A case study of organisational change in an employee wellness company and its effects on job satisfaction and organisational climate
- Authors: Kassiem, Wahib
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Organizational change -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016404
- Description: The modern era has brought the phenomenon of organisational change closer to the average person. With the recent financial crisis placing more strain on businesses, organisations are always under pressure to review their business models in order to deliver a sustainable operational model and as result, hopefully a sustainable competitive advantage. In order to remain competitive, the leadership team has to constantly seek ways of differentiating their organisations from others with similar product offerings. When these changes are initiated, there is no doubt that the leadership gave extensive thought prior to execution. However, their motives are not always clear to their most important constitution, their employees. Often when these changes are implemented, employees believe that they’ve been left out of the decision making process. Furthermore, post change review with employees are also not given enough thought and are often not done. This research used qualitative research methods to establish how employees experience job satisfaction and organisational climate subsequent to changes that transpired within their work environment. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. The interviews were constructed by expanding upon well-documented quantitative dimensions of these behavioural variables. Questions were developed focusing on these dimensions in line with the changes experienced. The sample consisted of nine employees at an employee wellness organisation in Roodepoort, Gauteng. There is evidence to show that in this short period of two years (May 2012 to June 2014), by implementing various changes, the new leadership has improved the financial viability of the organisation. However, insights from the interviews point to a number of areas where the leadership and management structures have to exert more effort. Communication processes have to be reviewed, especially to lower levels. As there exists limited opportunities for promotion, investigations into expanding existing roles, again at the lower levels may assist in raising job satisfaction levels. Employees felt that support structures are severely lacking when significant changes affecting them are implemented. A climate for innovation and risk taking has to be considered which, if instituted, could aid the organisation in setting the pace for the organisational wellness industry. The structure adopted for this research consists of three sections. Section one follows the evaluation report format, with the literature review and research methodology sections following thereafter. By making use of established literature as a basis, the findings and recommendations are therefore not exclusively applicable to this organisation. Hence other organisations intending similar change initiatives could benefit from this research.
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A case study of Siemens Afghanistan : building a country, building a company
- Authors: Qaleej, Raaz Hassan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft , Corporate culture -- Afghanistan , Employees -- Attitudes , Industrial relations -- Afghanistan
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:854 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017522
- Description: This case study was written within the broader concept of Organisational Culture and how it is integrated into an organisation to encourage responsible leadership. The core focus and emphasis of this approach is to establish the implications for businesses operating in the most challenging of commercial environments, while adhering to their corporate ethos and organisational values. These may be summarised with the phrase: Only a clean business is a sustainable business. This dissertation is intended to act as a case study and resource aide for the teaching of leadership, organisational behaviour, human resources and business sustainability. The study is about the Afghanistan chapter of the global giant Siemens, which has been working in many areas of specialisation conducting business in the country for more than 75 years. It has been selected for this case study because of its long-term impressive record, during which time it has developed and sustained a reputation as an organisation with a much-admired organisational culture, and one to which employees feel very closely attached and connected. This case study evolved from a set of unique as well as difficult circumstances. In Afghanistan, where infrastructure is weak, businesses and other structured organisations are in their initial and immature stages of development, and employee attachment to their workplaces is relatively weak. In the case of Siemens however, it has been much the opposite. It became apparent over a protracted period of time that the relationship of employees to the company was clearly of a positive and committed nature, unlike the general perception stemming from other multinational organisations operating within the country. Many business organisations in Afghanistan tend to emphasise to a lesser degree some modern-day practices of employer-employee relationships, which negatively affect motivation and commitment. The study grew out of the observations that employees of Siemens on the other hand, seemed to exhibit attitudes and commitments contrary to the general trend in the wider business sector. This project began with the intention to identify those factors contributing to employee loyalty and strong attachments to an organisation. Subsequently, the same findings were used to identify the traits and particular features working within the organisational environment.
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A needs analysis of an employee wellness programme : the case of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Swaziland
- Authors: Madlopha, Sboniso Charles
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Swaziland) , Employee health promotion -- Swaziland , Needs assessment -- Swaziland , Absenteeism (Labor) -- Swaziland , Employee morale -- Swaziland , Contracting out -- Swaziland
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:857 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018912
- Description: In 2010, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Swaziland noticed a significant increase in employee absenteeism which they discovered was related mainly to: poor health (sick leave), personal and financial stress (garnishee orders were increasing), and low staff morale, the consequence of which was low productivity and missed deadlines (FSRA, 2010:7). High levels of absenteeism meant that a sizeable number of employees were unable to complete their daily tasks (FSRA, 2010:7). Consequently, in 2011, the FSRA Human Resource Department started a wellness programme for all employees in the organization in an attempt to respond to the human resource challenges reported in 2009/10 financial year. By the end of 2012, FSRA management reported that the introduction of the EWP had not yielded the expected results. This therefore prompted management to request an evaluation of the FSRA employee wellness programme. The aim of this research was to identify and prioritize the needs of employees in terms of requirements of a wellness programme and how it should be delivered. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: to identify the wellness needs of employees, to identify employee preferences in terms of the type of interventions to be included in a wellness programme, to identify the preferred mode of delivery of the wellness programme and to make recommendations to management on the design of a wellness programme. Questionnaires with closed ended questions were used to collect data for this survey. The questionnaire used is attached as Appendix A. By means of a needs analysis survey, this research was designed to assess the FSRA employees’ needs in terms of an employee wellness programme, as well as the preferred EWP delivery methods. About 70 percent of FSRA employees participated in the survey. The respondents completed the questionnaire and submitted it online over a period of 10 working days (2 weeks). This report is structured into three sections, namely; section one, which is the evaluation report that gives details of the importance of the study, highlights research methods and then present the results, discussions and recommendations. Section two deals with the literature review while section three reports on the research methodology, research design and procedures and the limitation of the study. In light of the findings on the wellness needs of employees, 72 percent of the respondents felt the current wellness programme was very inadequate and a further 10 percent added that it was inadequate in addressing their wellness needs largely because the needs were not known. The most important wellness needs identified included: exercise, nutrition, personal hygiene, disease awareness and treatment of illness, coping with stress, coping with workload, ventilation, safety, bereavement, personal debt, and retirement planning. The most preferred wellness interventions that respondents proposed include Flexible Work Schedule, Safe Workplace, Improved Ventilation, Retirement Planning Advice and Gymnasium. Further analysis done using correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between the wellness needs and the wellness interventions. Concerning the delivery of the wellness programme, most of the employees indicated that outsourcing certain services was better than having them in house. The highest ranking of the services for out sourcing were nutrition education and medical checkups that ranked between 82 percent and 75 percent respectively. The respondents indicated that they want almost all the chosen interventions to be outsourced. Time slots should also be taken into consideration to ensure employee participation in the wellness programme services. The respondent FSRA employees seem to prefer interventions of an educational nature to be during the lunch hour. These include Nutrition Education, Health Education, Hygiene Education and Medical Check ups and Treatment, whereas Gymnasium was preferred to be after working hours.
