A leadership transfer framework to improve the retention rate in the private hotel industry
- Authors: Gregersen, Peter Carl
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Corporate culture -- South Africa , Employee retention -- South Africa , Hospitality industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7160 , vital:21284
- Description: The transference of knowledge and the creation of a knowledge vault within operations of the Hospitality sector is the cornerstone to the success of this dynamic contributor to the economy, not only as a skills developer, but also as a collective group of experts that unknowingly build a community of expertise that transfer knowledge amongst themselves within an organisation. Leadership that share knowledge, whether tacit or implied, leads to the development and knowledge growth from members to those who are exposed to the intricacies of decision making and business practices. This leads then to the skills development and retention of the participants who feel nurtured and fulfilled in the employment within the organisation and view themselves as valued members. The finding of this research reveals a correlation between knowledge sharing and the desire for job security that leads to the feeling of being nurtured and finding the employment positive and enjoyable. The transference of knowledge allows the receiver of the knowledge to develop to where the point of the receiver becoming an expert in their chosen field is attained and the collective of the mangers are developed to the level of a community of experts in their various fields. However the academic qualifications of leadership is low, the significance of this highlights the level of networking amongst themselves as paramount to the success of this multi million rand industry.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Implementation of National Health Insurance in South Africa: views of healthcare managers in a private healthcare institution
- Authors: Grewar, David Alan
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: National health insurance -- South Africa , Health care reform -- South Africa , Medical personnel -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7503 , vital:21789
- Description: South Africa is in the process of reforming its healthcare system by implementing universal health coverage for its citizens. Universal health coverage is defined as the access of all people to comprehensive health services at an affordable cost with protection against catastrophic health expenditures leading to financial hardship. The system being implemented in South Africa is known as National Health Insurance (NHI) and is seen by the South African government as the key to addressing the shortcomings and disparities in the current public and private healthcare sectors. Healthcare managers have a crucial role to play in health reform yet are often overlooked in debate over health reform. The primary aim of this study was to better understand the views of healthcare managers, working in a private healthcare institution in South Africa, towards the implementation of the NHI. The purpose of this was to make recommendations that would assist the private healthcare institution under investigation to optimise the implementation of the NHI. A quantitative research design was used to explore and describe the views of healthcare managers. Firstly, a literature review was conducted to gain international as well as local perspectives of healthcare practitioners on universal health coverage. Secondly, a census survey in the form of an online questionnaire was developed and distributed to 193 healthcare managers representing different managerial and medical disciplines in a private healthcare institution with facilities nation-wide. A total of 63 questionnaires were returned for analysis. Quantitative data were analysed using Microsoft Excel, Statistica and SPSS Statistics. Qualitative data in the form of written comments by the participants were analysed using interpretive analysis that involved sequential steps of familiarisation and immersion, development of themes, coding, elaboration and interpretation and checking. The qualitative element of the study was limited in nature and was used merely to enrich the quantitative findings. The study found that there was a lack of knowledge amongst private healthcare managers concerning the NHI, poor communication from the government regarding the proposed NHI and high levels of negativity towards the ability of the government to successfully implement the NHI. However it was found that despite concerns regarding the NHI, the private healthcare managers surveyed showed a willingness to actively participate in its implementation. Recommendations regarding policy and practise were made for private healthcare institutions as well as for the South African government in order to assist with the implementation of the NHI.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Modelling the effect of graphitization on the fracture toughness (JIC) of service exposed ASTM A-515 Gr. 65 material by the small punch test method
- Authors: Grewar, Stephen James
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Graphitization Fracture mechanics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEng
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18849 , vital:28737
- Description: Small Punch Testing is a recent testing methodology with numerous favourable applications in engineering assessments. The advantages of this small specimen method are utilised to derive fracture toughness measurements on service exposed and graphitized steel designated ASTM A-515 Gr. 65. The EPRI-FAA “innovative method”, involving finite element analysis, is applied to obtain fracture toughness estimates and investigate the effect of localised graphitization on localised fracture toughness. The method is described in a stepwise manner and validated favourably against standard fracture toughness testing methods as well as the work of forerunners in this field. Analysis of twenty tested small punch disk specimens extracted from a service exposed welded pipe coupon showed that toughness decreases logarithmically with increased graphitization volumetric percentages in the small samples. Therefore graphitization is found to have a significant influence on local fracture toughness (JIC) of ASTM A-515 Gr. 65 steel under room temperature conditions. The possibility of documenting the effect of microstructural changes on other static properties such as yield strength and strain hardening exists provided that analysis of each disk specimen is performed prior to punch testing. A relationship between percentage graphitization and material toughness has been proposed for ASTM A-515 Gr. 65 at room temperature.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The regulation of sick and incapacity leave in the public sector
- Authors: Gunguta, Thembeka Maureen
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sick leave -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16087 , vital:28319
