An evaluation of the quality of customer service provided to large power users by Eskom in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Caza, Akhona Nobusi
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Eskom (Firm) -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Quality control , SERVQUAL (Service quality framework) , Gap analysis (Planning)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020610
- Description: The aim of this research is to evaluate the level of service quality provided by Eskom to its Large Power User (LPU) customer segment in the Eastern Cape. The research uses the SERVQUAL model in order to assess the customers’ expectations and perceptions of the service provided by Eskom. This evaluation report comprises three sections. Section one consists of (a) a review of service quality literature that exists and is applied to Eskom where relevant, (b) a summary of the method used to conduct the research, (c) the research findings, and (d) a discussion of the research findings and recommendations. Section two consists of a review of the key concepts identified for this study as follows: (a) defining customer service quality by looking at the concepts of the customer, service, quality and the dimensions of quality, (b) the importance of service quality, (c) the components of service quality in Eskom, (d) models of service quality, and (e) the SERVQUAL model used in this study. Section three consists of the detail of the research methodology used to conduct this study. The Gap Model of Service Quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985:44) is evaluated in order to understand the gaps between expected and perceived service. The provider gap (Zeithaml et al., 2006: 34) is also reviewed in order to identify the gaps that occur within the organisation. An extensive review of customer service quality models is undertaken before a discussion of the SERVQUAL model, which was used in this evaluation study, is provided. The researcher adopted the critical realism research paradigm and quantitative data was collected from a sample of 120 Eskom customers within the LPU customer segment in the Eastern Cape. These customers were randomly selected from the Eskom Customer Care and Billing database and comprised customers from Port Elizabeth, Aliwal North, Mthatha and East London Areas within the Eastern Cape. The data was collected online through a questionnaire which was based on SERVQUAL and modified for electricity services. The quantitative data obtained from the study is presented in the form of tables and graphs created from the data obtained from the 45 customers who responded to the questionnaire. The gaps between LPU customer perceptions and expectations were calculated for the five SERVQUAL dimensions. The research identifies the existing gaps in the service delivered by Eskom; this is based on the perceptions and expectations of the LPU customers in the Eastern Cape, who participated in the study. The results reveal that gaps exist between LPU customer perceptions and their expectations of the service provided by Eskom in the Eastern Cape. The key findings reveal that the largest gaps are within the reliability and empathy dimensions and the smallest gap is in the tangibles dimension. The recommendations were made on the basis of the gaps which were identified and these focus on the training of the front line staff responsible for servicing customers. It is recommended that this training should include an overview of the organisation’s policies and procedures to enable employees to respond adequately to customer queries. Recommendation is also made on training staff to interact with customers effectively in order to resolve customer queries satisfactorily. Finally, it is recommended that regular assessments of the existing customer service quality levels are conducted in order for the organisation to remain aware of the current customer perceptions and expectations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Caza, Akhona Nobusi
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Eskom (Firm) -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Quality control , SERVQUAL (Service quality framework) , Gap analysis (Planning)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020610
- Description: The aim of this research is to evaluate the level of service quality provided by Eskom to its Large Power User (LPU) customer segment in the Eastern Cape. The research uses the SERVQUAL model in order to assess the customers’ expectations and perceptions of the service provided by Eskom. This evaluation report comprises three sections. Section one consists of (a) a review of service quality literature that exists and is applied to Eskom where relevant, (b) a summary of the method used to conduct the research, (c) the research findings, and (d) a discussion of the research findings and recommendations. Section two consists of a review of the key concepts identified for this study as follows: (a) defining customer service quality by looking at the concepts of the customer, service, quality and the dimensions of quality, (b) the importance of service quality, (c) the components of service quality in Eskom, (d) models of service quality, and (e) the SERVQUAL model used in this study. Section three consists of the detail of the research methodology used to conduct this study. The Gap Model of Service Quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985:44) is evaluated in order to understand the gaps between expected and perceived service. The provider gap (Zeithaml et al., 2006: 34) is also reviewed in order to identify the gaps that occur within the organisation. An extensive review of customer service quality models is undertaken before a discussion of the SERVQUAL model, which was used in this evaluation study, is provided. The researcher adopted the critical realism research paradigm and quantitative data was collected from a sample of 120 Eskom customers within the LPU customer segment in the Eastern Cape. These customers were randomly selected from the Eskom Customer Care and Billing database and comprised customers from Port Elizabeth, Aliwal North, Mthatha and East London Areas within the Eastern Cape. The data was collected online through a questionnaire which was based on SERVQUAL and modified for electricity services. The quantitative data obtained from the study is presented in the form of tables and graphs created from the data obtained from the 45 customers who responded to the questionnaire. The gaps between LPU customer perceptions and expectations were calculated for the five SERVQUAL dimensions. The research identifies the existing gaps in the service delivered by Eskom; this is based on the perceptions and expectations of the LPU customers in the Eastern Cape, who participated in the study. The results reveal that gaps exist between LPU customer perceptions and their expectations of the service provided by Eskom in the Eastern Cape. The key findings reveal that the largest gaps are within the reliability and empathy dimensions and the smallest gap is in the tangibles dimension. The recommendations were made on the basis of the gaps which were identified and these focus on the training of the front line staff responsible for servicing customers. It is recommended that this training should include an overview of the organisation’s policies and procedures to enable employees to respond adequately to customer queries. Recommendation is also made on training staff to interact with customers effectively in order to resolve customer queries satisfactorily. Finally, it is recommended that regular assessments of the existing customer service quality levels are conducted in order for the organisation to remain aware of the current customer perceptions and expectations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
An exploratory study of the implementation of a decentralized water provision model: a case of Chris Hani District Municipality
- Dyasi, Nobuhle Marjorie Pretty
- Authors: Dyasi, Nobuhle Marjorie Pretty
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/18532 , vital:22353
- Description: It is notable that successful implementation of strategy is very important in any organization - private or public. As such it is not surprising that public sector managers are expected to implement strategies to improve organizational performance and service delivery. Consequently, strategy implementation in the public sector has become an increasingly relevant and topical issue, especially because public sector organizations exist to meet the needs of particular stakeholder groups and maximize organizational performance rather than realize profits. Despite this growing focus of public sector management literature on strategy, “there have so far been few explanations about how public sector managers develop and implement new strategic approaches” (Pablo, Reay, Dewald and Casebeer, 2007:687). This qualitative study explores the implementation of a decentralised water service provision model at Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) which is located in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The Chris Hani District Municipality is comprised of eight local municipalities: Lukhanji, Lady Frere, Sakhisizwe, Inkwanca, Tsolwana, Inxuba Yethemba, Intsika Yethu and Engcobo. All eight municipalities were delegated to perform the water service provision function of CHDM. The research questions are: How effective was the implementation of the CHDM decentralised water services provision model? and What are the enablers of and barriers to implementing a decentralised water provision model in CHDM? The study used the McKinsey 7S framework of strategy execution to evaluate the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model in CHDM, enablers and barriers to executing this model were also identified. Purposively, a total of seven area managers were interviewed as the eighth Area Manager resigned and left the employment of CHDM during the time of the study. Data was gathered from Area Managers who are intimately involved in the daily operation of water services provision. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed and data was coded and categorised according to the theoretical perspectives of the McKinsey 7S framework. The draft report was given to the research participants for verification or comments not only as input but also as a member check before the final report. Predominantly most of the Area Managers reflected that the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model by CHDM manifested four cornerstones: (a) reducing distance to water services, (b) delegating of water provision function and accountability, (c) improving delivery of water services, and (d) putting people first in water provision. Drivers and barriers of the implementation of the decentralized water provision strategy were identified to empower local municipalities and enhance operational efficiencies and service quality. Recommendations were made to CHDM on how the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model could be enhanced for better performance. This study will benefit CHDM on improving and strengthening the alignment of all the 7S’s elements of strategy execution to enhance the performance of the decentralised water provision model. Since no studies had been conducted previously to evaluate the implementation of a decentralised water services provision strategy at CHDM, this research is valuable to CHDM as it provides insight on the effectiveness of implementing the decentralised water provision model. Furthermore, the use of the McKinsey 7S framework to evaluate the decentralised model is valuable as it identifies and highlights the gaps where there is misalignment of the 7S’s of strategy execution. These are areas which CHDM needs to address in order to enhance or improve strategic performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Dyasi, Nobuhle Marjorie Pretty
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/18532 , vital:22353
- Description: It is notable that successful implementation of strategy is very important in any organization - private or public. As such it is not surprising that public sector managers are expected to implement strategies to improve organizational performance and service delivery. Consequently, strategy implementation in the public sector has become an increasingly relevant and topical issue, especially because public sector organizations exist to meet the needs of particular stakeholder groups and maximize organizational performance rather than realize profits. Despite this growing focus of public sector management literature on strategy, “there have so far been few explanations about how public sector managers develop and implement new strategic approaches” (Pablo, Reay, Dewald and Casebeer, 2007:687). This qualitative study explores the implementation of a decentralised water service provision model at Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) which is located in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The Chris Hani District Municipality is comprised of eight local municipalities: Lukhanji, Lady Frere, Sakhisizwe, Inkwanca, Tsolwana, Inxuba Yethemba, Intsika Yethu and Engcobo. All eight municipalities were delegated to perform the water service provision function of CHDM. The research questions are: How effective was the implementation of the CHDM decentralised water services provision model? and What are the enablers of and barriers to implementing a decentralised water provision model in CHDM? The study used the McKinsey 7S framework of strategy execution to evaluate the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model in CHDM, enablers and barriers to executing this model were also identified. Purposively, a total of seven area managers were interviewed as the eighth Area Manager resigned and left the employment of CHDM during the time of the study. Data was gathered from Area Managers who are intimately involved in the daily operation of water services provision. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed and data was coded and categorised according to the theoretical perspectives of the McKinsey 7S framework. The draft report was given to the research participants for verification or comments not only as input but also as a member check before the final report. Predominantly most of the Area Managers reflected that the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model by CHDM manifested four cornerstones: (a) reducing distance to water services, (b) delegating of water provision function and accountability, (c) improving delivery of water services, and (d) putting people first in water provision. Drivers and barriers of the implementation of the decentralized water provision strategy were identified to empower local municipalities and enhance operational efficiencies and service quality. Recommendations were made to CHDM on how the implementation of the decentralised water services provision model could be enhanced for better performance. This study will benefit CHDM on improving and strengthening the alignment of all the 7S’s elements of strategy execution to enhance the performance of the decentralised water provision model. Since no studies had been conducted previously to evaluate the implementation of a decentralised water services provision strategy at CHDM, this research is valuable to CHDM as it provides insight on the effectiveness of implementing the decentralised water provision model. Furthermore, the use of the McKinsey 7S framework to evaluate the decentralised model is valuable as it identifies and highlights the gaps where there is misalignment of the 7S’s of strategy execution. These are areas which CHDM needs to address in order to enhance or improve strategic performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
An investigation of the intention to leave or stay of health care professionals at St. Andrews Hospital
- Authors: Amanambu, Rochelle Aneeta
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Medical personnel -- Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Medical personnel -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Administration Hospitals -- Medical staff -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Hospitals -- Officials and employees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Turnover Health services administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Health planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011091