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An empirical study on staff turnover and retention within Eskom : Eastern Cape Operating Unit
- Authors: Chibba, Rajesh Chagan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eskom (Firm) , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee retention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Career development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:847 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017514
- Description: This research paper is broken up into three sections, namely an evaluation report, a literature review and a description of the research methodology. The evaluation report section is an assessment of the factors that could contribute to staff leaving the organisation and why staff would choose to remain with the organisation. The Distribution Division of Eskom is divided into nine separate Operating Units (OU's), in line with the nine Provinces. According to an Eskom Human Resource Manager (Mjali, 2013), as at March 2012 there were 2231 employees in the Easter Cape Operating Unit, while the staff turnover for the same period was 4.53%. Of the 101 staff that had resigned for the period 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, there were 27 transfers, 26 resignations and 30 retirements. The balance of 18 staff that left was due to dismissals and deaths. While the statistics suggest a healthy level of staff turnover at present, given the current pressures that Eskom employees are under, it is important to investigate their future intentions and to see what Eskom can do to continue to retain their services. The literature relating to staff turnover and retention was examined to determine the meaning of the terms retention and turnover and to review the relevant turnover topics that were emerging from the exit interview data. The research conducted was quantitative in nature, and a questionnaire was distributed to all managerial staff within the Eastern Cape Operating Unit of Eskom. The questionnaire was sent electronically to the participants via email with the link to the questionnaire. Participants were requested to respond on questions relating to factors on turnover and retention, and the responses were used to assess employee's intention to either remain with the organisation or to leave. The feedback received was analysed with the use of data analysis in Microsoft Excel (2010). The results of the research showed that there were two distinct themes related to employees' intention to remain with the organisation, namely job satisfaction and career development. On the other end of the scale, themes which would cause staff to want to leave the organisation were the performance management system of the organisation, not being listened to (i.e. to the ideas and views of staff) and leadership (i.e. the way the organisation was being led). Recommendations are made to management. The study also recommends future research that can be done to get greater insight into factors relating to staff turnover and retention. A detailed review of the literature is included in Section two of the report. Only essential components of the literature are included in Section one of report. Section three of the report provided a detailed description of the research design and the research procedure that was followed.
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An evaluation of change communication in ensuring the sustainability of change at Barclays Africa's first "green" building
- Authors: Magubane, Nokuzola
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Barclays Bank , Sustainable buildings -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Organizational change -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Communication in organizations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:849 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017517
- Description: The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness of the change communications distributed to the occupants of Barclays Towers West, Barclays Africa‟s first green building, in ensuring the sustainability of the change after the move into the building. In addition, recommendations are made to improve the change communications directed towards the building occupants to ensure the sustainability of the change and for future moves to green buildings. The research paper is made up of the following three distinct sections: Section One – Evaluation Research Report: this section outlines the organisational and research context for the study, the objectives of the research and rationale for conducting the research. A brief overview of the key theories and models on change communication that were utilised in the study are discussed, and definitions of important terms are presented. The research methodology is also described which includes an explanation on the evaluation research approach utilised as well as the use of both qualitative and quantitative data in the study. In addition, the results from the research conducted are presented, based on three data collection methods utilised: document analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results are then analysed and discussed in relation to the literature reviewed on change communication. Recommendations are made on improvements that can be made to the change communications to ensure the sustainability of the change. Section Two – Literature Review: the literature, theories and important concept definitions of organisational change management, change sustainability, change communication and green buildings which are relevant for the research topic and have been used as the theoretical base of the study are explored in this section. A key component of the literature review is the description of the change communication theories and models: communication theory, Armenakis, Harris and Field (2007) Model, and the Barrett (2002) Model. An understanding of the theories and models is imperative, as the effectiveness of the change communications after the move into Barclays Towers West is assessed based on the elements of the change communication theories and models. Section Three – Research Methodology: the research methodology for the study is described in this section. Specifically, the research aims and objectives, the research paradigm, the population and sampling, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations are outlined. A key component of the section is the explanation on how the data was collected and analysed in the study and the sequence. The post move communications and artefacts and meeting presentations were collected first. The qualitative data was analysed and used to determine the questions for the semi structured interviews. Semi-structured one on one interviews were then conducted. The qualitative data and the change communication theories and models used in this study were used to determine the questions for the online survey. An online survey tool was used to administer a predominantly five point Likert scale questionnaire with an invitation to participate emailed to the building occupants. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis. Research Findings: The key research findings revealed that the messages communicated to the occupants after the move into the building have been mainly focused on operational matters and rarely on educating occupants on the green aspects of the building. A large majority of the survey respondents were aware of the building facilities, details and required behaviour. However it was found that the occupants, Line Managers and Senior Management are not displaying the required behaviour for a green building and do not know how to use some of the building facilities. A major gap was found in communicating with people moving into the building. In addition it was found that some of the information communicated to occupants is outdated. Written communications are used extensively and face to face communication is rarely used to communicate with the occupants. As a result, a number of changes are required to improve the effectiveness of the change communications to the occupants of Barclays Towers West. The improvements include communicating to new occupants; utilising additional communication channels; focusing communication messages on educating occupants on the strategic objectives for the building; rationale for building features and facilities; how to use the facilities and the impact of their behaviour on the building objectives being achieved.
