Abstract
The study explored corporate rescue professionalism in a setting with multiple professional institutes. The study employed qualitative inquiry processes to gather and explore field data. Among others, interviews and document content analysis were employed to document the indicators of professionalism in multiple professional institutes’ scenes. The collected data were examined qualitatively, employing triangulation and thematic analysis and supplying complementary explanations to the developing results. The results show that work-related professionalism cannot be uniformly constructed in a setting with multiple professional institutes. Professionalism requires an occupation-specific learning and development regime. An exclusive selling proposition is hard to craft in a setting with multiple professional institutes and requires a qualification framework that values regulated practices in corporate laws and regulations. The short learning and development programmes are inconsistent with skills development laws calling for competency-based learning and development. Competency-based learning and development in the investigated case require higher educational programmes to be enrolled on the national qualifications framework administered by the relevant regulatory agency. The results’ practical implications suggest that the regulator will need to lead an occupation-specific qualification development process to permit corporate rescue practitioners to embrace a uniform socialisation structure with shared values that are needed to entrench occupational professionalism. The process will require documentation of regulated corporate rescue practices.
Plain language summary
Competent experts are expected to exhibit a certain level of professionalism. This is not in the corporate rescue occupation in South Africa, where 11 professional organisations are allowed to supply experts to lead a regulated process of corporate renewal under the existing corporate laws. The study employed qualitative inquiry processes to gather and explore data from practitioners, professional institutes, training service providers, and content analysis. The results show that indicators of professionalism in multiple professional institutes’ environments are diverse. The results show that work-related professionalism cannot be uniformly constructed in a setting with multiple professional institutes unless an occupation-specific qualification is operationalised. An exclusive selling proposition is challenging to craft in such a setting, calling for a qualification framework that values regulated corporate renewal practices. The short learning and development programmes (SLPs) supposedly designed to create opportunities for technical training are a variance from the skills development laws calling for competency-based learning and development framework registered on a regulated national qualification framework (NQF). Competency-based learning and development in the investigated case requires higher educational programmes to be enrolled on the national qualifications framework (NQF) administered by the skills development regulatory body. The practical implications of the results point to the fact that the regulator licensing practitioners must work with a regulator of skills development to register an occupation-specific qualification to permit corporate rescue practitioners to embrace a uniform socialisation structure with shared values needed to entrench work-related professionalism. The occupational-specific qualification development process will require documentation of presently undocumented regulated corporate rescue practices.
Introduction
The continued use of corporate renewal experts from manifold professional institutes (MPIs) exhibits business rescue in South Africa (SA) as a non-goal-structured occupation and fails to enhance professionalism anticipated in Chapter 6 of the SA corporate law (Act No. 71 of 2008).
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (hereinafter “regulator”) of the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) permits experts from MPIs accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to practice as BRPs. The regulator appreciates institutional establishment and grounding of practitioners as principals to the expert acquisition of an occupational identity and training interests. Sherpa (2018) maintains that experts serve with professionalism when they comply with a code of professional ethics (CPE) and after undergoing necessary technical training. Professional institutes tend to operate a code of ethics for their members. Professionalism is not a principle of ethics. Codes of professional ethics are associated with professional institutes, which can influence the development of practices. In 2020, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) developed a policy on continuing professional development (CPD) and appreciates the role played by a defined body of knowledge relevant to business rescue. The aim was to develop professionalism amongst corporate renewal experts from MPIs. However, this does not seem to be the case, as shown in Textbox 1.
Indicators of Professional Misconduct Against Practitioners.
Source. Adapted from the CIPC (2013).
Chapter 6 of the Act (RSA, 2009a) became effective in May 2011. From the effective date, the CIPC started building up a register of experts from manifold occupational groupings. The BRPs are drawn from 11 SAQA-recognised professional institutes. The experts licensed are drawn from accounting, insolvency and liquidation backgrounds. The CIPC issued a CPD policy to guide learning and development for experts from relevant professional institutes. Short learning programmes have been offered to support licensed experts’ learning development. The required CPD events are based on a non-credit-bearing short learning programme, something that does not promote professionalism.
Given the MPI environment, the study aimed to explore the professional institutes’ perspectives regarding BRP occupational professionalism. In addition, the study documents how professionalism is constructed to direct technical training for the occupation. In this way, the construct of professionalism comes out as an organising occupational framework for BRP accreditation. Consequently, the following persons are abound to benefit from the study findings:
The regulator and the MPIs shall benefit from the study as they jointly work towards a sound professional accreditation regime that respects shared and constructed occupational professionalism.
Scholars are bound to use the findings to design and test continuing professional education requirements stipulated under the regulator’s CPD policy.
That study establishes programmatic procedures for formulating and documenting occupational professionalism to develop an accreditation regime for corporate renewal experts.
The study builds on the work by Ayaya and Pretorius (2021a). Ayaya and Pretorius (2021a) have defined the domain of BRP services. Ayaya (2022) shows that Chapter 6 of the Act requires directing the goal-oriented tasks of experts leading business rescue (BR) proceedings. Evetts (2014) shows that experts develop occupational professionalism, which regulations or client-expert performance contracting arrangements cannot enforce. The amateurish acts alluded to in
The rest of the paper is organised as follows:
The next Section deals with the emergent corporate renewal occupation under the SA’s corporate law.
