the relationship and the cost of failure. However, the church was seen only as providing the platform for this relationship through its structures and services. The study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial failure by confirming that entrepreneurial failure influences the relationship with the church, but it also adds to the literature by indicating that the entrepreneur and the community of interest influence the relationship in different ways. Understanding how the relationship is influenced can guide other communities of interest in how they respond to failed entrepreneurs, and how the entrepreneurs’ relationship before the business failure determines how the relationship with the church is influenced after the failure. This study was conducted within a specific context, in South Africa, and amongst one specific religious community. Future research in different contexts and settings is needed to test the outcome of this study.
The rules of the game: business elite behaviour in limited access orders
Sisulu, Shaka (University of Pretoria, 2025)
Academic interest in the impact that business (or economic) elites have on national institutions has risen alongside global inequality. The question is more compelling within emerging markets which vary significantly in their institutional complexity. On the one hand economic elites may choose to buttress autocrats, on the other they have precipitated democratisation in authoritarian states. What remains unclear, is the impact a country’s institutional context has on business elites choices. Using Social Order Theory’s limited access orders (LAO) construct, which differentiates states by how much access to political and economic institutions is restricted, this qualitative case study interviewed 40 business and 8 other elites across the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa. Each country represents a different LAO typology, namely: Fragile, Basic Authoritarian, Basic Competitive-Clientelist, and Mature. The research reveals how institutional context does constrain business elite behaviours in LAOs. The structural power of economic elites, a determinant of their choices, is enhanced by consolidation mechanisms. Where elites had institutionalised means of developing consensus, their states were more ready for a transition to a more open order. In a virtuous cycle, economic elite influences rises as LAOs fulfil the doorstep conditions required for such a transition. These findings advance the understanding of how transitions between social orders could be operationalised and the roles of business elites within elite coalitions, which were little defined before in the literature. It is axiomatic that the work also contributes to elite theory. Future research should examine how the orientation of economic elites motivates them to pursue elite consensus.
Apologising for organisational misconduct: the journey towards stakeholder reconciliation
Pogrund, Gidieon (University of Pretoria, 2025)
Organisational misconduct harms and offends stakeholders, damaging relationships with them. There are normative and instrumental arguments for why it is important for organisations to reconcile these relationships, a pursuit which begins with apology. But while organisational apologies have proliferated, many have failed to generate full, or even partial, reconciliation with stakeholders. Despite the significant attention that these phenomena have received from management scholars, the challenges and complexities associated with organisational apologies, and achievement of stakeholder reconciliation, remain under-theorised in the management domain. I therefore explore these phenomena, doing so in the context of multinational organisations implicated in state capture-related corruption in South Africa during the period 2012-16. My questions seek to describe different organisational apology journeys in response to misconduct, explain why these journeys might produce different levels of stakeholder reconciliation, and prescribe how organisations should apologise to stakeholders. To answer these questions, I develop conceptual frameworks which synthesise the management and other literatures, including politics, history, sociology, theology, philosophy and psychology. Using the Gioia methodology, I extend these frameworks through an investigation of leaders’ lived experiences of organisational apology journeys. My study establishes a framework prescribing what an ideal organisational apology should include, and why, how, when, and by whom it should be issued. My findings show that the prospects for stakeholder reconciliation depend on whether organisations embrace, finesse or reject this framework, as well as on several exogenous conditions: the economic role and services of organisations; the impact of time; differences in stakeholder attitudes; the possible impossibility of forgiveness; and stakeholder weaponisation of apologies. In some cases, an ideal apology may be a necessary but insufficient condition for stakeholder reconciliation; in others, it may be an unnecessary condition, with a partial apology sufficing. This study contributes theoretical insights about the complex interrelationships between these phenomena. These insights are relevant to organisational apologies for diverse types of misconduct, and can be turned into a road map or testable concepts for future research. The study’s recommendations about how to navigate challenges and more effectively implement the prescriptive framework can benefit apologising organisations, their harmed and offended stakeholders, and broader society.
The influence of emotional labour on emotional exhaustion across communication modes in a collectivist context
Kambikambi, Musonda Matildah (University of Pretoria, 2025)
The elevated use of videoconferencing in the workplace has highlighted a gap in understanding how emotional labour contributes to emotional exhaustion. This study investigates the influence of emotional labour on emotional exhaustion within a collectivist context, illuminating differences between videoconferencing and in-person communication modes. This concern has become increasingly relevant due to rising rates of emotional exhaustion attributed to the use of videoconferencing in supporting practices such as remote and hybrid work. While prior literature has established a connection between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion during in-person interactions, the relationship in videoconferencing scenarios remains underexplored. Further, the consistency across both modes has seldom been investigated. Drawing on affective events theory, this thesis posits emotional labour as a key influence on emotional exhaustion and investigates how this relationship differs between videoconferencing and in-person interactions. Data were collected from 105 human resources professionals in Zambia using experience sampling method across seven days. To test the theoretical assumptions, structural equation modelling was then applied. Findings indicate that both emotional labour strategies, surface acting and deep acting, impact emotional exhaustion regardless of communication mode. This relationship is positively moderated by negative mood. Notably, the results around videoconferencing reveal that emotional exhaustion increases when either the participant or their co-worker has their camera turned off, suggesting that emotional exhaustion is influenced by features of videoconferencing. This research enhances comprehension of emotional labour and emotional exhaustion by examining this relationship across two distinct communication modes in a collectivist context. The study also benefits practitioners by garnering information around video camera usage, which is suggested to play a role in users' emotional experiences during videoconferencing. Ultimately, the study enriches the discourse on emotional labour, providing novel insights pertinent to today's globalised workplace.