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An evaluation of the implementation of Mercedes Benz production system (MPS) and the employee change readiness at Mercedes Benz commercial vehicles South Africa
- Authors: McAllister, Rozane Ronardo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft , Organizational change -- South Africa , Organizational behavior -- South Africa , Employees -- Attitudes , Continuous improvement process -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:850 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017518
- Description: The evaluation report section describes the evaluation of the implementation of Mercedes Benz Production System (MPS) at Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles, which is a division of Mercedes Benz South Africa’s manufacturing plant situated in East London. The section evaluates the changes the implementation of MPS brought to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’S) of the division and evaluates the change readiness of the employees in the division prior to the change. The change implementation was initiated by the management of MBCV as a strategic organisational change to bring about continuous improvement to the KPI’s of the organisation. These KPI’s are Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale (SQDCM). The reason behind the change at the time was deemed critical to MBCV in order to meet the annual KPI targets and remain cost competitive and sustainable. The evaluation report further describes the results of the change with regards to the organisational KPI’s and the level of employee change readiness which was conducted through a questionnaire survey. A brief literature review is included in the Evaluation Report under section one describing key concepts about Production Systems, Lean Manufacturing and Change Management. The evaluation section includes recommendations based on the results of the research findings and ends with a conclusion. The literature review section explores the literature that supports production systems, lean manufacturing and change management concepts, its definitions, importance and benefits. The literature review describes and critiques key concepts of the research such as productions systems, MPS in particular, lean manufacturing concepts and related change management topics relevant to the research. The literature review defines production systems and the concepts of lean manufacturing, highlighting the benefits of the concepts to enhance organisations’ manufacturing capabilities. An integrated part of lean manufacturing is people and the implementation of lean manufacturing into an organisation requires change management theories therefore key understanding in this particular research was to discuss change management concepts, in particular, employee change readiness. The literature will discuss different tools to assess employee change readiness and from this develop an employee change readiness tool. The change management concepts evaluated change readiness and the consequences if organisations are not ready for change. The research methodology section describes how that the research was conducted in two phases, one to evaluate the implementation of MPS with regards to the organisational KPI’s (SQDCM). This was assessed through reports from projects and presentations made by the project teams on improvements of the organisational KPI’s. The second phase evaluated the change readiness of the employees prior to the implementation of MPS. This phase of the research was intended to retrieve quantitative data with an adapted questionnaire which was distributed to employees. To evaluate the change readiness, a change model known as ADKAR was used as an evaluation instrument. The modified ADKAR questionnaire was distributed to employees in hard copies and completed during a weekly team meeting. The results were summarised and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the final results. Microsoft Excel (2010 version) was used to illustrate and display the graphs. Section three discussed the research methodology in more detail. The study shows that although there were some positive changes that came from the implementation of MPS in MBCV, especially to the following KPI’s (Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost), real consideration should be given to employee morale and the level of change readiness of MBCV employees.
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An exploration of business level strategy at the bottom of the pyramid: a case study of Twizza, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Sityoshwana, Ludwe Lusu
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54486 , vital:26569
- Description: This qualitative study focuses on business level strategy adopted by Twizza to compete in the bottom of the pyramid market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Twizza enjoyed huge success between the years 2010 - 2014 as a medium to large sized manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks in the Eastern Cape. In light of this, the current study seeks to answer the following: What business level strategy did top management at Twizza adopt to compete and grow in the BoP market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa? The study takes the form of a case study to explore and understand the patterns of decisions adopted by Twizza’s top management in competing at the bottom of the pyramid. As such, the main objective of the study was to identify the business level strategy adopted by Twizza which enabled their superior performance within the BoP market. The study adopts Porter`s typology to explore business level strategy. Stratified, purposive sampling was used to identify 4 top managers as participants in this study. A total of 7, semi-structured, interviews were used to collect critical incidents from top management of Twizza. This was the primary data used in this study. This type of data was combined with relevant information which was gathered via published press articles and on-line commentary. The study found that central to Twizza’s business strategy were four pillars, namely, strict control and management of manufacturing costs, product quality equal to that of market leaders, the ability of the organisation to manufacture its own raw materials and ability to ensure product availability to the market to the market. These findings reveal that Twizza employed a hybrid strategy, anchored by cost leadership. Thus, Twizza incorporated elements of differentiation and best value strategies to offer its customers affordable quality.