- Description: Background: The demand for and retention of talent worldwide is aggravated by revolutionary trends that include global competition, demographic changes and technological advances. In South Africa this phenomenon according to Frost (2002) is further challenged by the emigration of skilled people; the relative scarcity of specialist and managerial employees; employment equity and affirmative action procedures. But the development of strategies first requires an understanding of the factors which influence decisions to leave or stay particularly in rural and remote areas. St. Andrews Hospital is a rural district hospital in Ugu District, KZN. Its remoteness from urban areas and the lack of resources contributes towards challenges of attracting and retaining health care professionals to the area. It is the aim of this study to identify the ten most prevalent turnover and retention factors in a rural district hospital with the intention of making recommendations towards strategies to mitigate turnover and improve retention of health care professionals. This study will not only serve the local Human Resource Department but may also be used to inform district and provincial policies as well as departments’ decisions in the design or the review of current retention strategies aimed at reducing turnover. Method: The survey method was used to collect the primary data by distribution of self-administered questionnaires to Health Care Professionals at St. Andrews Hospital. Of the one hundred and fifty questionnaires distributed, one hundred and seven were returned (71% response rate) and formed the basis of the study. Results: Based on the impact scores, the top three turnover factors identified were, the way the organisation is led by top management (0.934); the size of the workload (0.862); and the way problems are dealt with by managers in the organisation (0.817). No statistically significant relationships were found between turnover factors and biographical variable. Availability of quality health services was ranked as the external factor that had the highest influence (78%) on turnover, while geographical location was ranked the lowest. The main reason given by respondents for leaving their previous employment was promotion, followed by distance and personal/family reasons. The top three retention factors identified from the impact scores were the quality of relationships with colleagues (1.698); the amount of support received from managers and colleagues (1.484); and the level of engagement and involvement with the job (1.390). This demonstrates that the salary package often thought to be a first priority factor Mobley, Horner and Hollingsworth (1978); Mobley (1982) and Herzberg (2003) is far less of a determining factor at St. Andrews Hospital than management support, job involvement and person-organisation fit as well as the social relationships formed in the workplace. A positive relationship was found between leadership and job dimension factors at the 1% level of significance. This supports the strong social bond (person-organisation fit) formed in the work environment between management and colleagues that supports retention and increases level of commitment. An important result of the study was that 46% of the respondents were thinking of leaving the town within the year while 29% were considering resigning from St. Andrews Hospital within the year. Conclusion: The results reveal a complex interaction of factors impacting on turnover and retention. The Human Resource Management function has a pivotal role to play in improving its ability to attract and retain professionals through developing comprehensive strategies based on external and internal and environmental factors. The study conveys to the St. Andrews Hospital management that turnover and retention factors are unique to the location and the working environment and differs amongst Health Care Professionals – this should be deliberated on when formulating Hospital Human Resource retention policies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Amanambu, Rochelle Aneeta
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Medical personnel -- Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Medical personnel -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Administration Hospitals -- Medical staff -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Hospitals -- Officials and employees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Turnover Health services administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Health planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011091
- Description: Background: The demand for and retention of talent worldwide is aggravated by revolutionary trends that include global competition, demographic changes and technological advances. In South Africa this phenomenon according to Frost (2002) is further challenged by the emigration of skilled people; the relative scarcity of specialist and managerial employees; employment equity and affirmative action procedures. But the development of strategies first requires an understanding of the factors which influence decisions to leave or stay particularly in rural and remote areas. St. Andrews Hospital is a rural district hospital in Ugu District, KZN. Its remoteness from urban areas and the lack of resources contributes towards challenges of attracting and retaining health care professionals to the area. It is the aim of this study to identify the ten most prevalent turnover and retention factors in a rural district hospital with the intention of making recommendations towards strategies to mitigate turnover and improve retention of health care professionals. This study will not only serve the local Human Resource Department but may also be used to inform district and provincial policies as well as departments’ decisions in the design or the review of current retention strategies aimed at reducing turnover. Method: The survey method was used to collect the primary data by distribution of self-administered questionnaires to Health Care Professionals at St. Andrews Hospital. Of the one hundred and fifty questionnaires distributed, one hundred and seven were returned (71% response rate) and formed the basis of the study. Results: Based on the impact scores, the top three turnover factors identified were, the way the organisation is led by top management (0.934); the size of the workload (0.862); and the way problems are dealt with by managers in the organisation (0.817). No statistically significant relationships were found between turnover factors and biographical variable. Availability of quality health services was ranked as the external factor that had the highest influence (78%) on turnover, while geographical location was ranked the lowest. The main reason given by respondents for leaving their previous employment was promotion, followed by distance and personal/family reasons. The top three retention factors identified from the impact scores were the quality of relationships with colleagues (1.698); the amount of support received from managers and colleagues (1.484); and the level of engagement and involvement with the job (1.390). This demonstrates that the salary package often thought to be a first priority factor Mobley, Horner and Hollingsworth (1978); Mobley (1982) and Herzberg (2003) is far less of a determining factor at St. Andrews Hospital than management support, job involvement and person-organisation fit as well as the social relationships formed in the workplace. A positive relationship was found between leadership and job dimension factors at the 1% level of significance. This supports the strong social bond (person-organisation fit) formed in the work environment between management and colleagues that supports retention and increases level of commitment. An important result of the study was that 46% of the respondents were thinking of leaving the town within the year while 29% were considering resigning from St. Andrews Hospital within the year. Conclusion: The results reveal a complex interaction of factors impacting on turnover and retention. The Human Resource Management function has a pivotal role to play in improving its ability to attract and retain professionals through developing comprehensive strategies based on external and internal and environmental factors. The study conveys to the St. Andrews Hospital management that turnover and retention factors are unique to the location and the working environment and differs amongst Health Care Professionals – this should be deliberated on when formulating Hospital Human Resource retention policies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploratory study : how do Somali shop owners (SSO) succeed in running businesses in Soweto : a South African perspective
- Authors: Mokitlane, Ofentse Clifford
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business enterprises, Foreign -- South Africa , Small business -- Management , Small business -- South Africa , Foreign workers -- South Africa , Employment in foreign countries , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:842 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015653
- Description: This is a qualitative study which seeks to understand how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in the township of Soweto in South Africa. This research report has three sections, namely (1) the academic paper which comprises a shortened literature review, the research method, findings, and the discussion; (2) an extended literature review and (3) the research methodology. It is important to mention that these three sections are related and not necessarily stand-alone sections. Despite the hostilities faced by the Somali shop owners from the host communities in South Africa, it is notable that they are successful, small-sized entrepreneurs in most townships of South Africa (SA). Previous research on Somalis has predominantly focused on their assimilation into the societies in their host countries, and on how they are led into self-employment because of the unfavourable labour markets in the host country. In this vein, there is a need to understand how they run successful businesses in the townships of SA. This study seeks to answer the following research question: How Do Somali Shop Owners Succeed in Running Businesses in Soweto, South Africa (SA)? In pursuit of answers to the above research question, this study was confined to three locations in Soweto, namely Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville which have a relatively high number of Somali entrepreneurs who have been in operation for longer than three years. This qualitative study explored the multiple perspectives of reality of Somali shop owners. Purposively, 14 Somali shop owners were identified initially using purposive sampling. Subsequently, theoretical sampling was used to identify Somali shop owners who were interviewed regarding how they successfully run their businesses in the locations of Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville in the township of Soweto. A total of eighteen semi-structured, in-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with these shop owners as a means of gathering data to the point of saturating their perspectives. Data collection ceased when new perspectives were no longer evident as interviewees were being repetitive. Open-coding and constant comparison was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study show that ethnicity plays a predominant role in the success of the Somali shop owners. The intra-ethnic networks and trust-based support systems are pivotal to how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in Soweto. The key findings manifested showed that various forms of support came from Somali communities, family and fellow countrymen which were also central to their success. Another key finding showed that Somali shop owners run their businesses by complementing, rather than predominantly competing with the other local businesses, which ultimately differentiates them in this way. The study also revealed that responsiveness to local customer needs by enhancing the value of their business to the locality is also characteristic of how Somali shop owners build customer loyalty. This study contributes to our understanding of how Somali entrepreneurs conduct successful businesses in a hostile host country. The findings have implications for business development training and programmes which support immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings may also be extended to inform how business development programmes would be designed to equally support local entrepreneurs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mokitlane, Ofentse Clifford
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business enterprises, Foreign -- South Africa , Small business -- Management , Small business -- South Africa , Foreign workers -- South Africa , Employment in foreign countries , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:842 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015653
- Description: This is a qualitative study which seeks to understand how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in the township of Soweto in South Africa. This research report has three sections, namely (1) the academic paper which comprises a shortened literature review, the research method, findings, and the discussion; (2) an extended literature review and (3) the research methodology. It is important to mention that these three sections are related and not necessarily stand-alone sections. Despite the hostilities faced by the Somali shop owners from the host communities in South Africa, it is notable that they are successful, small-sized entrepreneurs in most townships of South Africa (SA). Previous research on Somalis has predominantly focused on their assimilation into the societies in their host countries, and on how they are led into self-employment because of the unfavourable labour markets in the host country. In this vein, there is a need to understand how they run successful businesses in the townships of SA. This study seeks to answer the following research question: How Do Somali Shop Owners Succeed in Running Businesses in Soweto, South Africa (SA)? In pursuit of answers to the above research question, this study was confined to three locations in Soweto, namely Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville which have a relatively high number of Somali entrepreneurs who have been in operation for longer than three years. This qualitative study explored the multiple perspectives of reality of Somali shop owners. Purposively, 14 Somali shop owners were identified initially using purposive sampling. Subsequently, theoretical sampling was used to identify Somali shop owners who were interviewed regarding how they successfully run their businesses in the locations of Orlando West, Chiawelo and Rockville in the township of Soweto. A total of eighteen semi-structured, in-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with these shop owners as a means of gathering data to the point of saturating their perspectives. Data collection ceased when new perspectives were no longer evident as interviewees were being repetitive. Open-coding and constant comparison was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study show that ethnicity plays a predominant role in the success of the Somali shop owners. The intra-ethnic networks and trust-based support systems are pivotal to how Somali shop owners run successful businesses in Soweto. The key findings manifested showed that various forms of support came from Somali communities, family and fellow countrymen which were also central to their success. Another key finding showed that Somali shop owners run their businesses by complementing, rather than predominantly competing with the other local businesses, which ultimately differentiates them in this way. The study also revealed that responsiveness to local customer needs by enhancing the value of their business to the locality is also characteristic of how Somali shop owners build customer loyalty. This study contributes to our understanding of how Somali entrepreneurs conduct successful businesses in a hostile host country. The findings have implications for business development training and programmes which support immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings may also be extended to inform how business development programmes would be designed to equally support local entrepreneurs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploratory study of the enablers and challenges of a social entrepreneur : case of Dr Govender in the Gelvandale community, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Mfeketho, Chuma Nqabase Masechaba
- Authors: Mfeketho, Chuma Nqabase Masechaba
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Famhealth Medipark (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) , Businesspeople -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Nonprofit organizations -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Community development -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social capital (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Success in business -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:851 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017519
