Financial implications for built environment consultants working at risk in South Africa

Consultants in the built environment of South Africa are facing financial risks due to clients’ expectations of completing certain portions of work at risk. Thus, consultants would complete projects at risk in return for the possibility of remuneration in the long run. A descriptive survey was conducted among various professional consultants working within the built environment in South Africa. The findings include that a large percentage of work was expected to be completed at risk. Once work was completed at risk, a relatively small percentage continued to a stage where the actual consultant received remuneration. As a result of the current global economic climate, the amount of work required to be completed at risk increased and the percentage of work continuing to a stage of remuneration has also decreased. A greater percentage of clients therefore expected more work to be done at risk than the actual amount of work for which consultants are remunerated

Successful transformational change in revenue management among beneficiary communities of South African renewable energy construction companies

Transformational change is the second of three sub-models that resulted from the splitting of the original model following the data analysis as part of a thesis entitled A theoretical model for successful management of revenue for beneficiary communities of renewable energy companies in South Africa. The sub-model provides specific guidance for project managers dealing with transformational change in communities to stakeholders, industry experts and community development practitioners in the renewable energy sector. The aim of the research was to promote a localised understanding of education, social interaction, social cohesion, infrastructure improvement and sharing to ensure success in managing the revenue for beneficiary community projects by renewable energy construction companies. A literature review of relevant literature on transfor mational change factors was conducted and used to develop a structured questionnaire distributed to national and international popu lation of project management practitioners who were conveniently sampled in South Africa. Using an electronic measuring instrument, the empirical findings established four factors that were reliable and valid for transformational change in communities, namely education, infrastructure development, human develop-ment, and change management. Using these factors and construc ting a path diagram of the indepen dent variables (education, infrastructure develop ment, human development, change management) and subsequent intervening (good governance) and dependent variables (perceived success of revenue management), appropriate hypotheses were developed to test the model. The hypotheses were analysed and tested empirically using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Determinants were identified as elements of transformational change that influence the success of revenue management for beneficiary communities for South African renewable energy companies. These included the use of education, infrastructure development, human development, change management, and good governance.&nbsp

Strategic management: An Eastern Cape construction SME case study

Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs) fulfil an important role in the long-term growth and development of the economy of the country. The development and growth of construction SMEs are important for all countries, as a strong SME base has the capacity to produce a high-quality infrastructure for the country. However, research has revealed the high failure rate of small businesses within the first five years of their existence in South Africa. In addition, research also indicated that lack of long-term planning and lack of strategic thinking are major contributing factors to the failure of most SMEs. For instance, despite the considerable growth in the industry in the past decade due to government’s considerable infrastructural spending occasioned by the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the majority of construction SMEs failed to use the opportunities gained in this period to develop into established construction entities. This study investigates how strategic management can be applied to address the problems faced by construction SMEs, and to explore techniques and tools of strategic management that can make a significant contribution to their growth and development. The research findings, based on a literature review and a qualitative research approach, suggest that, although many construction SMEs perform poorly, some have the potential to grow and develop into more established entities by proactively managing their firms strategically. In addition, the findings indicate that SMEs that practise strategic management perform better, and that there are many advantages for SMEs that adopt strategic management principles at the organisational level

The success of multi-sector participation in the management of revenue for beneficiary communities of South African renewable energy companies – sub-model A

AbstractMulti-sector participation is one of three sub-models that resulted from the splitting of the original model that resulted from the data analysis as part of a thesis entitled ‘A theoretical for successful management of revenue for beneficiary communities of renewable energy companies in South Africa.’ The sub-model provides specific guidance for the multi-sector participation of enterprises, stakeholders, industry experts and community development practitioners in the renewable energy sector to create a pro-active, effective, and relevant decision-making process for achieving success in the management of revenue for beneficiary communities. To address the primary objective, a number of secondary objectives were formulated through the development of a conceptual model consisting of identified variables based on a comprehensive survey of the related literature. By constructing a path diagram between the independent variable and subsequent intervening and dependent variables, appropriate hypotheses were developed. Primary data sourced from an identified national and international population of community management practitioners were collected using an electronic measuring instrument. These data were analysed and tested empirically using structural equation modelling. The determinants that were identified through a review of the literature as elements of multi-sector participation that influences the success of revenue management for beneficiary communities for South African renewable energy companies included the use of outside advice, financial management, support services, and good governance. Keywords: renewable energy, green energy, beneficiary communities, community development, revenue management, socio-economic development, economic development, multi-sector participatio

Assessing Cross-National Invariance of the Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment: A Cross-Country Study of University Faculty

Purpose: This study examines affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment in a cross-national context to identify if the effect of country-specific cultural orientation on organizational commitment of faculty in higher education functions invariably in different countries. Methodology: The work expands on Meyer and Allen's (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment. It includes a review of relevant literature on 10 countries and the results of a survey of university faculty members in 8 of these countries, assessing their institutions' human resources practices and their effect on organizational commitment. Findings: Though certain differences may exist between different countries and cultures with respect to the three-component model of organizational commitment, there is strong evidence of the existence of invariance and thus generalizability of the model across cultures. Research: Cultural studies have focused on differences in organizational commitment at national levels. Further attempts to identify the universality of factors leading to organizational commitment should account for culture in the study of employee-related globalization issues in higher education institutes. Knowledge of cultural impact is also useful from a managerial perspective, and for the design of relevant strategies. Practical Implications: National context plays a major role in shaping the nature of educational institutions. This study brings out the need for a deeper understanding of invariance in organizational commitment (inter alia, through the three-component model). Originality/Value: This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between organizational commitment and its various antecedents, including human resources management practices, for faculty in higher education institutes.div_BaM13pub5248pub

Managing a transition to green energy sources: The perspectives of energy practitioners in the Southern African Development Community region.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has low energy security, exacerbated by electricity power cuts and load-shedding in almost all its member states. Green energy has the potential to contribute to the shortfall in the supply of energy required on the grid network during daily (morning and evening) and seasonal (winter) peak periods. The Statistica 12 program was used to analyse and compare responses between identified groups in the SADC region’s Energy sector. Multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance were used to examine associations between variables within the identified categories of respondents, and conclusions were made about six hypotheses. The categories of respondents sampled included: people associated with fossil fuel and renewable energy; people with experience of 1-6 years and more than 6 years; researchers and industry practitioners; practitioners based in South Africa and in other SADC countries; and a category based on practitioners’ positions (junior managers, middle managers, and senior managers) in their respective organisations. The study found that energy practitioners generally support a transition to green energy sources and there is consensus that the uptake of green energy will be slow initially, driven by low costs of fossil-based sources, but the uptake will eventually grow exponentially to a point of driving industries in future. The study recommends that SADC countries prioritise mapping of green energy resources to facilitate the selection of suitable green energy options in order to meet local energy needs and environmental protection. Research and development of suitable green energy storage technologies to overcome intermittency of some green energy sources must be expedited in the region