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Case study : profitability drivers in the South African airline industry : a comparative analysis of SAA and Comair
- Authors: Batidzirai, Davison Herbert
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South African Airways , Comair Limited , Airlines -- South Africa , Corporate profits -- South Africa , Organizational effectiveness -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017191
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Developing a performance measurement tool to monitor the performance of a public sector agency : a balanced scorecard approach
- Authors: Lisani, Ncedo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa. Economic Development Department , South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism , Performance -- Measurement , Performance -- Management , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:848 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017515
- Description: The world has seen unparalleled pressure put on the public sector to improve the speed and quality of service delivery, whilst simultaneously employing measures to cut the costs. South Africa and the Eastern Cape have not been immune to this as there have been complaints and demonstrations from various national and provincial stakeholders demanding more and improved services. The Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in particular has employed the services of public entities in its quest to realise government’s socio-economic developmental objectives and ease some of the service delivery pressures. These agencies are unfortunately struggling to deliver and the Department is unable to play the oversight role it is legislatively mandated to carry out. The main reason for this seem to be the lack of the capacity to objectively track and measure the performance of these agencies. As they say “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”. This is despite the fact that there is a shareholders’ compact and many other measures in place to enable performance monitoring. Also, the public sector is known to have inherent and unique performance management challenges like broad and vague objectives which lead to too many measurements, a propensity to focus on the “easy to measure” but often irrelevant indicators at the expense of critical outcomes and a short-term orientation that is usually fuelled by political expediency. Against this background, this study sought to make use of a comprehensive and dynamic performance monitoring framework, namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), to explore its potential use in assisting government to monitor the performance of public agencies, in particular the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) in South Africa. The proposed framework helps government to focus on the performance drivers of future value, and what decisions and actions are necessary to achieve critical outcomes. The aim of the study therefore is to develop an adjusted BSC framework to monitor the activities of a public sector agency and thus demonstrate how a BSC framework could be used to monitor a public agency by the government department. The study is evaluative in nature and is divided into three sections. Section one is presented as an Evaluation Report. It sets the scene, discusses briefly the key theoretical concepts, outlines the research methods used and presents the findings followed by a discussion and recommendations. Section two delves into the literature in more detail, providing a more extensive review of the literature that informed the investigation, whilst section three provides a more extensive description of the research methodology employed in the study. To achieve the aims of the study, the research drew from the work of various authors in the field including that of Bigliardi, Dormio and Galati, 2011; Bititci, Garengo, Dörfler, and Nudurupati, 2012; Julyan, 2011; Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2006; Niven, 2003 and 2008 and Northcott and Taulapapa, 2012. Also, five BSC perspectives - including the programme specific “equity” perspective - were used to develop an interview schedule. These were used to formulate the key performance objectives and indicators, based on the stakeholder’s responses. These respondents have experience within the programme as administrators, beneficiaries and funders. The research employed purposive sampling with semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis as primary and secondary instruments for data collection. In essence, five officials from the agency, one from DEDEAT and two co-operatives participated in the research. The results indicate a general appreciation of and gravitation towards outcome based measures, even though the government culture of focusing on outputs is still prevalent. The results of the study indicated that, generally, a government - public agency BSC based performance monitoring framework would have the following features: Customer objectives and programme mission as the main goal and this will provides clarity at all levels on who the customers are and what are their primary requirements. Clear, visible and stringent financial controls as the agency is administering public resources. Few carefully selected processes and systems that have a direct and positive impact on the customer objectives. Deliberate and consistent efforts to promote the participation of designated groups in the economy of the country. Comprehensive indicators on capacity building as “mission based-organisations rely heavily on skills, dedication and alignment of staff”. Overall, the study concludes that the make-up of the BSC is beneficial to the public sector and in monitoring the public sector agencies for the following reasons: It helps the agency to focus on customers and their needs. It forces the agency to engage and communicate strategic intention with both internal and external stakeholders and thus synchronize competing stakeholder needs. It forces the agency to limit the number of indicators and therefore select the few value adding measures that are aligned to customer outcomes. Through its cause and effect relationship, the agency is compelled to align all the resources, activities and processes to the main goal of the entity. All these help to minimize the principal agent problem, as the use of the BSC can bring clarity on strategy and expectations, provided it is supported with regular communication.
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Evaluation of microinsurance distribution strategy at the bottom of the pyramid by Liberty Life Swaziland
- Authors: Lukhele, Mlungisi Reginald
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54474 , vital:26568
- Description: This is a qualitative study which focuses on how Liberty Life Swaziland distributes microinsurance to the bottom of the pyramid within Swaziland. Using stratified purposive sampling, this study identified 5 managers within Liberty Life and 4 managers from brokerages and affinity partners who had a minimum of 3 years’ experience in distribution of microinsurance. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted by the researcher with these managers. Interviews were stopped when there was data saturation. To induce emerging themes from the data, open-coding and constant comparison technique was used. Findings in this study reveal that to distribute microinsurance to low income households, Liberty Life objectives are to; (1) provide relevant solutions in a cost effective manner, thus keeping premiums as affordable as possible, (2) provide simple products which are easy to understand by customers, (3) make services accessible, and (4) make doing business easy. In this regard, Liberty Life distribution strategy is to partner with bulk retailing entities that have a client base they already service and benefit from nationwide presence and infrastructure. Lastly, the perspectives of both internal and external stakeholders in microinsurance are discussed to evaluate the challenges and successes experienced in implementing the distribution strategy. This study is valuable to critically understand the current distribution strategy from the viewpoint of key intermediaries, but also pinpoint how efforts to achieve microinsurance distribution objectives can be enhanced. Lastly, the study recommends that; a selection criteria be set for distribution partners, partnership with mobile network operators, investment in continuous training of distribution partners and knowledge sharing between Liberty and intermediaries to cease the opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid.