- Description: Social entrepreneurs seek to create social value in various ways in the community. Notably, they encounter not only enabling factors but also face and attempt to deal with a variety of challenges in their endeavor to start and run social ventures. This academic paper adopts a single case study approach with the aims to explore challenges and attempts to deal with them, as well as enablers, in how Dr Govender sought to create social value within the community of Gelvandale in Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Famhealth Medipark was chosen because it is unique and has been considered as an example of successful social entrepreneurship in Port Elizabeth. In the light of this, there has not been any previous study particularly focusing on its challenges and enablers in adding social value in the community through a multi-disciplinary venture. This research is valuable as it builds our understanding of how social entrepreneurs create social value. This qualitative study uses a single case study to focus on incidents of challenges and enabling factors as experienced, recollected and expressed by Dr Govender as a social entrepreneur. A variety of data, such as interview data collected through sampling incidents in nine in-depth initial and follow-up interviews, documents, audio documentaries and emails, were used. Open coding and constant comparison was used to analyze data and induce themes. Findings depict that Dr Govender as a social entrepreneur was propelled by four enablers: (1) strong enthusiasm to create positive change in others within a community, (2) network to resources, (3) a nurturing world view, and (4) consistent self-sacrifice. Dr Govender also revealed that he faced four types of challenges in setting up and operating Famhealth Medipark (FHM) as a vehicle with the sole purpose of creating and adding social value to the community of Gelvandale. Predominantly, (1) limitation of finance, (2) overwhelming effect of multiple roles, (3) negative effects of the non-accredited status of the care-giver training programme, and (4) the predominance of a destructive mindset entrenched within the Gelvandale community were key challenges he faced and attempted to deal with in setting up and operating a social venture to ultimately create social value. Although other types of data have been used, the predominant reliance on primary data collected through in-depth interviews is one of the major limitations of this qualitative study. However, this qualitative and exploratory study provides insights into our understanding of not only challenges encountered by social entrepreneurs but also the various drivers that sustain their social mission. Recommendations were then made, based on the findings from the research conducted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mfeketho, Chuma Nqabase Masechaba
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Famhealth Medipark (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) , Businesspeople -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Nonprofit organizations -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Community development -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Social capital (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Success in business -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:851 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017519
- Description: Social entrepreneurs seek to create social value in various ways in the community. Notably, they encounter not only enabling factors but also face and attempt to deal with a variety of challenges in their endeavor to start and run social ventures. This academic paper adopts a single case study approach with the aims to explore challenges and attempts to deal with them, as well as enablers, in how Dr Govender sought to create social value within the community of Gelvandale in Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Famhealth Medipark was chosen because it is unique and has been considered as an example of successful social entrepreneurship in Port Elizabeth. In the light of this, there has not been any previous study particularly focusing on its challenges and enablers in adding social value in the community through a multi-disciplinary venture. This research is valuable as it builds our understanding of how social entrepreneurs create social value. This qualitative study uses a single case study to focus on incidents of challenges and enabling factors as experienced, recollected and expressed by Dr Govender as a social entrepreneur. A variety of data, such as interview data collected through sampling incidents in nine in-depth initial and follow-up interviews, documents, audio documentaries and emails, were used. Open coding and constant comparison was used to analyze data and induce themes. Findings depict that Dr Govender as a social entrepreneur was propelled by four enablers: (1) strong enthusiasm to create positive change in others within a community, (2) network to resources, (3) a nurturing world view, and (4) consistent self-sacrifice. Dr Govender also revealed that he faced four types of challenges in setting up and operating Famhealth Medipark (FHM) as a vehicle with the sole purpose of creating and adding social value to the community of Gelvandale. Predominantly, (1) limitation of finance, (2) overwhelming effect of multiple roles, (3) negative effects of the non-accredited status of the care-giver training programme, and (4) the predominance of a destructive mindset entrenched within the Gelvandale community were key challenges he faced and attempted to deal with in setting up and operating a social venture to ultimately create social value. Although other types of data have been used, the predominant reliance on primary data collected through in-depth interviews is one of the major limitations of this qualitative study. However, this qualitative and exploratory study provides insights into our understanding of not only challenges encountered by social entrepreneurs but also the various drivers that sustain their social mission. Recommendations were then made, based on the findings from the research conducted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Influence of local economic development strategic leaders on the formulation of the integrated development plan, Makana Municipality, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Nonxuba, Mnweba McNair
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Local Economic Development (Programme) , Community development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions -- 21st century , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:832 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013176
- Description: The influence of local economic development strategic leaders on how Integrated Development Plans (IDP) are developed is critical to gain insights into strategic planning directed towards economically developing municipalities. Concisely, the aim of this qualitative study was to gain a multiple understanding of how LED strategic leaders, namely managers of the LED directorate and sub-directorates at Makana local municipality influenced the IDP formulation. The fact that these LED strategic leaders, ‘make consequential or strategic decisions’ suggests that their decisions have an influence on the IDP formulation. Thus, the key research question in this study was: How do LED strategic leaders at Makana local municipality influence the formulation of the IDP at this municipality? This qualitative research used purposive sampling of incidents upheld by LED Strategic leaders. A total of ten in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with four LED strategic leaders regarding incidents of their perceived influence on the formulation of the Integrated Development Plan at Makana. The interviews were in-depth in order to gain a rich understanding of their perspectives of reality. As the number of LED strategic leaders was already very small, all the four leaders at Makana participated in this study. Interview data was transcribed and analyzed using open coding and constant comparison. Member check was conducted to enhance confirmability of the findings of this study. Findings indicate that LED strategic leaders perceived their influence on the formulation of the IDP Makana municipality in four varied ways. Predominantly, LED strategic leaders commonly perceived that they had influence in setting evidence-driven direction, and searching for fitness of activities and issues with LED strategy. Thereafter, the other ways in which these LED strategic leaders perceived how they influenced the IDP formulation involve the facilitation of clarity and local relevance of LED mandates, and finally the integration of multiple economic voices of stakeholders. This demonstrates that LED strategic leaders at Makana emphasize proactively managing strategy process rather than content in terms of identifying key opportunities and major economic drivers in the local milieu. Instead, they perceived their influence as characterized by enhancing compliance with bringing the process of municipal strategy formulation closer to stakeholders. Implications of these findings are highlighted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Nonxuba, Mnweba McNair
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Local Economic Development (Programme) , Community development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions -- 21st century , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:832 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013176
- Description: The influence of local economic development strategic leaders on how Integrated Development Plans (IDP) are developed is critical to gain insights into strategic planning directed towards economically developing municipalities. Concisely, the aim of this qualitative study was to gain a multiple understanding of how LED strategic leaders, namely managers of the LED directorate and sub-directorates at Makana local municipality influenced the IDP formulation. The fact that these LED strategic leaders, ‘make consequential or strategic decisions’ suggests that their decisions have an influence on the IDP formulation. Thus, the key research question in this study was: How do LED strategic leaders at Makana local municipality influence the formulation of the IDP at this municipality? This qualitative research used purposive sampling of incidents upheld by LED Strategic leaders. A total of ten in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with four LED strategic leaders regarding incidents of their perceived influence on the formulation of the Integrated Development Plan at Makana. The interviews were in-depth in order to gain a rich understanding of their perspectives of reality. As the number of LED strategic leaders was already very small, all the four leaders at Makana participated in this study. Interview data was transcribed and analyzed using open coding and constant comparison. Member check was conducted to enhance confirmability of the findings of this study. Findings indicate that LED strategic leaders perceived their influence on the formulation of the IDP Makana municipality in four varied ways. Predominantly, LED strategic leaders commonly perceived that they had influence in setting evidence-driven direction, and searching for fitness of activities and issues with LED strategy. Thereafter, the other ways in which these LED strategic leaders perceived how they influenced the IDP formulation involve the facilitation of clarity and local relevance of LED mandates, and finally the integration of multiple economic voices of stakeholders. This demonstrates that LED strategic leaders at Makana emphasize proactively managing strategy process rather than content in terms of identifying key opportunities and major economic drivers in the local milieu. Instead, they perceived their influence as characterized by enhancing compliance with bringing the process of municipal strategy formulation closer to stakeholders. Implications of these findings are highlighted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Manager's perceptions of performance appraisal implemented at Kansanshi Mine, Zambia
- Authors: Silimi, Maimbo Mark
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employees -- Rating of -- Zambia , Personnel management , Mineral industries -- Employees , Job satisfaction , Employee motivation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:831 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013037
- Description: As managers with direct contact with workers on the floor, line managers are responsible for implementation of the performance appraisal system at Kansanshi Mining plc. Commonly, implementation of performance appraisal is affected by how line managers interact with their subordinates before, during and after an appraisal interview. Notably, no study has been conducted at Kansanshi mine to understand how line managers conduct performance appraisals since their introduction. This qualitative study aims to build an understanding of how line managers at Kansanshi conduct performance appraisal interviews and what enablers and barriers they face in this process. In pursuit of the research aim, line managers from all the ten departments of the mine were considered as eligible for the study. Using stratified random sampling, ten of the 30 line managers from all ten departments across the mine site were selected. A total of fifteen semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten line managers to gather data. These individual interviews were conducted on the mine site in the interviewees' offices as well as other convenient places such as the Kansanshi main boardroom. On average, each interview took between 45 to 60 minutes. All these interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thereafter analyzed using open coding and constant comparison technique to induce themes. Findings of the study show a variety of barriers and enablers of line managers in their conduct of performance appraisal interviews at Kansanshi mine in Zambia. All ten line managers unanimously highlighted that (a) lack of clear job descriptions and set of individual targets as well as (b) lack of adequate refresher training on how to conduct performance appraisals affected how they conducted performance appraisals. Eight of the ten line managers highlighted that (c) perceived subjectivity of the system while seven of the ten highlighted that (d) predominant production focus and priority were barriers to them in how they conducted performance appraisals. On the other hand, ten line managers highlighted that (a) top management commitment to the implementation of a performance appraisal system, seven highlighted that (b) employees' hope for rewards and five line managers highlighted that (c) spring for career development and progression were perceived as enablers in their implementation of performance appraisals. This research is of value as it highlights how the conduct of performance is not only impacted by organizational support and other complementary organizational systems but also how the barriers to the conduct of performance appraisals affect both the appraisee and the appraiser.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Silimi, Maimbo Mark
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employees -- Rating of -- Zambia , Personnel management , Mineral industries -- Employees , Job satisfaction , Employee motivation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:831 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013037
- Description: As managers with direct contact with workers on the floor, line managers are responsible for implementation of the performance appraisal system at Kansanshi Mining plc. Commonly, implementation of performance appraisal is affected by how line managers interact with their subordinates before, during and after an appraisal interview. Notably, no study has been conducted at Kansanshi mine to understand how line managers conduct performance appraisals since their introduction. This qualitative study aims to build an understanding of how line managers at Kansanshi conduct performance appraisal interviews and what enablers and barriers they face in this process. In pursuit of the research aim, line managers from all the ten departments of the mine were considered as eligible for the study. Using stratified random sampling, ten of the 30 line managers from all ten departments across the mine site were selected. A total of fifteen semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten line managers to gather data. These individual interviews were conducted on the mine site in the interviewees' offices as well as other convenient places such as the Kansanshi main boardroom. On average, each interview took between 45 to 60 minutes. All these interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and thereafter analyzed using open coding and constant comparison technique to induce themes. Findings of the study show a variety of barriers and enablers of line managers in their conduct of performance appraisal interviews at Kansanshi mine in Zambia. All ten line managers unanimously highlighted that (a) lack of clear job descriptions and set of individual targets as well as (b) lack of adequate refresher training on how to conduct performance appraisals affected how they conducted performance appraisals. Eight of the ten line managers highlighted that (c) perceived subjectivity of the system while seven of the ten highlighted that (d) predominant production focus and priority were barriers to them in how they conducted performance appraisals. On the other hand, ten line managers highlighted that (a) top management commitment to the implementation of a performance appraisal system, seven highlighted that (b) employees' hope for rewards and five line managers highlighted that (c) spring for career development and progression were perceived as enablers in their implementation of performance appraisals. This research is of value as it highlights how the conduct of performance is not only impacted by organizational support and other complementary organizational systems but also how the barriers to the conduct of performance appraisals affect both the appraisee and the appraiser.
