A leadership model for South Africa’s infrastructure-related State-owned Enterprises
- Authors: Notununu, Fezile
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Government business enterprises -- South Africa , Construction industry , Leadership -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/64750 , vital:73885
- Description: The objective of this research was to create a leadership model designed specifically to address the challenges faced by South Africa's infrastructure-related, state-owned enterprises. Both Eskom and Transnet are currently experiencing leadership crises, which might be further exacerbated by the global economic difficulties. Through an initial literature review it became evident that there was a knowledge gap regarding leadership within South Africa's state-owned enterprises. Consequently, it was crucial to conduct an extensive analysis of leadership styles to ensure effective infrastructure management for these state-owned enterprises. The primary aim of this study was to propose a leadership model that would be suitable for South Africa's infrastructure-related, state-owned enterprises. To achieve this objective, the relationship between effective leadership and perceived success in infrastructure development was explored, as well as the relationship between effective planning and perceived success in infrastructure development within these enterprises. Additionally, the connection between leadership training and perceived success in infrastructure development was investigated in the study. Quantitative research methods were employed to address these research objectives. The data for this study were collected through an online survey, with a total of 335 respondents from South Africa. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used for analysis, using SPSS AMOS 29 Software. The findings of the study indicated a significant positive relationship between effective management and perceived success in infrastructure development for state-owned enterprises. However, the results regarding the relationship between effective planning and perceived success were not statistically significant, as the p-value exceeded 0.05. Based on the outcomes of the study, appropriate and meaningful recommendations have been provided regarding the leadership model necessary for effective infrastructure management in South Africa's infrastructure-related, state-owned enterprises. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Technology, School of Built Environment and Civil Engineering, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-04
Don’t let the little man live in your head for free: an interpretive phenomenological analysis of seafarers with reportedly high levels of well-being
- Authors: Brown, Lauren Natalie
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Seafaring life Psychological aspects , Sailors Mental health , Well-being , Phenomenology , Work environment
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327653 , vital:61140 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327653
- Description: The mental health of seafarers has become a growing issue of concern and has attracted the attention of researchers in recent times. Seafarers are predominantly men, spend months at sea with little to no contact with loved ones ashore, and usually must reside in confined spaces that often contain substantial levels of noise and heat. The underlying causes of mental illness among seafarers are known. Some of the causes include sleep deprivation, occupational stress, marital/relationship problems, fatigue, the threat of piracy, psychosocial workload, loneliness, social isolation, separation from families, lack of shore leave, cultural issues, and job security. Despite these stressors, there are many men and women seafarers who flourish in the industry and enjoy their careers. Very little research has been conducted into the well-being practices of those seafarers who enjoy high levels of well-being. This study explores the lived experiences of a group of seafarers with reportedly high levels of psychological well-being, as well as their experiences of workplace stressors and mental health interventions offered by the industry. This study is an interpretive phenomenological analysis, which is epistemologically underpinned by phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography. Results revealed four focus areas: general lived experiences across two worlds and how this relates to identity, what seafarers with reportedly high levels of psychological well-being experience as stressors, well-being practices of these seafarers and how these seafarers experience and make sense of mental health interventions they have come across. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Enabling social learning to stimulate value creation towards a circular economy: the case of the Food for Us food redistribution mobile application development process
- Authors: Durr, Sarah Jane
- Date: 2020-04
- Subjects: Social learning South Africa Eastern Cape , Mobile apps , Circular economy South Africa Eastern Cape , Communities of practice South Africa Eastern Cape , Social networks South Africa Eastern Cape , Food for Us (Application software)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/245736 , vital:51401
- Description: This M.Ed. study investigates the social learning enabled by a food redistribution mobile application (app) project, Food for Us, in the Raymond Mhlaba municipality in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Over an 18 month period, the Food for Us mobile app innovation project was piloted in two case study sites, Worcester, Western Cape, and the Raymond Mhlaba municipality, Eastern Cape, in South Africa, the latter being the focus of this study. In South Africa, one-third of the food produced for consumption is wasted; paradoxically, 26% of all households’ experience hunger. Food surplus occurs in many contexts, including communities of emerging small scale farmers, many of which are not able to find markets for their produce, resulting in wastage. In a time of mobile technology expansion, the wide infiltration of Internet-enabled smartphones into diverse communities has increased dramatically with the uptake of mobile apps being a key area of interest amongst environmental educators. The Food for Us app project aims to address the challenges of food insecurity and market access for smallscale farmers by creating an innovative technological solution in the form of a mobile app. This research project aimed to investigate the social learning that was enabled within the communities of practice that utilised and interacted with the Food for Us mobile app and Food for Us project support systems. Data was collected through a series of surveys, interviews and workshops and was analysed using Wenger, Trayner and de Laat’s (2011) Value Creation Framework. The Food for Us app pilot was not successful in the way that was originally anticipated by the Food for Us team; however, there were important social learning findings that emerged from the project which opened up a new way of looking at technological innovation in the supply chains with the small scale farming contexts. The key findings that emerged from this study indicated that technological innovation on its own is not effective in enabling deep social learning. When facilitated and supported by other networked social learning systems (such as WhatsApp group, workshops and course meetings), however, boundary crossing, intergenerational learning and network building emerged as important forms of value creation that can be enabled. Through the analysis it was noted that inhibiting factors such as app trial design, lack of critical mass participation and continued application software challenges, affected the development of value. These inhibiting factors informed recommendations around the need to develop strong social networked systems around technologically innovative solutions to promote the realisation of transformative value. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2020
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- Date Issued: 2020-04