A framework for cloud computing adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises : a case of the Accra - Tema metropolis in Ghana
- Authors: Adane, Martin
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Cloud computing -- Ghana Small business -- Ghana
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13803 , vital:39713
- Description: Cloud computing adoption and usage is important to achieving business competition. This is done by making it a competitive tool for firms. The adoption of cloud computing enables firms to achieve greater business competency, improve performance, and allows them to maintain their competitive advantage. Since its emergence, there has been a surge in the adoption of cloud computing with research into its adoption primarily concentrated on bigger firms. However, a major characteristic of cloud computing is the anticipated possibilities it holds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs typically operate differently from larger firms and are not limited by resource constraints. For SMEs, the reduction in the financial burden normally associated with the adoption of new technologies is a significant benefit of cloud computing due to their financial constraints. In Ghana, SMEs mostly use obsolete technologies and have a slow response towards new technologies. Thus, they are unable to harness the numerous opportunities technology presents to them to stay competitive. Cloud computing is still regarded as a new technology in the business world, therefore research that focuses on its adoption by SMEs to help them stay competitive is minimal. Available research on cloud computing in Ghana does not provide clear guidelines for ensuring a successful adoption process and the continued use of cloud computing services. This study seeks to investigate how a framework can assist SMEs in their use of cloud computing in the Accra-Tema metropolis of Ghana. A knowledge of the factors associated with adoption decisions and those that significantly influence the decision are required to ensure a successful adoption process. The empirical data was gathered using a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews developed from literature and administered to users and potential users of cloud computing. The questionnaire and interviews primarily investigate key adoption factors and the findings are reported in this research study. The findings reveal interesting insights into understanding issues that affect the overall decision to adopt and use cloud computing services by SMEs. The findings show that the adoption of cloud computing can improve information management practices within SMEs. The findings also reveal that several factors need to be considered in the overall decision to adopt and use cloud computing to ensure a successful adoption process. An initial cloud computing adoption model was proposed based on the empirical findings. Key adoption factors of the initial adoption model include adoption benefits and drivers, concerns and barriers, adoption interventions, and information management in the cloud. computing adoption framework. The proposed adoption framework aims to assist SMEs to adopt and use cloud computing services and make them relevant in the global market.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Determinants of internet banking adoption by banks in Ghana
- Authors: Bart-Williams, Edem
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Internet banking -- Ghana , Banks and banking -- Ghana , Banks and banking -- Automation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3715 , vital:20457
- Description: Growth in information and communication technology (ICT) is drastically changing the way businesses, especially in the service industries, are conducted. The financial services industry and banking in particular, is not excluded from this technology explosion. Internet banking, even though not new in advanced countries, is a new transaction channel being used by banks in some parts of Africa, especially Ghana, to offer various products and services to their customers. However, this medium has not been fully exploited by these banks as there are many hurdles the banks must triumph over. In deploying this technology and these systems, there are several factors which banks must take into consideration before fully deploying such a system to their customers, hence the motivation for this study. The absence of suitable and sufficient knowledge on this topic also exposes a “rhetoric versus reality” argument of whether the intention to adopt Internet banking is critical to the strategies and ultimate success of banks in Ghana. For banks to stay ahead of competition as well as to attract and maintain their clientele, it is of paramount importance to gather and link the perspectives of both clients and bank managers in order for banks to ensure that they perform according to the needs and expectations of their clients. In order to achieve the intended results, an empirical study was conducted by taking into consideration the viewpoints of both bank clients and bank managers in determining the factors that customers take into consideration before adopting the Internet banking medium. The primary aim of this study was to quantify significant relationships between the selected variables. Therefore the positivism research paradigm was used, while the phenomenological paradigm was employed for the measuring instruments. Because multiple sources of data were used, from the perspectives of banking clients and managers in Ghana, methodological triangulation was adopted for this study. The results of the empirical investigation showed that both groups (clients and managers) considered the variables of market share, technology acceptance, diffusion of innovation, organisational variables, organisational efficiency, and business strategy to have direct influence on the adoption of Internet banking. However, they differed in opinion concerning the degree of influence of these variables. The bank managers’ responses leaned more towards strong agreement with the importance of these variables than did those of the bank clients. Thus, for bank clients to readily adopt the Internet banking medium for their banking transactions, bank managers must take a closer look at these determinant factors described in the study. The study showed that the population group, educational and income levels exerted an influence on the perceptions clients have regarding Internet banking adoption factors. It was found that the higher the education and income levels of the clients, the easier it was for them to adopt Internet banking. Also, the male group dominated the use of the Internet banking. This is supported by the fact that there is a growing middle class in Ghana that falls within this category of banking clients.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Articulating the nature of clinical nurse specialist practice
- Authors: Bell, Janet Deanne
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Nurse practitioners , Intensive care nursing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:10057 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018623
- Description: Critical care nursing is a clinical specialist nursing practice discipline. The critical care nurse provides a constant presence in the care of a critically ill patient. She/he creates a thread of continuity in care through the myriad of other health care professionals and activities that form part of a patient’s stay in the critical care environment (World Federation of Critical Care Nurses [WFCCN], 2007). During conversations with people who have had intimate experience of the critical care environment, they have offered anecdotes that describe their interaction with critical care nurses who they perceive to be different from and better than other critical care nurses they encountered. Despite having met common professional requirements to be registered as a clinical specialist nurse, these distinctive, unique abilities that seem to be influential in meeting the complex needs and expectations of critically ill patients, their significant others as well as nursing and medical colleagues, are not displayed by all critical care nurses. While students of accredited postgraduate nursing programmes are required to advance their nursing knowledge and skill competence, many students do not seem to develop other, perhaps more tacit, qualities that utilisers characterise in their anecdotes of ‘different and better’ nursing practice. The overarching research question guiding this study was how can ‘different and better’ critical care nursing practice as recognised by a utiliser be explained? The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the qualities that those people who use critical care nursing practice recognise as ‘different and better’ to the norm of nursing practice they encounter in this discipline. The participant sample included patients’ significant others, nursing colleagues and medical colleagues of critical care nurses, collectively identified as utilisers. The stated aim of this work was to construct a grounded theory to elucidate an understanding of the qualities that a utiliser of critical care nursing recognises as ‘different and better’ critical care nursing practice in order to enhance the teaching and learning encounters between nurse educators and postgraduate students in learning programmes aiming to develop clinical specialist nurses. The method processes of grounded theory are designed to reveal and confirm concepts from within the data as well as the connections between these concepts, supporting the researcher in crafting a substantive theory that is definitively grounded in the participants’ views and stories (Streubert & Carpenter, 2011: 123, 128-129). Two data collection tools were employed in this study, namely in-depth unstructured individual interviews and naïve sketch. Constant comparative analysis, memo-writing, theoretical sampling, theoretical sensitivity and theoretical saturation as fundamental methods of data generation in grounded theory were applied. The study unfolded through three broad parts, namely: Forming & shaping this grounded theory through exploration and co-creation; Assimilating & situating this grounded theory through understanding and enfolding; Reflecting on this grounded theory through contemplating and reconnecting. The outcome of the first part of the study was my initial proposition of a grounded theory co-created in the interactions between the participants and myself. This was then challenged, developed and assimilated through a focussed literature review through the second part of the study. Through these two parts of this study, an inductively derived explanation was formed and shaped to produce an assimilated and situated substantive grounded theory named Being at Ease. This grounded theory articulates how ‘better and different’ nursing is recognised from the point of view of those who use the nursing ability of critical care nurses through the core concern ‘being at ease’ and its four categories ‘knowing self’, ‘skilled being’, connecting with intention’ and’ anchoring’. The final part of this study unfolded in my reflections on what this grounded theory had revealed about nurses and elements of nursing practice that are important to a utiliser in recognising ‘different and better’ critical care nursing. I suggest that as nurses we need to develop a language that enables us to reveal with clarity these intangible and tacit elements recognised within the being and doing of ‘different and better’ nursing. I reflected on the pivotal space of influence a teacher has with a student, and on how the elements essential in being and doing ‘different and better’ nursing need to be evident in her/his own ways of being a teacher of nursing. Teaching and learning encounters may be enhanced through drawing what this theory has shown as necessary elements that shape ‘different and better’ nurses through the moments of influence a teacher has in each encounter with a student.