Confronting Afrikaans diction challenges in non-Afrikaans mother tongue choirs
- Authors: Botha, Charlotte
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Choral singing -- Diction , Afrikaans language -- Diction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020956
- Description: This study is an initial attempt to identify the most common Afrikaans diction challenges experienced by non-Afrikaans mother tongue speaking choirs, and to explore means of confronting these challenges. No dedicated source exists for choral diction in Afrikaans as a foreign language. This study reviews personal views and literature from various fields that would inform several key elements necessary for the creation of such a source. The primary data for this study was collected through study questionnaires, completed by expert choral conductors who are highly regarded for their success in teaching and performing Afrikaans diction in non-Afrikaans mother tongue speaking choirs, in performance settings such as the ATKV-Applous Choir Competition. Through its proposition of methods for the improvement of Afrikaans diction practices in the non-Afrikaans choral setting, the study promotes the prolific composition of Afrikaans choral literature, and its ubiquitous inclusion in choral repertoire both in South Africa and abroad.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Botha, Charlotte
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Choral singing -- Diction , Afrikaans language -- Diction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020956
- Description: This study is an initial attempt to identify the most common Afrikaans diction challenges experienced by non-Afrikaans mother tongue speaking choirs, and to explore means of confronting these challenges. No dedicated source exists for choral diction in Afrikaans as a foreign language. This study reviews personal views and literature from various fields that would inform several key elements necessary for the creation of such a source. The primary data for this study was collected through study questionnaires, completed by expert choral conductors who are highly regarded for their success in teaching and performing Afrikaans diction in non-Afrikaans mother tongue speaking choirs, in performance settings such as the ATKV-Applous Choir Competition. Through its proposition of methods for the improvement of Afrikaans diction practices in the non-Afrikaans choral setting, the study promotes the prolific composition of Afrikaans choral literature, and its ubiquitous inclusion in choral repertoire both in South Africa and abroad.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Assessing the role of Walter Sisulu University on economic development in King Sabata Dalindyebo (Eastern Cape)
- Authors: Boti, Z T
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015138
- Description: This mini-dissertation assesses the role played by Walter Sisulu University in achieving economic development in King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality. The aims of the study were: Assess the role played by Walter Sisulu University in achieving economic development in KSD. Assess the strides and achievements that Walter Sisulu University as an institution for higher learning has achieved in terms of advancing economic development in KSD municipality. In accordance with these aims, an investigation of respondent’s perceptions the role played by WSU was undertaken. The participants were 20 staff members from three faculties and two units in Nelson Mandela Drive campus of Walter Sisulu University. Using purposive sampling to select the research respondents, data was collected. The researcher also used journals, articles and books, both published and unpublished to collect data. A quantitative and qualitative data analysis was used in order to draw conclusions about the strides taken by WSU, and satisfaction of respondents with the existing programmers offered at Walter Sisulu University. Empirical evidence concerning problems with implementation of research initiatives that support community-based research and business research as supported by the mission and vision of the institution has been uncovered. In spite of the clearly articulated mission statement and the vision of this comprehensive university, the research revealed that the institution is lagging behind in delivering its mandate. On the basis of the findings, recommendations for enhancing economic development in KSD were put forward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Boti, Z T
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015138
- Description: This mini-dissertation assesses the role played by Walter Sisulu University in achieving economic development in King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality. The aims of the study were: Assess the role played by Walter Sisulu University in achieving economic development in KSD. Assess the strides and achievements that Walter Sisulu University as an institution for higher learning has achieved in terms of advancing economic development in KSD municipality. In accordance with these aims, an investigation of respondent’s perceptions the role played by WSU was undertaken. The participants were 20 staff members from three faculties and two units in Nelson Mandela Drive campus of Walter Sisulu University. Using purposive sampling to select the research respondents, data was collected. The researcher also used journals, articles and books, both published and unpublished to collect data. A quantitative and qualitative data analysis was used in order to draw conclusions about the strides taken by WSU, and satisfaction of respondents with the existing programmers offered at Walter Sisulu University. Empirical evidence concerning problems with implementation of research initiatives that support community-based research and business research as supported by the mission and vision of the institution has been uncovered. In spite of the clearly articulated mission statement and the vision of this comprehensive university, the research revealed that the institution is lagging behind in delivering its mandate. On the basis of the findings, recommendations for enhancing economic development in KSD were put forward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Factors influencing pay systems in the manufacturing industry of Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Boyce, Ncedile
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Wage payment systems , Incentives in industry , Employee motivation , Compensation management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8926 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021168
- Description: Collective bargaining was impacted by the confrontation at Marakina and the role players, employers and unions were left looking for new creative alternatives to reward operational employees (blue collar workers).Then, finding a well-designed pay system is crucial for the success of the organisation, since collective bargaining is under pressure. The following determinants, job based pay, performance based pay, skills based pay, education and training, and tenure based pay were constructed from literature to formulate the conceptual model for the pay of operators in the manufacturing sector of Port Elizabeth. There are a number of factors that are at play in the determination and design of pay systems, which need to be considered. Two major pay systems are at the centre of this study and they are those based on the worth of the job and those that are based on employees’ skills, productivity, education and training, and tenure. Pay equity is at the heart of employment relationship and is the reference point with regard to the distribution of resources when economic productivity and profitability are achieved. The findings presented indicated that all the determinants, job based pay, performance based pay, skills based pay and education and training, with the exception of tenure based pay, were significant to the pay of operational employees. However, the multivariable regression model found that job based pay is more significant and should be modelled as the foundation of the pay system for operational employees. Other pay determinants, such as performance and skills based pay are best modelled as additional increments that accelerate employees’ pay.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Boyce, Ncedile
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Wage payment systems , Incentives in industry , Employee motivation , Compensation management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8926 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021168
- Description: Collective bargaining was impacted by the confrontation at Marakina and the role players, employers and unions were left looking for new creative alternatives to reward operational employees (blue collar workers).Then, finding a well-designed pay system is crucial for the success of the organisation, since collective bargaining is under pressure. The following determinants, job based pay, performance based pay, skills based pay, education and training, and tenure based pay were constructed from literature to formulate the conceptual model for the pay of operators in the manufacturing sector of Port Elizabeth. There are a number of factors that are at play in the determination and design of pay systems, which need to be considered. Two major pay systems are at the centre of this study and they are those based on the worth of the job and those that are based on employees’ skills, productivity, education and training, and tenure. Pay equity is at the heart of employment relationship and is the reference point with regard to the distribution of resources when economic productivity and profitability are achieved. The findings presented indicated that all the determinants, job based pay, performance based pay, skills based pay and education and training, with the exception of tenure based pay, were significant to the pay of operational employees. However, the multivariable regression model found that job based pay is more significant and should be modelled as the foundation of the pay system for operational employees. Other pay determinants, such as performance and skills based pay are best modelled as additional increments that accelerate employees’ pay.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Electrical conductivity experiments on carbon-rich Karoo shales and forward modelling of aeromagnetic data across the Beattie Anomaly
- Authors: Branch, Thomas Cameron
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Earth sciences -- South Africa -- Karoo , Geology -- South Africa -- Karoo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1014544
- Description: The Beattie Magnetic Anomaly is the world’s longest terrestrial magnetic anomaly with a strike length of over 1000 km and a wavelength in excess of 100 km. Collinear with this is a large belt of elevated crustal conductivities called the Southern Cape Conductive Belt. Historical crustal interpretations proposed a common source of serpentinized ophiolite as an explanation for both the anomalous crustal magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivities. Spreading between the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa the mid- to lower crust that hosts these anomalies is obscured by the overlying Cape and Karoo Supergroups. Between 2003 and 2006, three high resolution geophysical experiments were completed across the surface maximum of the Beattie Magnetic Anomaly (BMA) and the Southern Cape Conductive Belt (SCCB). These included a magnetotelluric (MT) survey and near vertical reflection and wide angle refraction seismic profiles. Within the MT inversion model the SCCB appeared as a composite anomaly, which included a mid-crustal conductor which is spatially associated with the BMA and a laterally continuous upper crustal conductor which is located at depths equivalent to the lower Karoo Supergroup. Subsequently; the upper crustal conductor was identified in northern and eastern extensions of the magnetotelluric profile; a distance in excess of 400 km. Historical magnetometer and Schlumberger Sounding experiments have previously identified elevated conductivities in the Karoo sequences which were attributed to the Whitehill and Prince Albert formations. These carboniferous, transgressive sediments are known to be conductive from borehole conductivity surveys and direct measurements at surface. In order to constrain the conductive properties of these sediments, impedance spectroscopy (IS) experiments were completed on core samples collected from a historical borehole drilled near to the MT profile. Part One of this thesis presents the results of these experiments, which support the proposition that the Whitehill and Prince Albert Formations are responsible for the laterally continuous, sub-horizontal, upper crustal conductor visible in the MT inversion model. Vitrinite reflectance studies were performed on the same samples by the Montanuniversität, in Leoben, these results corroborate the proposition that elevated organic carbon, of meta-anthracite rank, is the primary conductive phase for the Whitehill and Prince Albert formations. Part two of this thesis completed forward modelling exercises using historical aeromagnetic data previously collected across the Beattie Magnetic Anomaly. Preliminary models were unable to fit the geometry of any single magnetic model with conductors present in the MT inversion model discounting the proposition that the SCCB and BMA arise from a single crustal unit. Two constrained models were arrived at through an iterative process that sought a best fit between the measured data and the NVR crustal interpretations. The first model, proposes a largely resistive unit which incorporates portions of elevated crustal conductivity; these conductors are spatially correlated to crustal portions also characterised by high seismic reflectivity. The size of this modelled body suggest the likely host of the BMA is an intermediate plutonic terrane, analogous with the Natal sector of the Namaqua Natal Mobile Belt as well as the Heimefrontfjella in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, with magnetite hosted within shear zones. This is in agreement with previous studies. The second model proposes a lower crustal sliver imaged in the NVR data at depths proximal to the Curie Isotherm for magnetite and hematite as the source of the BMA. At these depths geomagnetic properties such as burial magnetisation or thermo-viscous remanent magnetism (TVRM) can potentially be linked to regional scale tectonic processes and can theoretically elevate a body’s net magnetic susceptibility. TVRM has been proposed for long wavelength crustal anomalies elsewhere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Branch, Thomas Cameron
