Investigating the effects of performance appraisal in the department of water and sanitation: a study of southern operations regional office
- Authors: Adonis, Phelisa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Employees -- Rating of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40226 , vital:35983
- Description: This research examined the use of a personnel performance appraisal, a component of performance management system to evaluate employees at the Southern Operation Region Office of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Port Elizabeth and how this affects their performance. Writers in the available literature, contend that the objective of performance appraisal policy is to review work performance and provide feedback to facilitate measures and programmes to improve employee performance. Cascio and Aginis (2011:73) write that performance appraisal is a systematic description of individual or group job-relevant strengths and weaknesses as an important part of a performance management system. The study firstly analyses the effectiveness of performance appraisal in evaluating the management of the utilisation of resources. Secondly, the appropriateness of the tool in assessing the capacity of employees and contributing towards facilitating programmes and training to develop employee effectiveness. Thirdly, the study also examined the perception of employees on the use of performance appraisal as a management tool in the Department of Water and Sanitation Regional Operation Office. The study adopted a mainly qualitative methodological approach and purposively selected a sample of 30 employees at the Southern Operation Region Office of the Department of Water and Sanitation in Port Elizabeth who completed the questionnaire for the study. The choice of the qualitative research methodology is due to the fact that the approach is well suited to the collection of in-depth and perceptual information and for discovering underlying motivations and perceptions of the employees as respondents. The general employees at the area chosen for the study is one of a relatively young employee profile. The average age of the employees is about 28. The findings revealed that competence, assessment and development, communication and the adequate training which employees received based on the performance appraisal all had an impact on employee performance in Department of Water and Sanitation. Furthermore, factors, such as employee training, competence and communication could not be ignored since they were rated to a moderate extent v by the employees and it also contributed to employee performance. The study findings specifically highlight the importance of effective communication between the employer and the employees in order to improve employee performance appraisal processes. The study recommends a set of guidelines which could be used in improving the current performance appraisal policy and further boost employee performance.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The impact, on fibre quality, of changing from conventional cotton to genetically modified cotton
- Authors: van Rensburg, Joané Jansen
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Cotton -- Genetic engineering , Cotton -- Quality Cotton
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/30408 , vital:30940
- Description: This study was aimed at investigating the impact, on cotton fibre quality, of changing from conventional (non-GM) to genetically modified (GM) cotton, in both South Africa and the United States of America (USA). The cotton quality data, pre- and post-GM, generated by Cotton SA and the USDA, respectively, using the HVI systems, were accessed for 25 years in South Africa, and 27 years in the U.S. The key cotton quality parameters evaluated were staple length, micronaire and strength. These quality parameters had been measured on the Uster® HVI system by the various classing facilities in South Africa and the USA, on each bale of cotton produced within the specific country. The data for South Africa covered the period from 1992 (six years before the introduction of GM cotton) to 2016, composing at least 90% GM cotton since 2007. Data for the USA covered the period from 1990 (five years before the introduction of GM cotton) to 2016, composing at least 90% GM cotton since 2010. The data accessed and compiled, from the respective databases of two different countries, had to be electronically captured, regrouped (according to standards provided by the USDA) and thereafter analysed. It was found that the introduction and phasing in of GM cotton in both South Africa and the USA had a beneficial impact on the overall quality (FQI) of cotton produced in these countries. These positive trends in FQI were mainly caused by an increase in staple length for both countries, due to the beneficial impact that the introduction and phasing in of GM cotton had on staple length. Certain of the fibre parameters, notably micronaire, tended to fluctuate from year to year, quite unrelated to the introduction and phasing in of GM cotton, this being ascribed to fluctuating climatic conditions, and the parameter’s extreme sensitivity to such conditions. Over the period covered, cotton fibre, strength, showed a different trend for each country, remaining largely constant in South Africa, while increasing in the USA, this being unrelated to the introduction of GM cotton per sé.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Isolation of a Clostridium Beijerinckii sLM01 cellulosome and the effect of sulphide on anaerobic digestion
- Authors: Mayende, Lungisa
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Cellulose , Clostridium , Cellulase , Sulfides
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3973 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004032 , Cellulose , Clostridium , Cellulase , Sulfides
- Description: Cellulose is the most abundant and the most resistant and stable natural organic compound on earth. Enzyme hydrolysis is difficult because of its insolubility and heterogeneity. Some (anaerobic) microorganisms have overcome this by having a multienzyme system called the cellulosome. The aims of the study were to isolate a mesophilic Clostridium sp. from a biosulphidogenic bioreactor, to purify the cellulosome from this culture, to determine the cellulase and endoglucanase activities using Avicel and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as substrates and the dinitrosalicyclic (DNS) method. The organism was identified using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The sequence obtained indicated that a strain of Clostridium beijerinckii was isolated. The cellulosome was purified from the putative C. beijerinckii sLM01 host culture using affinity chromatography purification and affinity digestion purification procedures. The cellulosomal and non-cellulosomal fractions of C. beijerinckii sLM01 were separated successfully, but the majority of the endoglucanase activity was lost during the Sepharose 4B chromatography step. These cellulosomal and non-cellulosomal fractions were characterised with regards to their pH and temperature optima and effector sensitivity. Increased additions of sulphide activated the cellulase activity of the cellulosomal and non-cellulosomal fractions up to 700 %, while increased additions of sulphate either increased the activity slightly or inhibited it dramatically, depending on the cellulosomal and non-cellulosomal fractions. Increased additions of cellobiose, glucose and acetate inhibited the cellulase and endoglucanase activities. pH optima of 5.0 and 7.5 were observed for cellulases and 5.0 for endoglucanases of the cellulosomal fraction. The noncellulosomal fraction exhibited a pH optimum of 7.5 for both cellulase and endoglucanase activities. Both fractions and enzymes exhibited a temperature optimum of 30 °C. The fundamental knowledge gained from the characterisation was applied to anaerobic digestion, where the effect of sulphide on the rate-limiting step was determined. Sulphide activated cellulase and endoglucanase activities and increased the % chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate. Levels of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were higher in the bioreactor containing sulphide, substrate and C. beijerinckii. Sulphide therefore accelerated the rate-limiting step of anaerobic digestion.
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- Date Issued: 2007