- 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
Organisational culture and leadership competencies in ABSA Business Bank: Enterprise Business, Gauteng
- Authors: Funani, Simphiwe Vincent
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: ABSA Bank Corporate culture Organizational behavior Leadership Leadership -- Ability testing Business enterprises -- Personnel management Executives -- Training of Organizational effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:824 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011286
- Description: From Integrative summary: This document consists of three sections namely, an evaluation report (section 1), literature review (section 2), and research methodology (section 3). The evaluation report sets out the terms of reference for the research as well as identifying the objectives of the research. It also contains a summary of the literature review section, as well as a research methodology section summary. The literature review section contains a detailed review of the literature used in this study. This section sets out by reviewing existing literature on the topic of leadership, discussing the key elements of organisational culture and includes a short discussion on the typologies of culture. The Competing Values Framework as an organisational culture typology is discussed in greater detail, since it forms the foundation upon which the measurement and data collection tools for this research are founded. The research methodology section explains the research methodology and design employed in this study. This section also addresses some of the ethical considerations for this research, as well as how the researcher addressed them. There is also a brief discussion on the limitations of the research and the application of the results. This research focused on a business unit within Absa Business Bank, named Enterprise Business Gauteng Region, with the aim of investigating the “current organisational culture” in the business unit and the leadership competencies profile of its 11 Sales Managers. This was to provide the basis and departure point for the strategic organisational culture change that the new business unit head would have wanted to effect as the business has a history of non-performance, which the new business unit head aims to change. In order to diagnose the “current organisational culture” type, an organisational culture measurement tool based on the Competing Values Framework was used. The Competing Values Framework is a four-category organisational culture typology developed by Cameron and Quinn. The framework is based on two dimensions, how stable or flexible the organisation is, and how externally or internally focused it is. This framework was also employed to establish the leadership competencies profile of Sales Managers, as observed and experienced by the frontline staff, as well as the “desired organisational culture”, as intended by the new business unit head. Through hypotheses testing, the research revealed a statistically significant difference in perceptions of culture between males and females in the business unit. The perceptions of the female frontline staff about the “current” business unit culture indicated that they find it not to be empowering and less allowing for individuality and risk taking when compared to the male staff. The research also concluded that there is no statistically significant difference between leadership competencies associated with the four categories of the Competing Values Framework in the business unit. Comparisons between the “current” and the “desired” organisational culture revealed a misalignment. The main recommendations to the new business unit head were to get the leadership competencies of the Sales Managers aligned with the “desired organisational culture” state, and drive a purposive organisational culture change effort. To support this culture change, the espoused values of the business unit would need to be aligned to the desired culture state. To address the differences in perceptions of culture between males and females the business unit head would need to be mindful of the greater need to empower women either in their current roles, or by way of promotions to senior roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Funani, Simphiwe Vincent
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: ABSA Bank Corporate culture Organizational behavior Leadership Leadership -- Ability testing Business enterprises -- Personnel management Executives -- Training of Organizational effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:824 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011286
- Description: From Integrative summary: This document consists of three sections namely, an evaluation report (section 1), literature review (section 2), and research methodology (section 3). The evaluation report sets out the terms of reference for the research as well as identifying the objectives of the research. It also contains a summary of the literature review section, as well as a research methodology section summary. The literature review section contains a detailed review of the literature used in this study. This section sets out by reviewing existing literature on the topic of leadership, discussing the key elements of organisational culture and includes a short discussion on the typologies of culture. The Competing Values Framework as an organisational culture typology is discussed in greater detail, since it forms the foundation upon which the measurement and data collection tools for this research are founded. The research methodology section explains the research methodology and design employed in this study. This section also addresses some of the ethical considerations for this research, as well as how the researcher addressed them. There is also a brief discussion on the limitations of the research and the application of the results. This research focused on a business unit within Absa Business Bank, named Enterprise Business Gauteng Region, with the aim of investigating the “current organisational culture” in the business unit and the leadership competencies profile of its 11 Sales Managers. This was to provide the basis and departure point for the strategic organisational culture change that the new business unit head would have wanted to effect as the business has a history of non-performance, which the new business unit head aims to change. In order to diagnose the “current organisational culture” type, an organisational culture measurement tool based on the Competing Values Framework was used. The Competing Values Framework is a four-category organisational culture typology developed by Cameron and Quinn. The framework is based on two dimensions, how stable or flexible the organisation is, and how externally or internally focused it is. This framework was also employed to establish the leadership competencies profile of Sales Managers, as observed and experienced by the frontline staff, as well as the “desired organisational culture”, as intended by the new business unit head. Through hypotheses testing, the research revealed a statistically significant difference in perceptions of culture between males and females in the business unit. The perceptions of the female frontline staff about the “current” business unit culture indicated that they find it not to be empowering and less allowing for individuality and risk taking when compared to the male staff. The research also concluded that there is no statistically significant difference between leadership competencies associated with the four categories of the Competing Values Framework in the business unit. Comparisons between the “current” and the “desired” organisational culture revealed a misalignment. The main recommendations to the new business unit head were to get the leadership competencies of the Sales Managers aligned with the “desired organisational culture” state, and drive a purposive organisational culture change effort. To support this culture change, the espoused values of the business unit would need to be aligned to the desired culture state. To address the differences in perceptions of culture between males and females the business unit head would need to be mindful of the greater need to empower women either in their current roles, or by way of promotions to senior roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The personality of an entrepreneur : a psychobiography of Steve Jobs
- Authors: Ndoro, Tinashe T R
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Jobs, Steve, 1955-2011 -- Psychology , Personality assessment , Psychology -- Biographical methods , Businesspeople -- Psychology , Psychohistory , Entrepreneurship -- United States , Businesspeople -- United States
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:833 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013215
- Description: From Integrative Summary: There has been a growing interest in successful entrepreneurs. Research on entrepreneurship has focused on the identification of personality variables that would assist in the prediction of entrepreneurial success. The present study moves away from attempting to predict entrepreneurial success and instead focuses on exploring and describing the personality of a successful entrepreneur. A psychobiographical case study was adopted by the researcher to explore and describe the extent to which Steve Jobs demonstrated the entrepreneurial characteristics identified by Rauch and Frese (2007). A personality trait approach to entrepreneurship was adopted in the study. The study also attempted to explore the socio-cultural and economic context within which Jobs practised his entrepreneurial activities. Jobs was a successful entrepreneur who co-founded Apple and founded NeXT and Pixar, which were all companies that transformed various technological industries. His entrepreneurial orientation allowed him to produce innovative products that transformed society in various sectors which included personal computing, mobile phones, music, retail stores and films (Isaacson, 2011). A qualitative approach was adopted in the study. The data collection and analysis was guided by the three linked sub-processes proposed by Miles and Huberman (2002) which involved data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings of this study showed that Jobs demonstrated, at varying levels, all the entrepreneurial characteristics identified by Rauch and Frese (2007) which included a need of achievement, risk-taking, innovativeness, autonomy, locus of control and self-efficacy. The researcher however noted that the desire for autonomy, risk-taking, innovativeness and self-efficacy were the most dominant characteristics driving his entrepreneurial orientation. The research thesis adopted the structure of a teaching case which can be used to explore and discuss the personality trait perspective to entrepreneurship in a classroom setting. The findings of the study can be recognised as positively contributing to the growing field of psychobiographical research on exceptional individuals, including entrepreneurs. The study can be considered as a foundation for future studies which will add to the body of knowledge relating to entrepreneurship and personality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Ndoro, Tinashe T R
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Jobs, Steve, 1955-2011 -- Psychology , Personality assessment , Psychology -- Biographical methods , Businesspeople -- Psychology , Psychohistory , Entrepreneurship -- United States , Businesspeople -- United States
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:833 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013215
- Description: From Integrative Summary: There has been a growing interest in successful entrepreneurs. Research on entrepreneurship has focused on the identification of personality variables that would assist in the prediction of entrepreneurial success. The present study moves away from attempting to predict entrepreneurial success and instead focuses on exploring and describing the personality of a successful entrepreneur. A psychobiographical case study was adopted by the researcher to explore and describe the extent to which Steve Jobs demonstrated the entrepreneurial characteristics identified by Rauch and Frese (2007). A personality trait approach to entrepreneurship was adopted in the study. The study also attempted to explore the socio-cultural and economic context within which Jobs practised his entrepreneurial activities. Jobs was a successful entrepreneur who co-founded Apple and founded NeXT and Pixar, which were all companies that transformed various technological industries. His entrepreneurial orientation allowed him to produce innovative products that transformed society in various sectors which included personal computing, mobile phones, music, retail stores and films (Isaacson, 2011). A qualitative approach was adopted in the study. The data collection and analysis was guided by the three linked sub-processes proposed by Miles and Huberman (2002) which involved data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings of this study showed that Jobs demonstrated, at varying levels, all the entrepreneurial characteristics identified by Rauch and Frese (2007) which included a need of achievement, risk-taking, innovativeness, autonomy, locus of control and self-efficacy. The researcher however noted that the desire for autonomy, risk-taking, innovativeness and self-efficacy were the most dominant characteristics driving his entrepreneurial orientation. The research thesis adopted the structure of a teaching case which can be used to explore and discuss the personality trait perspective to entrepreneurship in a classroom setting. The findings of the study can be recognised as positively contributing to the growing field of psychobiographical research on exceptional individuals, including entrepreneurs. The study can be considered as a foundation for future studies which will add to the body of knowledge relating to entrepreneurship and personality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Towards sustainable municipalities : an evaluation of sustainability integration in Elundini Local Municipality strategy
- Authors: Sokutu, Nonkuselo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainability -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Environmental impact analysis -- South Africa -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:830 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013018
- Description: This research study evaluated and assessed the extent to which strategic management processes integrated economic, environmental and social sustainability elements in the fiveyear strategy (2012) of Elundini Local Municipality (ELM). The study focused on three areas of strategic management, that is, environmental analysis, strategic direction and strategy formulation. The study also looked at possible reasons for sustainability integration in ELM strategy or lack thereof and also recommended possible solutions. The literature reviewed revealed that there was adequate basis for municipalities to integrate sustainable development in their strategies even though sustainability was noted as an evolving, complex and changing phenomenon. Local Agenda 21 principles, national legislative & policy framework, regulations and other relevant guidelines were found to be adequate for municipalities to develop credible sustainability strategies. The objectives of the study were achieved by data collected through the review of existing literature; the review of ELM Five Year Strategy (2012-2017); and SIAT-based questionnaires that were filled in by ELM employees. The results of the study showed that economic and social sustainability activities were identified most in the ELM strategy compared to environmental sustainability. The study then mainly recommended the review of the current strategy in order to improve all areas of strategy formulation; introduction of Economic, Social and Environmental sustainability – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (ESEs-SWOT) for internal analysis as an improvement of SWOT analysis; introduction of Sustainability Integration and Strategic Management Framework (SISMF) as an improvement to existing framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Sokutu, Nonkuselo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainability -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sustainable development -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Environmental impact analysis -- South Africa -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:830 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013018