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Earth sciences -- South Africa -- Karoo , Geology -- South Africa -- Karoo
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1014544
- Description: The Beattie Magnetic Anomaly is the world’s longest terrestrial magnetic anomaly with a strike length of over 1000 km and a wavelength in excess of 100 km. Collinear with this is a large belt of elevated crustal conductivities called the Southern Cape Conductive Belt. Historical crustal interpretations proposed a common source of serpentinized ophiolite as an explanation for both the anomalous crustal magnetic susceptibility and electrical conductivities. Spreading between the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa the mid- to lower crust that hosts these anomalies is obscured by the overlying Cape and Karoo Supergroups. Between 2003 and 2006, three high resolution geophysical experiments were completed across the surface maximum of the Beattie Magnetic Anomaly (BMA) and the Southern Cape Conductive Belt (SCCB). These included a magnetotelluric (MT) survey and near vertical reflection and wide angle refraction seismic profiles. Within the MT inversion model the SCCB appeared as a composite anomaly, which included a mid-crustal conductor which is spatially associated with the BMA and a laterally continuous upper crustal conductor which is located at depths equivalent to the lower Karoo Supergroup. Subsequently; the upper crustal conductor was identified in northern and eastern extensions of the magnetotelluric profile; a distance in excess of 400 km. Historical magnetometer and Schlumberger Sounding experiments have previously identified elevated conductivities in the Karoo sequences which were attributed to the Whitehill and Prince Albert formations. These carboniferous, transgressive sediments are known to be conductive from borehole conductivity surveys and direct measurements at surface. In order to constrain the conductive properties of these sediments, impedance spectroscopy (IS) experiments were completed on core samples collected from a historical borehole drilled near to the MT profile. Part One of this thesis presents the results of these experiments, which support the proposition that the Whitehill and Prince Albert Formations are responsible for the laterally continuous, sub-horizontal, upper crustal conductor visible in the MT inversion model. Vitrinite reflectance studies were performed on the same samples by the Montanuniversität, in Leoben, these results corroborate the proposition that elevated organic carbon, of meta-anthracite rank, is the primary conductive phase for the Whitehill and Prince Albert formations. Part two of this thesis completed forward modelling exercises using historical aeromagnetic data previously collected across the Beattie Magnetic Anomaly. Preliminary models were unable to fit the geometry of any single magnetic model with conductors present in the MT inversion model discounting the proposition that the SCCB and BMA arise from a single crustal unit. Two constrained models were arrived at through an iterative process that sought a best fit between the measured data and the NVR crustal interpretations. The first model, proposes a largely resistive unit which incorporates portions of elevated crustal conductivity; these conductors are spatially correlated to crustal portions also characterised by high seismic reflectivity. The size of this modelled body suggest the likely host of the BMA is an intermediate plutonic terrane, analogous with the Natal sector of the Namaqua Natal Mobile Belt as well as the Heimefrontfjella in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, with magnetite hosted within shear zones. This is in agreement with previous studies. The second model proposes a lower crustal sliver imaged in the NVR data at depths proximal to the Curie Isotherm for magnetite and hematite as the source of the BMA. At these depths geomagnetic properties such as burial magnetisation or thermo-viscous remanent magnetism (TVRM) can potentially be linked to regional scale tectonic processes and can theoretically elevate a body’s net magnetic susceptibility. TVRM has been proposed for long wavelength crustal anomalies elsewhere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A review of archean orogenic gold deposits in greenstone belts and the Slave Province : exploration in the Yellowknife domain, NWT, Canada
- Authors: Branson, Thomas Keegan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Gold ores -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Gold ores -- Geology , Gold mines and mining -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Greenstone belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Orogenic belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Prospecting -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Mining geology , Slave Province (N.W.T. and Nunavut)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5055 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012142 , Gold ores -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Gold ores -- Geology , Gold mines and mining -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Greenstone belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Orogenic belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Prospecting -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Mining geology , Slave Province (N.W.T. and Nunavut)
- Description: A review of Archean granite-greenstone terranes, orogenic gold deposits, the Slave Province and modern exploration tools, techniques and methods was conducted to identify prospective areas in the Yellowknife domain for hosting orogenic gold deposits and illustrate the best exploration methods for delineating this deposit type. This study identifies Archean granite-greenstone terranes as economically important hosts to quartz-carbonate vein-hosted orogenic gold deposits. These deposits occur at convergent plate margins, but can also be related to local extensional tectonics within a convergent setting. Heat generated from tectonic processes can trigger hydrothermal fluid movement along first-order faults and shear zones. Precipitation of gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins from the hydrothermal fluids occurs in second- and third-order faults and shear zones related to the first-order structures. This study also identifies the Archean Slave Province in northern Canada as a well-endowed craton with numerous orogenic gold deposits, diamondiferous kimberlites, VMS deposits and several other mineralization styles. In particular, three greenstone belts (Yellowknife, Cameron River and Beaulieu River) associated with likely first-order structures are comprised of prospective rocks for hosting orogenic gold and VMS mineralization. The Yellowknife greenstone belt hosts the past-producing and former world-class Con and Giant orogenic gold deposits, but has been little explored with modern exploration techniques. The Cameron River and Beaulieu River greenstone belts host numerous base and precious metal VMS and BIF-hosted orogenic gold prospects and deposits, indicating mineralization is present. There is considerable potential for significant discoveries to be made using modern exploration techniques in the greenstone belts; however, exploration in the region has been hindered over the past decade by ongoing political negotiations. Once the political negotiations are finalized, application of modern exploration methods and techniques in the prospective greenstone belts should be carried out. Regional scale methodologies should be applied to generate targets using predictive modelling, implicit 3D modelling, 3D geochemistry and exploration targeting so decisions defining a businesses strategy for ground acquisition of high priority targets are made using quantitative analysis. Once ground is acquired, field-based exploration for orogenic gold and VMS deposits should include geological mapping with a focus on structural geology, geochemical sampling and airborne magnetic, radiometric and EM geophysical surveys. Prior to reconnaissance drilling, integration of all data layers and interpretation within a common 3D earth model should be conducted. Following successful reconnaissance drilling, definition drilling along strike and down dip of intersected mineralization, combined with borehole geophysics, should be carried out to delineate the extent of mineralization.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Branson, Thomas Keegan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Gold ores -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Gold ores -- Geology , Gold mines and mining -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Greenstone belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Orogenic belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Prospecting -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Mining geology , Slave Province (N.W.T. and Nunavut)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5055 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012142 , Gold ores -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Gold ores -- Geology , Gold mines and mining -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Greenstone belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Orogenic belts -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Prospecting -- Northwest Territories -- Yellowknife , Mining geology , Slave Province (N.W.T. and Nunavut)
- Description: A review of Archean granite-greenstone terranes, orogenic gold deposits, the Slave Province and modern exploration tools, techniques and methods was conducted to identify prospective areas in the Yellowknife domain for hosting orogenic gold deposits and illustrate the best exploration methods for delineating this deposit type. This study identifies Archean granite-greenstone terranes as economically important hosts to quartz-carbonate vein-hosted orogenic gold deposits. These deposits occur at convergent plate margins, but can also be related to local extensional tectonics within a convergent setting. Heat generated from tectonic processes can trigger hydrothermal fluid movement along first-order faults and shear zones. Precipitation of gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins from the hydrothermal fluids occurs in second- and third-order faults and shear zones related to the first-order structures. This study also identifies the Archean Slave Province in northern Canada as a well-endowed craton with numerous orogenic gold deposits, diamondiferous kimberlites, VMS deposits and several other mineralization styles. In particular, three greenstone belts (Yellowknife, Cameron River and Beaulieu River) associated with likely first-order structures are comprised of prospective rocks for hosting orogenic gold and VMS mineralization. The Yellowknife greenstone belt hosts the past-producing and former world-class Con and Giant orogenic gold deposits, but has been little explored with modern exploration techniques. The Cameron River and Beaulieu River greenstone belts host numerous base and precious metal VMS and BIF-hosted orogenic gold prospects and deposits, indicating mineralization is present. There is considerable potential for significant discoveries to be made using modern exploration techniques in the greenstone belts; however, exploration in the region has been hindered over the past decade by ongoing political negotiations. Once the political negotiations are finalized, application of modern exploration methods and techniques in the prospective greenstone belts should be carried out. Regional scale methodologies should be applied to generate targets using predictive modelling, implicit 3D modelling, 3D geochemistry and exploration targeting so decisions defining a businesses strategy for ground acquisition of high priority targets are made using quantitative analysis. Once ground is acquired, field-based exploration for orogenic gold and VMS deposits should include geological mapping with a focus on structural geology, geochemical sampling and airborne magnetic, radiometric and EM geophysical surveys. Prior to reconnaissance drilling, integration of all data layers and interpretation within a common 3D earth model should be conducted. Following successful reconnaissance drilling, definition drilling along strike and down dip of intersected mineralization, combined with borehole geophysics, should be carried out to delineate the extent of mineralization.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The taxation of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) in South Africa
