Exploring the strategising practices of small business managers in selected small businesses in the accommodation sector in Tshwane metropolitan area

There has been few research studies aimed at investigating strategy in small businesses. The current study sought to contribute to small business management and help small businesses attain success as they are important in any economy. Furthermore to close the gap as a response to the call for research in what people actually do when strategising. The following study explored the strategising practices of small business managers from the accommodation sector and the tools they use when strategising. A total of 12 interviews were conducted during the period 2014-2015 in the Tshwane metropolitan area. The findings of the study show that small business managers strategise although not in the way proposed by literature which may reveal that strategy-as-practice may be more appropriate for small businesses. The findings also show the tools that small business managers use in strategising. The research will serve as a contribution to the current challenges facing small businesses in the practice of strategic management or lack thereof in the managing of small businesses to ensure success.Business ManagementM. Com. (Business Management

Gender attitudes towards feminist literature : lecturers' and students' engagement with feminist literary texts at a university in Zimbabwe.

Doctor of Philosophy in Education. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.The study reports on a qualitative study of the views of university lecturers and students on the feminist literary texts they engaged with at a selected university in Zimbabwe. Through the lenses of the feminist and critical paradigms, the thesis examined how university lecturers and students react to feminist ideologies that are observable in the feminist literary texts they engaged with vis-à-vis their patriarchal orientation. Their reactions to feminist ideologies were viewed from the reader response theory perspective. From a liberal feminist perspective, the study suggests the need to add more feminist literary texts in the selected university’s undergraduate English curriculum. The study utilised informal conversations, semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis as methods of gathering data. The study found that lecturers’ and students’ views towards feminist literary texts were influenced by several factors which are: patriarchy and socialisation, consciousness, religion, generational cohorts and education. The study recommends that lecturers take into consideration the addition of more feminist literary texts in the university undergraduate English curriculum because these feminist literary texts address important gender issues that are topical in this generation of feminism

Acoso laboral y ansiedad en colaboradores de una empresa agroindustrial de la provincia de Chiclayo

Esta investigación tuvo el propósito de demostrar la relación entre el acoso laboral y la ansiedad en colaboradores de una empresa agroindustrial de la provincia de Chiclayo. Para este estudio, participaron 100 colaboradores de ambos sexos (48% mujeres y 52% varones) entre los 22 y 45 años. Para dicha investigación se utilizó el cuestionario de estrategia de acoso en el trabajo, LIPT-60, siendo su adaptación en la ciudad de Huaraz; también se utilizó la escala de ansiedad de Lima, EAL-20, creada para la población peruana. Cabe mencionar que el tipo de análisis es descriptivo correlacional entre la variable de Acoso Laboral y la variable Ansiedad. Respecto a los resultados, se evidencio que no existe relación significativa (p>.05) entre las variables acaso laboral y ansiedad, puesto que los constructos pueden manifestarse de forma independientes entre sí; por otro lado no existe relación significativa (p>.05) entre la dimensión de fobia social con las dimensiones de la variable acoso laboral; del mismo modo sucede como la dimensión de ansiedad psíquica y las dimensiones de la variable acoso laboral, donde no existe relación significativa (p>.05); consecutivamente se observa que entre la dimensión de agorafobia y las dimensiones de la variable acoso laboral no existe relación significativa(p>.05). Finalmente se puede asumirse que la ansiedad que presenten o no los colaboradores, no necesariamente están relacionada a indicadores o manifestaciones de acoso laboral.TesisComunicación y desarrollo human

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)

The Annual of the American schools of oriental research : V. 36 - 37.: The Excavations at Dibon (Dhiban) in Moab

New Havenvii, 79 p.: 74 plt.; 26 c

Students’ Perceptions of Basic Communication Skills Training at a Selected State University in Zimbabwe

The study was a qualitative case study which sought to establish the perceptions of students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce on Basic Communication Skills training at Victoria State University. Twenty-seven students from the faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Observation and focus group discussions were the major data gathering tools. A thematic analysis of the data was done. The major findings showed that a majority of the students perceived the module as indispensable in their learning as it enhanced their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Participants mentioned that their academic writing, reading, research and listening skills had greatly improved due to the communication skills training they had undergone. However, there were a few students who felt that the module was a waste of their time as it focussed on aspects of communication that they had already covered at ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level. The major recommendation from this study was that the university extends the Basic Communication Skills Module to other level 1:1 students in other faculties to facilitate their day to day communication in an educational environment

Students’ Perceptions of Basic Communication Skills Training at a Selected State University in Zimbabwe

The study was a qualitative case study which sought to establish the perceptions of students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce on Basic Communication Skills training at Victoria State University. Twenty-seven students from the faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Observation and focus group discussions were the major data gathering tools. A thematic analysis of the data was done. The major findings showed that a majority of the students perceived the module as indispensable in their learning as it enhanced their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Participants mentioned that their academic writing, reading, research and listening skills had greatly improved due to the communication skills training they had undergone. However, there were a few students who felt that the module was a waste of their time as it focussed on aspects of communication that they had already covered at ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level. The major recommendation from this study was that the university extends the Basic Communication Skills Module to other level 1:1 students in other faculties to facilitate their day to day communication in an educational environment