Climate change mitigation strategies and its effect on economic change
- Authors: Roux, Louis Johannes
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Climatic changes -- Economic aspects , Climate change mitigation , Global warming -- Economic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
- Identifier: vital:8889 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020816
- Description: Scientists started to study the relationship between changing weather patterns and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other harmful gasses. They soon discovered compelling evidence that CO2 concentration and other gases have been increasing and it was causing temperatures to increase in certain areas on the earth, which disturb historic weather patterns. Climate change has become a very popular field of study in the modern science. Europe first introduced measures to reduce carbon emissions but it was the Kyoto in 1997 where global leaders were asked to participate in a joint protocol to reduce greenhouse gases. South Africa responded to climate change challenges in 2008 with the Long term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS). The Integrated Resource Plan for electricity to 2030 was developed from the LTMS scenarios and after some major amendments it was accepted and promulgated by Government and has recently been included in the National Development Plan to 2030 (NDP). There are concerns about the achievability of some of the objectives listed in the NDP and this study explored the IRP2010 as the proposed strategy to meet energy demand and reduce emissions. The purpose for this study was to answer this question: Is there an optimum climate change mitigation strategy for South Africa and how can the effect thereof be simulated on economic growth? Through primary and secondary research during the study it was possible to define some 32 categories of energy producing assets that are commercially active or nearly market-ready. The characteristics of the various assets and the relevant fuel are defined in mathematical equations. It was found that the three portfolios that matched the 450TWh electricity requirement would perform substantially better than the NDP portfolio in terms of cost and similar on emissions with marginally fewer employment opportunities created. The proposed electricity strategy in this study was 390TWh and 33.5 Million tonnes of oil consumption by 2030. This strategy was substantially more affordable than the 450TWh strategy. Trends in the Supply and Use tables since 1993 were studied and then forecasted to 2030 to determine consumption levels on electricity and liquid fuel into the future. It was found that electricity demand is seriously overestimated and South Africa would end up with large excess capacity in electricity infrastructures if the NDP energy strategy (IRP2010) is implemented. It is concluded that the NDP energy strategy to 2030 is based on an incorrect electricity demand forecast. It would lead to excessive investment in an electricity infrastructure. Government has confirmed that part of the new infrastructure would be nuclear. It is also found that NDP has not clearly supported nuclear as part of the strategy. Nuclear is partly the reason why the capital requirement of the NDP portfolio is so much higher than the other portfolios. It is the conclusion of this study that South Africa do not need to invest in a nuclear build programme as the electricity demand would be adequately covered by adding the new Medupi and Kusile power stations, Ingula pump storage scheme, some wind and solar renewables, electricity from cogeneration, biogas, biomass, small hydro and imported hydro from neighbour countries. To invest in electricity capacity to generate 450TWh annually by 2030 would result in excessive energy cost, GDP growth could be up to 1% lower due to underperforming capital investments in the electricity infrastructure and higher energy cost would lead to a decline in global competitiveness.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Competitive strategy implementation in microfinance organisations in Kenya
- Authors: Waweru, Ruth Wambui
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Microfinance -- Kenya , Financial institutions -- Kenya
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
- Identifier: vital:8888 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020815
- Description: Poverty is a major challenge in most developing countries. Key challenges of the government are to alleviate poverty and propel citizens toward wealth creation through development of enterprises across all sectors and to address the problem of unemployment. In Kenya, the SME sector comprises of about 99% of private sector enterprises and is prolific in employment and wealth creation. Despite this critical role played by SMEs in growing the economy, they remain outside the formal banking sector, especially in Africa. Although the number of MFOs since the 1980s has increased, the demand for financial services is largely unmet. However, MFOs are increasingly experiencing competition from new entrants and commercial banks that have developed financial models to target SMEs. MFOs are required to formulate and implement competitive strategies to enable them achieve sustainable growth and compete with commercial banks. However, strategy implementation is generally accepted as a challenge across organisations and it is often easier to formulate strategies than implementing it. Despite the need to address strategy implementation challenges across organisations, there is a greater focus by practitioners and researchers regarding strategy formulation than implementation. Consequently, this study aimed at assessing the level of strategy implementation in MFOs and factors that affect strategy implementation in MFOs. The ultimate objective was to develop a hypothetical model that could be used to improve strategy implementation in microfinance organisations in Kenya. This quantitative study used purposive sampling to select MFOs that are members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI) in Kenya, completing a selfadministered structured questionnaire. In total, 135 MFOs were involved in this study and a total sample size of 300 managers was used in this study. This study considered fourteen factors to have an influence on the level of strategy implementation of MFOs in Kenya and hence fourteen null-hypotheses were formulated and tested. The content factors included stakeholder involvement in strategy development and the quality of strategies. The context factors included organisational structure and culture, strategic leadership and alignment of strategy to market conditions. The operational process factors included operational planning, monitoring and review of progress, teamwork, resources allocation, people-strategy