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Impact of poaching on the marketability of safari lodges in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Loader, Rory James
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Safari lodges -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Marketing , Poaching -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ecotourism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Wildlife crimes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:845 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016405
- Description: This research is presented in three sections. Section 1 presents the research report in an academic paper format. Section 2 provides a comprehensive literature review and Section 3 describes the research methodology and methods employed during the research. The tourism industry is the fastest growing sector within the South African Economy, with over 2.6 million foreign tourists visiting South Africa each year. Wildlife, landscapes and scenery are cited as the primary attractions for visiting the country, with over 45 percent of tourists visiting at least one wildlife or nature reserve during their stay in South Africa (Kerley et al., 2011:2). Sixty percent of those tourists travelled for leisure purposes, with 643,883 of the tourists utilising safari lodge accommodation during their visit (Ruggles-Brise, 2013). The Eastern Cape achieved 3.1 percent; of those tourist arrivals, with a bed-night contribution of 734,339, compared to the 16.8 percent (1.9million) and 10.5 percent (1.07million) for Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces respectively (Ruggles-Brise, 2013). The Eastern Cape lodges represent less than half the bed-nights achieved by Mpumalanga and Limpopo lodges. Due to the number of possible bed-nights available to lodges in the Eastern Cape, it is increasingly important for individual lodges to provide a unique experience, in order to be competitive in attracting guests (Saayman, 2013:81). This was used form part of the foundation to this research in determining the marketability of three lodges in the Eastern Cape, which was derived from the attractiveness of the lodges, determined by guests visiting the lodges. This research follows on from four previous surveys commissioned by INDALO, the Eastern Cape Private Nature Reserve Association in 2004 Sims-Castley et al. 2004), 2006 (Langholz et al., 2006), 2008 (Snowball et al., 2008) and 2011 (Kerley et al., 2011). Part of the research was to identify the main attractions of the reserves. These previous surveys provided a foundation for this research to follow on investigating guest motivations for visiting the three sample lodges and to determine visitor perception of poaching and whether it would impact their motivations for visiting the reserve. In order to address the goals of the research qualitative data was gathered during survey interviews conducted at the three sampled reserves. Seventy five (75) guests were interviewed, equally over the three reserves. Quantitative data was also gathered during the interview surveys, utilising Likert scale questions, prompting guests to choose their top attractions, from which basic descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data being able to determine possible trends amongst respondents and lodges. Results verified guest motivations from the previous surveys, confirming that game viewing, especially the “Big 5” remained the most important attraction for visitors to the reserves while the availability of natural scenery and landscape, high end accommodation and service, the proximity to the garden route and being located in a malaria free area were also see as attractive attributes of the lodges as per the previous surveys. Where the gap in the research was indicated based on guests perception of poaching and whether it would impact their motivations for visit these lodges, impacting that lodges marketability (attractiveness). Results indicated that if they were unable to view the iconic ‘Big Five’ at the reserve due to the extent of poaching. Respondents indicated that the impact would likely and very likely impact their decision to choose the reserves over another reserve that could. Indicating the potential impact that poaching would have on lodges if they were to lose their iconic species which would spell the loss in attractiveness and therefore marketability.
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Perceived breach and violation of the psychological contract in a collectivistic culture
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Sophie Wilhelmine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Collectivism , Employees -- Attitudes , Contracts -- Psychological aspects , Industrial relations , Breach of contract , Personnel management -- Psychological aspects , Organizational behavior , Psychology, Industrial
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017523
- Description: The significance of relationships on economic actions and employee behaviour makes it critical for employers to understand the dynamics of employment through mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1990; Guest, 2004b). The psychological contract affords a broad platform to study the employment relationship (Thomas et al., 2010), and is an important tool for organisational success (McDermott et al., 2013). The literature review contained in this study indicates the differences in contracting environments due to the prevailing cultural orientation. However, there is a dearth of research in collectivistic culture, to which this study will add. The literature also makes a distinction between perceptions of breach and violation. While perceptions of breach of the psychological contract is the perception that the employer has not met all obligations and promises, violation is the emotional and affective state following breach (Morrison & Robinson, 1997) and results in negative or deviant behaviours (Chiu & Peng, 2008). Both breach and violation perceptions negatively affect employee behaviours and attitudes in the workplace (Aggarwal & Bhargava, 2014). This research assumed a constructivist paradigm and builds understanding of the outcomes of breach and violation of the psychological contract on employees’ working life in a collectivistic environment. Primary data collection was by in-depth semi-structured, one on one interviews with five employees of a state-subsidised organisation in East London, making use of convenience sampling. Follow up interviews were conducted, resulting in 7ₑ/₄ hours of interviewing time. Cultural orientation was ascertained through the use of a questionnaire. The findings of this study confirmed that the type of psychological contract entered into influences the outcomes of perceptions of breach and violation. Both dimensions of collectivism, namely institutional and in-group, were practised in this environment, which also impacted on both the individual’s experience and outcomes for the organisation. The latter was influenced by commitment to organisational goals and supervisory or collegial relationships. Most notable of the results is the effect of expectations of transitional justice on experience of the psychological contract. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are made. This research is presented in three sections; firstly the research is presented in the format of an academic paper and includes a concise summary of literature and research method. The second section is an expanded literature review of the psychological contract and its influencing factors, as well as the outcomes of breach and violation. The last section describes and justifies in detail the design of the research and the research procedure followed. , Alternate name: Van der Merwe, Somine
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Performance management of health professionals : an evaluation research study of health services in the subdistrict of Buffalo City in the Provincial Department of Health in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Booi, Mlungisi Wellington
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa -- Department of Health , Batho Pele (Program) , Public health personnel -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Public health -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Employees -- Training of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employee-management relations in government -- South Africa -- Buffalo City
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020017