- Description: The Public Service is service delivery driven, and is dependent on the quality, skill and performance of the employees to carry through its business. It is therefore imperative that the policies and systems pertaining to human capital are effectively and efficiently managed. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act regulates the basic conditions of employment and states that employees’ may be absent from duty due to illness. The public sector uses the Determination on the Leave of Absence in the Public Service as a tool to regulate leave in the public sector. The Determination provides employees with 36 paid sick days to be utilised by an employee within a three-year cycle. In cases where an employee has exhausted the sick leave, the employer may grant Temporary Incapacity Leave, which is discretional. The Public Service Commission has a constitutional obligation to monitor the performance of the public sector and produce reports covering the human resources management practices. With regards to the management of leave in the public sector, the reports reveal the abuse of sick leave by employees, non-compliance and the in-effective management. The Department of Public Service and Administration then developed the PILIR as a guide to manage and administer sick and incapacity leave in the public sector. This treatise therefore, discusses the regulation of sick and incapacity leave in the public sector and investigates the extent to which the applicable legislative framework is effective. The discussion uses the Labour Court judgment in the matter between The Public Service Association & Others versus the PSCBC & Others as reference, and further evaluates the judicial jurisprudence to demonstrate the extent of contentions of the private sector employers by the employees. Furthermore, this treatise seeks to evaluate the extent of similarities or differences of the practices both the private sector and the municipalities. In conclusion, the treatise makes recommendations on the best practices that can be adopted by the public sector to turn the situation around.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Local government budgetary reforms reconsidered: the case of Amatole District Municipality, province of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Hanabe, Lulamile Donacious
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal budgets -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal finance -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local budgets -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Public administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15093 , vital:28122
- Description: This research critically analysed the role, if any, that is played by the budgetary reforms in enhancing basic service delivery, with specific reference to the case of Amathole District Municipality. The main objectives of this study were to investigate and evaluate the causes of possible challenges encountered by the ADM in the implementation of local government budgetary reforms; to assess and determine the role played by budgetary reforms in promoting basic service delivery by the Amathole District Municipality; to analyse the extent to which budgetary reforms are used in the preparation of the municipal budget and the IDP; and to evaluate the level of ADM institutional capacity in delivering basic services to communities in terms of the municipality’s capital budget and financial plan. The study is premised on the fact that there is no guaranteed service delivery without a sound financial management and planning. In this study, it is acknowledged that municipalities in South Africa are struggling to implement the local government budgetary reforms; and as such, South African municipalities could succeed in rendering effective and efficient public services, provided the matters of governance are adhered to, as well as financial governance in particular. This research is solely based on the assumption that the Amathole District Municipality’s budgets and budget process, like other municipalities in South Africa, are done for the sake of compliance with the requirements of National Treasury and the MFMA – with less emphasis being placed on enhanced basic service delivery to communities. The study proposed to provide a brief literature review on the basic service delivery, with reference to the South African context, as well as a theoretical overview on the evolution of developmental local government budgetary reforms. The empirical survey and research methodology employed in the study are described, followed by the operationalization of the survey questionnaire used for gathering the field data. The research findings of the empirical survey are then statistically analysed, using statistical procedures. The qualitative data analysis involved thematic content analysis, being interpreted and reported on. The triangulation-research methodology was employed with the emphasis being on the quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The sample comprised councillors, officials and ward committee members. Questionnaires, with open and closed-ended questions, were employed for the councillors and the officials. Focus-group interviews were conducted with the ward committee members from the respective local municipalities.The findings strongly suggest that, the introduction of the budgetary reforms indeed resulted in a shift by municipalities from their core mandate – that is service delivery – to a more legislative-compliant mode of practice. Recommendations flowing from, inter alia, the results of the empirical study, are presented to improve financial governance and service delivery in the Amathole District Municipality, as well as in other municipalities in South Africa. If adopted, these recommendations should enable the Amathole District Municipality, as a development agent, to fulfil its developmental mandate, thereby addressing the matters of financial governance and service delivery.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A talent management framework for the South African renewable energy sector
- Authors: Hare, Brent
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Renewable energy sources -- South Africa -- Personnel management Personnel management -- South Africa , Manpower planning -- South Africa Employee selection -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15912 , vital:28290
- Description: Since the publication of the White Paper on energy Policy of 1998, South Africa has taken off on a new trajectory of sustainability. The South African government have identified that the renewable energy sector will play a critical role in advancing and improving the energy sector. They envisage that the sector will contribute to the development of a green economy and the creation of meaningful employment for all South Africans. With the renewable energy sector of South Africa being dependent on skills, many of which are pertinent for the success of the sector, sufficient skilled workers are required to provide a service to the growing sector. Upon engaging with individuals employed in the sector and embarking on the research it became apparent that there was a lack of a talent management framework for the sector. Talent management represents a means for companies to develop and sustain talent pipelines thereby creating a competitive advantage. Globally executives across the employment spectrum admit that they have challenges in building a strong talent pipeline. The South African Renewable Energy Sector (SARES) is not exempt from this reality, where it has been well documented that South Africa is struggling with a skills shortage. This makes it difficult to grow and develop a fledgling sector. The purpose of this treatise was to evaluate the need for a talent management framework for the South African Renewable Energy Sector. To evaluate this, a literature review was performed on concepts relating to the development of a talent management framework specifically for the sector. These concepts or independent variables were, engineering skills, competence, knowledge worker, policies supporting RE development as well as training and development. The talent management