Mentoring as a strategy to develop leadership potential of female employees
- Authors: Potgieter, Deidre
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Mentoring in business , Leadership in women , Women employees
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9278 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1472 , Mentoring in business , Leadership in women , Women employees
- Description: Institutions of higher learning should be doing leadership development of females to enhance the gender balance. The number of females employed in South African higher education is almost equal to the number of males, yet the highest proportions of females continue to hold the lowest academic and support positions. To compound the problem, after attracting suitable female staff, institutions do not have programmes to encourage them to remain within the system. Females need to surmount extra hurdles to be considered as leaders, and have different experiences of organisations from those of their male peers. Research suggests that women have the qualifications, skills and experiences required for leadership. This study aimed to look at mentoring as a strategy to enhance female leadership development. A literature review was conducted to understand the term mentoring and all related aspects. The aspects included the functions and phases of mentoring, as well as the process of a mentoring programme. Recently organisations have begun to realise how important mentoring can be to their success. Research has shown that mentoring facilitates leadership development through the career and psycho-social functions that the relationship provides. The study also investigated gender and leadership, and highlighted the barriers faced by women. The empirical part of this study was to determine employees‘ perceptions of mentoring. It was conducted in a Higher Education Institution. Random sampling was used to select respondents. The sample size consisted of 110 respondents. A structured pre-coded questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was analysed Abstract Page iii using the relevant statistical package. Independent t-tests and analysis of variance techniques were used to determine statistically significant differences in perceptions between groups according to race, qualifications, period of employment and the type of appointment (academic/administrative). Statistically significant differences were found between race groups and the period of employment. Qualification and type of appointment did not significantly affect employees‘ responses. The major findings indicate a general congruence towards mentoring as a suitable strategy to enhance female leadership development. Institutional barriers were identified and the organisation needs to acknowledge and understand the organisational culture before embarking on this process. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations based on these findings are provided.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Modelling and intelligent control of vehicle climatronic systems
- Authors: Sun, Jie
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Automobiles -- Air conditioning , Automobiles -- Motors -- Cooling systems , Automobiles -- Heating and ventilation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9600 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1118 , Automobiles -- Air conditioning , Automobiles -- Motors -- Cooling systems , Automobiles -- Heating and ventilation
- Description: The modelling and control method of a vehicle climatronic system, based on MATLAB/SIMULINK, is presented. In order to achieve high modelling accuracy, a developed simulation model library is introduced. The modelling approach is described and the developed models are validated with some of experimental data obtained. The models are nonlinear, independent of fluid type and based on thermo-dynamic principles. Analysis of the cooling circuit modelling and empirical real-time control models are created by using Fuzzy logic controller and Stateflow. Both of control input and output are implemented essentially at original vehicle CAN-Bus system. Feasible digital automatic control strategy basic to fuzzy theory, hardware and software solution are given. The simulation experiment is achieved with the Hardware-in-Loop technology. This control methodology is easily operated and worth applying for any further studies or methods.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Optimizing the recovery rate of Mycobacterium species from gastric lavages in children at an urban Zambian hospital
- Authors: Lubasi, David
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Mycobacterium , Tuberculosis in children -- Diagnosis -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:10118 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1440 , Mycobacterium , Tuberculosis in children -- Diagnosis -- Zambia
- Description: Tuberculosis (TB) has re-emerged as a major worldwide public health hazard with increasing incidence among adults and children. Although cases among children represent a small percentage of all TB cases, they are a reservoir from which many adult cases will arise. Estimates indicate that 9 million people develop TB annually, out of which 1 million (11 percent) occur in children less than 15 years old. Childhood tuberculosis is on the increase worldwide because of persisting inability to conform the diagnosis, leading to a large number of children dying of undiagnosed tuberculosis. Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis has depended on bacteriological examination of sputum. In most of the developing countries sputum smear microscopy has been used as it has been found to be cheap and relative efficient. As a result of the high TB burden, there is an urgent need for improved methods of laboratory diagnosis of TB. This is especially needed in children were diagnosis is more challenging as mycobacteria is being detected in fewer than 50 percent of the cases. Children cannot produce adequate sputum samples for examination. Their sputum samples, if produced, has a low bacterial yield and making detection of mycobacteria by using the smear microscopy difficult. Therefore, gastric lavages from children are being recommended as the best specimen for culture. In this study, gastric lavages from 408 children suspected of having tuberculosis were examined for the recovery of mycobacteria. Recovery was optimized by the use of the relatively new non-radiometric fully automated BACTEC MGIT 960. BACTEC MGIT 960 produced a positivity rate of 27.2 percent against 17.2 percent that of Lowenstein-Jensen (L-J) media, which is a conventional culture method used widely. The direct microscopy which is the cheapest traditional method used in diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) yielded a 5.6 percent positive rate. The BACTEC MGIT 960 had also a very high isolate detection rate of 98.2 percent compared to that of L-J media of 61.9 percent, and only 20.4 percent were detected with the direct microscopy. On time taken to detection or mean time to detection (TTD) of v isolates, the BACTEC MGIT 960 technique had a shorter mean time to detection, 12.5 days as compared to 34.3 days shown by the L-J media technique. The study showed that children normally get tuberculosis from adult members of the household. A positive TB case was found in the households of 55.4 percent of the suspects. The study has found that 46.4 percent of the children below the age of 4 years developed the disease, compared to 10.5 percent the older children in the age group 10 to 14 years. The study found that tuberculosis in children is mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Out of the 113 isolates detected, 110 (97.3 percent) were M. tuberculosis. The remaining 2.7 percent were the non-tuberculous M. avium complex and M. kansasii. It was inconclusive whether the 2.7 percent of other species were causing tuberculosis and this need to be studied further.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Precooling strategies for passenger vehicles