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Drivers and consequences of residents' satisfaction with off-campus student housing in South-South, Nigeria
- Authors: Bella-Omunagbe, Ojo Cyprain
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Student housing -- Nigeria , Housing -- Resident satisfaction , Residence and education , Universities and colleges -- Nigeria -- Administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9720 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021198
- Description: The student housing system worldwide and South-South Nigeria in particular has witnessed an unprecedented transformation, such that private off-campus student housing facilities (SHFs) are now the primary source of accommodation for students in tertiary institutions. A considerable gap exists between the supply and demand for on-campus student housing and the quest to fill this gap has stimulated the creation of a significant student housing market in the areas where these tertiary institutions are located. The prospect for economic investments in the student housing sector is high and private investors are involved in the provision and management of offcampus student housing. The main consequence of this practice in South-South, Nigeria is the delivery of low-quality buildings that are not able to meet the needs and expectations of residents. SHFs that are constructed without due regard to residents needs are characterised by dissatisfaction with attributes of housing and low investment performance. The implication is that residence users are often not satisfied with the attributes of the residential environment that are provided; thus their behaviours often impose some consequences on investors gains and objectives.Therefore, understanding the dynamics among attributes that are important to students, that give the required satisfaction, and the impact of the availability or lack-of on behaviour such as loyalty, willingness to pay for attributes and word of mouth behaviour are critical to profitability. Most often, the relationship among these attributes are treated as linear and symmetrical with the assumed implication that better attributes produce improved behaviours. However, this may not always be the case. This approach is rarely addressed and is little understood in student housing studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify student housing attributes that act as drivers of resident atisfaction and the consequences/effects of these drivers on student behaviour in order to determine appropriate measures that could be used to develop, maintain and upgrade student accommodation. The methodology of the study included an extensive literature review and a field study conducted to obtain the perceptions of students in seven tertiary institutions located in South-South, Nigeria. The main task was to define attributes of student housing facilities based on the symmetric and asymmetric impact of the performance of attributes on satisfaction with residence. The Kano model and importance-performance analysis (IPA) were used to establish sets of criteria that could be used to prioritise attributes that are required in student housing for optimal investor gains. Analysis of the findings lead to the conclusions that different degrees of behaviour were associated to the perception of importance that is attached to attributes by residents and the satisfaction that is derived from the use of such attributes. The implication of the conclusions is that to meet users satisfaction needs, varied improvement strategies are required for different attributes in order to maximise the use of resources for maximum gains. The recommendations for investors in SHFs include among others to segment the SHFs market based on demographic characteristics, prioritise and provide only attributes that add-value to identified groups. Emphasis should also be placed on providing attributes that are not only satisfactory, but with capacity to improve loyalty/retention, willingness to pay and positive word of mouth behaviour. It is also recommended that the local authority should improve critical attributes that are deemed to be outside the scope of the investors.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Assisting in-service grade R teachers to nurture the holistic development of the five to seven year old child through music : a participatory approach
- Authors: Cloete, Erna Petronella
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: School music -- Instruction and study -- South Africa , Early childhood education , Music -- Instruction and study
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:8530 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021177
- Description: Music’s significant contribution to the holistic development of the young learner is uncontested and confirmed by views of seminal scholars, such as Nzewi 2003, Reimer 2003, Nussbaum 2001, Elliot 1994 and Merriam 1964, amongst others. As such, music education supports basic values of self-growth, self-knowledge and enjoyment. This study argues for the vital importance of music education in Grade R in the South African schooling system where teachers can successfully implement the curriculum. In post-apartheid multicultural and multi-musical South Africa music education in Grade R is the sole responsibility of the generalist Grade R teacher. However, due to inadequate training and minimal, unproductive in-service initiatives, the vast majority of Reception Year teachers assumingly do not have the required competences to teach music in a way that maximally enhances the holistic development of their learners. Findings revealed that teachers exhibited limited, if any, musical knowledge and per se, they are insufficiently skilled in the effective delivery of the curriculum in terms of music. This study acknowledges the need to equip in-service Grade R teachers with the required competences to effectively implement the national school and teach music with confidence. The lack of successful and effective continuing professional teacher development initiatives from the Department of Education and Department of Basic Education to assist Grade R teachers in teaching music, was a serious concern to me. This concern reinforced the motivation to embark on this project. In this thesis, I report on an intervention strategy aimed at enabling three Grade R practitioners at one peri- urban township school in the Eastern Cape to improve their music education competencies. These three Coloured ladies only held a Certificate in Early Childhood Development, rating at an NQF level 4 and 5. None of these practitioners had any prior music experience in music training, music making or music teaching. I utilised a Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR). PALAR combines research with development and is thus highly suitable when addressing multifaceted problems in rapidly changing environments, such as South Africa. In my study, the participants were thus actively involved in identifying problems and creating solutions. A number of collaborative interactions and qualitative data generation strategies such as Focus Group Interviews, Observations, Drawing, Interviews, Narrative Inquiry, Case Study and Reflective Journals were implemented. Findings indicated that the practitioners experienced transformation on both a professional and personal level as they discovered and tapped into their own innate musical competences. This enabled them to explore ways to teach music that enhanced the holistic development of their learners, developing them physically, cognitively emotionally, socially, and musically. Learners likewise benefitted from the intervention as they experienced social cohesion in a multicultural classroom and gained the fruits of music’s remedial impact and therapeutic value in their lives.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A business model for medical subspecialty training in South Africa
- Authors: Dalmeyer, Johannes Paulus Franciscus
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Health care teams -- Training of -- South Africa , Medical care -- Needs assessment -- South Africa , Evidence-based medicine -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3508 , vital:20437