Based on the emergent corporate renewal occupation, the study delves into the problem statement and research problem.
The research design choices and field procedures are covered to show how data were generated and analysed.
The second last Section presents and discusses field findings, given the research aim.
The last Section of the paper concludes the study and raises practical implications of the findings.
The Emergent Corporate Renewal Practitioner Occupation
Ayaya and Pretorius (2021a, 2021b) have shown that BRPs lack a training background in BR practices. A review of higher education qualifications registered on South Africa’s National Qualification Framework (NQF) shows the lack of an occupation-specific qualification for BRPs. The registration of occupational specific qualifications is provided for in the law (RSA,2009b). The licensed experts are drawn from different professional groupings within management, law, and economics. Pretorius (2014) contends that the licensing of BRPs is premised on the requirements of Chapter Six of the promulgated Companies Act (Act No. 71 of 2008, hereinafter “the Act”). The promulgation of the Act created the legislative basis for BRP, an occupation in the corporate renewal space. The regulator envisaged a BRP profession emerging through the development of BR practices and undertook to implement Chapter 6 of the Act requirements using expertise from SAQA-recognised professional institutes (Voller, 2022).
The Act outlines BR as “actions to facilitate the rehabilitation of a company” that is economically distressed. The Act requires BR proceedings to offer an avenue for:
The provisional management of the entity’s commercial affairs and resources.
An interim postponement of the rights of creditors against the company’s economic resources; and
Formulating and implementing BR plans for the financially distressed business.
The BR plan must provide for restructuring the rescue firm’s business affairs to increase the company’s outlook and allow it to continue to exist on a solvent basis. The implementation of the BR plan takes effect if approved under Chapter 6 of the Act. The BRP must consider planned actions that can be executed to give better returns to the claimants against the company’s resources than would be the case if the company were to enter a liquidation process. Section 138(1) requires a BRP to be an expert in good standing as a legal, accounting, or business management professional to lead the BR proceeding.
A professional institute must be registered by the SAQA as an education training quality assurance body (ETQA) and accredited by the CIPC regulator. The expert should be credible to hold a governance position after passing the directors’ disqualification tests advocated for in Section 69(8) of the Act. In addition, the expert must be licensed by the CIPC and should not be subject to a court directive of probation provided for in Section 162(7) of the promulgated corporate law (RSA, 2009a). Judges in court cases have also believed that a BRP should only have this relationship with the rescue business. The held view is to enhance the expert’s integrity, impartiality, and objectivity when leading BR proceedings (Kriel et al., 2022).
The CIPC established a tendency to draw BRPs from MPIs (11 professional institutes) to provide BR services (Ayaya & Pretorius, 2021a; CIPC, 2022; Madigoe & Pretorius, 2022). Ayaya and Pretorius (2021a) showed how different professional institutes’ members qualify to practice as BRPs. The CIPC (2022) and Voller (2022) presented the BRP licensing categories, showing that 56% of BRPs on the register were junior practitioners who may require development. Licensed BRPs increased from 199 in 2019 to 472 in March 2022 (CIPC, 2022). The increased work volume evidences the growth during that time (Ayaya, 2022).
The rest of the study is organised to cover the problem statement, study objectives, context of professionalism construct, research methods, findings, and associated discussions. The last Section of the paper summarises the findings and points to the study’s limitations.
Problem Statement
The MPIs’ landscape of BR practices in South Africa does not allow goal-structured construction of BRP occupational professionalism among the 11 SAQA-recognised professional institutes. The BRP occupational professionalism can be investigated because BRP tasks are diverse, and professional institutes regulate those applying for professional membership and corporate renewal work. The demand for BRP services (Ayaya & Pretorius, 2021a) prompted reconsideration of how the needs of BR proceedings can be satisfied by experts commanding membership with the SAQA-recognised professional institutes. Ayaya and Pretorius (2021a) and CIPC (2022) show that BR cases have increased since 2011. Ayaya (2022) summarises BRPs licensed under different professional institutes (PIs). As of 30 September 2022, four PIs supplied 81% of the registered BRPs. The four PIs are the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA; 28%), the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association (SARIPA; 21%), the Law Society (19%) and the Turnaround Management Association of South Africa (TMA-SA; 13%). The reported circumstances entrench the use of trained experts in BR work. Taking the same line of argument further would require competent cadres in the PIs to have a shared meaning of professionalism for BR occupational growth (Hanlon, 1998).
Textbox 1 features grievances to the regulator and depicts intolerable acts committed by BRPs. The regulator has since collaborated with PIs to create the business CPD policy (CIPC, 2020). The questions worth posing include: How have the manifold PIs constructed BRP occupational professionalism? The occupation lacks unanimity on the value of professionalism (Adler & Liyanarachchi, 2020).