- Authors: Breetzke, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Real estate investment trusts -- South Africa , Real estate investment trusts -- Taxation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020001
- Description: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s) provide certain benefits for investors as opposed to them directly investing in property. Many countries worldwide have already established tax systems for REIT’s which give natural persons and companies the benefit of not outlaying substantial capital, and provide certain tax dispensations to them. The concept of a REIT is new to South Africa. The vehicles that have been used by investors in the past to invest indirectly in property have been Property Unit Trusts (PUTs) and Property Loan Stock Companies (PLS). These different types of entities have had different taxation rules applied to them, as they differed in legal entity, i.e. a trust versus a company. The different types of entity were historically a deterrent to foreign investors who preferred to invest in countries that had the REIT structure and certain tax dispensations. The National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) decided to collaborate in this matter so as to encourage foreign property investment, and launched with effect from 1 April 2013, a new REIT tax dispensation for investors in property portfolios. The REIT created a unified regime in South Africa. All portfolios wanting to call themselves REITs had to qualify under certain requirements, and then they would be eligible for the new section 25BB tax dispensation. The South African REIT market is relatively new when compared to the Australian REIT market, which is the second largest in the world. The Australian REIT market has been around for approximately forty three years more than the South African REIT market. The Australian REIT regime is analysed in terms of how REITs are taxed in that country. The final chapter provides a comparison between the South African and Australian REIT regimes. The major differences are identified as to how each country taxes the REITs and the respective shareholders, and from these a few proposals are made which could improve the South African REIT regime in order for it to stand up to worldwide scrutiny.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Breetzke, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Real estate investment trusts -- South Africa , Real estate investment trusts -- Taxation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020001
- Description: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s) provide certain benefits for investors as opposed to them directly investing in property. Many countries worldwide have already established tax systems for REIT’s which give natural persons and companies the benefit of not outlaying substantial capital, and provide certain tax dispensations to them. The concept of a REIT is new to South Africa. The vehicles that have been used by investors in the past to invest indirectly in property have been Property Unit Trusts (PUTs) and Property Loan Stock Companies (PLS). These different types of entities have had different taxation rules applied to them, as they differed in legal entity, i.e. a trust versus a company. The different types of entity were historically a deterrent to foreign investors who preferred to invest in countries that had the REIT structure and certain tax dispensations. The National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) decided to collaborate in this matter so as to encourage foreign property investment, and launched with effect from 1 April 2013, a new REIT tax dispensation for investors in property portfolios. The REIT created a unified regime in South Africa. All portfolios wanting to call themselves REITs had to qualify under certain requirements, and then they would be eligible for the new section 25BB tax dispensation. The South African REIT market is relatively new when compared to the Australian REIT market, which is the second largest in the world. The Australian REIT market has been around for approximately forty three years more than the South African REIT market. The Australian REIT regime is analysed in terms of how REITs are taxed in that country. The final chapter provides a comparison between the South African and Australian REIT regimes. The major differences are identified as to how each country taxes the REITs and the respective shareholders, and from these a few proposals are made which could improve the South African REIT regime in order for it to stand up to worldwide scrutiny.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The influence of performance management systems on employee engagement
- Brewis, Willem Christiaan Coenraad
- Authors: Brewis, Willem Christiaan Coenraad
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Performance standards , Sales personne -- Rating of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019957
- Description: This study focused on investigating different performance management systems and the possibility to introduce a performance management system (PMS) into the sales environment of a company. The company the researcher is working for does not have an official PMS and feel the need to investigate the possibility to introduce a PMS. The study investigated an appropriate PMS that promotes engagement levels with employees that will be the ideal system for the sales environment in the company. Both the PMS and engagement impact on employees were addressed and the suitable PMS was selected. Implementing a system within a selected division the researcher will compile a road map for implementing a PMS into the rest of the company with the background and learning done while implementing the system. The employees participated willingly in a survey. The questionnaire assessed the employees understanding of what a PMS is. Further, the questionnaire assessed if the company does have a PMS system in place. The engagement levels of employees were measured and this allowed management to make the appropriate changes to get the employees engaged in the workplace. The results from the survey show that the employees understand and have a need for a PMS. They do understand how a PMS in the workplace work. The company has a system in place to compensate employees for work done. The company does not deal with underperformance and engagement levels are very low. The factors of engagement tested were very low and it addressing the engagement factors integrated in a PMS will increase engagement levels with employees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Brewis, Willem Christiaan Coenraad
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Performance standards , Sales personne -- Rating of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019957
- Description: This study focused on investigating different performance management systems and the possibility to introduce a performance management system (PMS) into the sales environment of a company. The company the researcher is working for does not have an official PMS and feel the need to investigate the possibility to introduce a PMS. The study investigated an appropriate PMS that promotes engagement levels with employees that will be the ideal system for the sales environment in the company. Both the PMS and engagement impact on employees were addressed and the suitable PMS was selected. Implementing a system within a selected division the researcher will compile a road map for implementing a PMS into the rest of the company with the background and learning done while implementing the system. The employees participated willingly in a survey. The questionnaire assessed the employees understanding of what a PMS is. Further, the questionnaire assessed if the company does have a PMS system in place. The engagement levels of employees were measured and this allowed management to make the appropriate changes to get the employees engaged in the workplace. The results from the survey show that the employees understand and have a need for a PMS. They do understand how a PMS in the workplace work. The company has a system in place to compensate employees for work done. The company does not deal with underperformance and engagement levels are very low. The factors of engagement tested were very low and it addressing the engagement factors integrated in a PMS will increase engagement levels with employees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The influence of employees's perceptions of organisational ethics and perceived relative self-ethicality on their levels of organisational identification and overall well-being
- Authors: Breytenbach, Nadia
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Corporate culture , Well-being , Work ethic , Self-realization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9411 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020072
- Description: This study investigated whether an employees’ perception of the ethical culture in the organisation and their perception of their own ethicality influenced their level of organisational identification and additionally, whether this relationship between perceived ethical culture and organisational identification had an influence on workplace wellbeing. The aim of this research study was to measure employees’ perceptions of organisational ethics, their relative self-ethicality, organisational identification, and wellbeing, in order to develop a model pertaining to the relationship between these three constructs. Research showed that employees’ perceptions of the ethical culture in their organisation can influence how they identify with that particular organisation. Research also indicated that the differences between perceived organisational ethicality and relative self-ethicality exist. Additionally, research showed the influence of perceived ethical culture and relative self-ethicality has indicated a relationship between organisational identification and wellbeing respectively. However, to date and to the researcher’s knowledge there has been no investigation of the relationship between these four constructs. This research study was quantitative in nature in which a questionnaire was utilised as a research method. A sample of 111 respondent from three organisations in the automation industry in the Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth was utilised for this research study. The main findings indicated that an alternative model resulted to be a good fit through structural equation modelling. The results illustrated that organisational ethicality has an influence on how employees identify with their organisations and how this relationship influences wellbeing. Therefore, it is worthwhile to invest in an ethical organisational culture for the sustainability of the organisation and its employees’ livelihoods. This study contributes to the literature based on perceived ethical culture, organisational identification, and workplace wellbeing. Additionally, the study provides readers with a model on how these concepts influence each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Breytenbach, Nadia
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Corporate culture , Well-being , Work ethic , Self-realization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9411 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020072
- Description: This study investigated whether an employees’ perception of the ethical culture in the organisation and their perception of their own ethicality influenced their level of organisational identification and additionally, whether this relationship between perceived ethical culture and organisational identification had an influence on workplace wellbeing. The aim of this research study was to measure employees’ perceptions of organisational ethics, their relative self-ethicality, organisational identification, and wellbeing, in order to develop a model pertaining to the relationship between these three constructs. Research showed that employees’ perceptions of the ethical culture in their organisation can influence how they identify with that particular organisation. Research also indicated that the differences between perceived organisational ethicality and relative self-ethicality exist. Additionally, research showed the influence of perceived ethical culture and relative self-ethicality has indicated a relationship between organisational identification and wellbeing respectively. However, to date and to the researcher’s knowledge there has been no investigation of the relationship between these four constructs. This research study was quantitative in nature in which a questionnaire was utilised as a research method. A sample of 111 respondent from three organisations in the automation industry in the Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth was utilised for this research study. The main findings indicated that an alternative model resulted to be a good fit through structural equation modelling. The results illustrated that organisational ethicality has an influence on how employees identify with their organisations and how this relationship influences wellbeing. Therefore, it is worthwhile to invest in an ethical organisational culture for the sustainability of the organisation and its employees’ livelihoods. This study contributes to the literature based on perceived ethical culture, organisational identification, and workplace wellbeing. Additionally, the study provides readers with a model on how these concepts influence each other.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Community adaptation strategies to environmental degradation in the south west region of Cameroon