framework relied on ring fencing the study around the knowledge worker, by correlating the definition of an engineer to that of a knowledge worker. The results show that despite the proclamation made by the South African government that South Africa is geared to supply the skills required for SARES. The research found a need for educational institutes to produce more knowledge workers. The results of this research study showed that despite the low positive correlation between the five independent variables, being, engineering skills, competence, knowledge worker, policies supporting RE development they would still provide those responsible for recruitment and talent management with a platform to be able to develop a working talent management strategy. There is a need for the development of a suitable talent management framework, which would allow the sector to manage elements of talent management such as recruitment and retention of knowledge workers. The proposed talent management framework can be used to assist in consolidating the present recruitment practises as well as being used to develop a talent management strategy for the sector.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The design of a student-resource centre in Central, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Harmse, Kim
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Student unions -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans Architecture -- Designs and plans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MArch
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39065 , vital:35032
- Description: This study investigates the making of a Student-Resource Centre in Central, Port Elizabeth. The project evolved from the situation in Central, where there is an increase in the student demographic, due to the increase in registered students at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). This has resulted in a shortage of student housing on campus; and therefore many students are living in the inner city where housing is more affordable but transport to campus is still accessible. These students are decentralised from the main University Campus; and they do not share the same 24-hour access to NMMU facilities, as do those living on-campus, or in Summerstrand. This treatise proposes a student resource centre within Central, located near the highest density of students, to provide study facilities, off-campus student health services, off-campus computer facil-ities, student-connection spaces, as well as a link to the broader community through student-oriented retail/commercial facilities, such as printing/copy centres, food markets, laundry facilities et al., as well as providing additional student accommoda¬tion in the form of student flats. The primary design aim of this treatise, is to design a student resource centre that provides the decen¬tralised students in the inner city with equal access to the same standard of facilities as the students that reside on-campus and within the more expen¬sive area of Summerstrand, through the study and implementation of contemporary learning space theories that are relevant to the 21st Century Stu¬dent. Qualitative research methodologies were used, using both primary and secondary sources, in the methods, as laid out herein.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Deterrents to continued blood donation among regular blood donors
- Authors: Harris, Maryke
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Marketing -- Decision making -- Health aspects -- South Africa Blood donors -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Blood -- Collection and preservation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15934 , vital:28292
- Description: Collecting blood from repeat blood donors is cost effective and safer compared to other donor types. At the end of 2012, 84% of the SANBS donor panel were inactive or lapsed. There is a lack of research available on lapsed donors in the South African context and available research is mostly quantitative with subtle contradictions. Donors who donated blood in 2012 at fixed site donor centres in Port Elizabeth, and did not return in 2013, were studied. A descriptive analysis was done and a random sample of 78 lapsed donors were selected to participate in a face-to-face interview. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. A grounded model was developed from various existing theories to seek out and conceptualise social patterns and structures of lapsed blood donors through a process of comparison. There were 10 062 donors who donated blood in 2012 and 4 923 became lapsed during 2013. Analysis of sub groups showed a higher proportion of donors who became lapsed in the following sub-categories: new donors (95%), re-joined donors (64%), black donors (63%), donors younger than 40 (61%), female donors (52%). The feedback received from the 11 participants highlighted peer pressure as the biggest motivator. Of the six communication theories applied, The Social Penetration Theory highlighted the cost-minus-benefit ratio which played a big role in a donor’s motivation and decision to return. The AIDA Marketing Model application described lapsed donor behaviour most comprehensively and it highlighted a missing step which was created as part of a Grounded Model and is called the AIDAA Model. The role and existence of peer pressure is directly linked to donor motivation and is categorised as an Action Motivator in the AIDAA Model. The new model creates additional recruitment opportunities which has not been explored and applied strategically before.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Information as a service for dairy farmers
- Authors: Hart, James Andrew
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Communication in agriculture -- South Africa Customer relations -- Management -- Agriculture -- Developing countries , Customer services -- Agriculture -- Developing countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16000 , vital:28303
- Description: Communication with an organisation’s customers has become one of the most important factors that play a role in doing business today. Organisations that supply their customers with correct and different kinds of information create customer loyalty. Dairy farmers are no exception to the rule, because of the ongoing planning that dairy farmers need to do on a daily basis. Dairy farming in South Africa is extremely price sensitive and therefore information that can help in decision making plays an important role in making the right decision at the right time. The Internet has become an essential environment where information is readily available to anyone who has access to the technologies, such as smartphones, computers and tablets. Thus, it will be beneficial for both the organisation and the dairy farmer to have relevant information available on the organisation’s website. The information that is made available to the dairy farmers on these websites needs to be updated on a daily basis. The information must be relevant to dairy farming and must provide additional information besides the information that the specific organisation specialises in. Information as a Service (IaaS) for Dairy Farmers in South Africa is the focus of this research. The purpose of the investigation is to provide a means of providing the information needed by dairy farmers in South Africa, to enable them to make the right decisions on an operational level. The empirical data were collected, analysed and interpreted. From these findings a proposed communications framework is created to assist organisations to better