Consequently, the BRP-supplying PI should hold a constructed meaning of BRP occupational professionalism that reflects the regulated practices under Chapter 6 of the Act. The constructed meaning should help the public understand what BRP occupational professionalism is all about. Chapter 6 of the Act requires those leading BR proceedings to be experts in good standing. The SAQA-recognised PIs are organisations that can enact practices (CIPC, 2017). The researcher notes that the absence of agreement on occupational professionalism points to possible negative effects on the standards of work outputs (
Research Questions and Testable Hypotheses
The regulator requires BRPs to be members of a SAQA-recognised professional institute (Pretorius, 2013). Given the problem statement arising from the BRP licensing arrangement from MPIs’ settings in the preceding Section, the study delves into obtaining answers to the following questions:
How do the SAQA-recognised PIs construct BRP occupational professionalism? Table 2 and associated discussions answer this question.
How does the constructed BRP occupational professionalism inform the BRP short learning programmes (SLPs)? Table 1 and the associated discussion of results answer this question.
Practice and Knowledge Gaps in the SLPs.
Source. Researcher’s synthesis of interviewee responses and the contents of learner guides.
The associated testable hypotheses were as follows:
Professionalism is uniformly constructed in an MPI occupation landscape because of the goal-oriented structure of the occupation.
SLPs responded to known learning and development needs to enhance occupational professionalism.
Design Methodological Procedures
Research Design Choices
The research design and procedures employed in the present inquiry are discussed in the following paragraphs, given the phenomenon investigated. The phenomenon investigated concerns the BRP occupation professionalism in an MPI’s occupational setting. The study, therefore, used research participants’ responses to field questions and document contents as units of observation (Flick, 2022). The researcher performed a qualitative inquiry employing semi-structured discussions with informants from PIs. Training managers at PIs are custodians of the code of professional conduct (CPC) and should be leaders in developing professionalism among their members licensed to lead BR proceedings. Training managers’ responses provide data to confirm or refute the research proposition(s). The shared professionalism should be coherently structured and implemented in a goal-oriented BR practice environment.
Thomas (2011) and Assarroudi et al. (2018) asserted that the consequence of an inductive analysis in qualitative research involves the construction of thematic groupings into a model that summarises the unprocessed data to convey critical themes and processes. The interviews with the representatives of the four PIs (instead of all 11) sought to gauge the construction of occupation professionalism. The researcher interviewed four representatives of the PIs and short learning programme (SLP) managers (4). The multiple sources of interview data and document content analysis alleviated the probability of data collection processes failing to generate the relevant data. In addition, the data procedures provided results to evaluate the rigour and trustworthiness of the study (Hyett et al., 2014; Yin, 2018). Because the present study was a qualitative inquiry, the research was more concerned with rigour and faithful representation than reliability (Gioia et al., 2013).
Population and Sampling
The investigation targeted all registered PIs on the CIPC active database. The CIPC updates the relevant BRP list linked to a specific professional institute. The CIPC register had 11 representatives of PIs (Voller, 2022). Representatives of PIs refer to the training and membership managers of the PIs whose members are on the CIPC register of active BRPs. The representatives of PIs pointed to SLPs and their managers.
Purposeful sampling was applied to PIs whose members constitute over 80% of BRPs licensed at the time of the inquiry. Therefore, the sample size was 12 (including key informants with learning and development backgrounds, four representatives of PIs, 4 SLP documentation, and four CPCs). Meetings with informants were done virtually. The informants were convenors of the interview sessions to demonstrate their consent for participation. When using a case study research design, the sample size does not matter (Hyett et al., 2014). A research case study does not target to take a broad view of the study findings to the population. However, the researcher seeks to make theoretical propositions (Yin, 2018).
Data Collection and Generation
The selection of practitioners, documents, and training managers allowed the researcher to triangulate data courses to achieve study rigour. The researcher was concerned more about the trustworthiness of qualitative research findings than the validity construct. The researcher defined trustworthiness as being involved with credibility, dependability, conformability, transferability, and legitimacy. The researcher endeavoured to build trustworthiness through the preparation of the research, field organisation and reporting of the findings. The key constructs of this study were occupation and professionalism. The researcher defined the construct of occupation in Chapter 6 of the Act requirements. In comparison, the construct of professionalism was defined from practice theory lenses.
The data-gathering procedures started with purposefully selecting units of observation, as detailed in the preceding sections. The researcher tested the data generation instrument with four training and membership managers of PIs that contribute to 20% of BRPs registered with the CIPC. The researcher sent the identified informants emails inviting them to participate in the research. Four days after sending the emails to the identified informants, the researcher followed up with telephone calls to those who had not responded. The interviews with informants were done via a video link to comply with COVID-19 protocols. The interview interactions lasted between 90 and 120 minutes to allow the researcher to vent on the responses from the informants. Because the interview meetings were one-on-one, the researcher could read body language during discussions.
The data collection tool emanated from document content analysis that examined official documents to recognise technical competencies and professionalism. The objective was to have a comprehensive tool that had minimal bias. Triangulation of data sources enhanced the tool’s credibility, given the recorded responses. The semi-structured interviewing tool was sent to the interviewees for completion before the scheduled session. The interviewees shared the completed instruments with the interviewer before the virtual interviews. The researcher had to follow up with two informants to complete the questionnaire and respond to follow-up clarity-seeking questions. The virtual interview sessions sought to clarify responses to the semi-structured questions. This interviewing method allowed the researcher to follow up on responses from the respondents (Cronin, 2014). It encouraged interviewees to explain some of the themes based on the contents of the relevant professional institute’s policy documents and CPC.