- Authors: Buh, Gilbert Ewi
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Environmental degradation -- Cameroon , Sustainable development -- Cameroon , Irrigation -- Cameroon
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9189 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020301
- Description: The Republic of Cameroon (8-16°E; 2-13°N) is a Central African nation that borders the Bight of Biafra. It is home of about 20 million people and a country with great environmental and agricultural diversity that reflects Africa. It is known as ‘Africa Miniature’. Recent policies and administrative malfunctions has plunged the SWR into severe environmental problems that led to a cholera outbreak, claiming many lives. Community respond to these severe environmental problems in the SWR greatly left behind resilient strategies to reduce its spread. A mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative research approach was used by the researcher to come up with community strategies which this research seeks to address. Various conclusions such as community demand for support from the local government, sustainable irrigation programs, availability of pipe-borne water and environmental education were put in place, as possible solutions to the persisting environmental problems in the SWR.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buh, Gilbert Ewi
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Environmental degradation -- Cameroon , Sustainable development -- Cameroon , Irrigation -- Cameroon
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9189 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020301
- Description: The Republic of Cameroon (8-16°E; 2-13°N) is a Central African nation that borders the Bight of Biafra. It is home of about 20 million people and a country with great environmental and agricultural diversity that reflects Africa. It is known as ‘Africa Miniature’. Recent policies and administrative malfunctions has plunged the SWR into severe environmental problems that led to a cholera outbreak, claiming many lives. Community respond to these severe environmental problems in the SWR greatly left behind resilient strategies to reduce its spread. A mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative research approach was used by the researcher to come up with community strategies which this research seeks to address. Various conclusions such as community demand for support from the local government, sustainable irrigation programs, availability of pipe-borne water and environmental education were put in place, as possible solutions to the persisting environmental problems in the SWR.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Frontiers of exclusion and enclusion: post-apartheid suburban social dynamics in East London, Beacon Bay
- Authors: Buku, Luzuko
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1316 , vital:26545
- Description: This dissertation deals with the nature of the black middle-class assimilation in the South African suburban space, a space that was the sole preserve of the white middle-class during apartheid. It explores the relationship between these races as they come to meet in this space and what new identities are being formed. It also explores the relationship between both the black and white suburbanites and the urban poor who stay in an adjacent area to the suburb. The study uses the Beacon Bay area, which is constituted by one of East London’s most affluent suburbs and a poor township, Nompumelelo, to show how the emergent black middle-class has managed to enter this space in the post-apartheid era. Previous studies by Richard Ballard (2004) and Grant Saff (2001) have shown how the white middle-class has always been against any form of race or class mixing. Within the suburb, the new black suburbanites in Beacon Bay appear to have been welcomed but with conditions by their fellow white counterparts. The relationship between these two races does not stretch beyond meet and greets and it is only in the second generation black middle-class that you find better and non-superficial relations with fellow white suburbanites. In the older generation, the generation that experienced apartheid, the relationship between these two races has been that of tolerance and serious escape of contact unless when necessary. The children of both white and black families, though, have a far better relationship in school and in sport than their parents. This has created another area of contact for both these races and it bears potential for meaningful integration in the suburban space. Externally as it relates to relations between the black middle-class and the urban poor, the findings show that these new black suburbanites express a similar discomfort as the white suburbanites about the urban poor’s presence in the area. This shows that the evolution of the Beacon Bay suburb, with its deep-rooted discourse of white middle-class exclusivity, has not been entirely about hatred of the urban poor necessarily but about an identity ascription of what it means to live in a suburb. Despite these realities traditional ceremonies organised by the black middle-class in the suburbs and the church appear to be playing a role in creating relations between these suburbanites and the Nompumelelo residents. This is why we have decided to use the conceptualisation of the 18th century frontier zone as the borders of segregation within the suburb and between the suburban residents and those of the township can be crossed and re-crossed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buku, Luzuko
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1316 , vital:26545
- Description: This dissertation deals with the nature of the black middle-class assimilation in the South African suburban space, a space that was the sole preserve of the white middle-class during apartheid. It explores the relationship between these races as they come to meet in this space and what new identities are being formed. It also explores the relationship between both the black and white suburbanites and the urban poor who stay in an adjacent area to the suburb. The study uses the Beacon Bay area, which is constituted by one of East London’s most affluent suburbs and a poor township, Nompumelelo, to show how the emergent black middle-class has managed to enter this space in the post-apartheid era. Previous studies by Richard Ballard (2004) and Grant Saff (2001) have shown how the white middle-class has always been against any form of race or class mixing. Within the suburb, the new black suburbanites in Beacon Bay appear to have been welcomed but with conditions by their fellow white counterparts. The relationship between these two races does not stretch beyond meet and greets and it is only in the second generation black middle-class that you find better and non-superficial relations with fellow white suburbanites. In the older generation, the generation that experienced apartheid, the relationship between these two races has been that of tolerance and serious escape of contact unless when necessary. The children of both white and black families, though, have a far better relationship in school and in sport than their parents. This has created another area of contact for both these races and it bears potential for meaningful integration in the suburban space. Externally as it relates to relations between the black middle-class and the urban poor, the findings show that these new black suburbanites express a similar discomfort as the white suburbanites about the urban poor’s presence in the area. This shows that the evolution of the Beacon Bay suburb, with its deep-rooted discourse of white middle-class exclusivity, has not been entirely about hatred of the urban poor necessarily but about an identity ascription of what it means to live in a suburb. Despite these realities traditional ceremonies organised by the black middle-class in the suburbs and the church appear to be playing a role in creating relations between these suburbanites and the Nompumelelo residents. This is why we have decided to use the conceptualisation of the 18th century frontier zone as the borders of segregation within the suburb and between the suburban residents and those of the township can be crossed and re-crossed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploration of nursing students’ experiences of learning in a tertiary institution in East London in the Province of Eastern Cape
- Authors: Bulelwa, Cynthia James
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Nursing Science)
- Identifier: vital:11909 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015526
- Description: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of nursing students learning in a tertiary institution in East London in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Reviewed literature has revealed that the transition from high school to university is a major concern globally and that students start tertiary education with a number of pre-existing problems which influence their experience of learning and their academic performance. A qualitative, contextual approach and phenomenology design was seen as most appropriate to guide this research process in this study. Purposive, non-probability sampling was used to select the 12 participants. The participants included nursing students from the University of Fort Hare in East London in the Eastern Cape Province who are enrolled in the course leading to registration as a Nurse (General, Psychiatry and Community) and Midwifery. A pilot study was conducted at the University of Fort Hare involving respondents with similar characteristics to the study population.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Bulelwa, Cynthia James
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Nursing Science)
- Identifier: vital:11909 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015526
- Description: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of nursing students learning in a tertiary institution in East London in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Reviewed literature has revealed that the transition from high school to university is a major concern globally and that students start tertiary education with a number of pre-existing problems which influence their experience of learning and their academic performance. A qualitative, contextual approach and phenomenology design was seen as most appropriate to guide this research process in this study. Purposive, non-probability sampling was used to select the 12 participants. The participants included nursing students from the University of Fort Hare in East London in the Eastern Cape Province who are enrolled in the course leading to registration as a Nurse (General, Psychiatry and Community) and Midwifery. A pilot study was conducted at the University of Fort Hare involving respondents with similar characteristics to the study population.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
South African VAT implications in respect of supplies by non residents to residents
- Authors: Burger, Bianca
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Electronic commerce -- Taxation -- Law and legislation , Business enterprises -- Taxation -- Law and legislation , Value-added tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019977