- Description: This research study evaluated and assessed the extent to which strategic management processes integrated economic, environmental and social sustainability elements in the fiveyear strategy (2012) of Elundini Local Municipality (ELM). The study focused on three areas of strategic management, that is, environmental analysis, strategic direction and strategy formulation. The study also looked at possible reasons for sustainability integration in ELM strategy or lack thereof and also recommended possible solutions. The literature reviewed revealed that there was adequate basis for municipalities to integrate sustainable development in their strategies even though sustainability was noted as an evolving, complex and changing phenomenon. Local Agenda 21 principles, national legislative & policy framework, regulations and other relevant guidelines were found to be adequate for municipalities to develop credible sustainability strategies. The objectives of the study were achieved by data collected through the review of existing literature; the review of ELM Five Year Strategy (2012-2017); and SIAT-based questionnaires that were filled in by ELM employees. The results of the study showed that economic and social sustainability activities were identified most in the ELM strategy compared to environmental sustainability. The study then mainly recommended the review of the current strategy in order to improve all areas of strategy formulation; introduction of Economic, Social and Environmental sustainability – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (ESEs-SWOT) for internal analysis as an improvement of SWOT analysis; introduction of Sustainability Integration and Strategic Management Framework (SISMF) as an improvement to existing framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A case study of organisational change in an employee wellness company and its effects on job satisfaction and organisational climate
- Authors: Kassiem, Wahib
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Organizational change -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016404
- Description: The modern era has brought the phenomenon of organisational change closer to the average person. With the recent financial crisis placing more strain on businesses, organisations are always under pressure to review their business models in order to deliver a sustainable operational model and as result, hopefully a sustainable competitive advantage. In order to remain competitive, the leadership team has to constantly seek ways of differentiating their organisations from others with similar product offerings. When these changes are initiated, there is no doubt that the leadership gave extensive thought prior to execution. However, their motives are not always clear to their most important constitution, their employees. Often when these changes are implemented, employees believe that they’ve been left out of the decision making process. Furthermore, post change review with employees are also not given enough thought and are often not done. This research used qualitative research methods to establish how employees experience job satisfaction and organisational climate subsequent to changes that transpired within their work environment. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. The interviews were constructed by expanding upon well-documented quantitative dimensions of these behavioural variables. Questions were developed focusing on these dimensions in line with the changes experienced. The sample consisted of nine employees at an employee wellness organisation in Roodepoort, Gauteng. There is evidence to show that in this short period of two years (May 2012 to June 2014), by implementing various changes, the new leadership has improved the financial viability of the organisation. However, insights from the interviews point to a number of areas where the leadership and management structures have to exert more effort. Communication processes have to be reviewed, especially to lower levels. As there exists limited opportunities for promotion, investigations into expanding existing roles, again at the lower levels may assist in raising job satisfaction levels. Employees felt that support structures are severely lacking when significant changes affecting them are implemented. A climate for innovation and risk taking has to be considered which, if instituted, could aid the organisation in setting the pace for the organisational wellness industry. The structure adopted for this research consists of three sections. Section one follows the evaluation report format, with the literature review and research methodology sections following thereafter. By making use of established literature as a basis, the findings and recommendations are therefore not exclusively applicable to this organisation. Hence other organisations intending similar change initiatives could benefit from this research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Kassiem, Wahib
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Organizational change -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016404
- Description: The modern era has brought the phenomenon of organisational change closer to the average person. With the recent financial crisis placing more strain on businesses, organisations are always under pressure to review their business models in order to deliver a sustainable operational model and as result, hopefully a sustainable competitive advantage. In order to remain competitive, the leadership team has to constantly seek ways of differentiating their organisations from others with similar product offerings. When these changes are initiated, there is no doubt that the leadership gave extensive thought prior to execution. However, their motives are not always clear to their most important constitution, their employees. Often when these changes are implemented, employees believe that they’ve been left out of the decision making process. Furthermore, post change review with employees are also not given enough thought and are often not done. This research used qualitative research methods to establish how employees experience job satisfaction and organisational climate subsequent to changes that transpired within their work environment. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. The interviews were constructed by expanding upon well-documented quantitative dimensions of these behavioural variables. Questions were developed focusing on these dimensions in line with the changes experienced. The sample consisted of nine employees at an employee wellness organisation in Roodepoort, Gauteng. There is evidence to show that in this short period of two years (May 2012 to June 2014), by implementing various changes, the new leadership has improved the financial viability of the organisation. However, insights from the interviews point to a number of areas where the leadership and management structures have to exert more effort. Communication processes have to be reviewed, especially to lower levels. As there exists limited opportunities for promotion, investigations into expanding existing roles, again at the lower levels may assist in raising job satisfaction levels. Employees felt that support structures are severely lacking when significant changes affecting them are implemented. A climate for innovation and risk taking has to be considered which, if instituted, could aid the organisation in setting the pace for the organisational wellness industry. The structure adopted for this research consists of three sections. Section one follows the evaluation report format, with the literature review and research methodology sections following thereafter. By making use of established literature as a basis, the findings and recommendations are therefore not exclusively applicable to this organisation. Hence other organisations intending similar change initiatives could benefit from this research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A case study of Siemens Afghanistan : building a country, building a company
- Authors: Qaleej, Raaz Hassan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft , Corporate culture -- Afghanistan , Employees -- Attitudes , Industrial relations -- Afghanistan
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:854 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017522
- Description: This case study was written within the broader concept of Organisational Culture and how it is integrated into an organisation to encourage responsible leadership. The core focus and emphasis of this approach is to establish the implications for businesses operating in the most challenging of commercial environments, while adhering to their corporate ethos and organisational values. These may be summarised with the phrase: Only a clean business is a sustainable business. This dissertation is intended to act as a case study and resource aide for the teaching of leadership, organisational behaviour, human resources and business sustainability. The study is about the Afghanistan chapter of the global giant Siemens, which has been working in many areas of specialisation conducting business in the country for more than 75 years. It has been selected for this case study because of its long-term impressive record, during which time it has developed and sustained a reputation as an organisation with a much-admired organisational culture, and one to which employees feel very closely attached and connected. This case study evolved from a set of unique as well as difficult circumstances. In Afghanistan, where infrastructure is weak, businesses and other structured organisations are in their initial and immature stages of development, and employee attachment to their workplaces is relatively weak. In the case of Siemens however, it has been much the opposite. It became apparent over a protracted period of time that the relationship of employees to the company was clearly of a positive and committed nature, unlike the general perception stemming from other multinational organisations operating within the country. Many business organisations in Afghanistan tend to emphasise to a lesser degree some modern-day practices of employer-employee relationships, which negatively affect motivation and commitment. The study grew out of the observations that employees of Siemens on the other hand, seemed to exhibit attitudes and commitments contrary to the general trend in the wider business sector. This project began with the intention to identify those factors contributing to employee loyalty and strong attachments to an organisation. Subsequently, the same findings were used to identify the traits and particular features working within the organisational environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Qaleej, Raaz Hassan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft , Corporate culture -- Afghanistan , Employees -- Attitudes , Industrial relations -- Afghanistan
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:854 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017522
- Description: This case study was written within the broader concept of Organisational Culture and how it is integrated into an organisation to encourage responsible leadership. The core focus and emphasis of this approach is to establish the implications for businesses operating in the most challenging of commercial environments, while adhering to their corporate ethos and organisational values. These may be summarised with the phrase: Only a clean business is a sustainable business. This dissertation is intended to act as a case study and resource aide for the teaching of leadership, organisational behaviour, human resources and business sustainability. The study is about the Afghanistan chapter of the global giant Siemens, which has been working in many areas of specialisation conducting business in the country for more than 75 years. It has been selected for this case study because of its long-term impressive record, during which time it has developed and sustained a reputation as an organisation with a much-admired organisational culture, and one to which employees feel very closely attached and connected. This case study evolved from a set of unique as well as difficult circumstances. In Afghanistan, where infrastructure is weak, businesses and other structured organisations are in their initial and immature stages of development, and employee attachment to their workplaces is relatively weak. In the case of Siemens however, it has been much the opposite. It became apparent over a protracted period of time that the relationship of employees to the company was clearly of a positive and committed nature, unlike the general perception stemming from other multinational organisations operating within the country. Many business organisations in Afghanistan tend to emphasise to a lesser degree some modern-day practices of employer-employee relationships, which negatively affect motivation and commitment. The study grew out of the observations that employees of Siemens on the other hand, seemed to exhibit attitudes and commitments contrary to the general trend in the wider business sector. This project began with the intention to identify those factors contributing to employee loyalty and strong attachments to an organisation. Subsequently, the same findings were used to identify the traits and particular features working within the organisational environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A needs analysis of an employee wellness programme : the case of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Swaziland
- Authors: Madlopha, Sboniso Charles
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Swaziland) , Employee health promotion -- Swaziland , Needs assessment -- Swaziland , Absenteeism (Labor) -- Swaziland , Employee morale -- Swaziland , Contracting out -- Swaziland
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:857 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018912