communicate with dairy farmers in South Africa. The purpose of this research study is to design a framework which will provide IaaS to dairy farmers in South Africa. The research determined the different ways in which organisations can communicate with dairy farmers and the best time period in which that communication should take place for each specific communication strategy. Therefore, the aim of the research study was to determine the best ways to communicate with dairy farmers. A clear knowledge of the technologies that dairy farmers use to manage information was determined by the research study. The required information that dairy farmers need to make the correct decisions suitable for the requirement of farming on a practical level was determined by the research study.The proposed framework on Information as a Service for Dairy Farmers could help organisations to supply dairy farmers with the right information at the right time. The proposed framework will assist organisations dealing with dairy farmers easier and will also assist farmers, because the information provided as a service will be relevant to dairy farming. The treatise is an exploratory, mixed method research study which consists of literature reviews, surveys and cross-sectional studies. Secondary resources was used to conduct literature studies to determine the information needed by dairy farmers. A questionnaire was compiled from existing questionnaires as well as from literature studies and was completed by the respective respondents in the dairy farming community. The survey also consists of questions that determine what dairy farmers think about the service they receive from the organisations that they deal with. A cross-sectional study was used to compare the information needed specifically by pasture-based dairy farmers in relation to total mixed-ration-based dairy farmers. Both Descriptive and Inferential Statistical methods will be used for the analysis of the data. The communication systems can vary from Self-Help Groups to Mobile Technology. The type of communication system will depend on the systems that the organisation have available for their customers. The timing of communication with dairy farmers needs to be convenient and depends, according to literature, on the type of social networking that the organisation might use. An organisation that deals with dairy farmers needs to decide which Social Media site is most suitable when it needs to communicate with dairy farmers. The technology used to access information consist of Laptops, Smart Phones, Tablets and Desktops. Agricultural organisations provide information which dairy farmers need, to give them the correct guidance in performing good farming practices in order to produce safe, high-quality milk. The study will conclude with the development of a proposed communications framework where agricultural organisations can provide information as a service to dairy farmers.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A participatory action research approach to engaging peer educators in the prevention of teenage pregnancy
- Authors: Hendricks, Farah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Peer teaching -- South Africa Teenage pregnancy -- South Africa , Sex instruction for teenagers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16011 , vital:28306
- Description: The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy among school-going youth is on the increase in South Africa, despite the existence of a number of intervention programmes. Although both curricular and co-curricular awareness programmes targeting this phenomenon are currently employed within South African schools, these programmes have patently not met with much success, since the problem remains acute. It was the question why these programmes are not succeeding in alleviating the problem that prompted my interest in undertaking this study. Based on literature that suggests that those programmes that are successful in reaching the youth are designed through participatory processes, rather than being designed by outside experts, my thesis proposes that prevention programmes that are designed and implemented by the youth for the youth may be more successful in helping them to make healthy decisions in terms of their sexual behaviour. This study attempted to engage youth in a participatory way in identifying and exploring their perceptions of teenage pregnancy and using the knowledge thus gained to design, implement and evaluate prevention strategies in their school. The study is informed by social learning theory and adopted a participatory action research (PAR) design, which is located in a critical paradigm. I purposefully recruited twenty-four youths (14 females and 10 males) to participate. The primary research question that guided this study was: “How can peer educators be engaged to create prevention strategies to reduce teenage pregnancy and its impacts?” The following sub-questions were identified from the primary research question: What do learners themselves know feel and experience with regard to the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy How might a participatory methodology help learners to create relevant and contextualised strategies for addressing teenage pregnancy? How can such strategies be implemented in a school system? What recommendations could be made for addressing teenage pregnancy in a contextualised way? The research was conducted in two cycles. In Cycle One, data was generated through two focus group discussions, led by a young researcher from the community to encourage openness and honesty. In addition through snowball sampling, six teenage mothers and two teenage fathers agreed to be interviewed individually. The same questions were asked in the two discussions and the individual interviews, namely: “What do you know, feel and think about teenage pregnancy?” In the first cycle, I responded to my first sub-research question. Interviews, drawings and focus group discussions were used to generate data. Three themes emerged from the data to provide insight into how the youth at the school perceived the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy. The findings from this cycle revealed certain tensions between what youth said they needed and what adults, such as teachers and parents, thought they needed to know. The participating teenagers regarded themselves as sexual beings, while the adults in their sphere of influence preached abstinence, moralised or merely cited the facts, without entering into any discussion of how young people could deal with social pressures and better protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy. The participating youth were clearly aware of how to prevent pregnancy, but the social barriers to using condoms or contraceptive pills were a stumbling block. They possessed knowledge of the potential consequences of risky behaviour, but this did not stop them from engaging in such behaviour. In the second cycle of the research, the participants used the findings of the first cycle to develop prevention messages and strategies to convey these messages to their peers. They used participatory visual methods to accomplish this. The findings from this cycle revealed that a peer education approach helped participants to increase maturity in sexual decision-making, had a positive effect on the learning and acquisition of new skills, and improved critical thinking relating to sexuality. The study also had a positive impact on other learners’ knowledge and the attitudes displayed by both learners and teachers, and also led to improvements in school policies related to sexuality education. It is contended that the study contributed important theoretical and methodological insights. Knowledge generated from the study could make a contribution to the field of sexuality education and how it should be approached in schools, particularly in communities facing social and economic adversity. The methodological contribution of this study provided guidelines and theory on how participatory action research and participatory methods can be implemented in schools to enable youth to influence change in their schools, not only regarding teenage pregnancy, but also other social issues.