- Description: The shortage of healthcare workers and doctors in the developing world compared to the developed world is a problem, and will continue to be so, due to the continual migration of qualified professionals and the inability of the state to remedy these shortfalls. A shortage of healthcare workers and specialist doctors will seriously hamper the Government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) plan, as well as the sustainability of the private health care sector. In addition, the duration of medical training in South Africa is exceptionally long. The three major hospital groups and other private corporates have over the last number of years taken limited initiative to fund education projects in conjunction with the academic institutions. However, these projects have been poorly focused and have been managed in an unstructured and detached manner. There is a desire from the private sector to get involved in these projects on a much larger scale through more formalised structures. Given this background, the primary objective of this research is to develop a business model for medical subspecialty training to complement the current academic subspecialty training in South Africa. A trial model for training subspecialists in reproductive medicine was developed as a first attempt to address the threatening shortages and training duration. This trial programme is the basis of this research. A two-phased process was used in collecting data. In Phase 1 data was collected from stakeholder groups. The results of this survey assisted in generating variables to include in the measuring instrument for the survey in Phase 2. In Phase 2 the perceptions and expectations of sub-specialists (reproductive subspecialists and cardiologists) regarding sub-specialty training was collected. The results of the demographic variables confirm the aging profile of subspecialist and the need to ensure succession. The results further showed that cardiologists and reproductive subspecialist expectations of the training of subspecialists are very similar except for their expectations on the training duration. Reproductive subspecialist respondents agreed more than cardiology subspecialist respondents that the training duration is too long. The biggest gap between perceptions and expectations is also with the factor training. The results showed that the expectations of subspecialists are not met for training. From these results a business model for the training of medical subspecialists is proposed. This proposed business model can play a complementary role to the existing state controlled system and form the bases of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in medical training. This proposed business model will fit a developing country were the focus is on primary healthcare, with financial and capacity constraints. The proposed model would require role players to bring about change to accommodate a larger scale Public Private Partnership (PPP) to ensure the implementation of the model. The proposed decentralised business model for training subspecialists would allow the trainee subspecialist to practise as a specialist thus maintaining an acceptable income, and enable an expedited completion and lead to a wider dissemination of medical expertise that can be delivered in a wider national foot print. It further will provide for a structured Public Private Partnership.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Effects of natural antioxidants and thermal treatment on quality of meat from Bonsmara and non-descripts cattle
- Authors: Falowo, Andrew Bamidele
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Meat -- Preservation Antioxidants Meat -- Microbiology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2589 , vital:27906
- Description: The broad objective of this study was to determine the effects of natural antioxidants and thermal treatment on quality of meat from Bonsmara and non-descript cattle. A survey was conducted among 222 consumers in Alice (Fort Hare University community), Eastern Cape Province to determine the level of their awareness on application of antioxidants as preservatives in meat and meat products during storage. Representative samples of Muscularis longissimuss thoracis et lumborum and liver were collected from each carcass of Bonsmara (n=40) and non-descript (n=40) cattle reared on natural pasture to determine the effect of natural antioxidants and thermal treatment on their quality. The results from the survey revealed that 51.35 percent of the respondents had not heard about the use of antioxidant as preservatives in meat products. However, among the remaining respondents (48.65 percent) that were aware of antioxidant and its use as preservative, about 19 percent knew of natural antioxidants, 35 percent synthetic antioxidants while 46 percent had knowledge of both. The results further revealed that the majority of the respondents (82 percent) that had knowledge of natural antioxidants were concerned about the use of synthetic antioxidants in meat and meat products due to their health consequences. The in vitro antioxidant and antibacterial analyses of Bidens pilosa and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts revealed that they contain rich bioactive compounds. Furthermore, the addition of leaf extracts from Moringa oleifera (ML, 0.05 and 0.1 percent w/w) and Biden pilosa (BP, 0.05 and 0.1 percent w/w) to ground raw beef as a natural antioxidant were found to improve the physicochemical, oxidative stability and microbiological qualities of meat compared to the control (meat without extract) and BHT treatment (0.02 percent w/w) during 6 days storage at 40 C. Cattle breed did not have much effect on colour parameters. However, the overall pH of ground beef treated with extracts showed lower values than control and BHT treated beef. Also, ground beef samples containing extracts exhibited (P < 0.05) better colour stability, especially higher redness (a* values), than the control. The formation of TBARS in beef samples treated with extracts was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the control and BHT treatment. The antibacterial assay of the extracts revealed an appreciable broad spectrum activity against the tested bacteria and microbial counts in ground beef samples compared to control and BHT group. Ground beef treated with plant extracts exhibited lower microbial and lactic acid bacterial counts (P < 0.05) at day 0 and 3 than control samples. Moreover, it was observed that application of sous vides thermal method did not significantly affect the fatty acids and mineral loss in beef and liver across the treatments. However, the total concentration of MUFA was lower in raw liver (20.11±2.38 - 21.08±1.23 percent) than in beef (40.22±1.90 - 42.53±1.29 percent), while total PUFA content were higher in liver (30.73±2.60 - 31.11±1.19 percent) than in beef samples (10.13±3.36 - 11.02±2.74 percent) (p < 0.05). The results also revealed that liver samples from Bonsmara and non-descript cattle had a higher percentage of intramuscular fat content of 4.67 ± 0.53 percent and 4.44 ± 0.53 percent respectively, and fat free dry matter of 27.51 ± 1.05 percent and 25.73 ± 1.05 percent, respectively, than the beef samples (p < 0.05). The concentrations of Mg (52.80±0.22 - 53.70±0.02mg/100g) and Zn (8.90±0.15 - 19.60±0.15mg/100g) were higher in beef than liver samples. The level of Ca (17.00±0.17 - 17.50 ± 0.17mg/100g) in liver was higher than that of beef samples. It was concluded that most consumers preferred the use of natural antioxidants in meat products than synthetic antioxidants due to their health risk. The effectiveness of M. oleifera and B. pilosa leaf extracts on meat quality also revealed that these plants are promising candidates as natural preservatives and their application should be considered in the meat industry. Lastly, findings from this study showed that application of the sous vide technique could protect meat products from nutritional loss during thermal treatment.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Relatedness, social behaviour, and population dynamics of the elephants (Loxodonta africana) of Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa
- Authors: Gough, Katie F
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: African elephant -- Behavior -- Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) , African elephant populations -- Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) , Animal population density -- Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) , Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3569 , vital:20443
- Description: This study presents an investigation into the population dynamics and social structure of a small, closed elephant population. Specifically, it examined population growth rates for evidence of density-dependent regulation. It also quantified the association patterns of female elephants groups, and male elephants groups. Social structure was examined using Hamilton’s kinship theories of inclusive fitness, and age. Male-female patterns of association were also examined for inbreeding avoidance behaviours. The study population was located in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa. Density-dependence was assessed using a long-term data set. Densities were considerably higher than estimated carrying capacities. Population growth rate was positively correlated with increasing density. No relationship between birth rate, the age of first calving or calf sex ratio and elephant density was detected but there was a positive relationship between birth rate and rainfall during conception year. Mortality rates, particularly for juveniles, were low, and mean inter-calf interval was 3.3 years. There is no evidence of density dependent regulation in this population. These findings indicate that density dependence should not be considered as an option in the control of elephant numbers in this Park, or where elephant resources are not seasonally limited. Examination of association patterns of the adult female component revealed that associations were not random at the population, family or individual scale. This is the second study on African elephants to confirm previous behavioural studies that predicted that preferred associates were close maternal relatives. This supports many studies showing that social species preferentially associate with their kin. The adult males in this population were found to have a well differentiated society with non-random associations. Generally, males were found to have weak associations with most other males and strong associations with only a few males. This association pattern was found to be persistent over the time frame of the study, as indicated by the time lag analysis. Males returned to their natal family, even when maternally related females were in oestrus. Oestrous females directed positive behaviours towards musth males. It appears that behavioural inbreeding avoidance mechanisms in this small, closed population are inhibited: musth status seems to override inbreeding avoidance. General principles from this case study were interpreted in terms of their applicability to other small, closed populations.
