Organisational culture and the transformational requirements for the Knowledge Age

Published ArticleThe important impact of an organisation's cultural orientation is often not fully comprehended by management and staff. Organisational culture as the 'soul' of an organisation forms the basis of all decisions that are taken in organisational context. In the Knowledge Age, where service delivery has become a crucial consideration organisations must be creative in dealing with its internal and external customers. In a competitive international environment organisations may find it difficult to apply the cultural principles that correspond with that of the Knowledge Age. This paper argues that in order for organisations to adapt successfully to the challenges of the Knowledge Age, they need to comprehend the fundamental influence of organisational culture, and how a focus on both internal and external stakeholders, could benefit the organisation. The arguments of this paper are based, in part, on an investigation of the organisational culture of a major private security company in South Africa

Towards sustainable tourism development : the Volksblad Tourism Town of the Year Competition

Published ArticleSustainability is a global concern for any organisation seeking to remain relevant and in business. In a developing country like South Africa, tourism has the potential to stimulate the economy and create jobs. The Free State and Northern Cape provinces are generally not at the top of the list for national and international tourists, although they are regions of great natural beauty and splendour. These provinces have many small towns and farming communities and thus extensive areas of rural land. This paper interrogates the sustainability issues related to tourism and reflect on the Volksblad Tourism Town of the Year Competition as a means of stimulating sustainable tourism in Free State and Northern Cape provinces

The Interim as developmental academic journal

Published ArticleResearch has two important objectives: the contribution to scientific discourse and the identification of solutions for the challenges societies, government, business and industry face. Research should be in the public domain. The publication and presentation of research results are important activities academics need to engage with. Through publications and presentations are societies informed of the positive influence and impact research can bring to them. This paper will focus on the importance of publications and how emerging scholars can be assisted to get their research published. A case study is presented of the Interim, an in-house academic journal

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE AND SERVICE DELIVERY EXPECTATIONS OF VISITORS TO THE BLOEMFONTEIN VRYFEES

Published ArticleThe contribution of tourism to the development of local regions is prolific, as it creates jobs and stimulates the economy (Lopez-Bonilla & Sanz-Altmira 2010; O'Sullivan & Jackson 2010; Saayman & Rossow 2011; Visser 2005). Events are an important motivation for tourists to travel. In this sense, there are three types of events: business events, sport events and festivals (Getz 2007). Festivals and festival tourism is a booming form of event tourism and the importance of festivals are recognized in both national and international spheres (Yang, Gu & Cen 2011). With this in mind, it is imperative that festival organisers have adequate information pertaining to the demographics and service delivery expectations of festival goers. The data for this investigation was collected during the 2013 Bloemfontien Vryfees and the findings report on the demographic composition of the festival goers and their service delivery expectations

Reflecting on multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary (MIT) research at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT)

Published ArticleIn their research as well as their teaching, universities of technology (UoTs) expect to be infused by the application of technology and to be integrally related to the world of work. At the same time, research at UoTs is characteristically innovatory, in the specific sense of transforming research discoveries into products or services that are user-oriented and commercially viable. Since practical problems and user needs do not respect disciplinary boundaries it follows, firstly, that such research at a UoT will in some sense not respect disciplinary boundaries, i.e. it will have to connect, cross, or integrate traditional disciplines. This paper seeks accordingly conceptually to differentiate the relevant senses of multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary (MIT) research. It then characterises the fourteen current research programmes at Central University of Technology (CUT) in these regards, comparing the findings from interviews with the programme leaders with the insights of the authors. Secondly, in that most research at UoTs is also expected to be innovatory, it is demanded of researchers that they also master the skill of researching the feasible applications of findings, developing products, and envisaging commercialisation; and handing the stakeholder relationships that arise in these interactions. The interviews further indicate the extent to which the respective programmes have moved down the MIT road. They also reveal that the challenges that are faced by the programmes are overwhelming generic rather than specifically MIT-related. Some strategic recommendations are extracted from the findings

Reflecting on the knowledge management practices of a University of Technology

Published ArticleKnowledge is universally considered to be a public good and something that should be developed and supported. The information explosion and enabling technologies (such as the Internet and cellular technologies) of the past decade has firmly established the Age of Knowledge. Knowledge has normative value that extends far beyond a single discipline and the Age of Knowledge has resulted in a paradigm shift with regard to the way in which knowledge is generated, applied and stored. As the custodians of knowledge, universities should pay particular attention to the management of knowledge as they take the lead not only in generating new knowledge, but also in converting new and existing knowledge into innovative ideas, products and practices that benefit society at large. Knowledge should, for this reason, be strategically managed to be of value to universities. It is thus imperative that universities should ascertain the nature and extent of their knowledge resources and pay special attention to their Knowledge Management practices that include the way in which knowledge is acquired, disseminated and rewarded. Universities of Technology (UoTs), with their distinct emphasis on applied research, innovation and knowledge transfer, need to manage knowledge in such a way that it enhances the creation of solution-based technologies. This paper provides a theoretical basis for understanding Knowledge Management in a UoT context and reflects on the Knowledge Management practices of a UoT in the South African context

Methods of transfer : science making an impact for sustainability

Published ArticleThe reasons, objects, means and methods for a transfer of scientific results to society are analysed in the article. Among this, knowledge transfer - especially technology transfer - and on projects, especially joint projects with the aim of creating or transferring knowledge are concentrated upon. Success factors for bringing science to support socioeconomic development also receive attention

The impact of organisational culture on service delivery in a major private security company

Published ArticleIn today's highly competitive business environment service delivery has become a key issue. Providing quality service could enhance an organisation's competitive advantage with beneficial financial implications. Service delivery requires the full cooperation and commitment of all the employees in the organisation, including management. The culture of the organisation supports this by eliciting a unified response from employees that supports the quality of service rendered to customers. In this regard the paper provides a statistical analysis of the impact of organisational culture on service delivery in a major South African private security company. Due to its applicability the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was instrumental in measuring the culture of the organisation and the award winning Baldrige Award Criteria in ascertaining its levels of service delivery

The wheelchair accessibility of Bloemfontein's guest houses and hotels

Published ArticleWheelchair friendliness is an issue that needs to be taken very serious. Awareness should be created so that the owners of the accommodation establishments have a complete knowledge about wheelchair friendliness. The population of the study covered 16 guest houses and 16 hotels in Bloemfontein and only 11 agreed to participate. Other guest house owners were not interested in the participation. Among those guest houses that participated, only few had wheelchair facilities. It showed that there is a lot of ignorance concerning the topic because other guest house owners thought they were wheelchair friendly, just because there is no step at the entrance. A checklist was compiled from literature and adminstered at each estabilshment