fit, effective communication, strategic and management control systems and information resources. It is assumed that if all these critical strategy implementation factors are addressed, MFOs should be able improve their level of strategy implementation, ultimately leading to improved performance. The outcome factors considered were improved financial sustainability and outreach of MFOs. Advanced statistical analyses were used to analyse the data, such as factor analysis, regression and correlation analysis to assess the hypothesised relationship between the dependent and independent variables of this study. The empirical results revealed that the level of strategy implementation in MFOs in Kenya is moderate to high and content, context and operational factors do have an influence on the level of strategy implementation. However, operational factors have a more significant positive linear relationship with level of strategy implementation than the other two factors. There is also a positive relationship between the level of strategy implementation and financial sustainability and outreach by MFOs. This study has contributed to the existing body of knowledge by developing a hypothetical model that can be utilised by MFOs as well as other organisations to improve the level of strategy implementation resulting in better performance. The findings of the study can also inform strategy formulation and implementation of MFOs in Kenya, but also in other developing countries, to become more competitive. This study could also help MFOs and other organisations to put in place structures, systems, people and other resources required to attain a high level of strategy implementation. This study provides useful and practical guidelines in dealing with content, context and operational factors affecting strategy implementation in any organisational setting.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Possible futures for the Republic of South Africa towards 2055
- Authors: Adendorff, Christian Michael
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa , Sustainable development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7816 , vital:24294
- Description: The purpose of this thesis was to develop four scenarios for South Africa over the next forty years: Mandela's Dream in which positive elements come into function for South Africa's economy and governance; the Historical African Syndrome, in which the key driving forces unfold in an uneven pattern, or have a differentiated impact on South Africa's economy; the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in which less good governance prevails, but where a fortunate economy and firm national management allow South Africa to become competitive and benefit from satisfactory economic growth; and the Pyramid Syndrome Scenario in which negative regional drivers of change corrode positive policies and initiatives in a manner which compounds the pre-existing threats to South Africa's growth.
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- Date Issued: 2013
The impact of diversity and organisational culture on effective strategy implementation in a higher education institution
- Authors: Strydom, Kariena
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Diversity in the workplace -- South Africa Corporate culture -- South Africa , Organizational behavior -- South Africa Business anthropology Education, Higher -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21691 , vital:29734
- Description: Diversity should be included in an organisational culture and be aligned with the corporate strategy. South African institutions face diversity and multiculturalism challenges which affect their operation and strategies. Managers in South Africa regard organisational culture as a very useful tool to manage their diverse workforce. Against this background, the primary objective of this study was to investigate and analyse how workforce diversity and organisational culture impact on strategy implementation at a higher education institution, namely Walter Sisulu University (WSU). The study identified dimensions of diversity and organisational culture and strategy implementation from theoretical models supporting the study. A hypothetical model portraying these factors was constructed, displaying each factor and their relationship with strategy implementation. Furthermore, the relationship between strategy implementation and strategic outcomes was indicated. Given the nature of the problem statement and the research objectives presented in this study, the positivistic research paradigm was adopted. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to executive and senior management, senior academic and senior support staff at WSU. In total, 266 usable questionnaires were returned. The data obtained from these questionnaires were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the key statistical analysis tool. As the hypothetical model did not load onto SEM in total, it was re-specified into four sub-models. Each sub-model was subjected to SEM to test the hypothetical model and to indicate the significance of the relationships hypothesised between the various independent, mediating and dependent variables. Eight statistically significant relationships were identified in the study. The factors identified as having a statistically significant relationship with organisational culture included the following: degree of flexibility, degree of teamwork, task directiveness, degree of formalisation, leadership styles and decision making. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between organisational culture and strategy implementation. Furthermore the findings indicated a statistically significant relationship between strategy implementation and strategic outcomes in a higher education institution. There was no statistically significant relationship found between diversity and strategy implementation. This finding is contrary to empirical evidence by various other researchers. The study makes a contribution to multicultural higher education institutions by highlighting the crucial role of organisational culture in effective strategy implementation. It was clear from the results of the study that the nurturing of human capital is critical if higher education institutions wish to successfully aligning culture with strategy implementation. This study provided constructive and very practical guidelines to higher education institutions to ensure effective alignment of culture with strategy implementation and so enhance local and global competitiveness and long term sustainability. University councils throughout South Africa can apply the findings of this study in their respective institutions to support effective strategy execution.
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- Date Issued: 2013