Perceived success of skills-development readiness within 4IR in RSA
- Authors: Hunt, Norman William
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Labor demand -- Research -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51567 , vital:43310
- Description: The purpose of this study was to develop four scenarios for South Africa over the next forty years. The Positive Seed scenario portrays a positive image of hope and determination, with positive institutional innovations, as well as positive innovative learning methodologies. While the Shankar scenario also portrays positive institutional innovations, it is lacking in terms of innovation learning methodologies. The Negative Seed is lacking in both innovation learning methodologies, as well as institutional innovations. Finally, the fourth scenario, that of the ‘What If’ scenario, portrays a scenario whether good innovative learning methodologies exist, or not, but lacks institutional innovativeness. The goal of this thesis was not only to affirm the known and knowable about the skills-development environment, but it is also aimed at exploring its future within the 4IR towards 2060. This was achieved by scenario planning and the Causal Layered Analyses (CLA) methodology, which is designed to help navigate through this creative process. This thesis starts off by identifying the forces of change, which it then combines in various ways to create the set of scenarios about how the future of the skills-development sector could evolve towards 2060. This thesis provides useful insight into drivers for change for the South African skills-development sector and how to anticipate skills-readiness in South Africa within the 4IR towards 2060 in accordance with the CLA and scenario planning methods. This thesis looks at the future of skills-development in South Africa over the next forty years from a decision makers point of view. , Thesis (DBA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Hunt, Norman William
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Labor demand -- Research -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51567 , vital:43310
- Description: The purpose of this study was to develop four scenarios for South Africa over the next forty years. The Positive Seed scenario portrays a positive image of hope and determination, with positive institutional innovations, as well as positive innovative learning methodologies. While the Shankar scenario also portrays positive institutional innovations, it is lacking in terms of innovation learning methodologies. The Negative Seed is lacking in both innovation learning methodologies, as well as institutional innovations. Finally, the fourth scenario, that of the ‘What If’ scenario, portrays a scenario whether good innovative learning methodologies exist, or not, but lacks institutional innovativeness. The goal of this thesis was not only to affirm the known and knowable about the skills-development environment, but it is also aimed at exploring its future within the 4IR towards 2060. This was achieved by scenario planning and the Causal Layered Analyses (CLA) methodology, which is designed to help navigate through this creative process. This thesis starts off by identifying the forces of change, which it then combines in various ways to create the set of scenarios about how the future of the skills-development sector could evolve towards 2060. This thesis provides useful insight into drivers for change for the South African skills-development sector and how to anticipate skills-readiness in South Africa within the 4IR towards 2060 in accordance with the CLA and scenario planning methods. This thesis looks at the future of skills-development in South Africa over the next forty years from a decision makers point of view. , Thesis (DBA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
The readiness for the 4th industrial revolution by SARS towards 2030
- Authors: Botha, Reneé Chrystal
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: South African Revenue Service , Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Information technology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50966 , vital:43176
- Description: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is an autonomous agent that was established to collect taxes on behalf of the state. This mandate is shared across countries where the common thread of revenue collection agencies is that they all need to collect revenue, want participants within the system to act responsibly, the process to be fair and to act within the boundaries of legislation. It has become increasingly challenging for revenue collection agencies across the world to ensure tax compliance and ensure optimal revenue collection when unemployment rates are high, and the economy continues to struggle. It is a shared objective between revenue collection agencies to optimise revenue collection initiative and to narrow the tax gap. The technological advances in all sectors have grown at an exponential rate within a very short period. The WEF (2018) emphasised that the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) brings with it an era of unprecedented innovation, technical change and global connectivity. Technology has become the key driver in assisting SARS to achieve its objectives to inform taxpayers of their responsibilities, make it easy for them to comply and ensure compliance to the tax laws. The primary objective of the research study is to investigate the possible factors that could influence the future state of revenue services, develop a series of alternative scenarios, and provide the preferred future of the South African Revenue Services towards 2030. The Six Pillars of futures studies provide a theory of futures thinking that links method and tools, that is developed through praxis (Inayatullah, 2012). The Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) was the preferred research tool used in this study to deepen the future analysis. Emphasis was placed on scenario planning and the creation of alternative futures for the South African Revenue Services towards 2030. The drivers of change that impacted the economy were identified and how it can be utilised to close the tax gap. SARS has been a victim of seizure where the destabilising of corporate governance and efficiency was the core objective. It is therefore important to understand the past and present to enable better planning. This paper aims to better understand the disruptors to industry and the opportunity to improve efficiency and effectiveness using technology associated with the 4IR. SARS has great potential in being globally competitive with other countries, if government, stakeholders and SARS leadership have a shared vision of what the future revenue services will look like, what its capabilities will be and resource availability to ensure this vision is realized. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences , Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Botha, Reneé Chrystal