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- Date Issued: 2015
My living theory of the transformational potential of my educational leadership
- Authors: Johannes, Arnold Marius
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa , School management and organization , Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4079 , vital:20510
- Description: In democratic South Africa, policies place much emphasis on the need for transformational leadership. This challenges school leaders to ensure that their practice is in line with the democratic and inclusive values espoused therein. This thesis is an account of my journey of learning about educational leadership and how I attempted to influence transformation at my own school. The development of my living theory of educational management is grounded in my desire to make a positive change to the quality of teaching and learning at my school, by embodying and exemplifying such values in my leadership. My learning as an educational leader comprises my living theory on improving my educational leadership within a socially challenged context. I explain the context and problems experienced at my school and provide evidence of the need to move from the hierarchic, autocratic form of leadership, still prevailing at many South African schools. I adopted the theoretical framework of servant leadership to enable me to develop a more contextually sensitive and visionary style of leadership through critical reflection on my own practice. My stimulus for this journey of learning stemmed from the perceived contradiction between my espoused beliefs about leadership and my actual practice. My own autocratic leadership style was one of the main barriers that prevented teachers from attaining autonomy and taking on leadership roles within the school. My leadership style was more in alignment with the values of accountability, discipline and efficiency than those of care, trust and the development of the potential of others. This interrogation of my ontological values informed my subsequent interventions to improve my practice. Following an action research design, I investigated the quality of my leadership to determine which areas I needed to improve, took action to improve these and evaluated the change against the values inherent in the notion of servant-leadership. I embarked on a journey that helped me to shift my practice from being based on previously held authoritarian professional values towards values that underpin a more transformational leadership, such as care and trust. My journey of learning was guided by the tenets of self-study action research, which required critical self-reflection and holding myself accountable for my own actions The practical knowledge I gained through this self-reflection on my practice enabled me to make professional judgements, which then became conceptual knowledge in the form of a living theory generated by my research. This was made possible through a continuous process of data generation to extract evidence to test the validity of the claims to knowledge I made. Multiple sources of data (written, graphic and multimedia) were used to better understand the scope of happenings throughout the research and to monitor my practice over time. I explain how I used my improved understanding of leadership to promote collegiality for building quality relationships to promote teacher leadership for school improvement and how I subjected these claims to social and personal validation procedures. The significance of this study is that it contributes to new forms of practice and theory in terms of showing how a values-based approach to school leadership can influence positive change in teacher practice. While this study is a narrative of my practice, it is also a narrative of theorising about how my colleagues and I have come to know and how our thinking has changed about our work and ourselves. Although I had to indicate a cut-off point in this action research enquiry, the knowledge gained will continue to develop and influence my practice in the future and hopefully will be judged as useful by others in positions of leadership. The thesis is thus an original contribution to educational knowledge in the field of self-study action research. It demonstrates how sociohistorical and sociocultural insights from Apartheid to Post-Apartheid South Africa can be integrated within a living theory of transformational leadership.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Whither South Africa – neoliberalism or an embodied communitarian indigenous ethic?