- Authors: Wachsmuth, Carsten Ulrich Harro
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Automobiles -- Air conditioning , Air conditioning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9643 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/930 , Automobiles -- Air conditioning , Air conditioning
- Description: By ventilating the vehicle’s interior during a soak, the peak cooling load is reduced and therefore the air-conditioning needs less power. This in turn translates to a smaller air-conditioning unit which would consume less power, be lighter and more compact. This solar driven ventilation of the vehicle’s interior during a soak is defined as precooling. During this project the best precooling strategy for passenger vehicles was found by investigating and testing different precooling strategies and evaluating them according to their thermodynamic performance, their potential implementation and their influence on the required cooling performance of the airconditioning cycle. The best performances were achieved by strategies with a high air flow rate and a relatively low air inlet temperature. Two categories of precooling strategies were examined: natural convection and forced convection strategies. Openings in the vehicle’s body that fit to all strategies had to be found; with a big potential concerning their thermodynamic performance and other aspects like prevention against water penetration. The best investigated precooling strategies proved to be the one which used the design outlet as an inlet and the opening of the HVAC as an outlet. With these openings a good air flow through the whole cabin can be guaranteed. In addition to that the strategy only uses existing openings of the body which prevent against water penetration. The required installation space for this strategy already exists and can be considered for the package of next generation vehicles.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Size and other determinants of capital structure in South African manufacturing listed companies
- Authors: Mgudlwa, Nosipho
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Capital management and capital structure , Capital , Corporations -- South Africa -- Finance , Business enterprises
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:8941 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1192 , Capital management and capital structure , Capital , Corporations -- South Africa -- Finance , Business enterprises
- Description: The importance of the capital structure as a measure of company growth and performance has been at the core of vigorous debate for many years. With the threat of the recession and global competitiveness to the survival of organizations, what constitutes an optimal capital structure had to be interrogated. The focus of the study is to investigate the factors (with more emphasis on size) that influence the capital structure of manufacturing firms in general and South African manufacturing firms in particular. The aim is to advance recommendations on policy formulation so as to improve the financial performance of the manufacturing sector in South Africa, a developing economy. The study is explained within the theoretical framework which relates elements purported to have an influence on the capital structure to the use of leverage/debt by organizations. Leverage is seen to increase the shareholders‟ interest whilst being exposed to financial risk. The size of the organizations as a comparative element defines the extent of accessing the borrowed funds, hence the distinction between the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and large sized enterprises (LSEs). The research evidence indicates that SMMEs are characterized by lower liquidity, use more short-term debt instead of use of long-term debt, and are generally low in debt and basically capital intensive. On the contrary LSEs are highly leveraged. The selected research design is triangulated, with a combination of a case study which is of a qualitative and interpretive nature, as well as a quantitative type survey by means of a structured questionnaire. Twenty five ratios were computed from information derived from the financial statements of organizations and means and medians were determined for comparative reasons. The questions were directed to chief financial officers or managers responsible for the compilation of the financial statements, mainly to expand on the debt policy of iv their respective organizations. The findings confirmed the correlation between gearing and size, asset structure and growth with the exception of profitability. On the relevance of financial policy regarding debt, two factors were proven to be influential to capital structure decisions: the theory and practice of capital structure and the impact of the debt policy, both of which relate to financial flexibility. The study concluded that as much as there are similarities/consistencies between the two size groups, there are fundamental differences confirming that size significantly impacts on the capital structure choice specifically the use of debt. It is, therefore, recommended that the South African government should review its policies with regards to the financial support towards SMME viability.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Staff turnover at selected government hospitals
- Authors: Mdindela, Sindiswa Victoria