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: South African Revenue Service , Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Information technology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50966 , vital:43176
- Description: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is an autonomous agent that was established to collect taxes on behalf of the state. This mandate is shared across countries where the common thread of revenue collection agencies is that they all need to collect revenue, want participants within the system to act responsibly, the process to be fair and to act within the boundaries of legislation. It has become increasingly challenging for revenue collection agencies across the world to ensure tax compliance and ensure optimal revenue collection when unemployment rates are high, and the economy continues to struggle. It is a shared objective between revenue collection agencies to optimise revenue collection initiative and to narrow the tax gap. The technological advances in all sectors have grown at an exponential rate within a very short period. The WEF (2018) emphasised that the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) brings with it an era of unprecedented innovation, technical change and global connectivity. Technology has become the key driver in assisting SARS to achieve its objectives to inform taxpayers of their responsibilities, make it easy for them to comply and ensure compliance to the tax laws. The primary objective of the research study is to investigate the possible factors that could influence the future state of revenue services, develop a series of alternative scenarios, and provide the preferred future of the South African Revenue Services towards 2030. The Six Pillars of futures studies provide a theory of futures thinking that links method and tools, that is developed through praxis (Inayatullah, 2012). The Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) was the preferred research tool used in this study to deepen the future analysis. Emphasis was placed on scenario planning and the creation of alternative futures for the South African Revenue Services towards 2030. The drivers of change that impacted the economy were identified and how it can be utilised to close the tax gap. SARS has been a victim of seizure where the destabilising of corporate governance and efficiency was the core objective. It is therefore important to understand the past and present to enable better planning. This paper aims to better understand the disruptors to industry and the opportunity to improve efficiency and effectiveness using technology associated with the 4IR. SARS has great potential in being globally competitive with other countries, if government, stakeholders and SARS leadership have a shared vision of what the future revenue services will look like, what its capabilities will be and resource availability to ensure this vision is realized. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences , Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Essential employee knowledge management and re-skilling within the 4ir in the South African automotive industry towards 2030
- Authors: Hufkie, Brian
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51556 , vital:43304
- Description: It was the purpose of the study to gain an understanding of what Essential Employee Knowledge Management and Re-Skilling is needed in the South African Automotive Industry towards 2030 with regards to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The reason for choosing the South African automotive industry was because the automotive industry is South Africa’s most important manufacturing sector. Nearly one-third of value adding within the domestic business sector is from the contribution, directly or indirectly, of vehicle assembly and automotive component manufacturing. According to Muro and Whiton (2017), advanced automation is already disrupting job futures across the globe and the 4IR technologies will contribute to further impacts upon the labour market, as many routine and rule-based jobs that typically involving low to medium skills become automated. Omarjee (2018), further states that the skills gap and structural unemployment are at an ever-increasing pace of change, which means organisations will face more structural unemployment challenges and which, therefore, amplifies the need for a significant amount of talent development, knowledge management, reskilling and up-skilling required in South Africa towards 4IR readiness. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA, 2018), South Africa’s skills challenges are because of complications of socio-economic and socio-historic factors. It is undisputed that 4IR requires a highly skilled workforce, and one which South Africa, regrettably, has been struggling to produce. The report further estimates that 30% of South African workers are unskilled, 46% are semiskilled workers and 24% are skilled workers. Therefore, skilling and reskilling of workers is important in preparing for the 4IR. The study undertook a focused environmental scan of recently published and pertinent articles in the public domain media. The aim, furthermore, was to use the environmental scan to contribute meaningful recommendations to all key stakeholders involved. The environmental scan looked at the macro environment and which included the social, technological, political, economic and the environmental factors influencing the South African automotive industry. Secondly, a qualitative case study approach was used to describe the true experiences of assembly workers and their immediate supervisors in a South African automotive plant. An interpretivism paradigm was applied in line with the case study research methodology. A semi-structured interview guide was developed to obtain primary data through the interviewing process and to test the dependent and independent variables. Using convenience sampling, interviews were set up with identified company related respondents, which included supervisors and blue-collar workers at a South African automotive company. The study results revealed that although some of the respondents did not know what 4IR was, there was agreement amongst those who knew what was involved and why 4IR should happen. The shared understanding was that 4IR involves vast amounts of data that assists in improving processes, systems and services. The study results also indicated that the implementation of automation, robotics and AI within the manufacturing industry had increased the fears of employees in terms of technology application is replacing their jobs. Some of the respondents also perceived a lack of transparency with regards to a structured approach towards a reskilling plan targeting the blue-collar workers’ readiness, in line with the 4IR within the automotive industry. Furthermore, what was clear was that reskilling, training and a retraining was needed within the orgainisation. Based on the overall study results, it appears that there is currently limited observed evidence about the current state of readiness of 4IR awareness and its adoption within a South African automotive industry entity. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Hufkie, Brian
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Knowledge management , Technological innovations -- Economic aspects , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51556 , vital:43304
- Description: It was the purpose of the study to gain an understanding of what Essential Employee Knowledge Management and Re-Skilling is needed in the South African Automotive Industry towards 2030 with regards to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The reason for choosing the South African automotive industry was because the automotive industry is South Africa’s most important manufacturing sector. Nearly one-third of value adding within the domestic business sector is from the contribution, directly or indirectly, of vehicle assembly and automotive component manufacturing. According to Muro and Whiton (2017), advanced automation is already disrupting job futures across the globe and the 4IR technologies will contribute to further impacts upon the labour market, as many routine and rule-based jobs that typically involving low to medium skills become automated. Omarjee (2018), further states that the skills gap and structural unemployment are at an ever-increasing pace of change, which means organisations will face more structural unemployment challenges and which, therefore, amplifies the need for a significant amount of talent development, knowledge management, reskilling and up-skilling required in South Africa towards 4IR readiness. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA, 2018), South Africa’s skills challenges are because of complications of socio-economic and socio-historic factors. It is undisputed that 4IR requires a highly skilled workforce, and one which South Africa, regrettably, has been struggling to produce. The report further estimates that 30% of South African workers are unskilled, 46% are semiskilled workers and 24% are skilled workers. Therefore, skilling and reskilling of workers is important in preparing for the 4IR. The study undertook a focused environmental scan of recently published and pertinent articles in the public domain media. The aim, furthermore, was to use the environmental scan to contribute meaningful recommendations to all key stakeholders involved. The environmental scan looked at the macro environment and which included the social, technological, political, economic and the environmental factors influencing the South African automotive industry. Secondly, a qualitative case study approach was used to describe the true experiences of assembly workers and their immediate supervisors in a South African automotive plant. An interpretivism paradigm was applied in line with the case study research methodology. A semi-structured interview guide was developed to obtain primary data through the interviewing process and to test the dependent and independent variables. Using convenience sampling, interviews were set up with identified company related respondents, which included supervisors and blue-collar workers at a South African automotive company. The study results revealed that although some of the respondents did not know what 4IR was, there was agreement amongst those who knew what was involved and why 4IR should happen. The shared understanding was that 4IR involves vast amounts of data that assists in improving processes, systems and services. The study results also indicated that the implementation of automation, robotics and AI within the manufacturing industry had increased the fears of employees in terms of technology application is replacing their jobs. Some of the respondents also perceived a lack of transparency with regards to a structured approach towards a reskilling plan targeting the blue-collar workers’ readiness, in line with the 4IR within the automotive industry. Furthermore, what was clear was that reskilling, training and a retraining was needed within the orgainisation. Based on the overall study results, it appears that there is currently limited observed evidence about the current state of readiness of 4IR awareness and its adoption within a South African automotive industry entity. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Business Administration, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
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