- Description: In 2010, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Swaziland noticed a significant increase in employee absenteeism which they discovered was related mainly to: poor health (sick leave), personal and financial stress (garnishee orders were increasing), and low staff morale, the consequence of which was low productivity and missed deadlines (FSRA, 2010:7). High levels of absenteeism meant that a sizeable number of employees were unable to complete their daily tasks (FSRA, 2010:7). Consequently, in 2011, the FSRA Human Resource Department started a wellness programme for all employees in the organization in an attempt to respond to the human resource challenges reported in 2009/10 financial year. By the end of 2012, FSRA management reported that the introduction of the EWP had not yielded the expected results. This therefore prompted management to request an evaluation of the FSRA employee wellness programme. The aim of this research was to identify and prioritize the needs of employees in terms of requirements of a wellness programme and how it should be delivered. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: to identify the wellness needs of employees, to identify employee preferences in terms of the type of interventions to be included in a wellness programme, to identify the preferred mode of delivery of the wellness programme and to make recommendations to management on the design of a wellness programme. Questionnaires with closed ended questions were used to collect data for this survey. The questionnaire used is attached as Appendix A. By means of a needs analysis survey, this research was designed to assess the FSRA employees’ needs in terms of an employee wellness programme, as well as the preferred EWP delivery methods. About 70 percent of FSRA employees participated in the survey. The respondents completed the questionnaire and submitted it online over a period of 10 working days (2 weeks). This report is structured into three sections, namely; section one, which is the evaluation report that gives details of the importance of the study, highlights research methods and then present the results, discussions and recommendations. Section two deals with the literature review while section three reports on the research methodology, research design and procedures and the limitation of the study. In light of the findings on the wellness needs of employees, 72 percent of the respondents felt the current wellness programme was very inadequate and a further 10 percent added that it was inadequate in addressing their wellness needs largely because the needs were not known. The most important wellness needs identified included: exercise, nutrition, personal hygiene, disease awareness and treatment of illness, coping with stress, coping with workload, ventilation, safety, bereavement, personal debt, and retirement planning. The most preferred wellness interventions that respondents proposed include Flexible Work Schedule, Safe Workplace, Improved Ventilation, Retirement Planning Advice and Gymnasium. Further analysis done using correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between the wellness needs and the wellness interventions. Concerning the delivery of the wellness programme, most of the employees indicated that outsourcing certain services was better than having them in house. The highest ranking of the services for out sourcing were nutrition education and medical checkups that ranked between 82 percent and 75 percent respectively. The respondents indicated that they want almost all the chosen interventions to be outsourced. Time slots should also be taken into consideration to ensure employee participation in the wellness programme services. The respondent FSRA employees seem to prefer interventions of an educational nature to be during the lunch hour. These include Nutrition Education, Health Education, Hygiene Education and Medical Check ups and Treatment, whereas Gymnasium was preferred to be after working hours.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Madlopha, Sboniso Charles
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Swaziland) , Employee health promotion -- Swaziland , Needs assessment -- Swaziland , Absenteeism (Labor) -- Swaziland , Employee morale -- Swaziland , Contracting out -- Swaziland
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:857 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018912
- Description: In 2010, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Swaziland noticed a significant increase in employee absenteeism which they discovered was related mainly to: poor health (sick leave), personal and financial stress (garnishee orders were increasing), and low staff morale, the consequence of which was low productivity and missed deadlines (FSRA, 2010:7). High levels of absenteeism meant that a sizeable number of employees were unable to complete their daily tasks (FSRA, 2010:7). Consequently, in 2011, the FSRA Human Resource Department started a wellness programme for all employees in the organization in an attempt to respond to the human resource challenges reported in 2009/10 financial year. By the end of 2012, FSRA management reported that the introduction of the EWP had not yielded the expected results. This therefore prompted management to request an evaluation of the FSRA employee wellness programme. The aim of this research was to identify and prioritize the needs of employees in terms of requirements of a wellness programme and how it should be delivered. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: to identify the wellness needs of employees, to identify employee preferences in terms of the type of interventions to be included in a wellness programme, to identify the preferred mode of delivery of the wellness programme and to make recommendations to management on the design of a wellness programme. Questionnaires with closed ended questions were used to collect data for this survey. The questionnaire used is attached as Appendix A. By means of a needs analysis survey, this research was designed to assess the FSRA employees’ needs in terms of an employee wellness programme, as well as the preferred EWP delivery methods. About 70 percent of FSRA employees participated in the survey. The respondents completed the questionnaire and submitted it online over a period of 10 working days (2 weeks). This report is structured into three sections, namely; section one, which is the evaluation report that gives details of the importance of the study, highlights research methods and then present the results, discussions and recommendations. Section two deals with the literature review while section three reports on the research methodology, research design and procedures and the limitation of the study. In light of the findings on the wellness needs of employees, 72 percent of the respondents felt the current wellness programme was very inadequate and a further 10 percent added that it was inadequate in addressing their wellness needs largely because the needs were not known. The most important wellness needs identified included: exercise, nutrition, personal hygiene, disease awareness and treatment of illness, coping with stress, coping with workload, ventilation, safety, bereavement, personal debt, and retirement planning. The most preferred wellness interventions that respondents proposed include Flexible Work Schedule, Safe Workplace, Improved Ventilation, Retirement Planning Advice and Gymnasium. Further analysis done using correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between the wellness needs and the wellness interventions. Concerning the delivery of the wellness programme, most of the employees indicated that outsourcing certain services was better than having them in house. The highest ranking of the services for out sourcing were nutrition education and medical checkups that ranked between 82 percent and 75 percent respectively. The respondents indicated that they want almost all the chosen interventions to be outsourced. Time slots should also be taken into consideration to ensure employee participation in the wellness programme services. The respondent FSRA employees seem to prefer interventions of an educational nature to be during the lunch hour. These include Nutrition Education, Health Education, Hygiene Education and Medical Check ups and Treatment, whereas Gymnasium was preferred to be after working hours.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An empirical study on staff turnover and retention within Eskom : Eastern Cape Operating Unit
- Authors: Chibba, Rajesh Chagan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eskom (Firm) , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee retention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Career development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:847 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017514
- Description: This research paper is broken up into three sections, namely an evaluation report, a literature review and a description of the research methodology. The evaluation report section is an assessment of the factors that could contribute to staff leaving the organisation and why staff would choose to remain with the organisation. The Distribution Division of Eskom is divided into nine separate Operating Units (OU's), in line with the nine Provinces. According to an Eskom Human Resource Manager (Mjali, 2013), as at March 2012 there were 2231 employees in the Easter Cape Operating Unit, while the staff turnover for the same period was 4.53%. Of the 101 staff that had resigned for the period 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, there were 27 transfers, 26 resignations and 30 retirements. The balance of 18 staff that left was due to dismissals and deaths. While the statistics suggest a healthy level of staff turnover at present, given the current pressures that Eskom employees are under, it is important to investigate their future intentions and to see what Eskom can do to continue to retain their services. The literature relating to staff turnover and retention was examined to determine the meaning of the terms retention and turnover and to review the relevant turnover topics that were emerging from the exit interview data. The research conducted was quantitative in nature, and a questionnaire was distributed to all managerial staff within the Eastern Cape Operating Unit of Eskom. The questionnaire was sent electronically to the participants via email with the link to the questionnaire. Participants were requested to respond on questions relating to factors on turnover and retention, and the responses were used to assess employee's intention to either remain with the organisation or to leave. The feedback received was analysed with the use of data analysis in Microsoft Excel (2010). The results of the research showed that there were two distinct themes related to employees' intention to remain with the organisation, namely job satisfaction and career development. On the other end of the scale, themes which would cause staff to want to leave the organisation were the performance management system of the organisation, not being listened to (i.e. to the ideas and views of staff) and leadership (i.e. the way the organisation was being led). Recommendations are made to management. The study also recommends future research that can be done to get greater insight into factors relating to staff turnover and retention. A detailed review of the literature is included in Section two of the report. Only essential components of the literature are included in Section one of report. Section three of the report provided a detailed description of the research design and the research procedure that was followed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Chibba, Rajesh Chagan
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eskom (Firm) , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee retention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Career development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:847 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017514
- Description: This research paper is broken up into three sections, namely an evaluation report, a literature review and a description of the research methodology. The evaluation report section is an assessment of the factors that could contribute to staff leaving the organisation and why staff would choose to remain with the organisation. The Distribution Division of Eskom is divided into nine separate Operating Units (OU's), in line with the nine Provinces. According to an Eskom Human Resource Manager (Mjali, 2013), as at March 2012 there were 2231 employees in the Easter Cape Operating Unit, while the staff turnover for the same period was 4.53%. Of the 101 staff that had resigned for the period 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, there were 27 transfers, 26 resignations and 30 retirements. The balance of 18 staff that left was due to dismissals and deaths. While the statistics suggest a healthy level of staff turnover at present, given the current pressures that Eskom employees are under, it is important to investigate their future intentions and to see what Eskom can do to continue to retain their services. The literature relating to staff turnover and retention was examined to determine the meaning of the terms retention and turnover and to review the relevant turnover topics that were emerging from the exit interview data. The research conducted was quantitative in nature, and a questionnaire was distributed to all managerial staff within the Eastern Cape Operating Unit of Eskom. The questionnaire was sent electronically to the participants via email with the link to the questionnaire. Participants were requested to respond on questions relating to factors on turnover and retention, and the responses were used to assess employee's intention to either remain with the organisation or to leave. The feedback received was analysed with the use of data analysis in Microsoft Excel (2010). The results of the research showed that there were two distinct themes related to employees' intention to remain with the organisation, namely job satisfaction and career development. On the other end of the scale, themes which would cause staff to want to leave the organisation were the performance management system of the organisation, not being listened to (i.e. to the ideas and views of staff) and leadership (i.e. the way the organisation was being led). Recommendations are made to management. The study also recommends future research that can be done to get greater insight into factors relating to staff turnover and retention. A detailed review of the literature is included in Section two of the report. Only essential components of the literature are included in Section one of report. Section three of the report provided a detailed description of the research design and the research procedure that was followed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An evaluation of change communication in ensuring the sustainability of change at Barclays Africa's first "green" building
- Authors: Magubane, Nokuzola
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Barclays Bank , Sustainable buildings -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Organizational change -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Communication in organizations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:849 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017517
- Description: The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness of the change communications distributed to the occupants of Barclays Towers West, Barclays Africa‟s first green building, in ensuring the sustainability of the change after the move into the building. In addition, recommendations are made to improve the change communications directed towards the building occupants to ensure the sustainability of the change and for future moves to green buildings. The research paper is made up of the following three distinct sections: Section One – Evaluation Research Report: this section outlines the organisational and research context for the study, the objectives of the research and rationale for conducting the research. A brief overview of the key theories and models on change communication that were utilised in the study are discussed, and definitions of important terms are presented. The research methodology is also described which includes an explanation on the evaluation research approach utilised as well as the use of both qualitative and quantitative data in the study. In addition, the results from the research conducted are presented, based on three data collection methods utilised: document analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results are then analysed and discussed in relation to the literature reviewed on change communication. Recommendations are made on improvements that can be made to the change communications to ensure the sustainability of the change. Section Two – Literature Review: the literature, theories and important concept definitions of organisational change management, change sustainability, change communication and green buildings which are relevant for the research topic and have been used as the theoretical base of the study are explored in this section. A key component of the literature review is the description of the change communication theories and models: communication theory, Armenakis, Harris and Field (2007) Model, and the Barrett (2002) Model. An understanding of the theories and models is imperative, as the effectiveness of the change communications after the move into Barclays Towers West is assessed based on the elements of the change communication theories and models. Section Three – Research Methodology: the research methodology for the study is described in this section. Specifically, the research aims and objectives, the research paradigm, the population and sampling, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations are outlined. A key component of the section is the explanation on how the data was collected and analysed in the study and the sequence. The post move communications and artefacts and meeting presentations were collected first. The qualitative data was analysed and used to determine the questions for the semi structured interviews. Semi-structured one on one interviews were then conducted. The qualitative data and the change communication theories and models used in this study were used to determine the questions for the online survey. An online survey tool was used to administer a predominantly five point Likert scale questionnaire with an invitation to participate emailed to the building occupants. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis. Research Findings: The key research findings revealed that the messages communicated to the occupants after the move into the building have been mainly focused on operational matters and rarely on educating occupants on the green aspects of the building. A large majority of the survey respondents were aware of the building facilities, details and required behaviour. However it was found that the occupants, Line Managers and Senior Management are not displaying the required behaviour for a green building and do not know how to use some of the building facilities. A major gap was found in communicating with people moving into the building. In addition it was found that some of the information communicated to occupants is outdated. Written communications are used extensively and face to face communication is rarely used to communicate with the occupants. As a result, a number of changes are required to improve the effectiveness of the change communications to the occupants of Barclays Towers West. The improvements include communicating to new occupants; utilising additional communication channels; focusing communication messages on educating occupants on the strategic objectives for the building; rationale for building features and facilities; how to use the facilities and the impact of their behaviour on the building objectives being achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Magubane, Nokuzola