A voice recorder option on the virtual meeting platform recorded the proceedings for subsequent transcription on electronic word processing software and Atlas.ti. The researcher took supplementary notes as the interviews progressed. Atlas.ti allowed the researcher to underline quotes that match certain categories (codes) as advocated for by Hwang (2008). The researcher became armed with the codes to establish visual representations of codes and words to find patterns.
Data Analysis and Deriving Themes
The data analysis and interpretation aimed to determine whether the research objectives were attained. The sub-questions guided the decision on relevant data in the investigation. The researcher followed an interwoven procedure that allowed for a systematic analysis while in the field (Farquhar et al., 2020).
The researcher read and re-read the data to get a holistic understanding of the different sets of data in relation to the research questions. Each data set was interpreted by emphasising important codes based on the study propositions. The emphasised codes were sorted into categories with descriptors for similar information pointing towards emerging data issues. This process culminated in categories with common messages, allowing related statements to constitute themes.
The increasing conditions related to qualitative research included rigour in the design quality of a case study. Validity has three aspects: construct, internal and external (Yin, 2018). In addressing the issue of research validity, Yin (2013) advocated using competing explanations, triangulation, judgment models, and critical simplification in a case study design. The researcher employed triangulation to arrive at quality (trustworthiness) research conclusions. Missing details from responses from the key informants could be traced from the document content analysis results.
Data analysis was directly linked to answering the research questions. The primary research question was broken down into seven sub-questions that guided the design of the semi-structured interview protocol. Therefore, the themes were first addressed under the research sub-questions and the various questions in the data collection instruments. The themes derived were supported by direct verbatim quotes recorded during the data collection. Thematic analysis of the responses from informants was triangulated with thematic analysis of document content to gain meaning from the data (White & Marsh, 2006). Researchers also provided alternative explanations for the emerging findings.
Findings and Discussions
The findings from interviews and qualitative document content analysis are arranged and discussed according to the themes that emerged from the interviews.
The Adequacy of the Current Syllabus to Prepare Practitioners for Their Business Rescue Practitioner Roles
In this instance, the question aimed to understand the contents of the current training syllabus used to guide BRP learning and development. There are no professionals worth the name who have not gone through systematic training. The first response was that “BR practice is not a specific qualification when training and qualifying our members. I refer you to the competency framework of our professional institute.” Another representative of a professional institute gave the following response: I refer you to the accreditation policy document. A number of courses are available that deal with BR, most notably a one-year qualification offered by the Centre for Continuing Learning at the University of Pretoria entitled the Certified Rescue Analyst (CRA) Programme.
Another professional institute’s representative categorically noted, “We do not have our SAQA-approved qualification, but we intend to do so soon. Our members rely on the SLPs.” The researcher analysed the contents of the SLPs (Table 1) and inquired if the SLPs were credit-bearing. One SLP manager observed that: The present SLPs could be redrafted for NQF registration. The advancement of the NQF-registered qualification depends on consensus-building within the occupation under the CIPC’s guidance. In the initial stages, academics at our institution found it hard to align their degree offering to the BR because the occupation players wanted to upskill and NOT to earn credits.
This mix of responses showed an occupation landscape that lacked coherence in learning and development. Consequently, the next question sought to establish the existing learning and development regime that supported the CIPC’s intent to professionalise the BRP occupation.
Current Learning and Development Practices
The adopted line of inquiry was to discern the learning and development journey of those licensed to practice as BRPs. The responses in this subsection are to the following question: How are the professional institute members you represent currently developed before obtaining the CIPC licence to practice as BRPs? The first PI representative answered as follows: In Section 138 of the Companies Act of SA, a person may only be appointed as a BRP if the person is a good-standing member of a legal, accounting, or business management profession accredited by the CIPC. The CIPC’s requirement in Notice 2 of 2019 is that the pre-requisite to be licensed as a BRP is that the expert must obtain a letter of good conduct from their professional institute. The professional institute I represent believes that members are equipped to Act as BRPs in terms of their knowledge and experience.
The existing PIs contend that there was no need for further extensive learning and development for their members operating in the BR space. A second response received referred the researcher to the existing accreditation policy of the professional institute: Currently, there is no formal qualification in BR. I refer you to the accreditation policy and the University of Pretoria CRA programme (UP). The majority of the current BRPs have a financial/accounting, management, and/or legal background as their primary qualification as per Section 138(1)(a) of the Companies Act, which provides that “a person may be appointed as the BR practitioner of a rescue firm only if the person is a member of good conduct within the field of law, accountancy or management professions certified by the CIPC.”
The content analysis of the relevant accreditation policy shows that a member must hold a university degree in business, law, management, or accountancy and demonstrate experience in turnaround practitioner work. The reference to the SLPs compelled the researcher to analyse the existing learning and development offerings, as shown in Table 1. From the response, the PIs preferred CPD events to BR realities and practices. The third response to the question posed directed the researcher to the PI’s website: “I refer you to our website for details of SLPs presented at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the University of Pretoria (UP). One such programme is the CRA.” This continued reference to the SLPs demonstrated the need for learning and development events to enhance BR practices. Once again, coherent learning and development were absent.