- Authors: Konik, Inga
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Neoliberalism -- South Africa Communitarianism , Literature and society South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21656 , vital:29729
- Description: This thesis offers a critique of neoliberal transformation in South Africa, which process results in growing social inequality and political apathy among citizens. Many scholars have made political-economic and historical analyses of the neoliberal transition, emphasizing structural changes at work at a ‘macro’ level. However, little attention has been paid to changes that have taken place in South Africa at the ‘micro’ level – changes to individual subjectivity and gender codes. That said, the thesis opens by summarizing the above mentioned political-economic accounts of neoliberalism in South Africa, because such works are indispensable to understanding how the regime is embedded within and buttressed by major global institutions. Yet, to achieve a holistic grasp of ‘neoliberal South Africa,’ more is needed. A sociological investigation into the impact of neoliberalism on ordinary people’s self-identification uncovers deep cultural reasons for the continued perpetuation of this unjust political-economic system. Only if it can be understood why people comply with the system in the face of suffering, can effective counter-measures be proposed and implemented over time. This thesis is inherently transdisciplinary. The approach rejects the privileging of one discipline over others, and likewise cautions against collapsing or dissolving disciplines into one another. Instead, recognizing the valuable contribution that each discipline can make to critical scrutiny of a particular issue, a form of methodological transversalism is used to bring different disciplines into dialogue with one another. Following this interplay of structural and subjective analysis, the thesis uncovers the role that consumerism plays in the political neutralization of South Africans. Consumer culture, tied as it is to profitable accumulation, instigates the neoliberal ‘values’ of economistic calculation, competition, and social atomization. This ethos is inculcated in individuals, both at work and during leisure hours. Moreover, consumerism derives much of its power from its ‘sexual sell,’ the creation of fashionable and ‘exemplary’ models of masculinity and femininity. In South Africa, these hegemonic gender models serve to instill competitive individualism while derogating indigenous values. The thesis proposes that in order to counter neoliberal hegemony in South Africa, and begin reclaiming the cultural autonomy of its peoples, it is important to invigorate indigenous communitarian practices and norms. The original contribution of this thesis consists in placing the African ethos of ubuntu in transversal dialogue with global ecological feminist voices. Both political perspectives reinforce a liberatory alternative vision for a future based on principles of embodied relationality, care giving and protection of community.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A proposed theory of war economies and supporting policy framework for dismantling war economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Authors: Liebenberg, Frederick Sybert
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic policy , Military occupation -- Economic aspects -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , War-time economies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3235 , vital:20414
- Description: Utilising the Grounded Theory Research Method, this study identified a range of open, axial and selective codes, through a literature review, which resulted in the formulation of a proposed theory of how war economies are formed and maintained. Based on the theoretical proposition of the proposed theory, a policy framework for dismantling such war economies was also developed and presented. The proposed theory of war economies essentially argues that war economies are formed in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa because of the existence of an artificial state. The existence of an artificial state is ascribed to the emerging legacies of colonial state formation processes, which created failed state entities which are unable to produce public goods for all its citizens because of its inability to maintain a monopoly of violence whilst maintain full administrative control over its territory. This inability results in an increase in the vulnerability of state and non-state actors. In response to these vulnerabilities, both state and non-state actors established a range of parallel political, economic and military structures. These structures in turn made use of both network and resource capacities to create an environment where politics are economised and conflict is commercialised, in order to mitigate the impacts of state failure and the inability to produce public goods. The result of the creation of an environment where politics are economised and conflict is commercialised, is the creation of incentives, structures and processes to ensure that conflict and associated conditions of instability are sustained in order to ensure primitive accumulation of wealth and resources. Based on the core theoretical proposition of the proposed theory, the study also presents a broad policy framework for dismantling war economies. In broad terms the framework proposes an integrated state-building process, based on a range of policy mechanisms aimed at maintaining a monopoly over violence, increasing administrative control, dismantling conflict networks and ensuring effective and efficient resource management.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A proposed framework for mentoring in black-owned small businesses in South Africa
- Authors: Matabooe, Makatleho Julia
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Mentoring in business -- South Africa , Small business -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6520 , vital:21101
- Description: In view of the important role that small businesses play in the economic development of most economies in the world, including South Africa (Adeniran & Johnston, 2012:4088; Kongolo, 2010:2290), as well as the survival challenges that they face, the purpose of this study was to propose a framework for effective mentoring. This framework can be used to develop the business management skills of black small business owner–managers which will eventually increase the survival of small businesses in South Africa. As such, the primary objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the conditions required for effective mentoring of black-owned small businesses by empirically identifying the factors that influence effective mentoring of these businesses. If mentoring programmes for black-owned small businesses can be effective, the high failure rate of these businesses could be reduced, which may influence the South African economy positively. This study sought to review previous findings and theories on mentoring and small business development, and then contextualise these to black-owned small businesses. A comprehensive literature review revealed potential factors which could influence the effectiveness of mentoring of black-owned small businesses. Four categories of these factors were identified, namely relational-based, non-relational based, cultural and demographical factors. These factors guided the collection of primary data in this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An exploration of perceptions, adaptive capacity and food security in the Ngqushwa local municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mazinyo, Sonwabo Perez
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Food security -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19043 , vital:40107
- Description: Approximately sixty percent of Africans depend on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods. South Africa is evidenced to be susceptible to inclement climate which impacts on rural livelihoods as well as on farming systems. While South Africa is considered to be food sufficient, it is estimated that approximately 35percent of the population is vulnerable to food insecurity. Therefore with the application of surveys and interviews this study investigates the factors influencing household, subsistence and small-scale farmer perceptions of vulnerability to climate variability as well as the determinants of adaptive capacity. A sample of 308 households is surveyed and four focus group discussions are administered in Ngqushwa Local Municipality as a case study. Furthermore, the study also focuses on the biophysical changes or factors (scientific analysis of the prevailing climatic regimes–rainfall trends); the interrogation of the impact of food systems on both food prices as well as its implications on food sovereignty. The study also interrogates the relationship between crop yield and rainfall data over a 30-year period. Therefore the study adopts a mixed method approach to ensure triangulation. The study finds that rural communities are able to perceive climate variability and its related changes as well as its negative impact on crop production, food access and availability. The perceived rainfall trends also corroborate this Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient reveals that there is a strong correlation between crop yields and rainfall (r = 0.69). Meteorological analyses also show that the rainfall trend has been significantly variable over 112 years (1900 - 2011) with several dry spells threatening the subsistence and small-scale farmers’ sustainable livelihoods. The food systems pose threats to food safety, food security and historical food sovereignty for the rural community of Ngqushwa Local Municipality. Adaptive capacity is greatly impaired by the lack of co-ordination of adaptation strategies, which communally benefit the majority of the farming respondents in the study area. Therefore vulnerability to climate variability impacts on the ability of the respondents to achieve food security. The study also finds that there is perceived competition between the farmers and wild life for the natural resources. The respondents’ perception is that climate variability and change is responsible for such competition. The study recommends that the national, provincial and local governments must foster a new food production model that is not based on the agro-business model and its attendant technologies but on one that is based on robust agro-ecological farming techniques which enhance adaptive capacity; which foster food safety; which promote food sovereignty; and which reduce vulnerability in a sustainable manner. Given the extent of climate variability in the study area the restoration of the NLM weather station infrastructure can also aid the farmers in taking advantage of a robust early warning system for better estimation of climate trends which enhance crop production.