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Barclays Bank , Sustainable buildings -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Organizational change -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Communication in organizations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:849 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017517
- Description: The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness of the change communications distributed to the occupants of Barclays Towers West, Barclays Africa‟s first green building, in ensuring the sustainability of the change after the move into the building. In addition, recommendations are made to improve the change communications directed towards the building occupants to ensure the sustainability of the change and for future moves to green buildings. The research paper is made up of the following three distinct sections: Section One – Evaluation Research Report: this section outlines the organisational and research context for the study, the objectives of the research and rationale for conducting the research. A brief overview of the key theories and models on change communication that were utilised in the study are discussed, and definitions of important terms are presented. The research methodology is also described which includes an explanation on the evaluation research approach utilised as well as the use of both qualitative and quantitative data in the study. In addition, the results from the research conducted are presented, based on three data collection methods utilised: document analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results are then analysed and discussed in relation to the literature reviewed on change communication. Recommendations are made on improvements that can be made to the change communications to ensure the sustainability of the change. Section Two – Literature Review: the literature, theories and important concept definitions of organisational change management, change sustainability, change communication and green buildings which are relevant for the research topic and have been used as the theoretical base of the study are explored in this section. A key component of the literature review is the description of the change communication theories and models: communication theory, Armenakis, Harris and Field (2007) Model, and the Barrett (2002) Model. An understanding of the theories and models is imperative, as the effectiveness of the change communications after the move into Barclays Towers West is assessed based on the elements of the change communication theories and models. Section Three – Research Methodology: the research methodology for the study is described in this section. Specifically, the research aims and objectives, the research paradigm, the population and sampling, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations are outlined. A key component of the section is the explanation on how the data was collected and analysed in the study and the sequence. The post move communications and artefacts and meeting presentations were collected first. The qualitative data was analysed and used to determine the questions for the semi structured interviews. Semi-structured one on one interviews were then conducted. The qualitative data and the change communication theories and models used in this study were used to determine the questions for the online survey. An online survey tool was used to administer a predominantly five point Likert scale questionnaire with an invitation to participate emailed to the building occupants. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis. Research Findings: The key research findings revealed that the messages communicated to the occupants after the move into the building have been mainly focused on operational matters and rarely on educating occupants on the green aspects of the building. A large majority of the survey respondents were aware of the building facilities, details and required behaviour. However it was found that the occupants, Line Managers and Senior Management are not displaying the required behaviour for a green building and do not know how to use some of the building facilities. A major gap was found in communicating with people moving into the building. In addition it was found that some of the information communicated to occupants is outdated. Written communications are used extensively and face to face communication is rarely used to communicate with the occupants. As a result, a number of changes are required to improve the effectiveness of the change communications to the occupants of Barclays Towers West. The improvements include communicating to new occupants; utilising additional communication channels; focusing communication messages on educating occupants on the strategic objectives for the building; rationale for building features and facilities; how to use the facilities and the impact of their behaviour on the building objectives being achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An evaluation of the implementation of Mercedes Benz production system (MPS) and the employee change readiness at Mercedes Benz commercial vehicles South Africa
- Authors: McAllister, Rozane Ronardo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft , Organizational change -- South Africa , Organizational behavior -- South Africa , Employees -- Attitudes , Continuous improvement process -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:850 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017518
- Description: The evaluation report section describes the evaluation of the implementation of Mercedes Benz Production System (MPS) at Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles, which is a division of Mercedes Benz South Africa’s manufacturing plant situated in East London. The section evaluates the changes the implementation of MPS brought to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’S) of the division and evaluates the change readiness of the employees in the division prior to the change. The change implementation was initiated by the management of MBCV as a strategic organisational change to bring about continuous improvement to the KPI’s of the organisation. These KPI’s are Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale (SQDCM). The reason behind the change at the time was deemed critical to MBCV in order to meet the annual KPI targets and remain cost competitive and sustainable. The evaluation report further describes the results of the change with regards to the organisational KPI’s and the level of employee change readiness which was conducted through a questionnaire survey. A brief literature review is included in the Evaluation Report under section one describing key concepts about Production Systems, Lean Manufacturing and Change Management. The evaluation section includes recommendations based on the results of the research findings and ends with a conclusion. The literature review section explores the literature that supports production systems, lean manufacturing and change management concepts, its definitions, importance and benefits. The literature review describes and critiques key concepts of the research such as productions systems, MPS in particular, lean manufacturing concepts and related change management topics relevant to the research. The literature review defines production systems and the concepts of lean manufacturing, highlighting the benefits of the concepts to enhance organisations’ manufacturing capabilities. An integrated part of lean manufacturing is people and the implementation of lean manufacturing into an organisation requires change management theories therefore key understanding in this particular research was to discuss change management concepts, in particular, employee change readiness. The literature will discuss different tools to assess employee change readiness and from this develop an employee change readiness tool. The change management concepts evaluated change readiness and the consequences if organisations are not ready for change. The research methodology section describes how that the research was conducted in two phases, one to evaluate the implementation of MPS with regards to the organisational KPI’s (SQDCM). This was assessed through reports from projects and presentations made by the project teams on improvements of the organisational KPI’s. The second phase evaluated the change readiness of the employees prior to the implementation of MPS. This phase of the research was intended to retrieve quantitative data with an adapted questionnaire which was distributed to employees. To evaluate the change readiness, a change model known as ADKAR was used as an evaluation instrument. The modified ADKAR questionnaire was distributed to employees in hard copies and completed during a weekly team meeting. The results were summarised and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the final results. Microsoft Excel (2010 version) was used to illustrate and display the graphs. Section three discussed the research methodology in more detail. The study shows that although there were some positive changes that came from the implementation of MPS in MBCV, especially to the following KPI’s (Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost), real consideration should be given to employee morale and the level of change readiness of MBCV employees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: McAllister, Rozane Ronardo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft , Organizational change -- South Africa , Organizational behavior -- South Africa , Employees -- Attitudes , Continuous improvement process -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:850 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017518
- Description: The evaluation report section describes the evaluation of the implementation of Mercedes Benz Production System (MPS) at Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles, which is a division of Mercedes Benz South Africa’s manufacturing plant situated in East London. The section evaluates the changes the implementation of MPS brought to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’S) of the division and evaluates the change readiness of the employees in the division prior to the change. The change implementation was initiated by the management of MBCV as a strategic organisational change to bring about continuous improvement to the KPI’s of the organisation. These KPI’s are Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and Morale (SQDCM). The reason behind the change at the time was deemed critical to MBCV in order to meet the annual KPI targets and remain cost competitive and sustainable. The evaluation report further describes the results of the change with regards to the organisational KPI’s and the level of employee change readiness which was conducted through a questionnaire survey. A brief literature review is included in the Evaluation Report under section one describing key concepts about Production Systems, Lean Manufacturing and Change Management. The evaluation section includes recommendations based on the results of the research findings and ends with a conclusion. The literature review section explores the literature that supports production systems, lean manufacturing and change management concepts, its definitions, importance and benefits. The literature review describes and critiques key concepts of the research such as productions systems, MPS in particular, lean manufacturing concepts and related change management topics relevant to the research. The literature review defines production systems and the concepts of lean manufacturing, highlighting the benefits of the concepts to enhance organisations’ manufacturing capabilities. An integrated part of lean manufacturing is people and the implementation of lean manufacturing into an organisation requires change management theories therefore key understanding in this particular research was to discuss change management concepts, in particular, employee change readiness. The literature will discuss different tools to assess employee change readiness and from this develop an employee change readiness tool. The change management concepts evaluated change readiness and the consequences if organisations are not ready for change. The research methodology section describes how that the research was conducted in two phases, one to evaluate the implementation of MPS with regards to the organisational KPI’s (SQDCM). This was assessed through reports from projects and presentations made by the project teams on improvements of the organisational KPI’s. The second phase evaluated the change readiness of the employees prior to the implementation of MPS. This phase of the research was intended to retrieve quantitative data with an adapted questionnaire which was distributed to employees. To evaluate the change readiness, a change model known as ADKAR was used as an evaluation instrument. The modified ADKAR questionnaire was distributed to employees in hard copies and completed during a weekly team meeting. The results were summarised and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the final results. Microsoft Excel (2010 version) was used to illustrate and display the graphs. Section three discussed the research methodology in more detail. The study shows that although there were some positive changes that came from the implementation of MPS in MBCV, especially to the following KPI’s (Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost), real consideration should be given to employee morale and the level of change readiness of MBCV employees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An exploration of business level strategy at the bottom of the pyramid: a case study of Twizza, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Sityoshwana, Ludwe Lusu
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54486 , vital:26569