The researcher sought clarification regarding books available to experts functioning as BRPs. One representative indicated the following: There are no specific recommended textbooks. However, our professional institute has developed an honours-level course jointly with the UP. The course is called Certified Rescue Analyst. A good book is Corporate Restructuring: From Cause Analysis to Execution by David Vance.
Another professional institute’s representative stated, “The professional institute I represent does not currently prescribe any books or training programmes relevant to the BRP. The professional institute may consider training programmes in future.” Books on BR practices were seen as important in playing a central role to learning and development.
The research reviewed the coverage of the CRA course offered by the UP and the Short Skills Development Programme of the University of SA (UNISA). The CRA course covers business, finance, law and ethics over 4 days, with an assessment on the fifth day. The SLPs are not registered on the NQF administered by the SAQA. The researcher undertook a content analysis of the SLPs after informants had referred to their existence. The document content analysis results are in Table 2.
Summary Professionalism Construction Discerned from the Semi-Structured Interview Responses.
Source. Researchers conceptualisation.
The researcher analysed the curricula of SLPs in relation to what the four PIs’ members are subjected to during training. The contents of the SLPs were also analysed in relation to the BR process information requirements shared during interviews. It was established that the training received by members before 2011 had knowledge gaps on BRPs. This led to a request for a CPD event. The implemented SLPs were, in a way, serving the CPD needs of the experts. The SLPs contribute to the BRP development. This finding demonstrated the link between competence and professionalism in that professionalism could not exist without professional competence. One professional institute representative argued the following: It was the responsibility of each member of our professional institute to remain up to date with the field of practice. CPD points are required for our members to remain in good standing. Ethically, our CPC does not allow our members to shoulder work assignments for which they were trained to do.
Tukhtamishevich (2021) and Hanlon (1998) discussed professionalism and professional competence in the context of qualifications and curriculum development. Gregory and Fawkes (2019) reported that capability encapsulates opportunities for experts to prepare to deal with uncertain situations. Therefore, the ingredients of a professional accreditation framework delineate research practices incorporating human capital development in practice theoretical lenses.
The current SLPs must address technical competencies evident from information requirements in the BRP process and, in their present form, are unlikely to provide the required capabilities springboard. One interviewee-BRP observed that “positions in the occupation are junior, senior, and experienced BRP. These positions depend on the public interest score and do not reflect BRP capability. Some interviewee-BRPs indicated that it might take 10–15 years of BRP practical work to be an insider.” An SLP manager noted that “the SLPs discuss the latest developments in the BRP occupation. The subject matter covered tends to be theoretical. They are suitable as CPD events.”
The Unique Selling Position Provides a Competitive Edge
The researcher followed the preceding question with an inquiry to establish the unique selling proposition of the PI that distinguishes its members’ services from that of SAQA-recognised PI. The following was one of the responses: Our professional institute’s members compete with members of the other SAQA-recognised PIs for BR practitioner roles. Our members think and act analytically and have an integrated approach as they understand all elements of the business. Our members, through their training and studies, have unique and extensive business knowledge, providing them with skills which would assist them with rescuing businesses where this is viable.
The response shows the importance of learning and development in the position of the unique service offering regulated in Chapter 6 of the Act. Another respondent from one of the PIs answered as follows: The professional institute I work for is a professional association with international chapters. The professional institute does not take on work done by lawyers, accountants, auditors, etc., outside the corporate renewal. Our members offer specific services to their clients and should stand out well.
The observations made were consistent with Evetts (2013) regarding distinct services perceived to define an occupation as a profession. Atwood (2013) argues for building sustainable occupation capacity around practitioners’ services. As a result, Evetts (2014), and Evers, and van der Heijden (2017) maintain that professionalism ideas can be understood from professional work leading to discernable products or services.
The need for capable BRPs is evident in the following observation by one interviewee-BRP: “A BRP must embrace ethical standards when dealing with disturbing creditors and obtain the directors’ collaboration. This requires some form of gravitas, which 25-year-olds cannot have.” In this occupation, reference to gravitas cannot be taken simplistically, which calls for collectively managing risks and rewards for practitioners. Demographics cannot be linked to capability in simplistic. However, the response from the informant should be understood in the context of the need for new graduates to work with experienced licensees to develop pipeline talent.
BRP occupational professionalism construction cannot be a matter for the SAQA recognition process because the SAQA recognition is invoked after the occupation has laid a claim to knowledge, practice, and theory. One SLP manager backed this thinking by observing the following: The history of SA can facilitate BRPs’ socialisation process from an agreed qualification framework. Presently, BRP work seems to go to certain preference groups operating without an Act of Parliament to manage their affairs. Without a qualification framework, the current BRPs will continue to think for themselves.
Therefore, the current study argues that competency creates the foundation for the capability required for experts to demonstrate professionalism. Professional competence is premised on learning and development.