- Description: Paragraph 7(1) of the VAT Act provides for the charging of VAT at 14 percent on the supply of goods or services by a vendor in the course or furtherance of an ‘enterprise’, the importation into South Africa of goods by any person or the supply of ‘imported services’. The term ‘enterprise’ has been interpreted to require an on-going activity and therefore once off sales should be excluded. The sale must relate to enterprise activities, thereby excluding private sales. Furthermore the enterprise activities are required to be carried out in the Republic or partly in the Republic. Establishing whether the enterprise activities are carried out in the Republic remains a contentious issue as the VAT Act does not specify the minimum required business activities to meet this criterion. ‘Imported services’ excludes services imported for the purposes of making taxable supplies and the liability of accounting for VAT on ‘imported services’ lies with the recipient of the imported service. Supplies (imported services) which are chargeable in terms of s 7(1)(a) and supplies, which if made in the Republic, are exempt from VAT or zero rated. ‘Imported services’ definition requires services to be consumed in South Africa. Services offered outside South Africa therefore generally do not qualify as imported services even the South African entity benefits from such services, for example a training course attended in a foreign country. Technological developments in the field of e-commerce globally have required countries to examine VAT laws relating to e-commerce. Extensive research has been done by the OECD on this topic, with reports issued on recommendations of how e-commerce should be taxed. Most guidance issued by the OECD on taxing e-commerce relates to indirect electronic commerce, which refers to goods or services where ordering, payment and delivery occur on line. Distinction is drawn between taxation of business-to-business transactions and business-to-consumer transactions. The OECD suggests that the ‘reverse-charge’ or self-assessment method should be applied to the taxing of B2B transactions resulting in minimal compliance and administrative costs. It is further recommended that for B2C transactions place of consumption should be defined as the recipient’s usual jurisdiction of residence and that non-resident suppliers should be required to register and pay VAT in the jurisdiction of the consumer, as this would result in the most effective tax collection method. ‘Enterprise’ includes electronic services from a foreign supplier where the recipient is a resident of South Africa or where the payment originated from a South African bank account. The Minister’s regulation, which came into effect on 1 June 2014, includes the following items in the definition of electronic services: educational services, games, online auction services, miscellaneous services and subscription services. The South African VAT legislation draws no distinction between B2B and B2C supplies of electronic services. The reasoning behind this was to avoid situations in which private customers could pose as business customers in order to avoid the levying of tax. A review of the services currently included in the Minister’s regulation on electronic services indicate that services that would relate to B2B supplies have mostly been excluded from the regulation. Effectively the South African VAT legislation manages to indirectly exclude B2B supplies from the definition of electronic services and therefore achieves the objective of minimising the administrative burden on B2B supplies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Burger, Bianca
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Electronic commerce -- Taxation -- Law and legislation , Business enterprises -- Taxation -- Law and legislation , Value-added tax -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019977
- Description: Paragraph 7(1) of the VAT Act provides for the charging of VAT at 14 percent on the supply of goods or services by a vendor in the course or furtherance of an ‘enterprise’, the importation into South Africa of goods by any person or the supply of ‘imported services’. The term ‘enterprise’ has been interpreted to require an on-going activity and therefore once off sales should be excluded. The sale must relate to enterprise activities, thereby excluding private sales. Furthermore the enterprise activities are required to be carried out in the Republic or partly in the Republic. Establishing whether the enterprise activities are carried out in the Republic remains a contentious issue as the VAT Act does not specify the minimum required business activities to meet this criterion. ‘Imported services’ excludes services imported for the purposes of making taxable supplies and the liability of accounting for VAT on ‘imported services’ lies with the recipient of the imported service. Supplies (imported services) which are chargeable in terms of s 7(1)(a) and supplies, which if made in the Republic, are exempt from VAT or zero rated. ‘Imported services’ definition requires services to be consumed in South Africa. Services offered outside South Africa therefore generally do not qualify as imported services even the South African entity benefits from such services, for example a training course attended in a foreign country. Technological developments in the field of e-commerce globally have required countries to examine VAT laws relating to e-commerce. Extensive research has been done by the OECD on this topic, with reports issued on recommendations of how e-commerce should be taxed. Most guidance issued by the OECD on taxing e-commerce relates to indirect electronic commerce, which refers to goods or services where ordering, payment and delivery occur on line. Distinction is drawn between taxation of business-to-business transactions and business-to-consumer transactions. The OECD suggests that the ‘reverse-charge’ or self-assessment method should be applied to the taxing of B2B transactions resulting in minimal compliance and administrative costs. It is further recommended that for B2C transactions place of consumption should be defined as the recipient’s usual jurisdiction of residence and that non-resident suppliers should be required to register and pay VAT in the jurisdiction of the consumer, as this would result in the most effective tax collection method. ‘Enterprise’ includes electronic services from a foreign supplier where the recipient is a resident of South Africa or where the payment originated from a South African bank account. The Minister’s regulation, which came into effect on 1 June 2014, includes the following items in the definition of electronic services: educational services, games, online auction services, miscellaneous services and subscription services. The South African VAT legislation draws no distinction between B2B and B2C supplies of electronic services. The reasoning behind this was to avoid situations in which private customers could pose as business customers in order to avoid the levying of tax. A review of the services currently included in the Minister’s regulation on electronic services indicate that services that would relate to B2B supplies have mostly been excluded from the regulation. Effectively the South African VAT legislation manages to indirectly exclude B2B supplies from the definition of electronic services and therefore achieves the objective of minimising the administrative burden on B2B supplies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A hybridisation technique for game playing using the upper confidence for trees algorithm with artificial neural networks
- Authors: Burger, Clayton
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Neural networks (Computer science) , Computer algorithms
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3957 , vital:20495
- Description: In the domain of strategic game playing, the use of statistical techniques such as the Upper Confidence for Trees (UCT) algorithm, has become the norm as they offer many benefits over classical algorithms. These benefits include requiring no game-specific strategic knowledge and time-scalable performance. UCT does not incorporate any strategic information specific to the game considered, but instead uses repeated sampling to effectively brute-force search through the game tree or search space. The lack of game-specific knowledge in UCT is thus both a benefit but also a strategic disadvantage. Pattern recognition techniques, specifically Neural Networks (NN), were identified as a means of addressing the lack of game-specific knowledge in UCT. Through a novel hybridisation technique which combines UCT and trained NNs for pruning, the UCTNN algorithm was derived. The NN component of UCT-NN was trained using a UCT self-play scheme to generate game-specific knowledge without the need to construct and manage game databases for training purposes. The UCT-NN algorithm is outlined for pruning in the game of Go-Moku as a candidate case-study for this research. The UCT-NN algorithm contained three major parameters which emerged from the UCT algorithm, the use of NNs and the pruning schemes considered. Suitable methods for finding candidate values for these three parameters were outlined and applied to the game of Go-Moku on a 5 by 5 board. An empirical investigation of the playing performance of UCT-NN was conducted in comparison to UCT through three benchmarks. The benchmarks comprise a common randomly moving opponent, a common UCTmax player which is given a large amount of playing time, and a pair-wise tournament between UCT-NN and UCT. The results of the performance evaluation for 5 by 5 Go-Moku were promising, which prompted an evaluation of a larger 9 by 9 Go-Moku board. The results of both evaluations indicate that the time allocated to the UCT-NN algorithm directly affects its performance when compared to UCT. The UCT-NN algorithm generally performs better than UCT in games with very limited time-constraints in all benchmarks considered except when playing against a randomly moving player in 9 by 9 Go-Moku. In real-time and near-real-time Go-Moku games, UCT-NN provides statistically significant improvements compared to UCT. The findings of this research contribute to the realisation of applying game-specific knowledge to the UCT algorithm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Burger, Clayton
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Neural networks (Computer science) , Computer algorithms
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3957 , vital:20495
- Description: In the domain of strategic game playing, the use of statistical techniques such as the Upper Confidence for Trees (UCT) algorithm, has become the norm as they offer many benefits over classical algorithms. These benefits include requiring no game-specific strategic knowledge and time-scalable performance. UCT does not incorporate any strategic information specific to the game considered, but instead uses repeated sampling to effectively brute-force search through the game tree or search space. The lack of game-specific knowledge in UCT is thus both a benefit but also a strategic disadvantage. Pattern recognition techniques, specifically Neural Networks (NN), were identified as a means of addressing the lack of game-specific knowledge in UCT. Through a novel hybridisation technique which combines UCT and trained NNs for pruning, the UCTNN algorithm was derived. The NN component of UCT-NN was trained using a UCT self-play scheme to generate game-specific knowledge without the need to construct and manage game databases for training purposes. The UCT-NN algorithm is outlined for pruning in the game of Go-Moku as a candidate case-study for this research. The UCT-NN algorithm contained three major parameters which emerged from the UCT algorithm, the use of NNs and the pruning schemes considered. Suitable methods for finding candidate values for these three parameters were outlined and applied to the game of Go-Moku on a 5 by 5 board. An empirical investigation of the playing performance of UCT-NN was conducted in comparison to UCT through three benchmarks. The benchmarks comprise a common randomly moving opponent, a common UCTmax player which is given a large amount of playing time, and a pair-wise tournament between UCT-NN and UCT. The results of the performance evaluation for 5 by 5 Go-Moku were promising, which prompted an evaluation of a larger 9 by 9 Go-Moku board. The results of both evaluations indicate that the time allocated to the UCT-NN algorithm directly affects its performance when compared to UCT. The UCT-NN algorithm generally performs better than UCT in games with very limited time-constraints in all benchmarks considered except when playing against a randomly moving player in 9 by 9 Go-Moku. In real-time and near-real-time Go-Moku games, UCT-NN provides statistically significant improvements compared to UCT. The findings of this research contribute to the realisation of applying game-specific knowledge to the UCT algorithm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A new approach to representations of revolution
- Authors: Burke, Matthew Ainslie
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Radicalism in literature , Radicalism in literature -- Moral and ethical aspects , Politics and literature -- Moral and ethical aspects , Revolutionary literature, English
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013068
- Description: This project asserts that revolution is characterised by the expression of unthinkable possibilities, and so addresses the paradox implicit in any attempt to "write revolution." That is, how does one represent revolution without reducing it to an ordered term of reference, and thereby subduing its radical character? Additionally, can transformative action be conceptualised as a creative project to which an ethical subject may, and in fact should, be drawn? To answer these questions, my investigation develops in three strands. I combine the radical theory of Alain Badiou with similar affirmations of revolutionary intervention from Slavoj Žižek and Paulo Freire, and so create an aesthetic that affirms revolutionaries as agents of supplementary creativity. My first purpose is thus to establish revolution as a productive enterprise that enables peace, rather than a destructive undertaking that introduces violence. This done, I apply the resultant conceptual tools to literary representations of radical transformation, and demonstrate that my aesthetic enables new readings of the literature of revolution to which it is applied. In the course of my analysis, I also evaluate the suitability of Badiou's ethic as a standpoint from which to engage with literature on revolution. Ultimately, then, the aesthetic I construct not only contests the notion that radical transformation is always destructive, but also renders one sensitive to revolutionary literature's excessive and supplementary dimensions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Burke, Matthew Ainslie