- Description: This qualitative study focuses on business level strategy adopted by Twizza to compete in the bottom of the pyramid market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Twizza enjoyed huge success between the years 2010 - 2014 as a medium to large sized manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks in the Eastern Cape. In light of this, the current study seeks to answer the following: What business level strategy did top management at Twizza adopt to compete and grow in the BoP market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa? The study takes the form of a case study to explore and understand the patterns of decisions adopted by Twizza’s top management in competing at the bottom of the pyramid. As such, the main objective of the study was to identify the business level strategy adopted by Twizza which enabled their superior performance within the BoP market. The study adopts Porter`s typology to explore business level strategy. Stratified, purposive sampling was used to identify 4 top managers as participants in this study. A total of 7, semi-structured, interviews were used to collect critical incidents from top management of Twizza. This was the primary data used in this study. This type of data was combined with relevant information which was gathered via published press articles and on-line commentary. The study found that central to Twizza’s business strategy were four pillars, namely, strict control and management of manufacturing costs, product quality equal to that of market leaders, the ability of the organisation to manufacture its own raw materials and ability to ensure product availability to the market to the market. These findings reveal that Twizza employed a hybrid strategy, anchored by cost leadership. Thus, Twizza incorporated elements of differentiation and best value strategies to offer its customers affordable quality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Sityoshwana, Ludwe Lusu
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54486 , vital:26569
- Description: This qualitative study focuses on business level strategy adopted by Twizza to compete in the bottom of the pyramid market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Twizza enjoyed huge success between the years 2010 - 2014 as a medium to large sized manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks in the Eastern Cape. In light of this, the current study seeks to answer the following: What business level strategy did top management at Twizza adopt to compete and grow in the BoP market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa? The study takes the form of a case study to explore and understand the patterns of decisions adopted by Twizza’s top management in competing at the bottom of the pyramid. As such, the main objective of the study was to identify the business level strategy adopted by Twizza which enabled their superior performance within the BoP market. The study adopts Porter`s typology to explore business level strategy. Stratified, purposive sampling was used to identify 4 top managers as participants in this study. A total of 7, semi-structured, interviews were used to collect critical incidents from top management of Twizza. This was the primary data used in this study. This type of data was combined with relevant information which was gathered via published press articles and on-line commentary. The study found that central to Twizza’s business strategy were four pillars, namely, strict control and management of manufacturing costs, product quality equal to that of market leaders, the ability of the organisation to manufacture its own raw materials and ability to ensure product availability to the market to the market. These findings reveal that Twizza employed a hybrid strategy, anchored by cost leadership. Thus, Twizza incorporated elements of differentiation and best value strategies to offer its customers affordable quality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Case study : profitability drivers in the South African airline industry : a comparative analysis of SAA and Comair
- Authors: Batidzirai, Davison Herbert
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South African Airways , Comair Limited , Airlines -- South Africa , Corporate profits -- South Africa , Organizational effectiveness -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017191
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Batidzirai, Davison Herbert
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South African Airways , Comair Limited , Airlines -- South Africa , Corporate profits -- South Africa , Organizational effectiveness -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017191
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Developing a performance measurement tool to monitor the performance of a public sector agency : a balanced scorecard approach
- Authors: Lisani, Ncedo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa. Economic Development Department , South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism , Performance -- Measurement , Performance -- Management , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:848 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017515
- Description: The world has seen unparalleled pressure put on the public sector to improve the speed and quality of service delivery, whilst simultaneously employing measures to cut the costs. South Africa and the Eastern Cape have not been immune to this as there have been complaints and demonstrations from various national and provincial stakeholders demanding more and improved services. The Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in particular has employed the services of public entities in its quest to realise government’s socio-economic developmental objectives and ease some of the service delivery pressures. These agencies are unfortunately struggling to deliver and the Department is unable to play the oversight role it is legislatively mandated to carry out. The main reason for this seem to be the lack of the capacity to objectively track and measure the performance of these agencies. As they say “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”. This is despite the fact that there is a shareholders’ compact and many other measures in place to enable performance monitoring. Also, the public sector is known to have inherent and unique performance management challenges like broad and vague objectives which lead to too many measurements, a propensity to focus on the “easy to measure” but often irrelevant indicators at the expense of critical outcomes and a short-term orientation that is usually fuelled by political expediency. Against this background, this study sought to make use of a comprehensive and dynamic performance monitoring framework, namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), to explore its potential use in assisting government to monitor the performance of public agencies, in particular the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) in South Africa. The proposed framework helps government to focus on the performance drivers of future value, and what decisions and actions are necessary to achieve critical outcomes. The aim of the study therefore is to develop an adjusted BSC framework to monitor the activities of a public sector agency and thus demonstrate how a BSC framework could be used to monitor a public agency by the government department. The study is evaluative in nature and is divided into three sections. Section one is presented as an Evaluation Report. It sets the scene, discusses briefly the key theoretical concepts, outlines the research methods used and presents the findings followed by a discussion and recommendations. Section two delves into the literature in more detail, providing a more extensive review of the literature that informed the investigation, whilst section three provides a more extensive description of the research methodology employed in the study. To achieve the aims of the study, the research drew from the work of various authors in the field including that of Bigliardi, Dormio and Galati, 2011; Bititci, Garengo, Dörfler, and Nudurupati, 2012; Julyan, 2011; Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2006; Niven, 2003 and 2008 and Northcott and Taulapapa, 2012. Also, five BSC perspectives - including the programme specific “equity” perspective - were used to develop an interview schedule. These were used to formulate the key performance objectives and indicators, based on the stakeholder’s responses. These respondents have experience within the programme as administrators, beneficiaries and funders. The research employed purposive sampling with semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis as primary and secondary instruments for data collection. In essence, five officials from the agency, one from DEDEAT and two co-operatives participated in the research. The results indicate a general appreciation of and gravitation towards outcome based measures, even though the government culture of focusing on outputs is still prevalent. The results of the study indicated that, generally, a government - public agency BSC based performance monitoring framework would have the following features: Customer objectives and programme mission as the main goal and this will provides clarity at all levels on who the customers are and what are their primary requirements. Clear, visible and stringent financial controls as the agency is administering public resources. Few carefully selected processes and systems that have a direct and positive impact on the customer objectives. Deliberate and consistent efforts to promote the participation of designated groups in the economy of the country. Comprehensive indicators on capacity building as “mission based-organisations rely heavily on skills, dedication and alignment of staff”. Overall, the study concludes that the make-up of the BSC is beneficial to the public sector and in monitoring the public sector agencies for the following reasons: It helps the agency to focus on customers and their needs. It forces the agency to engage and communicate strategic intention with both internal and external stakeholders and thus synchronize competing stakeholder needs. It forces the agency to limit the number of indicators and therefore select the few value adding measures that are aligned to customer outcomes. Through its cause and effect relationship, the agency is compelled to align all the resources, activities and processes to the main goal of the entity. All these help to minimize the principal agent problem, as the use of the BSC can bring clarity on strategy and expectations, provided it is supported with regular communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Lisani, Ncedo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa. Economic Development Department , South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism , Performance -- Measurement , Performance -- Management , Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:848 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017515
- Description: The world has seen unparalleled pressure put on the public sector to improve the speed and quality of service delivery, whilst simultaneously employing measures to cut the costs. South Africa and the Eastern Cape have not been immune to this as there have been complaints and demonstrations from various national and provincial stakeholders demanding more and improved services. The Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in particular has employed the services of public entities in its quest to realise government’s socio-economic developmental objectives and ease some of the service delivery pressures. These agencies are unfortunately struggling to deliver and the Department is unable to play the oversight role it is legislatively mandated to carry out. The main reason for this seem to be the lack of the capacity to objectively track and measure the performance of these agencies. As they say “you cannot manage what you cannot measure”. This is despite the fact that there is a shareholders’ compact and many other measures in place to enable performance monitoring. Also, the public sector is known to have inherent and unique performance management challenges like broad and vague objectives which lead to too many measurements, a propensity to focus on the “easy to measure” but often irrelevant indicators at the expense of critical outcomes and a short-term orientation that is usually fuelled by political expediency. Against this background, this study sought to make use of a comprehensive and dynamic performance monitoring framework, namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), to explore its potential use in assisting government to monitor the performance of public agencies, in particular the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) in South Africa. The proposed framework helps government to focus on the performance drivers of future value, and what decisions and actions are necessary to achieve critical outcomes. The aim of the study therefore is to develop an adjusted BSC framework to monitor the activities of a public sector agency and thus demonstrate how a BSC framework could be used to monitor a public agency by the government department. The study is evaluative in nature and is divided into three sections. Section one is presented as an Evaluation Report. It sets the scene, discusses briefly the key theoretical concepts, outlines the research methods used and presents the findings followed by a discussion and recommendations. Section two delves into the literature in more detail, providing a more extensive review of the literature that informed the investigation, whilst section three provides a more extensive description of the research methodology employed in the study. To achieve the aims of the study, the research drew from the work of various authors in the field including that of Bigliardi, Dormio and Galati, 2011; Bititci, Garengo, Dörfler, and Nudurupati, 2012; Julyan, 2011; Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2006; Niven, 2003 and 2008 and Northcott and Taulapapa, 2012. Also, five BSC perspectives - including the programme specific “equity” perspective - were used to develop an interview schedule. These were used to formulate the key performance objectives and indicators, based on the stakeholder’s responses. These respondents have experience within the programme as administrators, beneficiaries and funders. The research employed purposive sampling with semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis as primary and secondary instruments for data collection. In essence, five officials from the agency, one from DEDEAT and two co-operatives participated in the research. The results indicate a general appreciation of and gravitation towards outcome based measures, even though the government culture of focusing on outputs is still prevalent. The results of the study indicated that, generally, a government - public agency BSC based performance monitoring framework would have the following features: Customer objectives and programme mission as the main goal and this will provides clarity at all levels on who the customers are and what are their primary requirements. Clear, visible and stringent financial controls as the agency is administering public resources. Few carefully selected processes and systems that have a direct and positive impact on the customer objectives. Deliberate and consistent efforts to promote the participation of designated groups in the economy of the country. Comprehensive indicators on capacity building as “mission based-organisations rely heavily on skills, dedication and alignment of staff”. Overall, the study concludes that the make-up of the BSC is beneficial to the public sector and in monitoring the public sector agencies for the following reasons: It helps the agency to focus on customers and their needs. It forces the agency to engage and communicate strategic intention with both internal and external stakeholders and thus synchronize competing stakeholder needs. It forces the agency to limit the number of indicators and therefore select the few value adding measures that are aligned to customer outcomes. Through its cause and effect relationship, the agency is compelled to align all the resources, activities and processes to the main goal of the entity. All these help to minimize the principal agent problem, as the use of the BSC can bring clarity on strategy and expectations, provided it is supported with regular communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015