- Description: Integrative Summary In 1997 the Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Zola Skweyiya, introduced the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery(Department of Public Service and Administration(DPSA,1997: 1). It was premised on what was called Batho Pele (DPSA, 1997: 9), giving effect to Section 197 of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 as amended. A linkage to performance management can be found from the assertion made in the White Paper that in future the Batho Pele would form the basis of any assessment of the performance of individual staff and that would contribute to improving the delivery of service (DPSA, 1997:16). Another factor that contributed to the utilisation of a performance management system was the recommendation put forward by the Public Service Commission of South Africa( PSC,2004: 16),that called for public institutions to adopt a clear, comprehensive performance management and evaluation framework for the delivery of public service. That was expected to turn around the ailing public institutions whose record of serving the public with pride and dignity was on the decline. The research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the performance management system in creating and resolving role conflict with health professionals employed by the Buffalo City sub-district. The research goal was divided into three objectives, namely: evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance management system as a managerial tool for health managers to manage their subordinates including both professional and support staff, evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance system from the perspective of the health professional as a subordinate and to analyze the functioning and effectiveness of the system in creating and resolving role conflict between professional conduct and organisational requirements. The respondents noted that the implementation of the system was not matched with appointment at managerial level with officials having relevant managerial capacity. Further to that resources at the coal face of service delivery continued to deteriorate and became very scarce and there is no documented proof that has been found of an effort made to check the compatibility of the system to health professionals. The literature identified negative effects that have emanated from the implementation of the performance management system. The study was conducted by interviewing health professionals from the entry level to the management level within the Buffalo City sub-district from three mini hospitals or Health Care Centres. The respondents indicated that there are positives that have been achieved by the implementation of the system, such as the skills gap identification as well as specific targets contained in annual performance contracts. These targets help motivate health professional to focus on that particular direction of activities. Unfortunately it has been clearly documented that the performance management system has also contributed to the development of role conflict in a number of professionals. It has been documented that the system has not been crafted with a health professional in mind and, as such, appears to favour quantity rather than quality of health services as advocated by the codes of practice of different health professionals. There are a number of recommendations that were put forward by the respondents to try to salvage the system and in mitigation of the identified negative factors. For the improvement of the system, the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health has to firstly customise the annual contracts to contain only the fundamental information. Secondly need to improve the transparency pertaining to financial pressures facing the Health Department. Thirdly the provision of essential enablers, need to be prioritised. Fourthly there is a need to upgrade the system to incorporate 360 degree feedback. Further research recommendations include a bigger sample incorporating different research methods and to also incorporate searches for measures that can be implemented to improve the system to be more relevant to health professionals. This document is organised and presented in three sections. The first section is the evaluation report with a review of literature, research methodology, findings, discussion and conclusion. The second section is where an indepth literature review is located and the last section details the research methodology.
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Strategic thinking during a period of turbulence : a case study of the BancABC Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mberi, Mary-Jane
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: BancABC (Zimbabwe) , Strategic planning -- Case studies , Strategic planning -- Zimbabwe , Inflation (Finance) -- Zimbabwe , Problem solving -- Zimbabwe , Crisis management -- Zimbabwe , Decision making -- Zimbabwe , Critical incident technique
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:861 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020603
- Description: A review of strategic thinking literature indicates that research has tended to focus on experiences contributing to strategic thinking, the strategic thinking perspectives that executives are likely to follow based on the environments in which they have developed their strategic competencies, and examining executives’ cognitive maps within the context of strategic management (O’ Shannassy 2003; Kutschera, and Ryan, 2009; Meyer, 2007). As an expansion of these principles and foundations of strategic thinking, this research was a study of the extent to which strategic thinking perspectives are utilised during macro environmental turbulence. According to Cravens et al. (2009: 31) volatility, reinvention, and fundamental changes in markets present unprecedented challenges to researchers and executives. “Unfortunately, too often traditional conceptual models and theories fail to provide adequate insight for coping with this new and rapidly changing business environment. Traditional market perspectives and conceptual logic may even blind researchers and strategic decision makers to the real threats present in the changing competitive landscape and new market space, and to opportunities for added value which can be uncovered and exploited” Cravens et al. (2009: 31). Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was a major problem from 2003 to April 2009, when the country suspended its own currency and for the next five years the country continued to struggle with various macro environmental challenges. It is this backdrop that makes this research intriguing, where the soundness of any organisation is said to be crucially linked to the soundness of the macro environment, including macroeconomic policies as well as internal governance, market discipline; regulation and supervision (Louw and Venter, 2010). The research was a case study of BancABC Zimbabwe and focused on the period 2009 to 2013. BancABC Zimbabwe is a subsidiary of ABC Holdings Limited which is listed on the Botswana and Zimbabwe stock exchanges (BancABC, 2012). The aim of the study as the first key activity was to explore and describe how the BancABC executives responded to the critical macro environmental incidents identified, at a management or executive team perspective, and secondly, whether the rational reasoning or generative reasoning perspective was dominant during the period of turbulence. The goal is to gain insights of the strategic thinking process followed by executives during a period of macro-environmental turbulence. Literature defines strategic thinking concept as the cognitive process undertaken by executives in relation to problem solving in the business context. Two main perspectives are discussed: Strategic thinking as a science (rational thinking) is the prescriptive, structured nature of strategic thinking; arguments are that it is a less complex perspective for executives to adopt. Strategic thinking as an art (generative thinking) is the perspective that allows the strategist to think outside the box and be more creative about solving strategic problems. The discussion presents how the two perspectives can be used to complement each other and provide a more robust strategic thinking framework. The multi-perspective approach to strategic thinking recommends the right balance between analysis, intuition and creativity can be used to create new frameworks and innovative solutions. The ability to balance these strategic thinking perspectives enables executives to solve strategic problems (Linkov, 1999). The research findings highlighted the effect of time and availability of information on the strategic thinking perspective adopted by executives during times of uncertainty. It was noted that when time and information were available, executives appeared to use the rational strategic thinking perspective, while if there was limited time and information to solve problems the generative thinking perspective was dominantly used. Further the importance of integrative strategic thinking which facilitates the use of both intuition and analysis when solving strategic problems in a turbulent macro environment was also highlighted. The research thesis adopted the structure of a case study, relying on the critical incident technique to create the context of the study; and can be used to explore and discuss strategic thinking for teaching purposes. The results of the study can be recognised as a contribution towards the development of strategic thinking particularly in times of turbulence. It can also form the basis for future studies in the context of strategic thinking.