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- Date Issued: 2015
An exploration of perceptions, adaptive capacity and food security in the Ngqushwa local municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mazinyo, Sonwabo Perez , Zhou, Leocadia
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Food security -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19032 , vital:40106
- Description: Approximately sixty percent of Africans depend on rainfed agriculture for their livelihoods. South Africa is evidenced to be susceptible to inclement climate which impacts on rural livelihoods as well as on farming systems. While South Africa is considered to be food sufficient, it is estimated that approximately 35% of the population is vulnerable to food insecurity. Therefore with the application of surveys and interviews this study investigates the factors influencing household, subsistence and small-scale farmer perceptions of vulnerability to climate variability as well as the determinants of adaptive capacity. A sample of 308 households is surveyed and four focus group discussions are administered in Ngqushwa Local Municipality as a case study. Furthermore, the study also focuses on the biophysical changes or factors (scientific analysis of the prevailing climatic regimes–rainfall trends); the interrogation of the impact of food systems on both food prices as well as its implications on food sovereignty. The study also interrogates the relationship between crop yield and rainfall data over a 30-year period. Therefore the study adopts a mixed method approach to ensure triangulation. The study finds that rural communities are able to perceive climate variability and its related changes as well as its negative impact on crop production, food access and availability. The perceived rainfall trends also corroborate this Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient reveals that there is a strong correlation between crop yields and rainfall (r = 0.69). Meteorological analyses also show that the rainfall trend has been significantly variable over 112 years (1900 - 2011) with several dry spells threatening the subsistence and small-scale farmers’ sustainable livelihoods. The food systems pose threats to food safety, food security and historical food sovereignty for the rural community of Ngqushwa Local Municipality. Adaptive capacity is greatly impaired by the lack of co-ordination of adaptation strategies, which communally benefit the majority of the farming respondents in the study area. Therefore vulnerability to climate variability impacts on the ability of the respondents to achieve food security. The study also finds that there is perceived competition between the farmers and wild life for the natural resources. The respondents’ perception is that climate variability and change is responsible for such competition. The study recommends that the national, provincial and local governments must foster a new food production model that is not based on the agro-business model and its attendant technologies but on one that is based on robust agro-ecological farming techniques which enhance adaptive capacity; which foster food safety; which promote food sovereignty; and which reduce vulnerability in a sustainable manner. Given the extent of climate variability in the study area the restoration of the NLM weather station infrastructure can also aid the farmers in taking advantage of a robust early warning system for better estimation of climate trends which enhance crop production.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An investigation of the effect of co-solvents on the hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae biomass
- Authors: Nongauza, Sinethemba Aubrey
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Biomass chemicals Microalgae -- Biotechnology , Supercritical fluids Solvents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21667 , vital:29731
- Description: The study introduces and demonstrates the viability of the continuous flow reactor (CFR) system for the production of bio-crude oil (BCO) from wet microalgae. Preliminary experiments conducted in the CFR system in hot compressed water (HCW) were successful in converting wet microalgae into liquid BCO. However, the synthesis and aggregation of high boiling point (HBP) components of BCO and the accumulation of char in the tubular piping of CFR system were identified as the limiting factor to the viability of the system. The aggregation of HBP components and the accumulation of char result to system blockage which prevents the continuous flow of the liquefaction product mixture in the CFR system. Inhibiting the reactions leading to the formation of HBP components and char will improve the performance of the CFR system. Therefore, the study seeks to incorporate co-solvents in the liquefaction reaction media in an attempt to inhibit or minimize the prevalence of HBP components of BCO. As such, different co-solvents were screened for their influence on improving the quality of BCO with respect to its boiling point profile (BPP), initial and final boiling point, as well as the amount of char recovered from each experiment. Only one co-solvent was chosen for further exploration in the CFR system. Batch liquefaction reactor’s (BLR) made up of stainless steel were used to carry out the co-solvent screening experiments. These experiments were carried out at a constant temperature (280 °C), pressure (75 bar), and co-solvent concentration (10 wt.%), at varying residence times. Solvent extraction with dichloromethane (DCM) was performed on the liquefaction product mixture to separate the products, viz. BCO, char and water soluble components. The extracted BCO was analysed through simulated distillation (SimDis) to obtain the BPP. The BPP properties of the BCO samples, from different liquefaction media, and the amount of char recovered were highly influenced by the addition of a co-solvent. The final boiling point (FBP) of tetralin, heptane, and n-octanol BCO products were significantly reduced to below 500 °C for all tested residence times except at 20 minutes. The residence time also proved to be influential in the processing of wet microalgae. n-Octanol was selected as the optimal performing co-solvent and was used for the continuous liquefaction of wet microalgae in the CFR system. The CFR system was modified by adding a co-solvent feed line into the continuous system since n-octanol was insoluble in water. The n-octanol pump was set at different flow rates, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 g/min, which resulted in a concentration of about 10 wt.% in the reactor feed. The concentration of n-octanol had a significant influence on the BPP of BCO components. The FBP’s were reduced with an increase in n-octanol concentration. The initial boiling point (IBP) of n-octanol BCO was increased to just above 100 °C which was required for the stability of the BCO product. The components of BCO were identified by GCMS. n-Octanol also proved to affect the composition of the BCO with respect to its components. HCW BCO components were significantly different from those identified from n-octanol BCO. A second co-solvent (tetralin) was used to prove whether the difference on the components of BCO was affected by n-octanol. The results proved that indeed the addition of different solvents in liquefaction reaction media favours the formation of different components. The amount of char formed was also reduced when using a co-solvent. A decrease in the oxygen/nitrogen compounds was also observed in the presence of a co-solvent, thus improving BCO properties.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A sociological analysis of biodiversity management in Nigeria
- Authors: Obayi, Bennycharles A
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Collective behavior , Sustainable biodiversity -- Nigeria , Biodiversity conservation -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5277 , vital:20835