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Activities, functions and structure of public sector pharmaceutical and therapeutics committees in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Henge-Daweti, Vatiswa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Medical ethics committees -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Pharmaceutical policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Pharmaceutical services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Pharmaceutical ethics -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15945 , vital:28293
- Description: The Council of Australian Therapeutic Advisory Groups (CATAG) (2013) define a Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee (PTC) as a ‘multi-disciplinary team committee with a commitment to the overall governance of the medicines management system in health service organizations to ensure the judicious, appropriate, safe, effective and cost-effective use of medicines’. The multi-disciplinary team includes the health care providers, who are actively participating in the health care systems, such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses, administrators, finance officers, quality improvement managers and other staff members who participate in the medicine use processes according to their knowledge and skills. The major role of this committee is to evaluate and promote rational drug use by health care providers and consumers. In addition, this committee is responsible for developing systems and strategies to prevent adverse medicine reactions and medication errors, enhance rational prescribing and dispensing, provide educational activities and ensure the use of quality and cost-effective medicines. This is a cross-sectional study that was aimed at exploring the structure, activities and functions of public sector institutional Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committees (PTC) in the Eastern Cape (EC) Province in South Africa (SA). The primary objectives of the study were to (i) investigate and describe the structure, functions and the activities of the institutional PTCs, and (ii) explore and describe the perception of PTC secretariats on the functionality of the institutional PTCs. A purpose-designed questionnaire including both quantitative and qualitative aspects adapted from other international studies was piloted prior to being used for data collection. The secretariats of the institutional PTCs were requested to complete the questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics for the quantitative aspects and thematic analysis for the qualitative component of the questionnaire. Data collection commenced after approval by the relevant ethics committees had been granted. The findings of the study reflected that the majority of the PTCs in the EC province, SA are district/sub-district PTCs which are a cluster of a number of health care institutions in close proximity. The PTC members were appointed by the executive authority as recommended by the literature and other guiding documents. As expected the nurses were dominant as the members of the PTCs in these district/sub-district PTCs. The secretariats were the pharmacists where pharmacists were available and chairperson were doctors. These findings correspond to the recommendations by the National Department of Health PTC policy (2015) and the studies conducted in other countries. A number of PTCs had sub-committees formed e.g. ABC analysis review committee, medicine utilization evaluation (MUE) committee and pharmacovigilance committee to optimise their functionality. Out of 15 PTCs only five PTCs with sub-committees reported functions and interventions, establishment of policies and SOPs. The rest had no outcomes or interventions reported. Poor production of policies and SOPs was observed which differs from other countries’ PTCs. The focus of sub-committees in other countries is the development of formulary and policies related to medicine use. These findings pose a question regarding the functionality and effectiveness of the existing institutional PTCs in the province. In addition, the basic documents that are required to run the PTC were unavailable in a number of PTCs. Barriers to the functionality of PTCs were reported i) Lack of pharmacists and training in PTCs. ii) The rural nature of the EC province and iii) Unavailability of resources including lack of re-imbursement of personal costs. These findings reveal that budget allocation for institutional PTCs is crucial for their functionality. It can be concluded that in the EC province the institutional PTCs which are active and effective are low in number and do not cover all geographical areas. Secondly there is a need for training and educating the PTC members on the role of the PTC members, role of sub-committees, development of policies, SOPs and the basic documents for the functionality of the committee. It is also important that during training the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the committee is emphasised. Therefore, the choice of the PTC objectives should be measurable as they can assist as indicators of effectiveness. Support by the executive authority has been observed.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Customer preferences with regard to milk packaging
- Authors: Herbst, Ruben Andreas
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Consumer behavior Consumers' preferences , Consumer satisfaction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15967 , vital:28295
- Description: The milk industry in the Eastern Cape is very competitive and milk suppliers must use all means, including packaging, to influence buying behaviour. The aim of the study was to investigate customer preferences with regard to milk packaging in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) area. The purpose was to develop a better understanding of customer preferences so that packaging could be designed to satisfy customer expectations and needs. The research design was based on a quantitative approach (non-experimental) and the study was descriptive in nature. The measuring instrument was a self-developed questionnaire, which was developed based on the literature study and previous empirical studies conducted by Adam and Ali (2014a) and Ahmed, Pumar and Amin (2014). The sample consisted of 199 adult shoppers in the Nelson Mandela Bay area, selected through snowball and quota sampling. Data was collected with the help of fieldworkers, coded into Microsoft Excel and processed with statistical software. Descriptive statistics and canonical correlation analysis were used to identify customer preferences and relationships between the different dimensions of milk packaging. The results revealed that size, materials, convenience in handing and product information (expiry date) were important. Colour and design were not regarded as important by the target group.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The role of councillors in service delivery: the case of the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality
- Authors: Hlalukana, Simthembile Divillius
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: City council members -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15082 , vital:28120
- Description: This study was conducted at Intsika Yethu Local Municipality of Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, in the Republic of South Africa. The study has as its main thrust: The role of councillors in service delivery: The case of the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality of Chris Hani District Municipality. This municipality consists of 21 wards and 21 ward councillors. The Preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, states that the injustices of the past have to be addressed and those who suffered for justice and freedom in the country should be honoured. The results of the 1994 national and 1995 local government elections marked a political breakthrough in South African politics. The new democratic and social reconstruction agenda necessitated the transformation of the legislative framework in various areas. The legislative prescriptions that underpin the operations and activities of municipal councillors in delivering public services to citizens and in ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of government policies are therefore crucial. In this study, the role of ward councillors in service delivery was interrogated and investigated to establish whether the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality community in Tsomo and Cofimvaba has benefited in accessing basic services. Furthermore, the study seeks to find ways through which the relationship between community and ward councillors could be managed to harmonise the relationship between them in order to improve service delivery in Intsika Yethu Local Municipality. In this regard, a legislative framework regulates and guides municipal councillors in performing their developmental duties to achieve local government developmental outcomes.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A teacher collective as a professional development approach to promote foundation phase mathematics teaching
- Authors: Hlam, Thandiwe Lillian
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Teachers -- Development -- South Africa , Teachers -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa Early childhood education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15071 , vital:28119
- Description: This qualitative study is a response to a request for help from a group of Grade 3 (year 3) teachers who were disheartened with the poor performance of their learners in Mathematics. In an attempt to address their challenge, they resolved to form a Teacher Collective (TC) amongst themselves. Their main objective was to support each other in their development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT). The participants, being frustrated by what they perceived as an inefficient and unhelpful cluster approach to professional development used by the Department of Basic Education initiated their own teacher collective strategy. I was approached by this TC to assist them in developing a strategy to make this TC suit the needs of the participants. A Lesson Study (LS) approach was used as an alternative Teacher Professional Development strategy within the TC. In studies conducted by Ono and Ferreira (2010) and Jita and Mokhele (2014), a LS approach is regarded as an essential tool desirable for enhancement of teacher collaboration and participant’s MKT. However, both studies reported on challenges related to contextual issues. Those contextual issues revealed themselves as similar to the challenges that threatened to weaken the collaborative structure initiated by the participants in this current study. To overcome these challenges, participants felt a need for some sort of adaptation for a LS approach to work in their context. In the application of the revised adapted version of a LS approach, participants experienced a Teacher Collective (TC) in action using real and useful experiences (Ono & Ferreira, 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a Teacher Collective for improving participating teachers’ pedagogical and disciplinary content knowledge in Foundation Phase (FP) Mathematics. As this study targeted a small group of teachers, it adopted a case-study methodology. The participants were five Grade 3 teachers purposefully self-selected from two Port Elizabeth township schools. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine participating teachers’ perceptions of a Teacher Collective as a Teacher Professional Development strategy necessary to promote Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Descriptive methodologies which concern inter alia practices that prevail, relationships that exists, point of views that were held, processes that are going on and effects that are felt by participants were used (Creswell, 2013). The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: For the TC to be a successful alternative TPD, it requires that: (1) Teachers must regard themselves as being responsible for the own professional growth and own the TPD programme. (2) Participants of the TC must adopt flexible strategies to allow for active participation of the participants in building meaning for themselves. (4) A TPD strategy should be sensitive to contextual issues and be addressed accordingly. (5) A TPD programme should seek to improve classroom instruction but this must be based on the needs of the participants. It is primarily the following structural features that affected teacher learning within the TC: (a) the form of the activity (joint lesson planning, observed lesson presentation, post lesson feedback, etc.), (b) collective participation of teachers within and across the schools and (c) the duration of the activity. In this study the LS approach worked well as it sought to address the needs of the participants.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Exploring best practices for crisis communication
- Authors: Hlela, Nomfundo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Communication in organizations Corporations -- Public relations , Crisis management Communication in management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15060 , vital:28118
- Description: In the past few decades, corporate crises have received high media attention and revealed the impact that a disaster can have on a company’s reputation. A breadth of scholarly literature has already analysed crisis communications and key elements of an effective response. In this study I examine crisis communications strategies of two companies (British Petroleum and Domino’s Pizza) who responded differently when faced with a crisis. The study will explore the companies’ actions and various media materials including public statements, press releases and social media platforms. This information will be presented alongside corresponding news coverage to reveal how the media translated these actions. Results show that by accepting responsibility and marketing efforts to stop the disaster, a corporation can transform its communication strategy and recover its reputation.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The relationship between altruistic behaviour, emotional intelligence and intrinsic motivation amongst leaders
- Authors: Hooper, Danushka
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Intrinsic motivation -- Leadership Emotional intelligence , Employee motivation Leadership
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15978 , vital:28299
