Public private partnership for service delivery in South Africa.

Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.No abstract provided

The role of project management methodology in municipal service delivery, with a particular reference to Metropolitan Municipalities in South Africa.

Doctor of Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2014.The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of project management methodology to service delivery at Metropolitan Municipalities in the Republic of South Africa. The study was conducted across all six metropolitan municipalities. These Municipalities are as follows: eThekwini Metropolitan municipality, City of Cape Town, City of Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan municipality, City of Johannesburg and City of Tshwane. Literature review reveals that project management incorporates all management principles. An interesting finding provided by literature review is that no known publication that presents how projects were managed in times of Great Wall of China, Egyptian Pyramids, and European Cathedrals. What is interesting is that these structures are in place but there are few records to inform how the projects were managed. Another important discovery through literature review is that the study of project management is new in the field of public administration, as it was inherited from military and engineering disciplines. Project management has been more effective and efficient for engineers in their massive construction and designing new machinery and military personnel in their missions of war, peace-making and other interventions. This research study has shown that project managers need intense capacity building on the project management discipline. Project managers are not as strong on project management theory, as expected. Some project managers do not have qualifications on project management, which makes execution of projects at Metropolitan Municipality levels difficult and challenging. These findings made a very interesting break-through in understanding of what makes municipalities fail to deliver services as expected. Project reports were collected from each metropolitan municipality. These reports are clearly indicating that some projects are experiencing challenges in areas of project planning, financing, procurements, quality and contracts. Some projects do not finish on time as a result of above identified challenges. Proper implementation and management of project will bring about drastically improvement in service provision by Metropolitan municipality

Governance of state-owned companies in the energy sector of South Africa: peculiarities and challenges

Ubiquitous political interference, especially from the governing African National Congress through cadre deployment practice of patronage, has undermined strategic and operational efficacy within state-owned entities such as ESKOM, contributing to loadshedding due to the unavailability of electricity for many hours daily. A critical analysis is undertaken through desktop literature review and document analysis to juxtapose institutional performance between ESKOM as a non-performing state-owned entity and TELKOM as a performing state entity in meeting performance objectives and strategic goals to contribute to the National Development Plan of creating an economically viable and capable state in South Africa. The study aims to contribute to deepening debates and public discourse about strengthening performance efficacy within public sector institutions and entities and towards achieving the strategic goals of the National Development Plan of building a capable and capacitated South African developmental state

The impact of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on a beer manufacturing company’s sales performance

The shift away from an economy focused on transactions and towards one based on relationships has taken place worldwide, and this movement can be observed quite plainly in South Africa's business environment. Individualized customer care is becoming an increasingly important factor for customers who now have higher expectations than before. Therefore, this study analysed the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on a beer manufacturing company’s sales performance. A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted to collect data from a stratified random sample of 172 liquor outlet owners within the Durban region. The respondents can be categorised as retailers, distributors, On-Con and Off-Con. The findings show that customers were generally satisfied with the trading environment, order placing, delivery and information sharing. The use of data analytics and technology in general should be put at the forefront of any effective customer relationship management (CRM) solution for the firm. This might be a very helpful tool for organization in its attempts to mould its business environment to better suit the expectations of its customers and clients. This study has contributed to the literature on customer relationship management in the manufacturing sector, with specific reference to South Africa

Organizational culture and management practices at technical vocational education and training colleges

Building an effective organizational culture of high performance has proven to be elusive amongst strategic and operational managers of selected public technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in the Gauteng province in the post-merger period of 2007 to 2010. Poor organizational culture demonstrated by a lack of the Ubuntu principles of humanness and teamwork; management inefficiency and instability undermined the role of public TVET colleges in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The identified knowledge gap is a paucity of information on how the values of Ubuntu are infused into management practices to improve organizational management practices. A mixed methods research approach that adopted multiple case studies, unstructured interviews and survey questionnaires was undertaken to assess an organizational culture and management practices by strategic and operational managers, and lecturers at selected public TVET colleges. Descriptive statistical and thematic analyses were employed to generate, interpret, and analyze the findings from participating managers and lecturers. The findings revealed the need to re-purpose public TVET colleges in South Africa to align with the strategic priorities and goals of the National Development Plan: Vision 2030. Strategic and operational managers should also be capacitated with stakeholder relations building and management skills to create student workplace opportunities with businesses and industries

The role of the South African qualifications authority in curbing misrepresentation of qualifications