- Description: The central thesis of this study addresses biodiversity challenges from a social relations perspective. This is viewed from the standpoint of enhancing sustainable bioresource-use systems from a behaviour change departure. The study reviewed the activities of organisations in Nigeria which focus on bioresource management. The review focused on how the organisations view, conceive and implement activities which aim to address biodiversity loss emphasising how these aspects inform the concept of programme design, planning and implementation. The strategies were weighed against theories and techniques in behaviour change. The study argues that it should be recognised that the challenges of biodiversity loss have a strong relationship with how a society is socially constructed, and that addressing the challenges will require a systematic approach aimed at social construction, using efficient techniques to ensure behaviour change. The objective of the study was to acquire insight on how programmes which aim at addressing biodiversity loss in Nigeria approached behaviour change towards sustainable bioresource-use practise. The study captured these insights in a set of themes which provided an improved analysis on the dynamics of behaviour change and biodiversity management in Nigeria as well as extrapolated these findings to articulate new ideas on how to address the challenges of biodiversity loss in Nigeria. Through analysing basic suppositions and exposing contradictions, social science disciplines examine the credibility of arguments and key concepts that commonly remain unquestioned. Based on this premise, critical assumptions on biodiversity management were challenged by the study. Furthermore, the study articulated questions which have been raised in recent years from a variety of social science perspectives on biodiversity management concerns. The study postulated the need for biodiversity management to be approached from a social-construct perspective in rethinking the discourse on unsustainable bioresource-use patterns. The thesis derives from an eco-sociology framework rooted in human interaction analysis, which is connected with approaches in the social science of functionalism and behaviourism. The concepts and ideas discussed in the thesis lay out the main dimensions relevant to the discourse on behaviour change-biodiversity management. The study’s conceptual and theoretical underpinning discussed biodiversity management concerns from a global context and narrowed the discussion down to country specific contexts. Within these contexts, the study discussed issues of policies, legal systems, political and social systems, practices and programme activities, as part of management concerns. The study compiled relevant views on conservation and protection practises which were in line with internationally accepted norms and practises on biodiversity management. It highlights the challenges of current practises which emphasise strengthening of legal frameworks, policies and practises, and which criminalise actions that contravene ideally-construed conservation precepts as best models of addressing biodiversity loss. It further discussed the emphasis placed on protected-area systems as the main model of biodiversity conservation and argued on the need to rethink the approach within the Nigerian context. The study articulates the role of sociology in ecological discourse and argues that although the knowledge gained by physical and biological sciences are essential in addressing ecological challenges, however, they are not sufficient to understand the driving forces underlying ecological challenges and the phenomenon fundamental to understanding trends and patterns of human factors in biodiversity loss. The study was explored within the methodological framework of phenomenology as the underpinning paradigm using a qualitative approach for analysis. The layouts of the thesis ensure that the research moves from theoretical and conceptual reflections to the actualities of lived realities and situated practices embedded in biodiversity management in Nigeria. The conceptual inclination for the theoretical base for the study analysis was postulated, which articulate the study’s scientific and empirical contributions. The survey method reflects exploratory analytical inquiry which supported the study’s methodological considerations. This was based on the specific data chosen for review, which was informed by the selected organisation’s application of social-construct concepts. Considered from a national perspective, the study assumed that issues of biodiversity management concerns were not to be separated from everyday social realities and the larger social challenges. In view of this consideration, the study analysis looked at historical, political and socio-economic backdrops in Nigeria, which reflected on bioresource-use practises. These are relevant to understand the dynamics and interplay of culture and values in bioresource-use patterns. The study builds on diverse arrays of global frameworks to integrate the major findings of the study. These were compared with related and different dimensions as well as existing theories of human-bioresource interactions. The first aspect of the empirical analysis explored conceptual dimensions which raised questions concerning perceptions of reality and social values that were linked to the strategies of social-constructs expressed through policies, plans and practices. The study’s fundamental empirical dimension explored the forms in which programmes and social institutions were relevant in ensuring behaviour change towards sustainable bioresource-use practise. The analytical sequences observed trends which support facilitation of social change through behaviour change. Another aspect of the empirical analysis focused on revealing the processional dynamics of programme activities to achieve set objectives. This was analysed from the methodical perspective of how the processes were monitored and measured in order to achieve anticipated outcomes. The study summarised the findings and the outcomes by outlining the themes which emerged from the research. The study analysis argued that the ideals of social interventions cannot be different from a society’s inherent and attributed meanings to realities, as well as how they engage with their everyday realities.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Ultra-high precision machining of contact lens polymers
- Authors: Olufayo, Oluwole Ayodeji
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Contact lenses , Polymers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3001 , vital:20385
- Description: Contact lens manufacture requires a high level of accuracy and surface integrity in the range of a few nanometres. Amidst numerous optical manufacturing techniques, single-point diamond turning is widely employed in the making of contact lenses due to its capability of producing optical surfaces of complex shapes and nanometric accuracy. For process optimisation, it is ideal to assess the effects of various conditions and also establish their relationships with the surface finish. Presently, there is little information available on the performance of single point diamond turning when machining contact lens polymers. Therefore, the research work undertaken herewith is aimed at testing known facts in contact lens diamond turning and investigating the performance of ultra-high precision manufacturing of contact lens polymers. Experimental tests were conducted on Roflufocon E, which is a commercially available contact lens polymer and on Precitech Nanoform Ultra-grind 250 precision machining. Tests were performed at varying cutting feeds, speed and depth of cut. Initial experimental tests investigated the influence of process factors affecting surface finish in the UHPM of lenses. The acquired data were statistically analysed using Response Surface Method (RSM) to create a model of the process. Subsequently, a model which uses Runge-Kutta’s fourth order non-linear finite series scheme was developed and adapted to deduce the force occurring at the tool tip. These forces were also statistically analysed and modelled to also predict the effects process factors have on cutting force. Further experimental tests were aimed at establishing the presence of the triboelectric wear phenomena occurring during polymer machining and identifying the most influential process factors. Results indicate that feed rate is a significant factor in the generation of high optical surface quality. In addition, the depth of cut was identified as a significant factor in the generation of low surface roughness in lenses. The influence some of these process factors had was notably linked to triboelectric effects. This tribological effect was generated from the continuous rubbing action of magnetised chips on the cutting tool. This further stresses the presence of high static charging during cutting. Moderately humid cutting conditions presented an adequate means for static charge control and displayed improved surface finishes. In all experimental tests, the feed rate was identified as the most significant factor within the range of cutting parameters employed. Hence, the results validated the fact that feed rate had a high influence in polymer machining. The work also established the relationship on how surface roughness of an optical lens responded to monitoring signals and parameters such as force, feed, speed and depth of cut during machining and it generated models for prediction of surface finishes and appropriate selection of parameters. Furthermore, the study provides a molecular simulation analysis for validating observed conditions occurring at the nanometric scale in polymer machining. This is novel in molecular polymer modelling. The outcome of this research has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge and has provided basic information in the area of precision manufacturing of optical components of high surface integrity such as contact lenses. The application of the research findings presented here cuts across various fields such as medicine, semi-conductors, aerospace, defence, telecom, lasers, instrumentation and life sciences.