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The consideration and improvement of the sustainability performance monitoring framework for South African water boards
- Authors: Thompson, Craig Howard
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa -- Department of Water Affairs -- Management , Water-supply -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Performance -- Management , Environmental auditing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018916
- Description: The South African Constitution ensures the right to adequate water, health services and a healthy environment (Government Gazette, 1996: 1251, 1255). Associated legislation and national strategies require that water resources and water services are rendered in a sustainable manner to ensure the rights enshrined in the Constitution are realised (Trialogue, 2010: 34; Government Gazette, 1998(c):11; Department of Water Affairs (DWA), 2003:9). South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world (DWA, 2013: iii), has impounded most of its surface water resources and has utilised 40 percent of the groundwater resource with remaining groundwater water quality uncertain (DWA, 2013:6-7). Despite achieving the basic water and sanitation Millennium Development Goals approximately 2.2 million and 4.5 million households still require access to basic services respectively (DWA, 2013:28-29). South Africa’s ten water boards play a key role in bulk water service provision. They supply 57 percent of the countries domestic water supply (DWA, 2013:19) and are required to provide sustainable water services (Government Gazette, 1997:35). The Department of Water Affairs (Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as of June 2014) is mandated to monitor the performance of water boards and monitors of water boards through a Share Holders Compact (SHC) (Government Gazette, 1997: 50). The aim of the research is to achieve the following objectives: 1. Describe best practice for sustainability monitoring frameworks for water services. 2. Outline South Africa’s water services mandatory and voluntary requirements with regards to sustainability monitoring. 3. Evaluate South Africa’s current water services performance monitoring framework for water boards against findings from goals one and two. 4. Develop an improved framework for assessing South African water board’s performance in their compliance and sustainability journey. 5. Demonstrate the improved framework functionality with a sample of water boards audited performance data from the 2012/13 financial year. A qualitative normative theory evaluation research method was utilised to achieve first three objectives of the research. The objectives to first understand current best practice for sustainability monitoring frameworks and the mandatory requirements for water services sustainability monitoring frameworks in South Africa was achieved via an extensive literature review. The evaluation research method was used where South Africa’s current water services monitoring framework for water boards was evaluated for its adequacy to monitor sustainability compared with legislated requirements, national and international best practices (Hall et al, 2004: 55). Data collection for the evaluation research was sourced via documentation analysis. The 2012/13 water board audited annual reports, relevant national water services legislation, national and global water service sustainability monitoring best practices were critically reviewed. The review yielded a “thick description” of sustainability performance monitoring framework requirements that was used to evaluate the SHC (Holliday, 2002: 79). Despite the mandatory participation requirement for successful sustainability performance monitoring being met, the SHC was found to have inadequate aspects. It lacks an outcomes based approach, does not include environmental indicators, does not allow water board sustainability performance comparison and cannot indicate where individual water boards are on their sustainability journey. An improved sustainability performance monitoring framework for South African water boards is therefore proposed. This was developed with the assistance of an expert focus group drawn from multiple disciplines and organizations relevant to water board sustainability (Litosseliti, 2003: 8 and Hall et al, 2004: 51). The functionality of the framework is then demonstrated using 2012/13 audited performance data sourced from the annual reports of Overberg, Amatola, Rand and Umgeni Water boards. The proposed Water Services Sustainability Monitoring Framework (WSSMF) quantifies performance in terms of 10 water utility outcomes that are measured with 88 performance indicators that encompass the financial, social, environmental and governance dimensions of sustainability. The WSSMF demonstrated that the legislated intentions and best practice recommendations can be incorporated into an improved version of the SHC. Further refinement of the WSSMF is required. In depth engagement with DWS and all the water boards would promote the refinement of the indicator set, performance thresholds for indicators and indicator weighting. Further testing through a pilot project initiative would allow the WSSMF to be developed into a robust and adequate sustainability performance monitoring framework for South African water boards (Rametsteiner et al, 2011: 64; Muga and Mihelcic, 2008: 438; McAlphine and Birnie, 2005: 247 and van Leeuwen et al, 2012: 2192).