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Radicalism in literature , Radicalism in literature -- Moral and ethical aspects , Politics and literature -- Moral and ethical aspects , Revolutionary literature, English
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013068
- Description: This project asserts that revolution is characterised by the expression of unthinkable possibilities, and so addresses the paradox implicit in any attempt to "write revolution." That is, how does one represent revolution without reducing it to an ordered term of reference, and thereby subduing its radical character? Additionally, can transformative action be conceptualised as a creative project to which an ethical subject may, and in fact should, be drawn? To answer these questions, my investigation develops in three strands. I combine the radical theory of Alain Badiou with similar affirmations of revolutionary intervention from Slavoj Žižek and Paulo Freire, and so create an aesthetic that affirms revolutionaries as agents of supplementary creativity. My first purpose is thus to establish revolution as a productive enterprise that enables peace, rather than a destructive undertaking that introduces violence. This done, I apply the resultant conceptual tools to literary representations of radical transformation, and demonstrate that my aesthetic enables new readings of the literature of revolution to which it is applied. In the course of my analysis, I also evaluate the suitability of Badiou's ethic as a standpoint from which to engage with literature on revolution. Ultimately, then, the aesthetic I construct not only contests the notion that radical transformation is always destructive, but also renders one sensitive to revolutionary literature's excessive and supplementary dimensions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Strategy execution in a manufacturing facility in the Nelson Mandela Bay
- Authors: Butler, Charles Ted
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business planning -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Manufacturing industries -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8843 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020075
- Description: The most basic role of operations is to execute a strategy (Pycraft, Singh, Phihlela, Slack, Chambers & Johnston, 2010). The aim of this study is to make a contribution to operational performance by analysing the effectiveness of strategy execution at a confectionery manufacturing facility situated in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB). The primary objective of the study is to improve strategy execution at this manufacturing facility by investigating the influence of strategy; business processes; organisational factors; human resources; macro factors and leadership toward the success of strategy execution. The researcher gave consideration to whether this manufacturing facility measured on a strategy grid, is in a professional (champions’) league, headed towards a spectacular success; or headed towards being relegated and failure; or will it achieve somewhere in between like playing in the amateur (first division). The study was conducted in the quantitative paradigm. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and sourced instruments were used to measure the variables in the hypothesised model. The objective of the questionnaire was to analyse the respondent’s understanding of how strategy is executed, thereby identifying the possible areas that need to be improved. It was found that most managers disagreed that the business processes, organisational factors and human resources effectively support the execution of the operational strategy and that the average response from the managers were neutral in respect of effectiveness of strategy and leadership. The inference is that although this manufacturing facility has a fair strategy, execution thereof is below average. The researcher therefore deduced that the most appropriate section for the manufacturing facility is between the first division and relegation. The research findings indicate that the management team is not effectively executing the operational strategy. The management implication of this finding translates into lost opportunities. These lost opportunities probably contributed to the poor results reported by the plant director in his quarterly performance review. The empirical results are discussed and recommendations are proposed to improve strategy execution, complementing the manufacturing facility’s goals to deliver the best performance and ultimately realise their stated vision: “to be the best and most loved confectionary site in the world”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Butler, Charles Ted
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business planning -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Manufacturing industries -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8843 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020075
- Description: The most basic role of operations is to execute a strategy (Pycraft, Singh, Phihlela, Slack, Chambers & Johnston, 2010). The aim of this study is to make a contribution to operational performance by analysing the effectiveness of strategy execution at a confectionery manufacturing facility situated in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB). The primary objective of the study is to improve strategy execution at this manufacturing facility by investigating the influence of strategy; business processes; organisational factors; human resources; macro factors and leadership toward the success of strategy execution. The researcher gave consideration to whether this manufacturing facility measured on a strategy grid, is in a professional (champions’) league, headed towards a spectacular success; or headed towards being relegated and failure; or will it achieve somewhere in between like playing in the amateur (first division). The study was conducted in the quantitative paradigm. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and sourced instruments were used to measure the variables in the hypothesised model. The objective of the questionnaire was to analyse the respondent’s understanding of how strategy is executed, thereby identifying the possible areas that need to be improved. It was found that most managers disagreed that the business processes, organisational factors and human resources effectively support the execution of the operational strategy and that the average response from the managers were neutral in respect of effectiveness of strategy and leadership. The inference is that although this manufacturing facility has a fair strategy, execution thereof is below average. The researcher therefore deduced that the most appropriate section for the manufacturing facility is between the first division and relegation. The research findings indicate that the management team is not effectively executing the operational strategy. The management implication of this finding translates into lost opportunities. These lost opportunities probably contributed to the poor results reported by the plant director in his quarterly performance review. The empirical results are discussed and recommendations are proposed to improve strategy execution, complementing the manufacturing facility’s goals to deliver the best performance and ultimately realise their stated vision: “to be the best and most loved confectionary site in the world”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
(De)constructing the archive : an annotated catalog of the Deon van der Walt Collection in the NMMU Library
- Authors: Buys, Frederick Jacobus
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Music -- Bibliography -- Catalogs , Archives -- Catalogs , Tenors (Singers) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020585
- Description: Deon van der Walt was, at the height of his career, considered the leading lyric tenor of his generation. In a career that spanned more than 25 years he performed in the great opera houses of the world and sang for the leading conductors of the time, sharing the stage with the best singers in the world. He was the first male South African to accomplish the so-called “grand slam” of opera, having sung in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna), La Scala (Milan) and the Metropolitan Opera House (New York). He was also a prolific oratorio and lieder singer, collaborating with the best artists the musical world had to offer. In addition he left a large recorded legacy, both published and unpublished. His untimely death on 29 November 2005 was extensively reported on both locally and abroad - a fact which again highlighted the importance of his personal and professional contribution to the international opera world.The Deon van der Walt Collection is the single most important key to unlocking the life and career of one of the most successful South African opera singers of all time. It was bequeathed to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Library the Deon van der Walt Trust in 2007. The collection is made up of an arbitrary assortment of books, documents, sound and video recordings that were left in van der Walt’s Zürich accommodations at the time of his death in 2005. It is housed in separate section on the lower level of the South Campus Library of the NMMU. The collection has been partially catalogued by the NMMU Library but left largely unattended for the last 6 years. The compiling of an annotated catalogue of this collection is the vital first step in connecting the dots of an extraordinary musical career that was hailed as one of the greatest of his time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buys, Frederick Jacobus
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Music -- Bibliography -- Catalogs , Archives -- Catalogs , Tenors (Singers) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:8526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020585
- Description: Deon van der Walt was, at the height of his career, considered the leading lyric tenor of his generation. In a career that spanned more than 25 years he performed in the great opera houses of the world and sang for the leading conductors of the time, sharing the stage with the best singers in the world. He was the first male South African to accomplish the so-called “grand slam” of opera, having sung in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna), La Scala (Milan) and the Metropolitan Opera House (New York). He was also a prolific oratorio and lieder singer, collaborating with the best artists the musical world had to offer. In addition he left a large recorded legacy, both published and unpublished. His untimely death on 29 November 2005 was extensively reported on both locally and abroad - a fact which again highlighted the importance of his personal and professional contribution to the international opera world.The Deon van der Walt Collection is the single most important key to unlocking the life and career of one of the most successful South African opera singers of all time. It was bequeathed to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Library the Deon van der Walt Trust in 2007. The collection is made up of an arbitrary assortment of books, documents, sound and video recordings that were left in van der Walt’s Zürich accommodations at the time of his death in 2005. It is housed in separate section on the lower level of the South Campus Library of the NMMU. The collection has been partially catalogued by the NMMU Library but left largely unattended for the last 6 years. The compiling of an annotated catalogue of this collection is the vital first step in connecting the dots of an extraordinary musical career that was hailed as one of the greatest of his time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Market needs analysis for Turnkey automation project based organisation in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Buys, Stefan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Industrial marketing , Marketing research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021170