Pipeline Talent Development and the Register of Business Rescue Practitioners
The relevant question to the representatives of PIs aimed to understand how the present work of BRPs is contributing to the development of pipeline talent from the emerging crop of university graduates. One of the representatives of a PI stated the following: We have a set of competencies that informed the CRA course at the UP. The topics covered in the short course are 1) accounting, finance and tax, 2) law, 3) business management, and 4) professionalism and ethics. We presently do not offer mentorship to graduates. We also do not operate a registered articles clerkship for fresh graduates.
Another PI representative noted that “the professional institute I represent encourages aspiring young BRPs to contact the institute, and the administration managers will assist in identifying mentoring opportunities. This can only be on an ad hoc basis.” Further, observations were made by another representative: “The institute has a register of BRPs, which is published on the SAICA website. With regards to mentoring, the institute is investigating possible options in future to assist with mentoring. No concrete plans yet.” The researcher noted that the development of pipeline talent depended on structured learning and development linking occupation-specific qualifications to the existing BRPs. University of Pretoria. (2016) advocated a short course in corporate renewal.
BR Practice Tools of the Trade
BRP occupational tools of trade refer to the resources available to BRPs to enable them to fulfil their duties efficiently and effectively. The question aimed to document unique tools BRPs may need for legal, insolvency or accounting practices. Engineers and doctors have tools relevant to their trade. One response from an informant indicated the following: Numerous practice notes cover topics ranging from reasonable prospects to charging professional fees. Practice notes guide convening meetings with affected parties and compiling a BR plan. There are also tools for planning and reporting to the court and CIPC that have emerged from the CIPC practice notes. I recommend that you speak to BRPs about this subject..
Another professional institute representative observed the following: Our members are believed to be equipped to Act as BRPs regarding their knowledge and experience. The knowledge helps them to design communication tools to engage with affected parties. For example, notices can be sent to the CIPC electronically. This requires information communication technology (ICT) equipment and know-how. A number of templates are in place that a practising expert can use.
Selected BRPs guided the researcher in practising the tools and information requirements for the BR proceedings. The adduced evidence shows that BRP tools exist in response to BR obligations outlined in Chapter of the Act.
Another participant answered: “Please refer to our internet site for details of SLPs presented at the higher education institutions in SA. Only three higher education institutions were involved in BRP learning and development (The University of SA, the University of Johannesburg, and the UP). The SLPs at these institutions have accompanying tools that the BRPs can use to achieve their practice goals.” This meant that issues covered in the practice notes of the CIPC were core to the training of BRPs whenever they attended SLPs. The responses given by the informant show how tools of trade define occupational practices and accompanying professionalism. The services are rendered under Chapter 6 of the Act’s requirements. During BR proceedings, the researcher was directed to a list of information requirements covering aspects such as corporate tax, labour relations, employee tax, asset registers, etc. The list of required information in the BR proceedings supports the need to develop BR-specific trade tools that have little link to other service offerings by the BRPs.
Standards Defining Quality of Work Expected From BRPs
Professionals are known to deliver quality work (Kuus, 2020). The standards must be known to gauge the quality of work delivered by professionals serving as BRPs. The relevant question aimed to establish work standards and how established training schemes help BRPs achieve those standards. The first response stated: “A code of ethics and practice standards is published on the institute’s website. This, combined with the accreditation policy, is the key policy regarding the quality of work. In addition, the BRP must comply with all legal prescripts.” The second response was the following: In terms of the requirements of the institute CPC, our members should not perform services they are not trained to do. Requirement 113 of the Code refers to professional competence and due care. It requires that a member of the professional institute shall not undertake or continue with any engagement that his training does not permit him to do. Adherence to these stipulations guarantees quality work. Documentation of advice and guidance offered to clients is also required.
The researcher checked the dearth of court cases judges have decided to test the reality of BR practices. The standards of work of BRPs have been challenged before the courts and brought to the fore ethical issues that should be a part of BRP training.
Contents of Institute Codes of Ethics and Competency Framework
Fatemi et al. (2020) have recognised the role played by the CPE on the practice members of a professional institute. The researcher, therefore, explores the contents of CPEs in the construction of occupational professionalism in the multi-professional institute landscape. Another professional institute representative commented the following: “I refer you to the institute’s website for the code. Regarding the competency framework (refer to the draft framework), several competencies, although not specific to BRPs, would be more applicable.” The relevant question sought to establish the contents of a CPE and competency framework to inform the professional competence of the BRPs. The question also aimed to gauge the extent to which the community of practitioners (CoPs) are used to support members in BR practice. Two professional institute representatives directed the researcher to an electronic copy of a code of ethics without mentioning a competency framework.
One of them observed that “on the website, you will find a code ethics and practice standard. This, combined with the accreditation policy, are the key policies regarding the quality of work.” PIs operate without a learning and development framework. The reliance on the SLPs shows that the current training topics could be combined with documented BR practices from a community of practices to inform a credible occupation-specific qualification. The information list that emerged during the interviews revealed BRP’s learning and development areas.
A CPC appears to be an instrument of professionalism, but its contents are not uniform across the four PIs. Not all PIs have enforceable CPCs. Where CPCs exist, their contents tend to vary and do not lead to the same disciplinary regime. This outcome can be attributed to the different origins of the PIs. Some of the PIs are embedded in law, while others are not. Two PIs play an ETQA function over higher education programmes in the area of work.