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- Date Issued: 2015
A positive clinical psychology approach to developing resilience among state employed nurses
- Authors: Plumb, Sarah
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Nurses -- Job stress , Nursing -- Psychological aspects , Resilience (Personality trait)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9955 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018879
- Description: Nurses are confronted with numerous work-related stressors that can result in burnout. This can contribute to absenteeism and high turn-over rates in the nursing profession. A review of the literature indicated that psycho-educational interventions to increase resilience could be an effective way of addressing this problem. The study aimed to develop a positive clinical-psychology approach to increasing resilience in State employed nurses. The study used a mixed-method approach to determine the current psychological functioning of a sample of 87 nurses. Quantitative data on personality traits, character strengths and levels of resilience were obtained, using the NEO PI-R, VIA – IS, and Resilience Scale. Qualitative data on the coping responses of nurses were obtained through the thematic analysis of focus groups. These data were integrated to create a positive clinical psychology conceptualisation of resilience and to develop therapeutic guidelines for a group psycho-educational intervention. The results of the study indicated a struggling psychological profile. This was defined as the ability to deal with work-related stressors – but with the potential risk of developing symptoms of burnout. The moderate levels of resilience were attributed to elevated character strengths in the sample. The distribution of personality traits indicated that the nurses in the sample were at risk of developing burnout; and this prevented them from flourishing. These data were synthesised to create therapeutic guidelines for developing resilience aimed: (1) increasing emotional stability and invulnerability; (2) increasing agreeableness; and (3) increasing conscientiousness. These guidelines were based on the personality traits that were deemed to negatively impact the resilience of the nurses. These personality traits were correlated with several character strengths that displayed strong relationships with resilience. This indicated that resilience could be developed through the cultivation of the following character strengths: perspective; perseverance; fairness; forgiveness; leadership; love; zest; hope; curiosity; and appreciation of beauty and excellence. These character strengths were identified to facilitate the positive adaptation of the personality traits identified in the therapeutic guidelines. A group psycho-educational intervention was developed, using the positive clinical psychology conceptualisation of resilience. The literature was reviewed to identify techniques to cultivate the ten character strengths specified in the therapeutic guidelines. These techniques were adapted to create experiential learning processes for the intervention. This psycho-educational programme can be applied as a secondary and tertiary intervention. It can be used to increase resilience to prevent burnout among nurses. It can also be used to psychologically empower nurses that have existing symptoms of burnout.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The contribution of guest houses to economic growth and employment as key components of local economic development in the Eden District Area
- Authors: Ramukumba, Takalani
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Sustainable tourism -- South Africa -- Western Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5214 , vital:20821
- Description: Tourism has come to be seen as a key driver for local economic development in South Africa, as it provides opportunities for pro-poor and community-based initiatives. On a global scale, the challenges of confronting poverty and unemployment continue to dominate the development agenda. The ability of Local Economic Development (LED) to empower local people has earned favour with national governments and development theorists. The imperative facing South Africa to achieve a more equitable and sustainable economy is essentially the challenge to adopt and implement a development approach that will reduce poverty and unemployment (which are the two key objectives of LED) to the greatest extent. It is within this context that the South African government has sought to incorporate LED into their economic development framework, predominantly through the decentralisation of development control and planning to the local government level. This study examined the contribution of guest houses to economic growth and employment as key components of LED in a sustainable manner. The study revealed that guest houses are playing a key role in the development of the local economy in the Eden district region. Guest houses are providing employment opportunities to the local residents both on a full-time and part-time basis. Further to this, guest houses are buying many locally-produced products and services from local suppliers and this contributes to economic growth of the local economy. However, this study also found that many of the guest houses in the area are not aware of government incentives available to support them and very few of them have made use of these services. This is something that needs to be addressed if these guest houses are to continue to strengthen the local economy and provide employment opportunities in a sustainable manner. The study revealed that many of the guest houses are operating in an environmentally friendly manner and this will ensure their future sustainability. The broader situation and the contribution of the accommodation sector as critical assets in local and national tourism economies has been thoroughly researched in tourism research around the world. Existing work on the accommodation sector in the South African tourism economy is mainly urban-focused and indicates that its local development impacts can be positive albeit not always maximised through local linkages, however, only a limited amount of academic investigations examines the contribution of tourism sub-sectors to economic growth and employment. The authenticity of this study is based on Its contribution which must be viewed in relation to the relatively limited body of literature in the contribution of tourism sub-sectors to economic growth and employment and in this case guest houses as one type of accommodation sub-sector.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Effect of post-slaughter handling on physico-chemical and microbiological quality of red meat along the distribution chain in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Rani, Zikhona Theodora
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Meat -- Microbiology Meat -- Transportation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Meat -- Quality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2490 , vital:27875
- Description: The broad objective of the study was to investigate the effect of post-slaughter handling in the distribution chain on red meat quality and safety. A survey was conducted among 300 consumers and 100 meat handlers in five different municipalities (Buffalo City, Nkonkobe, Ngqushwa, Lukhanje and Amahlathi) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa to investigate their perceptions on meat quality and safety, together with challenges faced by meat handlers during the distribution of meat from the abattoir to retailers. The microbiological profile and physico-chemical quality of red meat at different stages of the abattoir to retail outlets in the distribution chain were also determined. Swabs (n=216) and meat samples (n=450) were collected from beef, pork and mutton carcasses during the loading process of carcasses into trucks at the abattoir, when offloading carcasses at the supply points and during marketing. Physico-chemical qualities such as colour (L* - lightness, b* - redness and a* - yellowness) and meat pH measurements were taken at each point. To determine the microbiological profiles of the carcasses, four microbiological parameters were considered: Total bacteria count (general bacteria), coliform count (related to hygiene and indicator for pathogens), Escherichia coli (Gram-negative pathogen) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive pathogen). Two types of packaging (vacuum and overwrapping) were used to determine their effect on shelf-life and microbiological quality of red meat under the normal marketing conditions over a storage duration of 15 days. The results from the study showed low awareness of consumers about the pathogenic diseases which arise from meat. A strong significant association (p ˂ 0.05) between educational status and awareness on meat safety was observed. Most of the consumers perceived that quality goes beyond safety such that 35.6 percent of the respondents indicated that they did not have a problem with consuming spoiled meat, whilst the remaining 64.4 percent indicated that they would r eject spoiled meat. Although retailers indicated that they take meat safety into consideration in their shops, 92 percent of the retailers revealed that they do not perform microbial assessment of meat in their shops. A series of loading and off-loading, temperature fluctuations, environmental temperatures and ques during offloading were reported as the major challenges during transportation of carcasses from the abattoir to the supply points. The microbial counts were significantly (p<0.05) higher in samples from the commercial abattoir than in those from the communal abattoir. Escherichia coli was the predominant microbial contaminant in the samples from both abattoirs. When following the chain, total bacterial count (TBC), coliform count (CC) and the levels of E. coli contamination increased progressively between the loading and the off-loading points (5.1 to 7.9 log10 CFU/cm2; 5.0 to 5.6 log10 CFU/cm2 and 2.7 to 3.7 log10 CFU/cm2, respectively). The storage period, meat type, distance during transportation and temperature were found to have a significant impact on the microbial levels during the distribution of carcasses. Distribution stage had a significant effect (p<0.05) on some of the physico- chemical meat quality attributes and differences in the lightness (L*) and redness (a*) values between the loading, off-loading and display points were observed. Consumers perceived retailer class as one of the factors influencing meat quality, but according to the instrumental measurements retailer class did not have a significant effect on physico-chemical meat quality. However, distance and storage duration significantly (p<0.05) affected (L*) and (a*) values in the meat during distribution chain. Vacuum and overwrapping packaging significantly affected (p<0.05) the shelf life of meat. Therefore, it was concluded that post-slaughter handling during the distribution chain affects the physico- chemical, microbiological and shelf-life of meat.
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- Date Issued: 2015