- Description: Customer value is essentially the perceived value that the customer gains when purchasing a product. The perceived value is the trade-off between the cost of the product and the benefits it provides. If the customer perceives the benefits exceed the costs, then the customer perceives value in the product. A need is defined as a perceived lack of something. Customers across industries consider fulfilment of their unique needs as a key metric in evaluating the effectiveness of a solution. In order for an organisation to successfully provide solutions based on customer needs it is crucial for the organisation to understand the needs of their target market. Market Needs Analysis (MNA) is the investigation that intends to improve knowledge about the needs of the organisation’s target market. Project Based Organisations (PBOs) are organisations who are primarily orientated to execute once-off projects with an organisational structure specially formed for a temporary period tailored to deliver a product that meets the needs of specific customers. This research investigates the value offering of a Turnkey PBO and its alignment to the needs of its market. The organisation is privately owned, operating primarily in the South African automotive industry. The true name of the organisation that will be researched will not be disclosed for confidentiality reasons; instead it will be called My Automation Company (MAC). Until the end of 2010, the core focus of the organisation was the supply and maintenance of specialised electronic and computerised tools and services used mainly for quality assurance and production support. Towards the end of 2010 the organisation shifted its focus to providing a new product and service, Turnkey Industrial Automation Projects, to its existing market. In the rush of introducing new products and services many organisations neglect to analyse the market to ensure that they fully understand and can satisfy its needs. Understanding customer needs is crucial in order for new products to be successful thereby capitalising on the available growth potential. Turnkey Industrial Automation Projects is a new product in the organisation’s existing market. It is therefore important that the organisation investigates the customer needs for this particular product as it will differ significantly from customer needs for Service Level Agreements which the organisation is familiar with. The purpose of this research study is to advance the current understanding of the Customer Value Proposition (CVP) of Turnkey PBOs by performing a systematic analysis of the determinants of customer value. This research is an exploratory quantitative study comprised of literature- and case study components used to test proposed hypotheses. The literature study was performed on secondary sources to establish the key concepts related to the topics of PBOs, Industrial Marketing, Market Needs Analysis and CVP. The empirical study consisted of surveys (questionnaires) completed by various customers and employees of MAC. The questionnaire used in this research consisted of questions regarding demographic data and questions regarding perceived CVP and influencing factors. Descriptive statistics was used to summarise the data into a more compact form which could simplify the identification of patterns in the data. Inferential statistics was used to verify if conclusions made from the sample data can be inferred onto a larger population Recommended business practices based on the statistical analysis of the survey results were identified. It was shown that there exists a relationship between Perceived Value and Product Characteristics, Relational Characteristics, Supplier Characteristics, Benefits and Sacrifices by using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient to measure the linear association between the variables. A significant difference in the perceived performance of MAC in certain aspects was found. There is however no significant difference between the perceived importance’s assigned to CVP factors by High- and Low-level Management customers. It was also found that there is a significant difference in the perceived performance of MAC by Customers and Employees in certain aspects. While there is alignment between the importance Employees and Customers place on the majority of independent variables, there is misalignment with regard to the various Supplier Characteristics. Supplier Commitment was shown to be the factor that requires the most attention as: it has the biggest influence on the perceived value gained from dealing with MAC; Customers rate the organisations performance in this regard lower than Employees do and Employees assign lower importance to this factor than Customers. This study concluded in the development of a hypothesised CVP model that indicated not only which factors influence the CVP of a Turnkey PBO in the Eastern Cape but also the effect that each of the identified factors have on perceived value.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buys, Stefan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Industrial marketing , Marketing research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021170
- Description: Customer value is essentially the perceived value that the customer gains when purchasing a product. The perceived value is the trade-off between the cost of the product and the benefits it provides. If the customer perceives the benefits exceed the costs, then the customer perceives value in the product. A need is defined as a perceived lack of something. Customers across industries consider fulfilment of their unique needs as a key metric in evaluating the effectiveness of a solution. In order for an organisation to successfully provide solutions based on customer needs it is crucial for the organisation to understand the needs of their target market. Market Needs Analysis (MNA) is the investigation that intends to improve knowledge about the needs of the organisation’s target market. Project Based Organisations (PBOs) are organisations who are primarily orientated to execute once-off projects with an organisational structure specially formed for a temporary period tailored to deliver a product that meets the needs of specific customers. This research investigates the value offering of a Turnkey PBO and its alignment to the needs of its market. The organisation is privately owned, operating primarily in the South African automotive industry. The true name of the organisation that will be researched will not be disclosed for confidentiality reasons; instead it will be called My Automation Company (MAC). Until the end of 2010, the core focus of the organisation was the supply and maintenance of specialised electronic and computerised tools and services used mainly for quality assurance and production support. Towards the end of 2010 the organisation shifted its focus to providing a new product and service, Turnkey Industrial Automation Projects, to its existing market. In the rush of introducing new products and services many organisations neglect to analyse the market to ensure that they fully understand and can satisfy its needs. Understanding customer needs is crucial in order for new products to be successful thereby capitalising on the available growth potential. Turnkey Industrial Automation Projects is a new product in the organisation’s existing market. It is therefore important that the organisation investigates the customer needs for this particular product as it will differ significantly from customer needs for Service Level Agreements which the organisation is familiar with. The purpose of this research study is to advance the current understanding of the Customer Value Proposition (CVP) of Turnkey PBOs by performing a systematic analysis of the determinants of customer value. This research is an exploratory quantitative study comprised of literature- and case study components used to test proposed hypotheses. The literature study was performed on secondary sources to establish the key concepts related to the topics of PBOs, Industrial Marketing, Market Needs Analysis and CVP. The empirical study consisted of surveys (questionnaires) completed by various customers and employees of MAC. The questionnaire used in this research consisted of questions regarding demographic data and questions regarding perceived CVP and influencing factors. Descriptive statistics was used to summarise the data into a more compact form which could simplify the identification of patterns in the data. Inferential statistics was used to verify if conclusions made from the sample data can be inferred onto a larger population Recommended business practices based on the statistical analysis of the survey results were identified. It was shown that there exists a relationship between Perceived Value and Product Characteristics, Relational Characteristics, Supplier Characteristics, Benefits and Sacrifices by using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient to measure the linear association between the variables. A significant difference in the perceived performance of MAC in certain aspects was found. There is however no significant difference between the perceived importance’s assigned to CVP factors by High- and Low-level Management customers. It was also found that there is a significant difference in the perceived performance of MAC by Customers and Employees in certain aspects. While there is alignment between the importance Employees and Customers place on the majority of independent variables, there is misalignment with regard to the various Supplier Characteristics. Supplier Commitment was shown to be the factor that requires the most attention as: it has the biggest influence on the perceived value gained from dealing with MAC; Customers rate the organisations performance in this regard lower than Employees do and Employees assign lower importance to this factor than Customers. This study concluded in the development of a hypothesised CVP model that indicated not only which factors influence the CVP of a Turnkey PBO in the Eastern Cape but also the effect that each of the identified factors have on perceived value.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Inside the river
- Authors: Buzani, Mangaliso Welcome
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) , Xhosa poetry
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5971
- Description: My collection is of imagistic associative poetry, influenced by Spanish and other kinds of modernism, and written in my two languages, isiXhosa and English. My approach to producing these poems is first via the mastery of sound, not on the actual meaning of a poem; working on the meaning would be the last stage. The language of each poem will be encountered as it comes down on the paper, leading me to the words meaningful for that particular poem.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buzani, Mangaliso Welcome
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) , Xhosa poetry
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5971
- Description: My collection is of imagistic associative poetry, influenced by Spanish and other kinds of modernism, and written in my two languages, isiXhosa and English. My approach to producing these poems is first via the mastery of sound, not on the actual meaning of a poem; working on the meaning would be the last stage. The language of each poem will be encountered as it comes down on the paper, leading me to the words meaningful for that particular poem.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A case study of the high student failure and dropout rates at FET college
- Authors: Cain, Rashida
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: College dropouts -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , School failure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education and training services industry -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9439 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020998
- Description: The aim of this case study was to investigate the key factors contributing to the high failure and high dropout rates at a FET College. The FET College selected for the purpose of this study is situated in a city in the Eastern Cape. The Minister of Labour declared in 2006 that FET Colleges in South Africa have a central role to play in assisting youth in gaining skills, in order to realise the South African Government’s goal of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014. The South African Government spent R1.9 million on the recapitalisation of colleges in 2005 to improve the FET Sector. According to the Green Paper (DHET, 2012), the FET College sector is weak and the throughput rate of the 2007 NC (V) cohort nationally was 4 percent and the dropout rate between 13 percent and 25 percent. The average pass rate for the successful completion of NC (V) students at FET Colleges in the Eastern Cape was 12 percent for 2007. The research design selected for this study was an explanatory intrinsic case study of a qualitative nature, with the aim to provide a comprehensive depiction of the case. Data was gathered from various sources and at different stages at the particular college campus. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and document interrogations were employed to gather descriptive qualitative data. Demographic information on the students who had dropped out assisted in the profiling of students at risk of dropping out of college. The findings derived from the data showed that multiple factors caused the high student dropout and failure rates, prominent among which was a lack of finances, impacting on accommodation and transport, which in turn impacted on student attendance. A lack of motivation and commitment from students seemed to further contribute to the high student failure and dropout rates. In addition, the students’ perceptions and expectations of the FET College, the barriers to academic success and views about support services were explored. Finally, the present circumstances and plans of students who had dropped out were investigated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Cain, Rashida
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: College dropouts -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies , School failure -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education and training services industry -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9439 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020998