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The exploration of influence as a leadership competency amongst emerging adult males
- Authors: Munyai, Pfarelo Pardon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Leadership , Leadership -- Psychological aspects , Influence (Psychology) , Control (Psychology) , Social media , Executives -- Training of , Executive ability , College students , Young adults , Educational leadership , Executive coaching , Male college students , Leadership -- Study and teaching (Higher) , College student government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017520
- Description: The association between leadership, influence and power is well developed in the literature. However, there is a notable lack of research on youth leadership development, especially as it pertains to their exercise of influence. This paper was borne out of the need to explore how youth - emerging adults’ males in particular - exercise influence as a leadership competency within their voluntary leadership positions. Using semi-structured face-to-face interviews and the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), the research primarily focused on influence tactics and how they were employed. This included assessing the related power bases and principles of influence that were manifest, as well as the learning and development that occurred when reflecting on the outcome of the influence process. Data was analysed using an open coding procedure. Incidents explored in the study were primarily interpersonal in nature. This was reminiscent of lateral influence that characterised the peer to peer contextual environment of the study. The study found that in their influence pursuits, emerging adults followed a rational approach to influence. The distinguishable power bases and their relative importance in application were context dependent (Krause and Kearney, 2006:59-86). In addition, various proactive influence tactics were employed with a leaning towards those perceived as positive, honest and non-manipulative in application, which was congruent with Head Student role expectations and the culture of the organization. The utilization of social media as a communication platform from which various tactics could be launched was a novel and notable finding. Consequently, the results were presented primarily under two themes, exploring how tactics of influence are used face to face and via the social media platform. In addition, the study emphasised the ethical implications of the exercise of influence in both of these platforms and related to this, the challenge of influencing friends or close associates, without undermining leadership integrity. Overall, the various influence incidents presented and their outcomes, evidently shaped leadership development by reinforcing tactics which worked and stimulating continuous reflection and learning, adaptive strategies and the development of new means to deal with resistance and non-compliance. All of these are critical to shaping future influence behaviour. Primary recommendations include the need for a proactive approach to educating youth on leadership and influence through formal programmes, if they were to be empowered with tools to develop and maximize their leadership potential. Equally, practitioners need to be sensitized to the significance of their role as catalysts in nurturing youth leadership development. In addition, the novel use of social media as a leadership influence platform was recognised as significant and as such, a candidate for further research. Beyond the limited scope of this study, other angles worthy of further research include, factoring in elements such as gender, cross-cultural differences and the aspect of voluntary versus incentivised (or paid) leadership positions. The research is presented in an academic paper format, and is structured in three sections. These sections are written up as relatively independent sections, but are complementary in covering the full scope of the research. Section One, which is essentially a paper in a format of an academic journal article, represent the primary section and covers the results of the study, together with discussions and recommendations. This is followed by a literature review (i.e. Section Two), which delves into all the relevant literature explored. Section Three covers the methodology, research design and research procedure pursued. As part of the addendum, a comprehensive summary of the incidents explored is presented. This gives insight into the nature of the various incidents, the influence tactics preferred, power bases and influence principles manifested, together with the outcomes of the incidents. Furthermore, lessons drawn in reflection are noted, which participants viewed as critical, in that they shaped the way they now intend to exercise influence and thereby reflects their personal leadership development.
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The impact of job redesign on employee job outcomes: the case of the implementation of a private-public partnership model at a hospital
- Authors: Onaga, Chukwuka Moses
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Department of Health , Hospitals -- Employees , Public-private sector cooperation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Organizational change -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job enrichment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:853 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017521
- Description: It has been widely reported that despite high health expenditure and a myriad of policies in place, South Africa’s health outcomes are worse than those in many lower income countries. The adverse health outcomes are even more pronounced in a rural province such as the Eastern Cape Province. Consequently, the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDOH) had turned to Private Public Partnerships (PPP) with the hope of mitigating some of the challenges beleaguering the health system in the province. This study evaluated the impact of the implementation of one of the PPP models at an Eastern Cape Hospital on key employee job outcomes. This is crucial as there had not yet, been this type of scientific assessment of the impact of the PPP model since the inception of the PPP about half a decade ago. Theoretical guidance of the study was provided by the Job Characteristics Theory (JCT) of Oldham and Hackman (1975), which predicted that changes in five core characteristics of a job will affect three critical psychological states which will in turn impact on key employee job outcomes. Uniquely, this study veered away from the traditional quantitative approach to the application of the JCT but rather adopted a qualitative case study approach. There is historical evidence that cross cultural validation of a theory in a new setting (a South African PPP hospital in this instance) benefits from an initial qualitative study. Data collection and analysis were guided by the JCT. Primary data collection was by semi-structured, face to face, one on one interviews. The analyses of the data specifically employed pattern matching and explanation building techniques, all underpinned by the JCT. Validity of interview data was strongly contributed to by available relevant case study documents. This study found that indeed, the implementation of this PPP model brought about changes in all five (JCT) core job characteristics of clinical staff, but to varying degrees in the three unique shared service areas. Interestingly, the three psychological states were found to have been impacted upon by changes in the JCT core job characteristics but also by factors related to the context of the job, such as quality of supervision and co-worker relationship. In contrast to the predictions of the JCT, this study also found that the key job outcomes were impacted directly by such contextual factors as the recent availability of specialists and staff shortages, among others. It also emerged that the PPP implementation has directly evoked a perception of inequity and breach of psychological contract among clinical staff working at the shared service areas. Among the three shared areas, the accident and emergency unit was discovered to have had the worst overall impact. Due to the importance of contextual factors at this PPP setting, key recommendations were directed towards improved management of the jobs. It is also recommended that a follow-up quantitative study be commissioned to further explore the main themes that emerged from this study. This research report is presented in three sections. Section 1 is the evaluative report itself, structured as an academic paper. Section 2 expands on the literature that was briefly reviewed in Section 1 while Section 3 outlines, in greater details, the research methods followed during the conduct of the research and the justifications thereof.
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