Efforts Made by the Professional Institute to Scope Training Areas for Business Rescue Practitioners
An occupation worth pursuing should have a claim on theoretical and practical knowledge. The relevant question sought to establish if the existing PIs deemed BRP competency to be pertinent to the occupation group. One of the responses recorded during the interviews showed the following: The professional institute I represent is in the process of identifying training areas of significance. The CIPC’s policy on CPD requires our professional institute to monitor the CPD events of the members. The current focus is to design and offer our members CPD seminars that offer additional knowledge. Two seminars were offered recently: SA in economic turmoil and considerations that businesses need to consider after the COVID-19 pandemic.” The response pointed to the acknowledgement by professional bodies (PBs) about shortfalls of training received by the serving BRPs.
Another informant stated, “I refer you to the accreditation policy. The accreditation policy has technical areas for the PIs’ members. It would help if you also looked at the CRA course offered by the University Pretoria.” The researcher reviewed the accreditation policy and the CRA course offered by the UP. The content shows a week-long coverage of business management, finance, ethics and law topics. The study findings drawn from the content analysis are in Table 2. The other two professional institute representatives referred to the relevant website. The researcher reviewed the contents and established the offering of SLPs at the University of Johannesburg and the UNISA. The SLPs focus more on general management, law, ethics and accounting. The SLPs were developed without documentation of BRPs’ practices from the interviews to the double and purposive interpretation of Chapter 6 of the Act.
The Existing Professional Socialisation Process
The relevant question sought to understand the professional socialisation process in the manifold PI landscape. Professional socialisation is a process through which an expert becomes an authentic member of a PI (Sadeghi Avval Shahr et al., 2019). In this instance, socialisation refers to acquiring beliefs, views, skills and knowledge relevant to BR practice customs. BRP culture is currently undocumented. One of the responses indicated that the appropriate PI members had endless socialisation opportunities, including CPD seminars, conferences, and annual PI social events. The events did not include pre-qualification licensing. Another response contended the following: Socialisation starts at the skills development level. The professional institute I represent is in the process of identifying training areas of importance. In addition, the institute is implementing a memorandum of incorporation (MOI) with other PIs to offer the members additional opportunities for socialisation. More recently, we held joint sessions on leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. I am sure others will follow.
The mixed responses demonstrated the lack of a PI allowing BRPs to get involved in a community of practices that serve the interests of the senior and junior practitioners. A CoP is a precursor of a professional socialisation process needed to establish professional identity and development as the key outcome of that process (Feldman, 2020; Larson, 2020; Lee, 2021). The reflections shared can be used to design helpful learning and development regimes to facilitate the process.
Mechanisms Used to Undertake a Review of BR Work Done by Practitioners
Peers can help improve the delivery of BRP services. The question was asked to document modalities to ensure quality BRP work. Responses given below show that PIs do not require their members undertaking BR-related work to be subject to review. One response recorded showed that the PIs depend on the checks and balances provided in Chapter 6 of the Act: “The Companies Act, Chapter 6, sets out the checks and balances and ensures stakeholder participation and quality BRP work.” Checks and balances entail aggrieved parties proceeding to a court of law to seek redress.
Another professional institute representative observed that “the ethics and standards of practice policy have the necessary information on the mechanism we use to review the work of our members as BRPs. Please refer to the ethics and standards policy.” The researcher reviewed the ethics and standards of practice policy and did not establish a requirement for BRPs to subject their work to any reviews. The policy is clear that professional institute members are expected to perform the same duties and adhere to the same values as directors in terms of the Act. Members are expected to uphold certain fiduciary duties.
Another representative noted the following: In terms of the requirements of our professional institute’s CPC, the professional institute’s members should not perform services they are not competent to perform. Requirement No. 113 of the Code refers to professional competence and due care. It requires that our members not take on or continue with any engagement they are not competent to perform unless the members obtain advice and assist others with the know-how. Third parties with expertise can assist our members with the assignment.
This statement shows reliance on the work of others or the existing professional technical competence of the members. One representative of a professional institute noted the following: Currently, my professional institute does not review the work done by our members serving as BRP. This includes the work of BRPs. We are used to the regulator reviewing our work. The CIPC regulates for BRPs. The reference to CIPC here, once again, means that a central point of command is needed to achieve improvements in the BR practices through professionalism. This might be undertaken in the future, depending on the CIPC’s requirements.
Based on Table 2’s contents, the construction of BRP occupation professionalism should be linked to service packs and competencies. This was also demonstrated in one of the responses obtained from the BRP interviewee: The services I render in BR are distinct from the other services. I bring skills learned from our other services to back up their service offerings in the BRP space. In a way, the BRP services I provided are part of a suite of business advisory and consultancy services in our professional conduct handbook. BR services have not been distinctly listed in the handbook.
This sentiment demonstrates that the experts demonstrate their professionalism by rendering a special service to society. It also indicates that all members of the SAQA-recognised PIs are experts. However, not all experts who command specialised skills and knowledge are members of the professional bodies supplying business rescue practitioners. The company laws in Commonwealth countries have defined an expert in relation to a professional institute that gives authority to the statement made by the expert. This argument is consistent with the definition of an “expert” in the companies’ laws within the Commonwealth. Another professional institute representative commented on the following: Our professional institute’s members compete with other SAQA-recognised PIs for BR practitioner roles. Our members have unique and extensive business knowledge through their training and studies, providing them with skills to assist them with BR proceedings where this is viable. Our members think and Act analytically and have an integrated approach as they understand all elements of a business.