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Personnel management , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee motivation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9382 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1191 , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hospitals -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Personnel management , Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee motivation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: The purpose of this study was to identify factors that impact on staff turnover and strategies that organisations can use to curtail staff turnover. To achieve this goal the following procedure was followed. An overview of theories related to staff turnover was conducted to identify what staff turnover is. Also the consequences of staff turnover, the classification and measurement of staff turnover and the broad theoretical explanation of staff turnover were investigated. The current brain drain experienced in the medical field was explored. A literature study was also conducted focusing on individual, job, organisational and environmental factors that influence staff turnover and strategies that managers can utilise to reduce staff turnover. Interviews were conducted with the chief executive officer and one doctor at Hewu hospital. Interviews were also conducted among senior nurses. An empirical study was undertaken to determine individual, job, organisational and environmental factors that impacted on staff turnover among doctors and nurses at Bisho and Hewu Hospitals. The strategies that were utilised at these hospitals to retain doctors and nurses were also investigated. Suggestions were made for addressing factors that could impact on staff turnover among doctors and nurses and strategies that could be utilised to retain staff. These strategies include: Getting people off to a good start, Create a great environment with bosses whom people respect, Share information, Give people as much autonomy as they can handle and Challenge people to stretch. iii Staff turnover is an issue that many South African organisations are currently facing and an issue that is especially affecting the medical field. Various factors, especially job and organisational factors, are not adequately addressed and these could lead to a high rate of staff turnover. It is clear that organisations should have a human resource strategic plan in order for them to effectively select, retain, train and develop employees. Health Care organisation could use the strategies identified in this study as a mechanism to benchmark how well they manage staff turnover. It is therefore important that the management of hospitals should strive to identify the underlying causes of labour turnover in their organisations and formulate strategies to address the problem.
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- Date Issued: 2009
The influence of selected elements of service quality provided by Chinese fine-dining restaurants in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Zhao, Feng
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Hospitality industry -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Quality control , Restaurants -- Customer services -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9339 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1088 , Hospitality industry -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Quality control , Restaurants -- Customer services -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: A good understanding of customer expectations is very important to service providers. Since the Chinese first came to South Africa and started their restaurant businesses. Chinese fine-dining restaurants have become more and more popular. Identifying the customer expectations and Chinese fine-dining restaurant owner perceptions will help Chinese service providers to understand better the restaurant businesses. To ensure the development of the Chinese restaurant business in South Africa, it is very important to understand what South African customers want, whether there are differences between the Chinese restaurant owner perceptions of the service quality and South African customer expectations of the service quality. This would depend on the customers’ preferences, and provide a positive contribution to customer decision-making. Therefore, it is essential to understand and identify what is customer expectations are, what the management perceptions are and the differences between them. 5 In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the following approach was followed: Factors that influence the customer expectations and management perceptions are explained. Five factors used to measure the service quality of Chinese fine-dining restaurants are identified, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, tangibility. The responses to the questionnaire were collected and analysed to determine the extent to which factors are both important to customer expectations and management perceptions.
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- Date Issued: 2009
The ISO/IEC 27002 and ISO/IEC 27799 information security management standards : a comparative analysis from a healthcare perspective
- Authors: Ngqondi, Tembisa Grace
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Computer security , Computer networks -- Security measures -- Standards , Data protection -- Management -- Standards
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9765 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1066 , Computer security , Computer networks -- Security measures -- Standards , Data protection -- Management -- Standards
- Description: Technological shift has become significant and an area of concern in the health sector with regard to securing health information assets. Health information systems hosting personal health information expose these information assets to ever-evolving threats. This information includes aspects of an extremely sensitive nature, for example, a particular patient may have a history of drug abuse, which would be reflected in the patient’s medical record. The private nature of patient information places a higher demand on the need to ensure privacy. Ensuring that the security and privacy of health information remain intact is therefore vital in the healthcare environment. In order to protect information appropriately and effectively, good information security management practices should be followed. To this end, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published a code of practice for information security management, namely the ISO 27002 (2005). This standard is widely used in industry but is a generic standard aimed at all industries. Therefore it does not consider the unique security needs of a particular environment. Because of the unique nature of personal health information and its security and privacy requirements, the need to introduce a healthcare sector-specific standard for information security management was identified. The ISO 27799 was therefore published as an industry-specific variant of the ISO 27002 which is geared towards addressing security requirements in health informatics. It serves as an implementation guide for the ISO 27002 when implemented in the health sector. The publication of the ISO 27799 is considered as a positive development in the quest to improve health information security. However, the question arises whether the ISO 27799 addresses the security needs of the healthcare domain sufficiently. The extensive use of the ISO 27002 implies that many proponents of this standard (in healthcare), now have to ensure that they meet the (assumed) increased requirements of the ISO 27799. The purpose of this research is therefore to conduct a comprehensive comparison of the ISO 27002 and ISO 27799 standards to determine whether the ISO 27799 serves the specific needs of the health sector from an information security management point of view.
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- Date Issued: 2009