- Description: The aim of this case study was to investigate the key factors contributing to the high failure and high dropout rates at a FET College. The FET College selected for the purpose of this study is situated in a city in the Eastern Cape. The Minister of Labour declared in 2006 that FET Colleges in South Africa have a central role to play in assisting youth in gaining skills, in order to realise the South African Government’s goal of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014. The South African Government spent R1.9 million on the recapitalisation of colleges in 2005 to improve the FET Sector. According to the Green Paper (DHET, 2012), the FET College sector is weak and the throughput rate of the 2007 NC (V) cohort nationally was 4 percent and the dropout rate between 13 percent and 25 percent. The average pass rate for the successful completion of NC (V) students at FET Colleges in the Eastern Cape was 12 percent for 2007. The research design selected for this study was an explanatory intrinsic case study of a qualitative nature, with the aim to provide a comprehensive depiction of the case. Data was gathered from various sources and at different stages at the particular college campus. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and document interrogations were employed to gather descriptive qualitative data. Demographic information on the students who had dropped out assisted in the profiling of students at risk of dropping out of college. The findings derived from the data showed that multiple factors caused the high student dropout and failure rates, prominent among which was a lack of finances, impacting on accommodation and transport, which in turn impacted on student attendance. A lack of motivation and commitment from students seemed to further contribute to the high student failure and dropout rates. In addition, the students’ perceptions and expectations of the FET College, the barriers to academic success and views about support services were explored. Finally, the present circumstances and plans of students who had dropped out were investigated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Member perspectives on the role of social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Northern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Carlisle, Juliet Hazel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Heiveld Cooperative , Human capital -- South Africa , Social capital (Sociology) -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Agriculture, Cooperative -- South Africa , Cooperative marketing of farm produce -- South Africa , Rooibos tea industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:825 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011734 , Heiveld Cooperative , Human capital -- South Africa , Social capital (Sociology) -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Agriculture, Cooperative -- South Africa , Cooperative marketing of farm produce -- South Africa , Rooibos tea industry -- South Africa
- Description: The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the perspectives of current members of the cooperative regarding the role of social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative on the Suid Bokkeveld in the Northern Cape, South Africa (SA). This cooperative has been cited by several researchers as being successful for various reasons, including the existence of a marketable resource, a steady increase in production, and certification through Fairtrade, resulting in an export market. Social capital, as a contributing factor to the success of the cooperative, has not however previously been investigated in depth. In light of the unique success of this cooperative, it is important to obtain an in-depth understanding of the role of social capital, if any, in its success, particularly in the formation and day-to-day operation of the cooperative. With a particular focus on the members’ perspectives of the cooperative, this qualitative research adopted a case study approach to explore and to gain multiple and subjective understanding of the role played by social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative. This may assist the organisation under study, as well as similar initiatives, in strategically harnessing the benefits of social capital as a resource in future. This report has three interrelated sections. The first part is an academic paper, which includes a condensed literature review, research methods, results and discussions. The second part is an expanded literature review, while the third section details the research methods. It is vital to note that these sections are separate, but interrelated. Convenience sampling was used to identify current members of the cooperative who participated in this exploratory qualitative study. Four heterogeneous focus group discussions, with a total of 44 members of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Suid Bokkeveld, were conducted. The focus groups were heterogeneous, as they included ordinary members, founding members and committee members. A guideline with questions based on the theory of social capital was developed, and used to initiate or stimulate discussion among the members of the cooperative in order to address the key research question, namely: What was the role of social capital, if any, in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Northern Cape as perceived by current cooperative members? The primary source of data was collected through focus group discussions, while secondary data was obtained from documents in a form of internal reports and papers written for the Heiveld Cooperative. Data was analysed using open coding and constant comparison techniques in order to induce emerging themes from the data. Findings of this study revealed that social capital played a major and influential role during the inception and also in the successful operation of the Heiveld Cooperative, by bonding and bridging not just between individual members, but also between communities, trading partners and other collaborators. Another key finding of this study is that social capital was also critical in enhancing supportive knowledge sharing, and the promotion of pride and shared identity, which the study identifies as aspects of cognitive social capital. Interestingly, the cognitive dimension of social capital in the Heiveld Cooperative has contributed to the weakening of social capital, as evident in claims related to lack of transparency and procedural injustice. Last, but not least, leveraging the sense of community has also been useful in promoting collective efficacy, strengthening familial togetherness, and enhanced democratisation of decision-making. Diminished trust, based on perceived oligarchy and nepotism is gradually weakening relational social capital. Findings in this study are illuminated using the social capital theory described by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) to depict the social, cognitive and relational aspect of social capital that are at work at Heiveld Cooperative. Additionally, the social network theory by Hoppe and Reinelt (2010) is used to highlight the systemic view of social capital, which embraces the structural, relational and cognitive nature not only internal to but also between networks of the cooperative. Recommendations are provided to ensure social capital is harnessed, rather than undermined. These include the need to promote the processes of learning, monitoring and discussion that have been implemented; harnessing the benefits of bonding and bridging social capital; leveraging the sense of community and applying a more systemic view of social capital; and addressing perverse aspects of social capital such as nepotism and oligarchy that have been identified.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Carlisle, Juliet Hazel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Heiveld Cooperative , Human capital -- South Africa , Social capital (Sociology) -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Agriculture, Cooperative -- South Africa , Cooperative marketing of farm produce -- South Africa , Rooibos tea industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:825 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011734 , Heiveld Cooperative , Human capital -- South Africa , Social capital (Sociology) -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Agriculture, Cooperative -- South Africa , Cooperative marketing of farm produce -- South Africa , Rooibos tea industry -- South Africa
- Description: The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the perspectives of current members of the cooperative regarding the role of social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative on the Suid Bokkeveld in the Northern Cape, South Africa (SA). This cooperative has been cited by several researchers as being successful for various reasons, including the existence of a marketable resource, a steady increase in production, and certification through Fairtrade, resulting in an export market. Social capital, as a contributing factor to the success of the cooperative, has not however previously been investigated in depth. In light of the unique success of this cooperative, it is important to obtain an in-depth understanding of the role of social capital, if any, in its success, particularly in the formation and day-to-day operation of the cooperative. With a particular focus on the members’ perspectives of the cooperative, this qualitative research adopted a case study approach to explore and to gain multiple and subjective understanding of the role played by social capital in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative. This may assist the organisation under study, as well as similar initiatives, in strategically harnessing the benefits of social capital as a resource in future. This report has three interrelated sections. The first part is an academic paper, which includes a condensed literature review, research methods, results and discussions. The second part is an expanded literature review, while the third section details the research methods. It is vital to note that these sections are separate, but interrelated. Convenience sampling was used to identify current members of the cooperative who participated in this exploratory qualitative study. Four heterogeneous focus group discussions, with a total of 44 members of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Suid Bokkeveld, were conducted. The focus groups were heterogeneous, as they included ordinary members, founding members and committee members. A guideline with questions based on the theory of social capital was developed, and used to initiate or stimulate discussion among the members of the cooperative in order to address the key research question, namely: What was the role of social capital, if any, in the success of the Heiveld Cooperative in the Northern Cape as perceived by current cooperative members? The primary source of data was collected through focus group discussions, while secondary data was obtained from documents in a form of internal reports and papers written for the Heiveld Cooperative. Data was analysed using open coding and constant comparison techniques in order to induce emerging themes from the data. Findings of this study revealed that social capital played a major and influential role during the inception and also in the successful operation of the Heiveld Cooperative, by bonding and bridging not just between individual members, but also between communities, trading partners and other collaborators. Another key finding of this study is that social capital was also critical in enhancing supportive knowledge sharing, and the promotion of pride and shared identity, which the study identifies as aspects of cognitive social capital. Interestingly, the cognitive dimension of social capital in the Heiveld Cooperative has contributed to the weakening of social capital, as evident in claims related to lack of transparency and procedural injustice. Last, but not least, leveraging the sense of community has also been useful in promoting collective efficacy, strengthening familial togetherness, and enhanced democratisation of decision-making. Diminished trust, based on perceived oligarchy and nepotism is gradually weakening relational social capital. Findings in this study are illuminated using the social capital theory described by Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) to depict the social, cognitive and relational aspect of social capital that are at work at Heiveld Cooperative. Additionally, the social network theory by Hoppe and Reinelt (2010) is used to highlight the systemic view of social capital, which embraces the structural, relational and cognitive nature not only internal to but also between networks of the cooperative. Recommendations are provided to ensure social capital is harnessed, rather than undermined. These include the need to promote the processes of learning, monitoring and discussion that have been implemented; harnessing the benefits of bonding and bridging social capital; leveraging the sense of community and applying a more systemic view of social capital; and addressing perverse aspects of social capital such as nepotism and oligarchy that have been identified.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014