The reference to “extensive knowledge of business, providing them with skills” in this response confirms that professionalism can be demonstrated with reference to professional competence (Macheridis & Paulsson, 2019). The dimensions (themes) of professionalism (Table 2) are consistent with the aspiration of Chapter 6 of the Act, which talks about the rights of affected parties. The consistency in the coverage of professionalism construction is informative because it can be used to reconstruct a CPC defining relational aspects. The reconstruction of a CPC is important because BRP services and competencies are not explicitly referenced in the reviewed CPCs, which contributes to the results in Table 2.
Table 2 shows fragmentation in the conceptualisation of professionalism among PIs operating in a goal-structure service area of BR. The idea of a reconstructed CPC emerged from the fragmented BRP occupational professionalism found in Table 2. For instance, one informant observed the lack of textbooks on BRP and observed: “There are no textbooks the institute has recommended for use by its members. However, there is a postgraduate course that our professional institute developed jointly with the UP.” Another professional institute’s representative interviewed said, “The professional institute I represent does not currently prescribe any books or training programmes. Educational materials are for the academics working in cohorts with our professional institute. Training programmes may be considered in future.” Knowledge claims cannot be made without the claim on theoretical knowledge. The claim on theoretical knowledge is confined to a higher education instruction programme and books used by BRPs. The construction of occupation professionalism requires emphasising the relational aspect to be shown as part of the themes or dimensions in Table 2.
Conclusion, Recommendations and Study Limitations
Concluding Remarks and Practical Implications
The researcher discussed the study’s findings concerning the landscape of MPIs and the context of the research objectives. Two questions guided the investigation. These questions were: (1) How do the SAQA-recognised PIs construct BRP occupational professionalism? (2) How does the constructed BRP occupational professionalism inform the BRP short learning programmes (SLPs)? The first question was answered in Table 2 where the notions of occupational professionalisms were summarised. The second was systematically responded to by considering existing occupational practices tools addressing a shared unique value-selling proposition. In addition, we considered the current learning and development practices that were in use to meet the practice requirements. The discuss culminated into Table 2. The study had the following research objective: to establish the implications of a manifold professional institute’s setting for the intended professionalism achieved through targeted technical training and other measures.
The findings of the study show that professionalism has become a requirement in the MPI setting. The licencing is linked to MPI’s knowledge and practices when the regulated occupational practices are specific and less generic, given the goal-structured nature of BR practices. However, the findings in Table 2 reject the hypothesis that professionalisms is uniformly constructed among different professional bodies supplying corporate renewal practitioners. The findings also show that the existing short leaning programmes do not lead to a coherent arrangement for developing pipeline talent in the occupation. The discussion of findings concluded the reality of a policy framework and organisational arrangements to guide experts’ practices. However, the policy construction and institutional delineations are not lucidly employed because of multiple constructions of occupational professionalism. The present paper outlined the ingredients of occupational professionalism (Table 2). The discussion of the findings pointed to notions of occupational professionalism shown in column 1 of Table 2.
Recommendations
The discussion of the findings pointed to the need to develop a BRP-occupation-specific qualification framework using the process laid down within the skills development laws. The learning and development areas were identified based on goal-structured practices from interview questions. The SLPs currently in use inadequately respond to the required technical competencies. The responses from study informants revealed the existence of gaps in the way SLPs are used. The revealed gaps that led to the suggested learning and development areas can be inferred from the list of information requirements during a BR process. The SLPs lack crucial elements of learning and development in outcome-based skills development settings.
The current practice does not support occupational professionalism in the BRP space. The SLP managers, facilitators, and PIs’ representatives understood the meaning of professionalism as “belonging to a SAQA-recognised professional institute.” However, the informants argued that the incorporation of the missing notions of professionalism would require the CIPC to drive the development of an occupation-specific qualification framework to help develop pipeline talent.
The findings lead to the recommendation that institutions offering SLPs can work towards NQF-registered qualifications that respect the knowledge areas evident from BR process information requirements. The initial work under SLPs directly responded to upskilling requests from experts who wanted to meet clients’ requirements after May 2011.
The Study’s Limitations and Directions for Future Research
The study gives the BRPs, representatives of the PIs, and SLP managers and facilitators an understanding of the incoherent conceptualisation of BRP occupational professionalism. The BRP-specific practices need to be documented to promote professional accreditation and certification.
Therefore, the present paper explored the notions of BRP occupational professionalism (Table 2) to understand what was in place when the investigation started targeting representatives of PIs supplying more than 80% of BRPs, four SLPs managers, and document content analysis. Future research efforts should be directed at documenting the BR practices and how the BRP-specific qualification should be designed to provide a ground for competence development. The present study did not consider practices as may be documented from the purposive interpretation approach of Chapter 6 of the Act and interview-to-the-double from practitioners.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
None.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data supporting the results of the study can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.