- Description: The benefits that altruistic behaviours, emotional intelligence (EQ) and intrinsic motivation have on organisations are increasingly becoming observable and enticing greater insights into these constructs, especially from the perspective of leaders. Moreover, the increase in the effectiveness of leaders across all of these constructs enables greater employee performance, from both the perspective of leaders and their followers, which results in increased organisational profitability. The primary objective of this research study was to investigate the relationship between the three constructs of altruistic behaviour, EQ and intrinsic motivation amongst leaders in South African organisations. This study also attempted to determine whether intrinsic motivation has a mediating effect on EQ and altruistic behaviours. Moreover, this study wishes to identify demographic differences in terms of the responses to the items related to each of the constructs. The questionnaires employed by this study was administered to leaders (n=136) who currently work in South Africa. Positive and statistically significant relationships were found amongst these constructs, implying that, an increase in one of these constructs will result in an increase in another. However, there was no sufficient evidence in support of mediating effect of intrinsic motivation on EQ and altruistic behaviours. The confirmatory factor analysis was able to validate all three measuring instruments used to assess the constructs from a South African perspective. The present study was unable to identify any demographic differences for the Adapted Self-Report Altruism Scale and Intrinsic Work Motivation Scale and was only able to identify demographic differences by the Schutte Self-report Emotional Intelligence Test as a whole and the perception of emotion scale. The study encountered some limitations. Firstly, the researcher encountered a difficulty in finding appropriate literature on the constructs. Secondly, the study obtained a small sample size (n=136). The reason for this is that the target sample chosen by the researcher, namely leaders in organisations, proved to be a challenging sample because many leaders were not able or willing to complete the questionnaire due to their heavy workload and strict deadlines. Thirdly, given that three measuring instruments were used to gain the data needed for this study, the total number of items came to 136. This could mean that the questionnaire may have been burdensome to complete and it would take approximately 15 minutes to complete. In addition, factors such as biased responses, as well as personal and environmental factors on the part of the respondents all posed limitations to this study in that it may have influenced the responses given by the sample. The results obtained by this study suggests that the higher the level of EQ of leaders, the higher the likelihood that they will be intrinsically motivated and exhibit altruistic behaviour. As explained by exchange theory, if one is conditioned to be “good”, the likelihood of partaking in altruistic behaviour is enhanced (Bar-Tal, 1986). If an organisation creates a culture of altruistically helping others in the workplace and the community, the possibility of creating a “habit” of exhibiting altruistic behaviour could result. The benefits of creating this altruistic culture could be far-reaching. The researcher encourages organisations to measure and identify the level of EQ of their leaders and provide development opportunities should this be lacking. This is because, as identified by Barbuto and Burbach (2006), in order for leaders to achieve support from their followers, it is crucial that they develop a high reliance on their empathy to identify with the feelings and emotions of their followers. It is important to note that the results of this study was analysed in June 2016 and is based only on 136 leaders across some industries of South Africa. It is suggested that the results of this study to be validated in the South African context by additional empirical research that tests the hypothesis identified in this study to ascertain whether the results of the current study can be replicated and applied broadly. It is advised that the study is tested over a longer period, in different industries and across various countries. This is so that increasing value can be added to this field of research.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Resilience factors in low-income families with an autistic child
- Authors: Horak, Alicia
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Developmental psychology , Autistic children -- Care , Low-income parents -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16033 , vital:28314
- Description: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) encompasses a group of life-long neurodevelopmental disorders. It is an enormous challenge to care for someone with ASD. The majority of people with ASD will need life-long support from family members and will not be able to function independently in society. This places emotional and financial strain on a family. There are many low-income families in South Africa with autistic children who cannot afford specialised intervention. It has been estimated that 135 000 autistic children are not getting the specialized education they need. Despite not receiving the needed support, there are many low-income families who remain resilient after their child is diagnosed. This study aimed to explore how these low-income families remain resilient. Qualitative data was gathered using in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in English and Afrikaans; depending on the participant’s language of preference. Six participants were recruited with the help of professionals in a local community in Cape Town, Western Cape. The data obtained was transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis. Lincoln and Guba’s model (Krefting, 1990) was used to determine the trustworthiness of the data. The three themes that emerged from the study were (1) parents’ response to the diagnosis of their child, (2) the resources parents found helpful in their immediate environment and (3) the specific coping skills that parents use to remain resilient. Walsh’s family resilience framework as well as the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (The Resiliency Model) of McCubbin and McCubbin were used to understand how participants adjusted to their circumstance and remained resilient. This study provides a more in-depth understanding of the resilience factors of families with a child with ASD in a resource-limited setting in the Western Cape.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Factors influencing retention and turnover of the South African healthcare workforce
- Authors: Isaacs, Janice
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Labor turnover -- South Africa Employee retention -- South Africa , Personnel management -- South Africa Organizational behavior -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16055 , vital:28316
