Page 22 - Spring Graduation Booklet (SESSION-1)(19Oct2022)

NAMIBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL
FACULTY OF COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT
& LAW
DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CANDIDATE: MUBWANDARIKWA Ishmael

CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION

DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR
SUSTAINABILITY IN LISTED NAMIBIAN COMPANIES

The doctoral study was undertaken and completed under the supervision of Dr Elisha
Woyo of the Manchester Metropolitan University, the United Kingdom, as Main-Supervisor
and Professor Grafton Whyte of the University of Namibia as the Co-Supervisor.

The candidate explored sustainability initiatives and practices that listed companies
harness in their strategic frameworks. The study’s premise is a growing call by business
practitioners for listed companies worldwide, including those on the Namibian
Stock Exchange, to embrace sustainability through infusing the critical tenets of
environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and practices. Sustainability,
especially in business organisations, is a construct to create long-term value. Thus,
creating a theoretical need to develop a strategic framework for sustainability for listed
companies on the Namibian Stock Exchange. Data categorisation and tabulation
in NVivo (qualitative data processing software), enabled by data coding (open and
axial), similarities that are the dendrogram that lead to the generation of pertinent
sustainability themes for analysis. Using content analytics, nodes were merged into
hierarchies, thus developing data sets and creating models and visualisations for
cluster analysis, resulting in thirteen sustainability hierarchies. The study revealed that
ESG metrics differ across the listed companies and several were at varying levels of
adoption of sustainability practices, clearly revealing a non-uniform effort, which justifies
the need for an overarching framework for all listed companies.

In the study, a Proposed Strategic Framework for Sustainability which supports Listed
Companies in Namibia, and similar entities in emerging economies in general, was
framed, and with recommendations for practical use. The study postulates that an ESG
strategic framework is fundamental to the systematic integration of sustainability metrics
in organisations’ optimisation operations and processes, leading to better allocation of
resources and heightened commitment towards creating long-term value giving due
regard to how the organisation operates and influences (or impacts) the ecological,
social, economic environment and governance structures.

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