This study sought to analyse the role of the South African Qualifications Authority in curbing the misrepresentation of qualifications. Academic degrees are highly valued throughout the globe because they are seen as a dependable and trusted proxy for the bearers' knowledge, abilities and skills. In the same vein, the higher education system in South Africa makes every effort to generate well-qualified graduates who are capable of assisting in the leadership of the country's socio-economic growth. Recent reports in the media, on the other hand, create the impression that this initiative is being hampered by the widespread use of counterfeit, phoney and other illegitimate credentials. Consequently, the reputation of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is in grave danger as a result of the increasing prevalence of dishonestly misrepresented qualifications in both the public and private sectors. The education system is also at risk of losing its credibility as a result of actions involving deception, which is a subject that has to be addressed at the highest levels possible. Notably, the public service in South Africa is making significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that individuals who misrepresent their qualifications are barred from ever working in the public sector again. In this regard, SAQA plays an important role by offering verification services to individuals who are interested in applying for jobs in the public sector. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on credentialism and qualifications from the developing world with specific reference to South Africa

Re-examining the gender factored agentic and communal career profession of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students

This paper examines the narrative about gender influence in students' career choices and professions is something that needs to be reconsidered to remain relevant in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and a society that is always evolving. The 4IR has resulted in disruptive innovation globally, wherefore, the technological innovation that includes artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. These disruptions, however, may be creative in that as some jobs are lost due to the development of artificial intelligence, new ones are created. Hence, a positive impact on key industries and sectors, like business, health, and education as the globe rapidly moves toward a more digital economy, many low- and middle-income countries face difficulties finding competent workers to fill crucial Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professions in growing markets. The fourth industrial revolution, which involves more than just technological transformation, is drawing attention around the globe. This shortfall is made worse by the underrepresentation of women in ICT-related fields. The demand for ICT professionals/ workers and the supply of job seekers with the necessary technical skills threaten the ability of the country (South Africa) to take part in a powerful driver of growth in the fourth industrial revolution. This paper is a systematic literature review supported by the theory of social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and expectancy-value theory (EVT). The findings revealed that gender disparity, inadequate career guidance, and educational career ambition play an enormous role amongst male and female students when choosing ICT as a career choice

The role of the South African qualifications authority in curbing misrepresentation of qualifications

This study sought to analyse the role of the South African Qualifications Authority in curbing the misrepresentation of qualifications. Academic degrees are highly valued throughout the globe because they are seen as a dependable and trusted proxy for the bearers' knowledge, abilities and skills. In the same vein, the higher education system in South Africa makes every effort to generate well-qualified graduates who are capable of assisting in the leadership of the country's socio-economic growth. Recent reports in the media, on the other hand, create the impression that this initiative is being hampered by the widespread use of counterfeit, phoney and other illegitimate credentials. Consequently, the reputation of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is in grave danger as a result of the increasing prevalence of dishonestly misrepresented qualifications in both the public and private sectors. The education system is also at risk of losing its credibility as a result of actions involving deception, which is a subject that has to be addressed at the highest levels possible. Notably, the public service in South Africa is making significant progress towards the goal of ensuring that individuals who misrepresent their qualifications are barred from ever working in the public sector again. In this regard, SAQA plays an important role by offering verification services to individuals who are interested in applying for jobs in the public sector. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on credentialism and qualifications from the developing world with specific reference to South Africa

Re-examining the gender factored agentic and communal career profession of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students

This paper examines the narrative about gender influence in students' career choices and professions is something that needs to be reconsidered to remain relevant in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and a society that is always evolving. The 4IR has resulted in disruptive innovation globally, wherefore, the technological innovation that includes artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. These disruptions, however, may be creative in that as some jobs are lost due to the development of artificial intelligence, new ones are created. Hence, a positive impact on key industries and sectors, like business, health, and education as the globe rapidly moves toward a more digital economy, many low- and middle-income countries face difficulties finding competent workers to fill crucial Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professions in growing markets. The fourth industrial revolution, which involves more than just technological transformation, is drawing attention around the globe. This shortfall is made worse by the underrepresentation of women in ICT-related fields. The demand for ICT professionals/ workers and the supply of job seekers with the necessary technical skills threaten the ability of the country (South Africa) to take part in a powerful driver of growth in the fourth industrial revolution. This paper is a systematic literature review supported by the theory of social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and expectancy-value theory (EVT). The findings revealed that gender disparity, inadequate career guidance, and educational career ambition play an enormous role amongst male and female students when choosing ICT as a career choice

Incorporating new technologies into teaching in South Africa

The constantly evolving technology landscape inevitably calls for technological integration in learning and education. It is essential in the world we live in today for every learning method to include the use of new technologies. The study's primary goal is to examine strategies to integrate modern technologies into teaching in South Africa. The paper strives to understand the state of education in South Africa; the government’s contribution to education so far; teachers’ attitudes and competencies; as well as, and the benefits that new technologies can offer the education system in South Africa. A systematic review of literature that relates to the infusion of conventional technologies into educational settings has been adopted. The research conducted in this paper demonstrated that integrating technology into the teaching-learning process can be a useful strategy for training educators and learners for improved learning and educational outcomes in South Africa. Furthermore, the study's findings revealed that many South African instructors have a negative attitude regarding the usage of modern technologies for teaching. The paper recommended that the government should prioritizes funding for education; and concluded that blended learning is best used as the instructional strategy in South African classes