- Description: South Africa experiences a steady loss of skilled workers, which compromises the provision of healthcare in the country. This study has explored and will outline the main factors that influence the decision of South African healthcare professionals to either remain with or leave their organisations. As migration involves both internal and external movement, the public sector is frequently overburdened as healthcare workers additionally tend to prefer working in the private sector with its offers of better financial incentives and better working conditions. That said, it has become apparent that it is not only financial factors but many other non-financial factors that play a role in employee turnover. From the literature explored for this paper, five main factors were identified and discussed for different groups of healthcare professionals. This study used a qualitative research approach by means of a content analysis, whereby data from secondary sources were reviewed. This study disregarded studies done in other countries and focused only on the South African healthcare sector. Push and pull factors were established and, during this process, HIV/AIDS, crime and human resources were identified as possible push factors that contribute to the movement of South Africa’s healthcare workers. Since the five main retention factors identified for the purpose of this research paper all fall under human resources, the study proposes a retention strategy that involves the revision of the employee value proposition for different healthcare groups, as their demands are not uniform. Financial as well as non-financial factors have been taken into account for the various employee value proposition frameworks. These factors must be dealt with congruently if retention and turnover strategies are to be successful. Factors that push healthcare workers from the public.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Potential use of Islamic finance among Muslims in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Ismail, Badroen
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Finance -- Religious aspects Banks and banking -- Religious aspects -- Islam , Consumer behavior -- Religious aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/17526 , vital:28374
- Description: The resurgence of Islam across the globe combined with the resilience that Islamic financial assets have shown against the onslaught of the current financial crisis, make Islamic finance an attractive alternative financial system. Over the past decade, the Islamic finance sector have shown double digit growth rates beyond the traditional areas of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regions of Asia as well as other parts of the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) regions. Research suggests that the future of Islamic finance in Africa depends on business opportunities in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal. The South African government, in conjunction with the national finance authorities, have made their intention clear to position the country as the Islamic finance hub for the rest of the African continent. Despite various marketing campaigns over the past decade to convince the public that Islamic banking and finance is for everyone, non-Muslims generally view Islamic banking as being for Muslims alone. Scepticism towards Islamic finance has resulted in a mere 15 per cent of the estimated 1.5 million South African Muslims currently making use of the sector’s banking and retail instruments. This lack of interest is impacting negatively on the country’s aspirations to establish itself as the gateway of Islamic finance to the rest of Africa. Generally, people’s attitudes toward utilising Islamic finance are regarded as a key obstacle to the development of the Islamic banking and finance system in Muslim minority countries. A Kuwait Finance House research report (2012) highlighted a lack of awareness and knowledge of Islamic finance products and services as key factors stifling the growth of the Islamic finance sector in South Africa. In this context, it was deemed necessary to analyse how knowledge, awareness, expectations, beliefs, perceptions and ancillary external factors impact on potential users’ attitude and decision to adopt or reject Islamic finance.By means of adapting Fishbein’s (2000; 2008) Integrative Model of Behavioural Prediction, a universally-acceptable behavioural-change model, this research explains in a holistic manner how cognitive, affective and environmental measures impact on a Port Elizabethan Muslim’s attitude and eventual decision to accept (or reject) Islamic finance. This study has found that knowledge was the most important variable influencing attitude and intention to use (or reject) Islamic finance. Consequently, this thesis proposed that Islamic institutions should focus their efforts on promoting knowledge and awareness of their products among the South African Muslim and non- Muslim population. As the global Shari’ah finance industry continues its positive growth trajectory, it is imperative that Islamic finance stakeholders in South Africa ensure that they exploit the benefits derived from online learning platforms and assist, by means of cross-border collaborations, more students to have greater access to Islamic finance courses. Furthermore, universities and training institutions are encouraged to offer courses and qualifications in Islamic finance to close the talent gap that currently exist in this particular field of study.
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- Date Issued: 2017
User experience guidelines for mobile natural user interfaces: a case study of physically disabled users
- Authors: Jacobs, Gershwin
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: User interfaces (Computer systems) Human-computer interaction , Mobile computing Augmented reality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/17547 , vital:28377
- Description: Motor impaired people are faced with many challenges, one being the of lack integration into certain spheres of society. Access to information is seen as a major issue for the motor impaired since most forms of interaction or interactive devices are not suited to the needs of motor impaired people. People with motor impairments, like the rest of the population, are increasingly using mobile phones. As a result of the current devices and methods used for interaction with content on mobile phones, various factors prohibit a pleasant experience for users with motor impairments. To counter these factors, this study recognizes the need to implement better suited methods of interaction and navigation to improve accessibility, usability and user experience for motor impaired users. The objective of the study was to gain an understanding of the nature of motor impairments and the challenges that this group of people face when using mobile phones. Once this was determined, a solution to address this problem was found in the form of natural user interfaces. In order to gain a better understanding of this technology, various forms of NUIs and the benefits thereof were studied by the researcher in order to determine how this technology can be implemented to meet the needs of motor impaired people. To test theory, the Samsung Galaxy s5 was selected as the NUI device for the study. It must be noted that this study started in the year 2013 and the Galaxy S5 was the latest device claiming to improve interaction for disabled people at the time. This device was used in a case study that made use of various data collection methods, including participant interviews. Various motor impaired participants were requested to perform predefined tasks on the device, along with the completion of a set of user experience questionnaires. Based on the results of the study, it was found that interaction with mobile phones is an issue for people with motor impairments and that alternative methods of interaction need to be implemented. These results contributed to the final output of this study, namely a set of user experience guidelines for the design of mobile human computer interaction for motor impaired users.
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- Date Issued: 2017